Tag Archives: Russian

Buckwheat pancakes with pike caviar

Good morning! I guess, pancakes is the most wanted breakfast on Earth. 😀 No matter how you call them in your country, whether you like thick or thin pancakes, sweet or savory – they are all delicious! Today, I’d like to share the recipe of Russian buckwheat oladushki (small pancakes). In Russia we like buckwheat grain and consume it in enormous amounts; it is not only the tasty grain but also very healthy (it contains no gluten, and a good source of protein). So buckwheat flour is also popular and widely-used in preparation of various pancakes, vareniki or cakes.

The flour is a bit heavy itself, plus I used wholegrain one, and as you can see from the photos: my pancakes turned out not very thick. But if you like them thicker and fluffier, add less buckwheat and more plain flour.

These pretty dark and so-healthy pancakes go great with a dollop of fresh sour cream and slice of homemade cured salmon! I brought a can of pike caviar from Russia, and garnished pancaked with it. It’s not very salty and suits perfectly here. Of course I understand that it’s not easy to get pike caviar (at least find it Russian store), but you can substitute it with salmon or any other fish caviar you like, or a thin slice of smoked salmon is another awesome option.

Buckwheat pancakes with pike caviar

Ingredients

100g buckwheat flour (I used organic wholegrain)

100g plain flour

1 egg

200g sour cream (20% fat)

3 tbsp full-fat milk

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1/3 tsp baking soda

1/3 tsp salt

sunflower oil, for frying

Garnish

sour cream

pike caviar (sub it with salmon caviar or cured salmon slices)

chopped chive, optional

Method

In a large bowl, whisk egg with salt, milk, sour cream and oil. Sift plain flour, add buckwheat flour and soda. Mix all ingredients to combine.
Heat a frying pan or skillet of a high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil, if needed. Using a ladle or cup, drop some batter on a pan until desires size of pancake is reached (I made 7-8cm). Cook until edges begin to look dry and bubbles start to form, about 1 minute. Then flip the pancakes and cook 1-2 minutes more on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, top with a few teaspoons of caviar and sprinkle with chive if desired.

Enjoy Russian Breakfast!

Sunday Dairy Breakfast

September 6, 2015
milkandbun
10 comments
berries, breakfast, cooking, dairy, delicious, food photo, food styling, milk, photo, recipe, Russian, Russian dish, Russian recipe, RussianFood, Sunday breakfast

Do you remember I told you last Sunday that better not to skip breakfast? And I do hope you have eaten something every morning! Have you? 😉 Was it something tasty? Mmm May be pancakes.. I made onion-chilli cookies twice this week (the recipe here). Once with spring onion, another with leeks, both times they were so good! I love gentle hit from chillies, it helps me to stay awake for a long time!

Yesterday I didn’t have a plenty time, and my choice was quick-but-healthful breakfast: Greek yogurt with raspberries and honey. But on the picture, you can see another delicious thing – Russian prostokvasha with colorful raspberries and blackberries. Prostokvasha is a dairy product, similar to thick yogurt, which is made from a fermented milk (milk prepared by bacterial fermentation). When it’s prepared from a regular milk it has a pale milky color, but prostokvasha can be also made from baked milk and thus it has beige color, similar to “coffee with cream” (as on the photo). Baked milk is called ‘toplenoe moloko’ in Russia, it’s traditional Russian dairy product. For this milk, regular milk is boiled, and then simmered for a long time to get a special color, taste and smell. Originally it was prepared in Russian pech, nowadays all milky produce can be bought in any Russian store. I do love toplenoe milk and prostokvasha for its unique taste, so I ate it every single day while I was on holiday..

Whether you chose an yogurt with berries or savory cookies for breakfast, I’m sure that better to consume something easy-to-make than nothing.

Sunday Breakfast

I think, breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day. I never miss breakfast; even if I woke up at 12 or 1pm – I prefer to eat something from breakfast category whether it’s mushroom kasha or sweet pancakes.

I know that lots of people skip breakfast or have only coffee and sort of to-go bar; some say they are not hungry enough, or another reasons are lack of time or motivation. But eating breakfast can help you to wake up, to boost your energy and metabolism. Moreover, experts say that people who eat breakfast tend to have a lower risk of many health issues. Breakfast should be around 30% daily calories intake. So, skipping the breakfast leading to seek out higher calorie food later in the day.

Thus, I decided to start a series of ‘Sunday Breakfast’. Why breakfast? – that you’ve read above. Why Sunday? – because it’s usually weekend, no need to hurry – you’ve got plenty of time to prepare any breakfast you/your family like. I’m going to post breakfast recipes that I’m cooking and enjoying. And I’d be more than happy if you share with me your breakfast ideas and recipes; if you decided to take part in this series – send me links to your posts or articles in the internet with your favourite morning meal. You can also write recipes and send me by email, so I could choose a suitable for me and taste them.

Let’s begin a healthy way to start the day, especially if you haven’t had a breakfast for a long time!

I’m quite sure that almost everyone loves zucchini fritters. We call them oladii/oladushki in Russia, that means small pancakes (have a look another recipe by clicking here). These zucchini oladushki are more healthier, because I used fine oats instead of plain flour and fried them almost without oil. As you can see from the photos: they are served with fried quail eggs, which can be substitute with regular ones; herbs add a nice and aromatic touch – to wake up your senses!

Zucchini oladushki with fried quail eggs

Sunday Breakfast: Zucchini Oladushki

Servings: 2
Difficulty: easy
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*I didn’t use salt, because I used parmesan which is salty itself, but you can add some salt if needed.

**If zucchini oladushki don’t stick to your frying pan- omit the oil.

Ingredients

1 large zucchini, grated

few spoons of fine oats (or wholemeal flour)

*3-4 tbsp grated parmesan

3 quail eggs or 1 regular egg for the zucchini mixture

2 tsp lemon juice, optional

2-3 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

freshly ground black pepper to taste

**1-2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil for frying

quail eggs for serving, as much as you like

some grated parmesan for garnish, optional

In a bowl, combine all ingredients, except oil. Heat the oil (if using) in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Using a tablespoon pour a spoonful of the mixture into pan, making oladushki/fritters, fry for a 2 minutes on each side.
Keep zucchini oladushki in a warm place: put them in warm 50C oven or cover with foil. Meanwhile, fry quail eggs (you may use the same pan).
Top oladushki with fried quail eggs, sprinkle with parmesan if desired.

Enjoy your breakfast!

Kisel – Russian sweet drink

Kisel – is a well-known and popular sweet drink in Russia. This healthy drink contains berries or fruits, also sugar and water, and thickened with a potato starch. Kisel can be served cold or hot, sometimes it’s poured over ‘cottage cheese bake’ or ‘syrniki’. The kisel thickness can vary depending on how much potato starch is used; the thickest version does look like a mousse or jelly and can be eaten with a spoon, however the thin kisel is the most common version in Russia and usually consumed as a drink.

Kisel is generally made with fresh berries or fruits (red currants, cherries, cranberries, apples – are most common flavors which are widely available in Russia), but during the winter sweet jams or frozen berries are used to make it. The very first Russian kisels were thick and made with oat, wheat, rye or pea flours, and it dates back over one thousand years.

Nowadays there are lots of instant kisel mixes, which you can find at Russian stores, but I do assure you that to make you own kisel is very easy and definitely better and tastier. I made mine with fresh red currants; you can use any fresh or frozen berries. Enjoy!

Kisel - Russian sweet drink

Servings: 6-8
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: easy
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To make thick kisel add more starch.

Ingredients

200-300g fresh red currants, rinsed

5-7 tbsp sugar (or more, depends on your taste)

2l water

3 tbsp potato starch (or cornstarch)

Method

Keep aside some red currats. Strain the rest through a sieve into a saucepan. Add water, sugar and bring to boil. Reduce the heat, taste and adjust the sweetness.
In a small cup, mix starch with few tablespoons of cold water. Add it to the saucepan along with red currants that you’ve kept. Give it a good stir and turn off the heat.
Pour in a glasses or cups. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

WhiteCurrant tart

Hello-hello! I love summer because it’s berry season! May be not that summer when the outside temperature is +40C or even 50C.. Hope you are having the same great summer as I do this time in Russia: lots of organic berries, vegetables and greens, amazing weather, long walks and talks with friends. But sometimes the weather plays a joke: in the morning can be so cold that you need a thick jacket, later so hot – you need a dress instead of jacket, and so on..

Talking about summer berries, currants is super common and one of the popular type of berry in Russia. I’m sure many of you tried redcurrants or seen it in supermarkets, or tried a dessert garnished with it. Here, there are three types of currants: black, red and white. They differ from one another not only in their color; blackcurrant is the sweetest one, red is tender and sour, and whitecurrant is sweet-and-sour with lots of seeds. And I guess, the white one is less-known, so I’ve been determined to make something tasty with these beautiful berries. Here, they are usually eaten as is or they make compotes (cold drink), jams. I made shortcrust pastry with tvorog (cottage cheese), filled with tender tvorog filling (yes, again cottage cheeese! I love it!) and scattered whitecurrants over the top. Yummy!

So, how is your summer going on? 🙂

WhiteCurrant tart

Servings: 6-8
Time: 2hr
Difficulty: easy
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The recipe calls for whitecurrants, which are usually uncommon, so use redcurrants or any berries that you can get.

If you’re using frozen berries, don’t defreeze it.

I used 22cm baking tin.

Ingredients

Pastry

200g flour

100g butter, cut into small cubes

100g tvorog/cottage cheese (I used 0% fat)

1 egg

Filling

3 eggs

70-100g sugar or fructose (depends on your taste)

300-350g sour cream (20-30% fat)

100g tvorog/cottage cheese (I used 0% fat)

1 tsp vanilla sugar/extract

450-500g whitecurrants

Preparation method

To make the pastry, place flour, butter in a large bowl (or in the food processor) and mix to get breadcrumbs. Mix in tvorog. Add egg and mix until just comes together. Shape into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll the pastry on a lightly floured table to form a round. Grease the baking tin and lightly dust with flour. Arrange pastry into the baking tin. Place in the fridge to cool while you’re preparing the filling.
Preheat oven to 180C.
In a bowl, whisk eggs with sugar. Beat in sour cream. Add cottage cheese and vanilla, whisk to combine.
Take the pastry out the fridge, pour in filling. Scatter over berries.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Leave to cool in the baking tin, then carefully remove from the tin and serve.

Enjoy!