Tag Archives: Xmas

Merry Christmas

My winter holidays are just around the corner, and for the next two weeks I will be travelling to my home-country, socializing and eating, and thus not too much blogging. I’m sure you are in the midst of the Christmas preparations also, and before that I’d like to wish all of you my wonderful readers and blogging friends a Magical and Happy Holidays!

May this Christmas day will be a very merry, peaceful and delicious! I know not all of you celebrate this day (I will be celebrating Christmas on the 7th Jan) but do want to take a moment to thank every one of you for your comments, likes and support throughout the year. You have played an important role in my blogolife, without your posts I couldn’t be inspired to try out new recipes, without your comments I couldn’t improve my photography. Every time I come here-to my and yours blogs I feel like having a tea-time with some lovely friends. 😀

Looking forward to read more interesting posts and tasty recipes from you, guys! And I promise you to post a delicious recipe of one Russian pie soon, it has a fish shape and filling is fish, too. And another recipe of absolutely tasty orange cake, that almost screams – it’s a winter holiday! Stay turned! 🙂

Vanillekipferl

Winter holidays is my favorite time of the year (after birthday)! It seems like people smiling more often, and enjoying cold weather and upcoming festival! We putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it with beautiful toys, buying and wrapping gifts. It’s the right time to plan the holiday menu, whether to roast chicken or prepare the fish pie, make cherry strudel or chocolate cake..
The December would be incomplete without baking! Nothing says it’s holidays quite like Xmas cookies! There is something special about a tray filled with delicious vanilla or cinnamon-flavored cookies.
Baking cookies is such a fun and wonderful event! You can even organize a cookie party, call your kids or friends to help you, to share a holiday mood, and of course to enjoy eating all those treats you’ve made.
I bet you’ve seen crescent-shaped cookies somewhere or may be tried it. These biscuits are very popular in Europe, and especially in Germany, where they’re traditionally baked for Christmas, even though they originate from Vienna, Austria.

Make this season merry and delightful with irresistible vanilla biscuits, that just melt in your mouth! 🙂

Vanillekipferl - German Christmas Biscuits

Servings: 6-8
Difficulty: easy to moderate
Print

Ingredients

200g butter, cold and cut into small cubes

60g icing sugar

a pinch of salt

seeds from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla extract, or vanilla sugar

1 large egg yolk

100g ground almonds

270g plain flour

+vanilla icing sugar*, for dusting

Preparation

*First, prepare your own vanilla icing sugar. Split vanilla pod lengthwise into two halves, and put it in a jar with icing sugar, close tightly. After 1-2 days you will get amazing naturally-flavoured vanilla icing sugar!
For the dough quickly mix butter with sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix in egg yolk. Sift flour and add it to the dough along with almonds. Qucikly knead the smooth dough. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Divide the dough and form rolls 1.5-2.5cm in diameter. Cut each roll into 5-6cm length slices, and form the crescent shape biscuits.
Put biscuits on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in preheated 200C oven for 10-15 minutes.
Put vanilla icing sugar in a plate, and roll still warm biscuits in it.
Let the biscuits cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

Russian pryaniki – gignebread

Today is Christmas in Russia. I wish wonderful and magical day to all Orthodox Christians!

Pryaniki were ones of the favorite treats in Rus’ (old name of Russia). The name was given for it’s spicy aroma and taste. They are similar to gingerbread cookies, but often made more thick.

Pryanik was the symbol of holiday, because ingredients weren’t cheap and used daily. It’s been baked for the Christmas, Easter, weddings and birthdays. There were quite a lot ceremonies and traditions about pryaniki.

In 9^th century, first pryaniki were called “honey bread”, they were baked from rye flour with honey and berry juice, honey contained the half of all mixture. Later wild flowers and spices were added in a pastry.

In 7-8^th centuries, when exotic spices were brought from India and Middle East to Russia, pryanik was named “pryanik”. Spices for pryaniki were called “dry perfume”, among which black pepper, orange and lemon zest, mint, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, anise and clove were most used and favorite.

In 17-19^th centuries, baking of pryaniki was widely-spread craft. In every area people baked their special pryaniki according to traditional recipes; preparation’s secrets were passed on from one generation to another.

Ingridients:

For the pastry:

100-120 ml honey

300g flour

1 tbsp butter

1 egg

1/3 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp spice mix*

50ml water

1 tbsp cognac, brandy or vodka (optionally)

For the frosting:

1 egg white

150g icing sugar (powedered sugar)

*Spice mix:

1/3 tsp powdered coriander

1/3 tsp cinnamon

1/6 tsp nutmeg

a pinch of cardamom

a pinch of clove

a pinch of allspice

Honey and water heat in a pot (turn the heat off before the mixture begin to simmer). Take the pot away from the heat, add half of the flour (sifted) and mix intensively until smooth.

Cool the mixture until room temperature.

Then add the egg, cognac, spices, soda and the remaining sifted flour. Mix the pastry well during 15 minutes; it should be soft and tender.

Roll out the pastry in 5-6 mm/2 inch sheet and cut out any shape you like.

Bake in preheated 200C/400F oven for 15-18 minutes.

While the pryaniki are cooling, prepare the frosting. Beat well egg white, add sugar and beat again untill smooth. Put the ready frosting in a bag and decorate the pryaniki.

Enjoy with a cup of hot tea or a glass of milk. 🙂

Keep the pryaniki in a box, it can be stored during long time.

Slow-cooked beef with fruits

In Russian language, we have one word “tomlenie”, which is similar to the word “stewing”, but has a significant distinction. Tomlenie is a slow-cooking process of meat, fish or vegetables in Russian petch (oven/stove, have a look at the pictures of traditional Russian petch here and here).

Nowadays traditional Russian ovens can be found only in out-of-the-way places (villages and provinces, located in the remotest depths of the country).

It’s considered that, slow-cooking in the common oven is close to the “tomlenie” process, but the real taste and aroma of dishes prepared in Russian petch unfortunately couldn’t be done anywhere else.

Let’s try to prepare the closest dish.

First of all, we need a clay pot with a lid.

Be patient! Stewing will take several hours.

Don’t worry! During this time you don’t need to check or mix the dish every 10-20 minutes, thus you can have a break and watch your favorite movie, and even prepare a side dish. 🙂

Beef with fruits

Difficulty: easy
Print

If you don’t have clay pot-use casserole.

If you don’t have a lid -cover the pot with foil.

Replace cherries with cranberries.

Omit the sugar.

Spice the meat with 1/3 tsp of crushed cardamom, it brings a nice interesting note.

You can add 2-3 tbsp of dry red wine for the better taste (after the frying meat).

Ingredients to feed 4 people:

Beef, cut into 2-3cm cubes – 700g/1lb

Golden onion – 1 big, sliced

Pitted prunes – 150g/5 oz

Cherry fresh or frozen – 150g/5 oz

Sunflower or olive oil for frying- 1 tbsp

Cinnamon – 1/2 tsp

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Bay leaves – 2

Whole black peppercorns – 8-10

Salt, pepper – to taste

some parsley, chopped

Method:

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion for 5-7 minutes, add beef cubes and fry until slightly browned.
Sprinkle the meat with sugar and cinnamon.
Put the meat in a clay pot, add boiling water (just to cover the meat), bay leaves and peppercorns. Season with salt and pepper.
Don’t forget to close the pot with a lid! 🙂
Transfer to a preheated oven, 200C/400F, for 2 hours.
Check the quantity of the liquid, and add some more water – if desired (the meat always should be in the broth).
Reduce temperature to 180C/380F and return to the oven for a further 1 hour.
Add prunes and cherries (no need to defrost), check the seasoning and return again to the oven for 30 minutes.
Switch the oven off and leave the pot in it (until the oven is still warm).
Sprinkle with fresh parsley.