Tag Archives: dinner

Coriander Chicken Drumsticks

Today I realized that I haven’t ate chicken for quite a long time. When I was a teenager chicken drumsticks weren’t available as a separate part of a chicken. When my mother wanted to prepare chicken for dinner she used to buy whole chicken thighs and cook it as is or cut into two parts.. I’m not even sure that drumsticks are on sale in Russian stores now, may be except the capital. Anyway, nicely spiced and roasted chicken drumsticks is a good and quick-to-cook midweek meal (with some rice or potatoes on a side) or a very good accompaniment to a beer! For this recipe I grind dried coriander seeds, then add turmeric and mild paprika, stir into the meat along with olive oil and let it marinade. If you’re hungry, skip the marinating and roast it straightaway! 🙂

Coriander Chicken Drumsticks

Servings: 2-3
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

500g chicken drumsticks (I used without skin)

2-3 tsp dried coriander seeds

1 tsp turmeric

3/4 tsp mild paprika (or hot if you like)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp lime juice (or lemon)

2-3 garlic clove, unpeeled

freshly ground black and white pepper, to taste

sea salt, to taste

Grind or crush coriander seeds, mix with turmeric and paprika. Combine with olive oil and lime juice. Rub the marinade into chicken drumsticks. Add garlic cloves, season generously with pepper and salt to taste. Cover and leave to marinade in the fridge for 1-3 hours, or skip this step and arrange chicken (with all marinade juices) onto a baking tray or dish.
Bake in the preheated 200C oven for 20 minutes. Then low the heat to 150C, cover with a piece of foil and bake for 10 minutes longer or until the drumsticks have cooked through.
Serve warm, but they are also good cold. The cooked drumsticks will keep in the fridge for 2 days.

Braised Rabbit with red wine, prunes and thyme

I’m sure you know that Easter is on the way (Catholic falls on April 5 and Orthodox April 12), and you’re probably planning what to cook, or searching your notes with traditional recipes. I think some of you have a special main course recipe for this occasion, or may be it’s a wide range of recipes. What will you choose this year? An elegant dish or simple&casual? I think, with spring bringing nice and pretty weather, that you’re likely to be in the mood for something hearty and light! 🙂 I’ve always been partial to rabbit; when I’m visiting my parents in Russia I’m always pleased to eat a rabbit stewed in sour cream. It’s always tender and delicious, of course because it’s prepared by my mom. 😀 Today recipe is elegant and great for a special dinner! I’d like you to try rabbit with prunes and thyme, braised in red wine. It requires few ingredients to be transformed into a flavoursome meal! Enjoy!

Braised Rabbit with red wine, prunes and thyme

Servings: 3-4
Time: 2hr
Difficulty: moderate
Print

Ingredients

1 rabbit, 1.3-1.5kg

water

1-2 tsp apple or wine vinegar, optional

2 tbsp olive oil

20g butter

1-2 garlic clove, peeled, chopped

5-6 shallots or 1 onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

4 black peppercorns, optional

4-5 juniper berries

12-15 prunes, pitted

4 springs thyme or 1 tsp dried

150ml dry red wine

100ml or more hot water, if needed

sea salt and white pepper to taste

Garnish

boiled or roasted potatoes

sour cream

Preparation method

Joint the rabbit, wash it and put in a large bowl, fully cover the meat with water, add vinegar if using, then cover with a wrap and leave to marinate for 1-3 hours. It helps to make rabbit meat more tender and get rid of any unpleasant smell.
Heat the oil and butter in a heavy-bottom pan on a medium-high heat. Add the rabbit pieces and brown each side for 6-8 minutes or until golden colour. Take out the rabbit pieces and place aside. Don’t clean the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium, add onions, garlic, peppercorns (if using), juniper berries, bay leaf, some thyme leaves and sauté for 3-5 minutes or until onion have softened. Add rabbit, pour over wine and scrape up the bottom of the pan. Bring to boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.
Fold in prunes and remaining thyme. Season to taste. The liquid should come half way up the rabbit pieces. So, add some water, if needed. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid (keep a small slit) and braise the rabbit for 45 minutes. Now turn the rabbit pieces on the other side, adjust the seasoning, again cover the pan with a lid and braise for further 40-45 minutes. The rabbit should be easily pulling off the bone.
Serve with sliced boiled/roasted potatoes, or rice. Add a tablespoon of sour creme, if desired.

Golubtsi – Russian stuffed cabbage rolls

Stuffed cabbage rolls is a very popular dish in many countries over the world. In Russia, it’s called ‘golubtsi’ – white cabbage leaves stuffed with sautéed ground pork or beef and rice or buckwheat.

Originally, cabbage leaves were stuffed with meat mixed with millet porridge and the dish was named ‘galushi’. But in 18-19th centuries France had a great influence on Russian cuisine, at least for the upper classes. Many French chefs streamed to Russian to work for royal courts, nobility and other wealthy families.

French cooking was so prevalent among the upper classes that there were not enough French-born chefs to fill the demand. Wealthy Russians began to send their serfs to work under French chefs in Moscow and Sr.Petersburg, and a few were even sent to France for their training. Some of these peasants were allowed to work in the city, provided they remitted to their masters the required obrok or quit-rent, which was a payment in kind or in money. Others were sold after they had completed their training. Count Rostov in Tolstoy’s War and Peace, for instance, spoke with satisfaction of paying a thousand rubles for Taras, a serf who prepared savory hazel grouse sautéed in Madeira for his daughter Natasha’s name day dinner.*

Thus, Russians were hooked on French dishes, and among which was popular a whole grilled pigeon, covered with a cabbage leave. The dish became fancy and well-liked, and soon was called simply ‘golubi’ or ‘golubtsi’ – from Russian word ‘golub’ that literally means pigeon. Lately cooks began to prepare a fake ‘pigeon’ – well-known stuffed cabbage rolls, which were cheaper and affordable for the lower classes.

Also, big thanks to Angie for featuring my post – red pancakes! I’m bringing these cabbage rolls to the super Fiesta Friday party! I know, it’s such a simple dish, that many of you have tried it already, but I hope you are tired of sweets and enjoy Russian comforting food. 🙂

Golubtsi - Russian stuffed cabbage rolls

Servings: 10-12 rolls
Time: 1hr+
Difficulty: moderate
Print

Ingredients

1 white cabbage

500g beef mince (or mix pork+beef)

90-100g uncooked white rice, short-grain

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 carrot, shredded

1/2 tsp dried marjoram, optional

S&P to taste

Sauce

1/2 large onion, chopped

1/2 carrot, shredded

2-3 tbsp tomato paste

oil, for frying

200-300ml water*

2 bay leaves

5-6 black peppercorns

S&P to taste

Garnish

sour cream, chopped parsley, optional

Sauce. In a large pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Add onion and carrot for the sauce, cook for 5-6 minutes or until soft. Stir in tomato paste. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Cabbage. Discard the 2 or 3 outer leaves of the cabbage. Carefully pull off leaves one by one. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Immerse cabbage leaves and cook for 3-4 minutes. Using tongs, take the leaves out and transfer to a bowl. *Reserve the water to use it lately for the sauce.
Filling. Cook the rice fro 8-10 minutes in bowling water. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, rice, onion, carrot and spices. You can fry onion before adding it to the filling.
Working with one cabbage leaf at a time, slice off the thick outer rib near the stem end. Place the leaf, rounded up like a bowl, stem end closest to you. Spoon about 2 tbsp of the meat mixture, form it into a short log shape. Don’t make the rolls too tight. Transfer the roll, seams down, to the pan with sauce. Shape the remaining rolls in the same way.
Pour in water – just to cover the cabbage rolls, add more if needed. Season to taste, add bay leaves and peppercorns. On a medium-high heat bring it to boil. Then reduce heat to lower, cover the pan with a lid (or you can use a piece of foil) and cook for 40 minutes. You may cut one roll to test it.
Serve rolls with their cooking sauce, sprinkled with parsley and garnish with sour cream, if desired.

Siberian fish pie

This pie is called Siberian. Try to guess why? First of all, fish has always been a favourite food and often the main dish for people living by the sea or river. One of the famous Siberian dishes is “stroganina”, which is thin chips cut from fresh frozen fish (or it can be meat) and dipped into the mixture of salt and pepper. Also fish is used as a stuffing for large and small pies, for soups and stews. Also, it’s necessary to take into account the Siberian weather, during the winter the temperature is very low (or to be exact – the freezing cold), thus any fish can be easily frozen and kept outside for a long time.

So, I used halibut for my Siberian pie, it’s a flatfish that live in the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea (Russian North seas). Halibut is a valuable source of Omega-3 fat acids and vitamins-B, what makes the pie more healthy and tasty. You can substitute halibut with any other white-meat fish. Along with the fish I added cooked millet, it’s unusual cereal for the filling, but an interesting alternative to the common rice, it has a nice tender texture.

The pie is satisfying and makes a delicious weekend dinner!

Siberian fish pie

Servings: 8-10
Time: 3h+
Difficulty: moderate to difficult
Print

Rich Leavened Dough

500-600g all-purpose/plain flour (or 200g spelt/wholemeal flour+300g plain flour)

350-400ml full-fat milk, warm

11g instant yeast

1+1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

100g melted butter or 2.5 tbsp sunflower oil

To make a sourdough in a large mixing bowl, add warm milk, yeast, 1 tbsp sugar and mix well. Add around 100-120g sifted flour, stir throughly to get the consistency like for pancakes. Cover with a plate or wrap, and allow to ferment for 1 hour in a warm place.
In another small bowl lightly beat eggs (with hand whisker) with 1 tbsp sugar and salt.
Add the beaten eggs into a bowl with sourdough mixture. Sift the remaining flour, pour in butter or oil, mix to combine.
Now, knead the dough for about 20-30 minutes on a flat surface. Add more flour, if needed.
Place the dough in a large bowl, wrap it up and leave to rise for 1.5-2 hours in a warm place.

Filling

550-600g halibut fillet, cut into small cubes

80-100g Tbsp millet

1 big onion

2-3 tbsp sunflower or any other veg.oil, for frying

50g butter, cut into small cubes

salt, pepper to taste

Glaze

1 egg+1 Tbsp milk

20-30g butter, melted, for brushing

Serving

50g butter, melted, optional

cold milk

First, you need to cook millet. Rinse it thoroughly under running water. After that, add millet and two parts boiling water in a small pan. After the water has return to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 18-20 minutes. Let it cool.
Heat oil in a frying pan, add onion and fry it on a medium heat until golden color. Mix fried onion with millet. Season to taste.
Divide the dough into two parts. Roll out the smallest dough part into oval shape (38x30cm/1cm thick) and arrange it on a lined baking tray. Spoon millet mixture, then spread the fish cubes. Dot with butter, season to taste.
Roll out the second part of the dough – large enough to cover the filling. Seal the edges. Decorate with trimmings. Cover the pie with tea-towel and let it rise for 20-30 minutes before baking.
Cut three or four slits in the top. Brush the pie with the glaze.
Bake the pie in preheated 180C oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden-brown.
Brush the pie with melted butter, cover with tea-towel and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
Cut the pie into slices. If the filling is dry for your taste, pour over some melted butter. Serve with a glass of milk.
Enjoy the Siberian pie!

Stuffed chicken with beans

Hello, folks! December just started and I’ve already seen a glorious amount of mouth-watering cookies and holiday cakes! And may be now you are sipping a huge cup of hot chocolate and browsing through the internet, searching for inspiration, new ideas for the Christmas eve, or probably watching snowflakes settle on trees and ground. I can see how it falls only on some websites and photos, so far. 😀

Besides making and baking numerous amount of cookies, we need to cook a normal food as well, or at least order a pizza. You will always have something quick and tasty to eat for dinner with a chicken breast on hand! It is versatile, quick-cooking, protein-rich and low in fat, does it sound tempting? Delicious skinless and boneless chicken breasts stuffed with parsley and cream cheese, covered with breadcrumbs and baked on a bed of beans. This flavorful chicken dish is perfect for any day of the week or dinner occasion.

I’m bringing this tasty dish to all beautiful and lovely people, who has been parting at Fiesta Friday (Oh my #45 already), enjoy the dish and the weekend!

Stuffed chicken with beans

Servings: 3
Difficulty: easy
Print

Adapted from “one pot meals/hamlyn”

Ingredients

For the filling

90g Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

1 Tbsp finely grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, optional

25g butter, room temperature

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/3 tsp freshly ground white pepper

For the stuffed chicken breasts

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 can X 530g (drained weight) flageolet beans

70-80ml chicken or vegetable stock, homemade preferable

70-80ml dry white wine

3 Tbsp coarse breadcrumbs, homemade preferable

1 sprig of fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried

2 Tbsp olive oil+ 1 Tbsp butter, for frying

sea salt, white or black pepper, to taste

Preparation Method

For the filling. In a small bowl, beat cheeses, butter, garlic, herbs and seasoning. Using a small knife, make a horizontal cut in each chicken breast. Divide the filling and pack it into breasts, secure with toothpicks. Season the chicken breasts outside with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil with butter in the casserole and fry chicken breasts on both sides until lightly browned. Set aside.
Put drained beans into casserole, add stock, wine and thyme, season to taste. Arrange the chicken breasts on top. Cover and place in preheated 190C/375C oven for 15-16 minutes.
Put breadcrumbs in a small frying pan with some olive oil and heat until breadcrumbs begin to brown. Set aside.
Remove the casserole lid, spread breadcrumbs over the chicken breasts. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to serving plates, put beans alongside.

Enjoy with a glass of white wine or as is!

1 2 … 5 Next →