The Russian Tea Room is an iconic restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Carol and I have eaten there at least once during one of the times I was working in Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s. It published a cookbook in 1981 and at some point in the early 1980s I copied Read More …
I was reading Alissa Timoshikina’s cookbook “Salt & Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen” and spotted a recipe for Olivier Salad, which is more commonly known throughout the world as Russian Salad. (I remember eating it once in Buenos Aires.) I made a batch in part to use up some roast turkey breast meet. I Read More …
Khachapuri is a very popular dish in the Republic of Georgia. Anna suggested it for lunch, and I made it based on a recipe in kingarthurflour.com. It takes a total of about 2 hours, including about 30 minutes in the oven. (I made a double recipe of the dough and used one of them to Read More …
I recently revisited Herbed Yogurt Cheese (Suzma) by making two changes. First, I started with Ryazhenka which is less tart than conventional yogurt. Second, I thought that sometimes previous batches of Suzma were not thick enough, so I decided to take advantage of my cheese press to press the curd after draining it. Here is Read More …
Ryazhenka (also spelled Ryazhanka) is a variation on yogurt of Ukrainian origin, in which the milk is slowly cooked before it is cultured. The process causes Maillard reactions, which gives the ryazhenka a tannish color, and thickens the milk through evaporation. Traditionally, it would be baked at a low temperature in a traditional oven, but Read More …
This is one of the favorite recipes which Olia Hercules has in her recent book Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine. She strongly recommends using some of the roasted pork with its accompanying vegetables and fruit as the filling of buns called pyrizhky, which sound very much like kolaches. We served Read More …
I made a batch of this popular Georgian condiment to go with Garlicky Cornish Game Hens (Tabaka). I thought a little bit of it nicely enhanced the garlic sauce for the game hens. This version is adapted from Darra Goldstein’s book The Georgian Feast. 1.5 lbs. plums (not too sweet or ripe) ¼ cup water Read More …
This Armenian cake is a bit like a large Linzer cookie, since it has a base layer, a jam layer, and a lattice top. This version is adapted from thekitchn.com. The next time I make it, I will need to work some more flour into the lattice layer, since the pastry strands were fragile and Read More …
This is a very tasty Uzbek bread whose name resembles the northern Indian bread naan. I made this to go with Non Puju, an Uzbek dish in which a Chinese-style beef stew is served over bread. This version is adapted from Caroline Eden’s Red Sands, which I am reading in preparation for a VMFA trip Read More …
Text to follow This dish of beef served over bread comes from the Dungan people, a Chinese Muslim group now mostly living in Kyrgyzstan. The beef is Chinese-influenced, with Five-Spice Powder, while the bread it is served on, Non, is Uzbek. This is adapted from Caroline Eden’s Red Sands, which I am reading in preparation Read More …