Russian Mushroom Julienne

 I always thought that Julienne is French dish, but apparently it was cooked in Russia for a long time too (according to the Internet). Anyway, here is the recipe for some of my friends who tried it and enjoyed its rich and full taste!

Ingredients for Mushroom Julienne

• 20 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
• 1 white onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 pint sour cream
• 2 tablespoon white all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• An 8 x 8 inch casserole dish OR 9-10 small ramekins

Instructions for Cooking Russian Mushroom Julienne

1. Lightly butter the casserole dish or ramekins. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Chop mushrooms and onions
4.  
5. Place flour into a small frying pan and heat it up stirring occasionally until golden brown. Set aside to cool down
6. Make sure you sift cool flour before use. Mix it with sour cream, add 1/2-1 cup of water and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well
7. 
8. Put a skillet on high heat and add the butter. When the butter is hot, add the chopped mushrooms and chopped onions. (Turn down the heat if the butter begins to smoke or browns too much.) Fry the mushrooms and onions, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their liquid. This should take approximately 10 minutes.
9.  
10. When the mushrooms and onions are cooked, add them to the sour cream mixture and stir to combine.
11. Pour the sour cream, mushroom, and onion mixture into the prepared casserole dish (or individual ramekins). Top with the grated cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 415 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 15 minutes (less time may be needed if individual ramekins are used), until the cheese is slightly browned.
12. Enjoy! (Julienne is especially delicious when it is served quite hot.)
    

Crock Pot Rosemary Cornish Game Hen

INGREDIENT:
1-2 cornish game hens
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbs salt
1/2 tbs ground pepper
1 tbs granulated onion
1 tbs granulated garlic
2 tbs dried rosemary or 2 2 fresh spring rosemary
1/4 cup of water

DIRECTION:

1. Sprinkle bottom of crock pot with half the salt and pepper then drizzle 1 tbs olive oil over the bottom of the pot. Rough chop the onion and spread over the bottom of the pot. Place frozen cornish game hen on top of the onions. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on the birds. Rough chop the garlic and place half on the top of the birds and the rest let fall in the pot. Season the birds with remaining salt, pepper and granulated garlic and onion seasoning. Top the bird with dried or fresh rosemary.

2. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pot. Cook on LOW heat setting for 6 hours or until the legs begin to fall away from the body.

3. To serve, cut the birds down in the middle. Serve with boiled potatoes or steamed vegetables.

Italian Tiramisu

I just got back from Italy and wanted to try some Italian food to cook at home.I really like Italian dessert Tiramisu, but it contains coffee and alcohol, produce that I don't intake. So I need to come up with healthy version of Tiramisu, which I did.

I had to go to the international store to get Lady Fingers cookies and to the baking specialty store to get non-alcoholic version of Rum. Lady Finger cookies are like classic cookies for Tiramisu, but I think that any sugar cookies will do just fine.

Ingredients: 

4-5 egg yolks
1 cup of whipping cream
1/2 cup of sugar or sugar substitute
1 cup of strong coffee (I used PERO drink, which is made of roasted barley, no caffeine)
8 oz. of Mascarpone cream (it can be substituted with soft cream cheese beaten with 4 tb spoons of sour cream)
10-12 Lady Fingers cookies or other sugar cookies
3 tb spoons of cocoa powder 
1 tea spoon of flavored Rum or Marsala

Beat the whipping cream with 2 spoons of sugar until high peaks. In a separate bowl beat together egg yolks, flavored Rum or Marsala, 1 spoon of coffee drink and the rest of the sugar  until sugar is dissolved. Add Mascarpone cream and beat another 3 minutes. Slowly infold the whipped cream, but don't beat for long, just enough time to have it smooth and fluffy.

 

Now is the hard part: dip each Lady Finger cookies in cold coffee drink for 3-4 second and layer them up on the bottom of the serving dish. If you dip them longer, they will get to soggy and you will ruin the unique taste of Tiramisu. Use only half of the cookies, you will need them for two layers.





 
 Use the half of the whipped cream mixture to
cover the soaked cookies.
Repeat the procedure until all the cookies
and the cream are gone.


Use a small sifter to spread the cocoa powder on the top of the finished dessert. Let it chill at least for three hours. Serves 6 people.

 Enjoy!

  

New cake Aspen Log (Торт Березовое Полено)

I went to Russia a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed my trip and enjoyed Russian food too. I brought back a couple of recipes that I would like to try. Here is one of them: Aspen Log Cake.    
There are three parts for the cake: batter, filling and cream for the topping.
For batter you will need 6 eggs, 1 cup if sugar, 1 cup of floor, 1/2 tbsp  of salt, 1 1/2 tbsp of baking powder and 2 tbsp of vanilla. Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix them together with the kitchen mixer into runny batter. (About 2 minutes)
Prepare baking sheet (light is better than dark). Take a parchment paper of the size of the baking sheet. Fold it according the size of the sheet and generously spray it with baking spray (or cover with the oil by hand). Pour ready batter into the prepared baking sheet, spread it over the parchment paper evenly. Bake 13-15 minutes at 365 F temperature until slight golden brown top.
Filling: 1 cup of fresh raspberries mixed with 1/2 cup of sugar, break the berries with the fork, mash it into runny berry sauce.
As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, spread berry sauce evenly over the cake and roll it up into a roll while it is hot! It is important - do it immediately while it is hot, otherwise it won't roll up.
Let the roll to cool down completely.
 Prepare the cream for the topping: 1 cup of sour cream mix with 1/2 cup of sugar.
When cake is cool down, spread cream evenly on the top of the roll making it looking like a log. Scrape a chocolate bar or candy with the knife and decorate the top of the cake with the pieces of the chocolate so it will look like an aspen log.
Cool it down in the fridge overnight. It will taste better! Sorry, I couldn't add any pictures today, check out the FB page to see the cake picture.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151323285925821&set=a.71025005820.106143.526275820&type=1&theater

Homemade Crourons

One of my friends mentioned about new obsession with Homemade Croutons. I decided to fund a recipe and try it! Boy, was it good! And easy too. So, here is recipe that beats any Italian zesty croutons from the box.

Ingredients: Day old French bread, Olive Oil, Salt and freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 teaspoons of red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut bread into cubes and place in large bowl. Drizzle cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix well. Spread seasoned bread onto sheet pan.

 

 Bake for about 15 minutes. Let them cool down completely. Store in zip-lock bag for your soup and salads. Yumm!!!

Good Eats Meatloaf

I'm not a big fan of meatloaf. But I need to learn how to cook it because my American husband likes it and for the leftovers sake if it great family meal! So, here we go: Good Eats Meatloaf, American, not Russian way!

Ingredients

• 6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and broken
• 3 whole cloves garlic
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 18 ounces ground chuck
• 18 ounces ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg 

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture.
Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.



Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf.

 Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• Dash hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey

Combine the Ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

Another few minutes to cool down and , Honey, dinner is ready! 

 

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Ingredients

• 4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup good mayonnaise, plus more for the bread
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 cup small-diced celery (2 stalks)
• 8 to 10 slices health or seven-grain bread
• 1 package green salad mix or lettuce leaves

Directions

Baking chicken is a little bit a messy business, but it is totally worth it. Your salad meat will be moist and delicious! So, roll your sleeves and get ready for a little work.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside to cool.
When the chicken is cool, remove and discard the skin and bones and cut the chicken into 3/4-inch dice. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the mayonnaise, tarragon, celery, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss well.

To assemble, spread a little mayonnaise on half the bread slices, top with the chicken salad and green mix or lettuce leaves of your choice, and cover with the remaining slices of bread. Cut in half and serve.

Believe me, it is sooooo good that your guests will be asking for recipe! :)