milkandbun

Mimosa Salad

Hello guys! It’s a very special Friday for me. I’m so glad and excited that I’m co-hosting the wonderful virtual party – Fiesta Friday by Angie, and Jhuls is another great co-host this time. I’d like to invite everyone and each of you to join the very-friendly party! Let us know that you’re joined by linking your post to Angie, me and Jhuls. Of course, will be lots of appetizers and welcome drinks, and you can eat&drink non-stop! 😀 Newbies could find the guidelines here. Another point is to bring your favourite dishes and put the link here, so every blogger can grab a slice of your cake or tuck in the stew while chatting. You’re also welcome to visit and like other bloggers’ posts and of course you can leave a comment or just say hi; it’s such a lovely possibility to find new blogofriends, have a small talk and plenty of fun!

I have decided to bring this nice-looking salad to the party, it’s Russian layered salad or to be exact Soviet salad, but still popular in many ex-USSR countries. In Russia we have lots of layered salad recipes, so many that I even don’t how many. 😀 This one is associated with spring (thou, also popular for New Year), Women’s Day and it’s named after the beautiful flower – mimosa. Last layer of the salad is crumbled egg yolks, which remind little yellow blossoms of mimosa. The main ingredient is canned fish here, so the salad is very budget and at the same time tasty, plus looks festive (that was important during deficit time). Usually saury/saira fish is used in ‘mimosa’, but salmon species is also good here, like red or pink salmon. I’ve tried to make it with tuna and can’t recommend it, its meat too dry for this salad, but if it’s the only canned fish you can get – add more sour cream or mayonnaise. Many variations exist – with or without potatoes, with cheese, spring onions, grated butter, etc. Better to prepare this salad some time in advance before serving to allow all layers to soak; so you can make it a night ahead.

Mimosa Salad

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: easy
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To make salad more rich you can add some grated butter – between carrot and yolks layer.

Ingredients

1 large or 2 medium potatoes

1 large carrot

3 large eggs or 4 medium

250g canned fish (I used red salmon)

1 small onion, finely chopped

150-200g mix of sour cream and mayo (or only mayo)

some fresh dill, optional

salt to taste

Method

Wash potatoes and carrot, don’t peel. In a large pot with water, add potatoes, carrot and boil it until ready. Cool, peel the skin, then grate on a small or medium grater into separate bowls. Set aside.
Hard boil the eggs, cool and separate whites and yolks. Finely chop or grate.
Put chopped onion into a small bowl, cover with hot water and keep for 10 minutes. Drain the water.
Drain the fish and mash it with a fork.
Prepare a deep serving bowl or another serving plate. Arrange grated potatoes evenly on the bottom. Spread some mayo.
Make fish layer, then add chopped onion and spread more mayo.
Arrange egg whites and spread again mayo.
Arrange grated carrot and spread again mayo.
Arrange egg yolks. It was the last layer.
You can sprinkle the salad with chopped dill, if desired, or decorate whatever you want. Enjoy!

You can cover the salad with a piece of foil and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Pear&Blackberry Tart

Last weekend I wanted to make a cake, I was dreaming about a huge layered cake with delicious and sweet cream, topped with chocolate or strawberries, or blackberries.. At the end of the day I realized that I can’t decide which one to make and I don’t have all required ingredients. 😀 But I have always been a person that needs something sweet after dinner. I wanted a dessert to satisfy my sweet tooth, and better with cream! So I’ve come up with this beautiful and absolutely delicious ‘pear and blackberry tart’. Honestly speaking, I haven’t made this recipe a dozen or even a couple of times, it was perfect from the first attempt! Nutty shortbread base, tender whipped ricotta cream, pear slices and blackberries – all those things merged together into divine combination. I believe that you would find this dessert to be as delicious as it looks! You just need to go to the kitchen, cook it and enjoy! 🙂 I will make it again for sure!

Pear and Blackberry Tart

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1hr 20mins
Difficulty: moderate
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You can use any favourite fruits and berries, like strawberry&blueberry, raspberry&nectarines.

Ingredients

Short pastry (base)

1 large egg, at room temperature

100g plain flour

75g butter, cubed and softened

35g fine sugar

30g ground almonds

Topping

100ml whipping cream (30-35%), cold

1+1 Tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp cognac or brandy, optional

100-120g ricotta

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon zest

1 large pear, sliced

1 Tbsp lemon juice

8-10 blackberries

2-3 strawberries, sliced, optional

1 Tbsp white chocolate chips

Whisk the egg and set aside a half (a bit less then half) for a glaze.
To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl or food processor, mix flour, butter, sugar, half the egg and almonds until combined. Tip dough out onto a floured surface and bring together with hands. Make a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30-40 minutes in a fridge.
On a lightly floured table roll the dough into 21-22cm circle. Brush with remaining egg. Transfer to a paper-lined baking dish.
Bake in preheated 180C oven for 25 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a bowl beat cream with 1 Tbsp icing sugar and cognac, if using, until soft peak begin to form. In another bowl, combine ricotta, vanilla, lemon zest and sugar. Add ricotta mixture into whipped cream and whip until smooth for a 1-2 minutes.
Spread cream on the base. Sprinkle pear slices with lemon juice. Arrange pear slices, blackberries and strawberries, if using, on the cream, and sprinkle over chocolate chips. Dust with extra icing sugar, if desired. Enjoy!

Russian buckwheat kasha with mushrooms

Buckwheat has always been a popular grain in Russia. It was brought in 7th century from Greece and soon became extremely popular. Buckwheat was new and unknown grain in Russia, so it was called “Greek grain” or shortly “grechka”. It’s not a surprise why buckwheat was very beloved in old Russia: peasants called it “mother”, they grown it in a large amounts, so it was cheap and affordable grain. Moreover, it’s cooked quickly and has a high nutritional value – a plate of buckwheat kasha (porridge) for breakfast can keep you full for a long time. Buckwheat porridge was a favorite meal not only among peasants, it was also cooked for upper classes but with plenty of butter or sour cream.

Nowadays, there are lots of recipes with buckwheat, it’s cooked with milk and eaten for breakfast or as a side dish for meat like beefstroganov. Buckwheat porridge with fried onion and mushrooms is a popular dish in Russia, especially during the Great Lent when grains, vegetables and mushrooms become the main foods.

Hope all lovely bloggers partying at Fiesta Friday will like this Russian buckwheat porridge, it contains vitamins, healthy organic acids and oils! Enjoy! 🙂

Russian buckwheat kasha with mushrooms

Servings: 2
Time: 30-40mins
Difficulty: easy
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During the Great Lent or for vegetarian option omit the butter or substitute it with any veg.oil

Ingredients

200ml buckwheat

400ml water

1 tsp butter

1 Tbsp sunflower or other veg.oil

1 large onion, chopped

200g mixed mushrooms (or 400g frozen), chopped

25-30g butter

salt, pepper to taste

fresh chopped parsley, optional

Wash buckwheat, put it a thick-bottomed or iron-castle pan, fry on a low heat without any oil for 2-3 minutes. Add water and good pinch of salt. Bring it to boil on a medium heat, then reduce the heat to low, add a teaspoon butter and simmer for 17-20 minutes or until all water will be absorbed. Don’t stir buckwheat during the cooking. When it’s ready, take the pan off the heat, cover with lid and few kitchen towels, let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, add onion and fry for few minutes. Stir in mushrooms, season to taste and fry on a medium-high heat until mushrooms are ready.
Stir the mushroom mixture and butter into buckwheat. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Serve warm as a main dish or side dish to chicken, stewed meat or sausages. Enjoy!

Masoor dal (red lentil) Soup

Masoor dal is a split red lentils, widely used in Asian cuisine, particularly in Indian. Lentil is a good source of protein and fiber. These lentils do not need to soak overnight, they cook very quickly, so the recipe is perfect for everyday cooking. Adding aromatic Asian spices enhances lentils’ taste and brings loads of flavour to the soup! Rich, amazingly good vegetarian thick soup; you should give this recipe a try! 🙂

Masoor dal (red lentil) Soup

Servings: 4
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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You can skip chilli if you don’t want the soup hot, or add more if you like it really spicy.

The longer you cook the soup – more creamy it’ll be.

Ingredients

300g red lentils, washed

200g (2 small) potatoes, cut into small cubes

2 Tbsp olive or sunflower oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/3-1/2 tsp chilli seeds, optional

1 clove

2 bay leaves

5-6 pink peppercorns, crushed

sea salt, to taste

3-4 Tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

naan/flatbread, to serve

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds, chilli (if using), cumin, bay leaves, clove and fry until fragrant. Add onion and garlic, cook for 5-7 minutes until soft. Stir in potatoes – fully coat it in oil and spices. Sprinkle with turmeric, pink pepper and salt, stir.
Stir in lentils, add water to cover the mixture. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until vegetables are cooked. Add more boiling water or continue to simmer further to achieve your preferred consistency. Adjust the seasoning.
Stir in fresh coriander. Serve with bread.

Midweek Salad

Hey guys! What do you cook during the week? If it’s going to be a hectic working week – do you make anything time-consuming? Personally, if I’m tired I don’t cook complicated dishes and eat simple dishes, including lots of different salads. Hopefully, you eat well and do not buy unhealthy quick and junk meals as I do. Moreover, it seems to me that to make a salad or simple pasta at home for your tomorrow lunch is much cheaper and healthier than to eat any junk-food. Thus, eating healthy foods whiteout spending a lot is possible, and I suggest you to start prepare salads like this one. I love beets and add it everywhere, caramelized beets is even more tasty! Eat the salad, man! 😀

Midweek Salad

Servings: 2
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 medium beet, cooked

2-3 tsp brown sugar

1/2 Tbsp balsamic or wine vinegar

1 Tbsp olive oil

100-120g green beans

10-15g butter

8-10 cherry tomatoes, yellow or red, cut into halves

60-80g feta cheese, crumbled

bull’s blood leaves, a handful

2 tsp black sesame seeds

1-2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

S&P to taste

extra virgin olive oil

basil micro sprouts, optional

Cut the beet into small cubes or wedges. In a frying pan or saucepan, combine vinegar, oil and sugar on medium heat; mix to combine. Add beet cubes and swirl to coat. Cook on a medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, put beans and cover with water, add a butter, some salt and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Drain the water.
On a serving plate, arrange washed leaves, put on beat cubes, beans, tomatoes and feta. Sprinckle with sesame and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with olive oil, if desired, garnish with basil and season to taste. Enjoy!