Big Family Table

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing.Roasted Beet Salad.

2012-02-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

I am surrounded by cupcakes, cookies, crepes, ice cream, and cakes. It's so hard to resist to try everything we make in Pushkin, and stay in good shape, that's why, couple days a week, I eat light and no-calories meals. I love salads, and there are so many creative ways of making delicious salad from basic ingredients that you can pick up, mix up, and eat up without feeling guilty.

STRAWBERRY BALSAMIC VINEGAR DRESSING.

You can guess, that we use a lot of strawberries in our cafe, since one of he most popular crepe in our menu is... -That's right, "Nutella and Slice Fresh Strawberries" crepe.
I pick through the strawberries, and pick only the best, that go into the customer's meal. Some strawberries are just not perfect enough, and not so bad to throw them away. That's why I make strawberry sauces, and strawberry dressings. You can do the same thing at home- pick through the pint the not -so- beautiful berries, and make something delicious.

-About 10 ripe strawberries
- Juice of half of a Lemon
-pinch of salt
-pinch of black pepper
- Balsamic Vinegar 1 Tbsp
-Honey 2 Tbsp (or more, if you like it little bit sweeter)
-Olive oil - If you are on a diet, 2 Tbsp will be perfect.If not, then add exact same amount as, the strawberry puree. 1/2 olive oil+1/2 strawberry puree.
Use medium saucepan. You can puree strawberries in blender. I sliced, and pureed them with hand stick blender. Add pinch of kosher salt, and black pepper, juice of a lemon. Set the heat on medium, and boil sauce for 5 minutes. You will see, that sauce will thicken, and reduce in amount. Turn off the heat, add balsamic vinegar, and let it cool. Add honey, taste the sauce, and add more salt, or pepper, or honey. I liked to leave it sometimes at this stage. But you can definitely add some olive oil, and whisk throughly. You will have a thick emulsion.

ROASTED BEET SALAD.

If you think, that you don't like beets, it means you never tried roasted/baked young beets. Purchase young, small beets from your supermarket, or farm stand, and you will enjoy the health benefits of this fantastic root vegetable. You can use fresh beet in your power fresh juices, and make some delicious Russian-inspired salads. But today, let's stay on the safe side, and make something, that's more familiar to everyone.

To bake beets, you will need to wrap them in foil, and bake at 425F for one hour in your oven. My professional oven is super monster, and I had them ready in one hour at 350F. Time will vary, if the beets are bigger in size.

Let them cool. Wrap them, and refrigerate, until you ready to use them. I usually bake couple at a time, and use them during the week, whenever I feel like having a salad.

Mix some greens (arugula, spring mix, green spinach), slice your beets. Add some toasted pecans, crumble some goat cheese (or feta), and Strawberry Dressing. Voila!!!

New York surprises us with warm weather

2012-01-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

Weekend's weather was fantastic, everyone for a moment forgot about winter, and enjoyed outdoors. We haven't had the snow yet, and winter blizzards. There is something strange about it, but I like it!
Here is a little piece of Staten Island, which I really like.

Rough and Inverse Puff Pastry.

2012-01-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

I picked basic recipes for Rough/or quick puff pastry and Classic Inverse Puff Pastry. The results are Rough pastry will be forgotten by me and never used again. I found it to be too rough for my taste. Inverse puff , however made me think of myself, as of magician! The raise, the qualities, the layers of buttery delicious pastry made me feel happy, and satisfied. I will simplify the recipe for inverse puff pastry and post it as soon as... I promise.

Quick pastry baked

Apple turnover with rough pastry

Apple turnover with Inverse puff pastry

Layers of pastry with buttercream made into Napoleon.

Goat Cheese Mushroom Pie.

2012-01-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

When we decided to open Pushkin, the main goal was to surprise and satisfy any customer. Our crepes are very different and unusual in some way. I love all of our crepes, but one of the most favorites one is "Goat Cheese+Sauteed Mushrooms+Caramelized onion Crepe."For Home Thanksgiving meal, I really wanted to make a pie with the same ingredients. I used my mother's favorite short crust pastry (pate brisee). Prepared the ingredients one day ahead at work, and assembled the pie before baking.

Pate Brisee /Mom's short crust pastry

1 1/4 cup Flour
1/4 tsalt
1/2 cup of cold butter
I use pastry knife to "chop" the butter into the flour. You will have to have crumbs of butter covered with flour.
Add 1/4 cup of sour cream
2 t of fresh lemon juice or 1 t of vinegar
1/4 cup or less of cold water

I use the scraper to mix in the wet ingredients with flour. Don't add all the water at once, start with half, mix it in, and see if more is necessary. inish kneading with hands, do not over knead. Simply, try to put all the crumbs into one big ball of dough. Make a disc , and wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Note: I made the dough, and prepared the ingredients for the filing a day before. I left everything in the refrigerator overnight,

Filling:
1 1/2 pound of white mushroom /sliced/
1 big onion sliced and caramelized
Goat cheese is up to you and your taste.

Slice mushroom and saute in the pan until cooked. Caramelize onions (in separate pan). Mix Mushrooms+Onions, add salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
I used Pyrex Pie Pan, roll out the dough into circle about 26". Fill it with mushroom + onions mix, crumbled the goat cheese on top, and baked for about 45 minutes.
After first 15 minutes of baking, lower the temperature to 350 F.
The pastry should get nice brownish/golden color.

New Year's Cake -2012!!!

2012-01-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

I am baking my special cake every year. This year, I had to double the size. The cake is so delicious. Layers of walnut sponge cake, meringue layer, and espresso caramel buttercream, with milk chocolate ganache and roasted walnuts. This cake is all my favorite ingredients together!!! The recipe is complicated, but I will try to put it together in nearest future. Since 2012 is Fire Dragon Year by Chinese year, the decoration is inspired by that fact.

Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Christians!!!

2012-01-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

S Rojdestvom!!!

Cinnamon Sticky Buns

2012-01-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

Cinnamon Sticky Buns.

(adapted from Oprah's magazine)

Buns, Croissants, Brioche, Danishes-my yummy world of yeasty dough. "Bulochki" in Russian for buns have been so my favorite since my childhood. Grandmothers were using poppy seed filling and specially baking it for me for my after school snack. Yeap...no chips, no oreos, no soda, no carrot sticks, and no peanut butter sandwiches-only delicious freshly baked poppy seed buns. I will be honest, and tell you the truth, that I never succeeded in remaking those childhood buns. I tried thousands of recipes, and it just never awoke that memory. I will share with you the recipe, which is very easy to do, the results have been always satisfying, and received approval from now-days school snackers. :)

-1/4 cup of warm water
-1 packet/or 2 1/2 teaspoon of dry yeast
- 1/3 cup of sugar
-3/4 cup of milk
- 4 Tablespoon softened butter
- 3 Large egg yolks
- 1 Tablespoon of orange zest
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 - 41/4 cup flour

Filling
-1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar
-1 T. cinnamon
-4 T softened butter

Warm water + yeast+ 1t sugar, leave for foaming in the mixing bowl.
Add milk+butter+sugar+egg yolks+zest+ 3 cups of flour, use the dough hook for your mixer.And add 1 cup of flour, if the dough is sticky add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.
Leave the dough in the greased stainless bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and a towel on top. Leave it for 1 hour , until doubles in volume. Punch it down with your fingers, and let it rest for 20 minutes more.While waiting prepare the topping.

Topping
-3/4 cup pf light brown sugar
-4 T-butter
-3 T-honey
-1 T light corn syrup
-1 1/2 chopped pecans
In a 1 quart saucepan, combine sugar, butter, honey, corn syrup. let it simmer.
Prepare 12x18 rectangle pan, or 12x18 pyrex. Pour the sticky mixture into pan, sprinkle equally pecans on the bottom of the pan.

Roll dough in 12"x18" rectangle. Brush melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture, roll the dough, starting with the long side.Slice into equal 15 pieces. Place dough slices flat side down on top of prepared topping. Cover with plastic wrap, leave it to rise for an hour.

If you are baking in the morning, you could leave the pan in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, leave it outside of the fridge for 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake 30-35 minutes. While hot, turn it upside down on the pan, or a big serving dish. Make sure the pecans, and the sticky topping stays on the buns, not on your feet. I bake the buns without waiting overnight, after 1 hour of raising time in the pan.

We Did It!!!

2011-12-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

It's almost New year's Eve, and it's kind of interesting to look back at things, that happened in a year of 2011. Opening Pushkin Creperie Bakery was a Big Deallll!!!It occupied our mind, and body through the whole year. We got into the space during the Christmas 2010, and received the approved plan for construction after New Year's Eve. It took us 6 months to complete the construction! And we opened our doors on June 30th, 2011. It was long-time dream of ours to have a place like this, and we were happy, that we did it. Thank you PUSHKIN!!!!We Love you!!!! We thank everyone who supported us, who stop by, who came in. We thank our family-Mama, papa, Daniel, Kenan, Anne, Sinan-bey, Canan, Baba. Tnanks to Kathy the Great Super, Jim (landlord), Jim (awesome electrician), his assistant Jim, Vitalik, Ahmat, Kurvan, Igor, Tiles Depot, Home Depot, Brooklyn Roasting Company, Daysha Plaza, Howard, Rupert, and Rupert Jr, Myrtle Assoc. We thank our customers, first one was Paul-the neighbor, Taylor, Seun, Isaia, Hilda,Mike & Alisia, Jener &Tim, our summer school students from Columbia, and Russia, our regular students from Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, US states, neighbors from upstairs, and Hasan (owner of Farmer in the Deli). Our first ever employee-Aja!
You are all awesome!!! Happy New Year!!!

This how our space looked like after we decided on layout.

We got separated from our neighbors!

Walls were installed, but we were still waiting for main door. The door arrive in March 2011. HVAC was installed at the same time, Electric work was also happening at the same time.

We had our drop ceiling installed, and light fixtures started working.

Ohhh, that antique furniture!!! We collected most of our chairs in Flea markets, and Antique/Vintage Stores in NY and NJ. Those chairs looked horrible! We sanded them, stained, and polished.

The main room was finally done!!! :) I love it!

Kids were happy to visit the construction site, and of course help.

Vadim decided to have beard, and shave it when we'll open the doors.

We built the counter, tables, the tile was done on the floor, the paint job is done.

I think, it was our first crepe.

Art work installation.

Working on the menu, trying food. Heineken did help!

First Inspection, and we are ready to operate, and serve food to customers!!!

Filling up the Black board with Menu items.

We are open on June 30th, 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Wish to Pushkin to have walls filled with laughs, good friends, and great food!!!

Check for more info and future updates on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PushkinCreperieBakery

Two Cookies, almost the same recipe!!!

2011-12-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

I love how after the certain time of cooking and baking, the realization of the simplicity of the whole process comes to your life, and all of a sudden, everything makes sense, and you start creating, and playing, and making your own stuff, without being afraid. You heard how in baking everything makes sense, everything matters. So, there was a time, when I was very afraid to replace the amount of ingredients, to replace the ingredient itself. I tried carefully measuring, and stick to what the recipe told me to do. And then, one beautiful morning, my kitchen almost had a halo around, and the voice told me, that it was "Ok" to create. I started with the recipes, that were my "elementary school" of baking -cookies.I remember, that I was baking the batches of shortbread cookies, when I was 7 years old. My mom, did something, that I am as a mom, never do, left me unattended in the kitchen :) I think, that happened, because I was a very mature 7 year old Girl, and I am a mom to immature 9 and 5 year old Boys. :) Cookies...Let's start. One of my favorite customers in my store-Kim, who is a chef, asked me to bake a peanut butter cookie. I was not honest, and told her it was not a problem. I never done a peanut butter cookie before in my life, simply, because Peanut Butter is a not popular product in the rest of the world's supermarket shelf. I was around 16, when my neighbor's father-a pilot, invited us to try American food. There boxes of cereal, jars of peanut butter, and powdered milk. The peanut butter jar was colorful, and attractive. We got the spoons, and were ready to enjoy the Dulce de Leche-looked sweet creamy-paste. You should see our faces! It was a big disappointment for all of us. Since, then, I never bought a jar.
I took my favorite Butter cookie recipe, and replace the butter with the creamy peanut butter, and tried, and tried, and tried one more time, until, here it was "crispy", "buttery", delicious cookie.

This is for Kim. PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE.

1 1/4 cup of flour

1 Tablespoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

115 gr. softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of light brown sugar

1 cup (260 gr) creamy peanut butter

1 egg.

Whisk flour+ baking powder+salt

Beat butter in the mixer with paddle attachment, after 4 minutes, add white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat until butter until fluffy and light (about 5 minutes). Add peanut butter. Beat another minute. Beat in 1 egg. Add mix of flour. Do not over mix! Shape a flat disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.

Roll the walnut size balls of the dough with your palms. Place the balls on the baking tray, and flatten them with hand, you can use fork to impress the lines, and make your cookie flatter. Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

Another cookie, that I really like, and was based on the same butter cookie recipe is Turkish Kurabye, or Middle Eastern Sesame Cookie.

This is for my brother. KURABYE, or Middle Eastern Sesame Seed, Tahini Cookie.

1 1/4 flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

115 gr. of softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of tahini (sesame seed paste)

1 t.vanilla

1/3 cup of sesame seeds for rolling the cookies in.

Whisk flour+baking powder+salt. Beat butter in mixer with paddle attachment +sugar until fluffy (5 minutes), add tahini+ vanilla. Add flour mix. Shape a flat disk , wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Shape the balls( walnut size). Roll the ball f dough in sesame seeds, and flatten it with your hand. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, you'll see the edges will be golden/brown.

Croissant from Scratch

2011-11-24T21:10:00.001-08:00

I enjoy a good croissant. There is something special about this small crescent-shaped pastry, that has delicious flaky inside part, and attracts so many people to enjoy a bite. I picked a recipe from " Flour" book. I like the way it came out, but will not do again. The process was not described correctly (however very detailed). Proofing took 8 hours, which is very long. Was it my fault?-Perhaps... But... I will do the next time classic croissant from the classic pastry chef notes.

2011-01-14T19:46:00.002-08:00

New Year's Eve 2011 Cake!

2011-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Since, the Chinese Calendar says that 2011 is a Year of Rabbit/Cat, I decided to make a Rabbit cake. It looks like an Easter cake :)

My Little Baby Turned 4!!!Sponge Bob Birthday Cake.

2010-08-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

When my Little son turned 4 and I had to find idea for his birthday party, I was quite lost. Whenever I asked him what he wanted, he couldn't give me an answer. My oldest son in oppose to his little brother tells me a year before and gives me a list with presents, and I also knew what my son's current obsession was.My little one, was born in the house, which was already filled with toys and never really asked me to buy anything for him. He never cried and never sent the letter to Santa with hundreds items in it. I figured that I have to see what he loves to watch, and we looooove Sponge Bob Square Pants. It's silly, it's stupid from time to time, but it is entertaining. So, it was decided to create Sponge Bob theme party and I bought all kinds of board games with Sponge Bob images and decided to cover my cake with fondant to make it look like Sponge Bob as close as possible. I tried to make my own fondant few times before with marshmallows and covered the cakes with it and never was fully satisfied with the results. The MF (marshmallow fondant) was too soft and melted to quickly. For me and my family, the taste of cake is very important, that's why everything from top to bottom had to be delicious and beautiful. I bought Wilton fondant, tasted it, and threw it to garbage. Years ago, I bought "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum and thought through the Fondant recipe from it. I bought all the ingredients and... didn't do it. Later, I bought "The essential guide to cake decorating" and liked the simplicity of its sugarpaste recipe. Never did it. :( Finally, decided to browse the Cake decorator's favorite site www.cakecentral.com and found recipe which satisfied hundreds of people. I decided to give it a try...

FONDANT RECIPE

The fondant was made 2 days in advance. I wanted to give it a rest a day after it was made and a day after colored it. I colored it with gel Wilton colors in batches. I loved it!!! The fondant is pliable, stretchy, tastes delicious!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE.

2010-01-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE.

(adapted from the cooking book of Idon'trememebrwho)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

5 1/3 oz (10 2/3 tbsp) unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

You will need two medium size muffin tins (muffin pans) and muffin paper cups to put into tins.

Sift flour, soda, salt and cocoa. In the standing mixer cream softened butter until creamy and white. Add into butter vanilla and sugar. mix for at least 2 minutes. Add egg one at a time. After adding on egg you have wait till the dough fully incorporate with an egg, otherwise you will have a separation of fats and liquid. Add your sifted dry ingredients alternating with milk. Explanation: You put 1/3 of your dry ingredients, mix it on the low speed, add 1/3 of a milk and mix it. Make it 3 times ending with the flour not the milk.

Oven is 350 F. Baking time is 25 minutes. Checking the cupcake for readiness with the wooden skewer or the toothpick. The stick should come out if the dough absolutely clean and dry.

GLAZE.

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chip

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp butter

Mix everything together in the medium sauce pan over the low heat. Constantly mixing with the spoon. When the mixture is all incorporated and all of the chocolate almost melted, take away from the heat and mix it very well. Cool it until room temperature.

I take one cupcake at a time a dip into the chocolate glaze. The top will be smoothly covered with it.

Bonne Appetite!!!

BROWN BUTTER MELTAWAYS (RUSSIAN TEA COOKIES, MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES OR GREEK TRADITIONAL )

2010-01-26T12:54:00.001-08:00

BROWN BUTTER MELTAWAYS

(RUSSIAN TEA COOKIES, MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES OR GREEK TRADITIONAL )

Adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard.

This recipe creates the best meltaway cookie I had ever tried. I LOVE THEMMM!!!!

A few hours before you wish to make cookies, make the brown butter.( It's not complicated, I promise.) You will need 1/2 lb ( 2 sticks) of unsalted butter. Melt the butter in the medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter until solids separate and brown to a dark golden color, 7-10 minutes. usually, I also spend time by mixing it few times with spoon so it won't burn on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and cool at room temperature (1 hour), then chill in refrigerator until solid (1 hour)

Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or hand mixer, cream the brown butter on medium speed until cream colored (2 minutes) If you want to make Russian Tea cookies you will need to add 1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts to the butter while creaming.If you want to make Lemon Italian style Meltaways you add 3 tbsp. finely chopped or grated citrus zest and 2 tbsp citrus juice to the butter while creaming. For mexican cookies we add 1 cup of chopped, toasted pecans and for Greek cookies 1 cup chopped, toasted almonds. Don't forget to cool the nuts before you add them onto the butter.

Add 1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 1/4 tsp salt.Cream for about 1 minute, don't forget to scrape the sides with the spatula.

On low speed, add 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (sifted).Beat until just incorporated (30 sec). Remove the dough and make a disc shaped piece. Wrap it tightly in plastic film and chill for at least 30-45 minutes in refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Flour your hands and pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into 1-inch balls (walnut size). Place the balls 1 inch apart on the sheet.Bake cookies fro 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Do not overbake, or your cookies will be to dry.

As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven , cover them completely with powder sugar. I place sugar in strainer and tap it over the cookies. Let the cookies cool competely on the baking sheet.

Even it's a long description it's very easy to do and very Yummyyyyy.

Warm Lentil Salad

2010-01-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

The recipe is adapted from Gourmet.

2 cups French green lentils , picked over and rinsed ( I used the regular green lentils)
6 cups water
2 Bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1 medium onion , finely chopped
2 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Bring lentils, water and bay leaves to a boil in a heavy saucepan, then reduce heat and smmer, covered, until almost tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 tsp salt, then simmer lentils, covered, until tender but not falling apart, 3 to 5 minutes.

While lentils simmer, cook onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper in 2 tbsp oil in heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are just softened, 7 to 9 minutes.

Make vinaigrette by whisking together vinegar, mustard, and remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper in a bowl. Add remaining 1/2 cup oil in a slow stream , whisking until blended well.

Drain lentils in a colander, discarding bay leaf, and return to saucepan along with vegetables mixtures and vinaigrette. Cook over low heat, stirring, until heated through. Keep warm , add chopped parsley.

The original recipe called for the 3/4 lb smoked Kielbasa or other smoked sausage cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Brown kielbasa in cleaned and dried 12 inch heavy skillet, turning over once, about 2 minutes. Stir kielbasa and parsley into lentils.

I didn't add kielbasa. I served the roasted beef ribs over the salad.

Muraveynik or Ant House Cake or Sweet Salami

2010-01-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

The holidays are almost over. Today is old Calendar New Year, which is a great reason to celebrate one more time the beginning of the year. Give the reason to the Russians!!! So, I decided to start posting the recipes of the dishes I cook on the New Years Eve.
The Muraveynik Cake -translation Ant House cake, is a very easy cake. As New 2010 is a year if a Tiger and I wanted to make something that would look like a tiger and didn't want to work so much on that project, I remembered the old recipe which with a little chocolate would give me a tigers head. :)

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
200 gr. non-salted butter
2 tsp baking powder
4 cups flour

For the Cream:

1 can of condensed sweet milk , boiled in the water for 2 hours.
200gr. sweet butter

Melt the butter in the microwave, cool it down. Add the sour cream and mix it with the mixer. Add sugar , vanilla-mix for 2 minutes. Sift the flour with baking powder and add to the sour cream mixture. After the dough gets together , stop mixing with the mixer. I finish it with my hands, it's better. Put dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes, of course, covered with plastic.

Well, the cream recipe is required to boil the condensed milk can, which will give you a smooth dulce de leche. If you are lucky and you a have a Latin food department in your supermarket or Mexican grocery or Russian food store near you, you can find the NESTLE -LA LECHERA dulce de leche. La Lechera is a thick caramel sweetened condensed milk. You can use it for the cream. If you don't have that available, you can purchase the regular Sweetened Condensed Milk, and put it in the heavy pot covered with water and boil it for 2 hours. I know, that the heating of the can is one of the warnings on the can, but.... The only important thing to remember is to add water when it's not covering the can. When you will forget about it and leave your can heating up in the empty pot, then you are in a big trouble.

Making the cookies.

I use meat grinder to get the thin and long rolls of the dough, which I place in straight lines on the baking sheet. If you don't have the meat grinder, you can use the regular grater and grate the frozen dough, using small portions on the baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes, F 350.

Cool the cookies and crumble them with your hands. You will have small balls or crumbles.

Mix the softened sweet butter in the mixer and add cold Dulce de Leche (caramelized condensed milk). Add the milk with tablespoon and mix after each addition.

Mix the cookie crumbles with cream in the bowl. Now you can shape it, using your hands or placing all the mixture into the bowl. I usually shape a small hill in a shape of ant house. You can sprinkle the poppy seeds, they will look like the small black ants. I also like to add walnuts sometimes. Place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Voila ... the cake is ready.

Merry Russian Christmas!!!

2010-01-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!

BREAD MAKER HAMBURGER BUNS

2010-01-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Fantastic recipe of homemade Buns.

The recipe was found couple years ago in one of the cooking forums. Since then, it is the only favorite buns recipe in my family. If you have a bread making machine, it's fast and easy solution for a dinner.
You can substitute 1 cup of all-purpse flour with whole-wheat. It works just fine.

Add the ingredients in a order.

1 cup water
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil + 2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
  4 cups flour
  1 and 1/2 tsp machine yeast

Select the dough setting, when cycle is complete, I like to leave the dough in the machine for another 30 minutes, just to give it an extra rise.

Remove the dough from machine and divide it in 3 equal portions on the floured surface. Divide each portion into 6 equal balls. My oldest son like big buns and little one loves small buns, that's why I never manage to make equal balls. You have to use your eye-measurement for that.

Turn the balls in your floured hands into a right shaped balls and flatten them a little.

I press them a little on a baking sheet. Baking sheet is covered with parchment paper. I cover the sheet with clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes or until double in volume.

Time to turn your oven on. We will need F350.

I beat 1 egg for the egg-wash and brush it on buns.

Sprinkle sesame seeds and bake at F 350 for 10-12 minutes until lightly brown.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009-12-31T05:45:00.000-08:00

NEW YEAR EVE!!!

New Year is a very exciting event in my life and the life of my family. Generally, this is the day when we exchange the presents and Santa Claus might stop by to bring something special for my kids. This is the day, for which, the menu has to be thought through weeks before the event. I cook a lot for 31 December. I try to be rational, and break cooking steps in parts, like boiling the vegetables for salads one day ahead, or baking the sponge cakes. The regular dishes are extremely popular on New Year's Eve table almost in every post-Soviet countries families. We cook "Olivie" salad, "Herring under the fur coat", Caviar on top of the crust bread and champagne. Even, many are saying that all the heavy salads with mayonnaise and meat are sooo bad for your body, and I clearly understand that. Still, the taste of it reminds of childhood, spent awaiting for the presents, and the Holiday spirit full of magic and surprises.

The Menu for the New Year party.

Olivie salad
Herring under the coat of shredded cooked vegetables
Carrots salad -Korean style
Stuffed cherry tomatoes
Caviar tart
Shrimp, cucumber and avocado salad
Samsa
Crab cakes
Shrimp Kebabs
Smoked Salmon souffle
Mushroom paste
Eggplant rolls
Lamb Ribs
Young potatoes
My Special Cake
Ant House Cake in a shape of Tiger's head

There is a tradition to make wishes , while the clock's beat goes on for 12 times. We all spend those beats with the dreams and wishes in our head. I wish you to never forget you wishes and keep dreaming no matter what it takes.

Happy New Year!!! Have a great 2010!!!!

The recipes will be published after 1st. January.

TURKISH BAKLAVA

2009-12-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

The recipe from SULTANORHANGAZI. (youtube recipe)

I make baklava pretty often and always try something new, trying to find the one, the perfect one. This time , I tried the recipe , which I found on YouTube channel. I followed exact recipe, and I loved it. The baklava pieces come very light, because you use only 2 sheets of filo pastry per a row. It's good to know, but doesn't save you from the calories, because everyone just had 10 pieces at a time. It's easy to make and fast. The rolling pin that she has in the video is also available in asian supermarkets. Mine is a little bit short, that's why I had to cut 2 cm from the edge of the pastry to fit the rolling pin.

Christmas Card. Project for kids.

2009-12-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I volunteered in my son's class yesterday as an art teacher. I decided to show them how to make a greeting card. This is an easy project and with your help and a little story, your kids will have fun making it.

The first greeting cards, is believed, were used in China in 1400s. Chinese people celebrated the Traditional Chinese New Year and loved to exchange the greetings written on a small cards. The European travelers loved the idea of giving cards and brought it with them to Europe. Germans , of course took the whole idea to a new level and decided to print greeting cards. They used carved wood blocks to make copies of the same card. I showed kids stamps and we made some nice small stamped cards.

One of the oldest Valentine card is kept in British Museum . The card is more than 600 years old. I asked children when do we use cards and why do we need them. We also discussed the meaning of the tradition word. They decided that giving and receiving card was a beautiful tradition that made people happy.

I told them that very real artist needs an INSPIRATION. We discussed the inspiration meaning and they shared their favorite inspiration with me. I baked some gingerbread man cookies at home and brought them for children as an inspiration for their project. They learned that the gingerbread cookies recipe came from Germany and that Germans brought it with them to America. Germans loved the beautiful state Pennsylvania and built their houses in Lancaster county. We discussed the ways of decoration of the house and trees and learned that the same ornaments and decorations were not available at that time. That's why children loved the decorated gingerbread cookies. The used them to hang on the Christmas trees and used to put them on the windows. The passing by people saw the little smiley faces of the cookies and that cheered them up in cold, winter days.

CARD.

You will need

1 RED or GREEN cardstock paper folded in half for the card.
1 BROWN paper for the gingerbread man
1 Strip of some colorful paper (you can look in your wrapping paper collection)
1 BLUE cardstock paper
Construction paper for buttons and decoration of the gingerbread man
Hole Puncher
Glue stick or glue dots
Scissors
Christmas themed stamps and Ink pad

For children I made templates of the Ginger man out of Cereal boxes. They had to just trace the figure on the brown paper and cut it out. If you have little kids, then precut all the "ingredients" of the card, and then simply assembly them on the card. Decorate it with some stamping or color it with a white pencil.

Have Fun!!!

ROASTED SALMON WITH MOROCCAN BARBECUE SAUCE (Moroccan Barbecue Sauce)

2009-12-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from "Great Recipes of the Great Cooks" cookbook by Patrick Clark. The recipe requires to cook your own Moroccan Barbecue Sauce. The sauce is to die for. It's sweet , delicious, with nice heat and aromas. The sauce is about 1 cup and it will be enough for couple times.

MOROCCAN BARBECUE SAUCE.

2 1/2 cups honey
1 cup ketchup
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp chile paste with garlic (You can find it in Asian food store)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
5 star anise
2 small cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground cardamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground mace (I didn't have mace, and it was still fine)

In a medium -sized nonreactive saucepan, combine the honey, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, chile paste, cilantro, ginger, star anise, cinnamon sticks, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cardamon, cloves, and mace and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer , stirring frequently, for about 45 minutes, or until reduced by one third. Strain through a fine strainer into a bowl and discard the solids. Cool to room temperature.

After you prepared the recipe above, and cool it to the room temperature, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Season the salmon to taste with coarse salt and pepper, lay on a heavy-duty baking sheet, and baking for 7 minutes. remove the pan from the oven and lightly coat the salmon steaks or fillet with the sauce. Roast the fish until ready.
You can serve it with additional sauce.

BEST- EVER INDIAN CHICKEN CURRY

2009-12-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

INDIAN CHICKEN CURRY FROM MY FRIEND

Sorry, I do not have picture. The dish was gone in seconds, and I couldn't find anything left for the photo. This curry is very delicious. You can easily substitute chicken with vegetables or tofu and make your own vegetarian version of curry. Serve it with basmati rice.

Ingredients:

I used about 2 pounds of chicken thighs cut into cubes
2 yellow onions chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
1 inch of fresh ginger peeled and chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter or ghee
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp of mustard seed (my own preference, optional)
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
salt
1 can of crushed tomatoes
10 fresh cilantro
1 cup cashews grounded in food processor
1 cup whole-milk regular yogurt (if I don't have yogurt, I substitute it with sour-cream mixed with kefir)

Heat butter in heavy pot. Cook the onions until golden color. Add the garlic and ginger. Cook 1 minute and add all the spices ( curry, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, mustard seeds, salt). Cook the spices for 2 minutes, do not forget to stir it. Add chicken and stir. Cook chicken for 5-7 minutes and add tomatoes. After the sauce will start boil, lower the heat and simmer it for 30 minutes. Do not forget to stir.

Pulse you cashews in food processor and when the chicken is ready, add the cashews with yogurt into the curry. Stir very well and cook just until first bubble. Chop the cilantro leaves and garnish the curry.

OVEN-BAKED RED SNAPPER

2009-12-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

RED SNAPPER.

1 whole red snapper (ask the guy from the store to clean the fish)
olive oil
salt, ground pepper
1 lemon
1/2 of a yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 ziplock bag

The fish is perfect as good lamb chops with simple seasoning like salt and pepper. My kids, unfortunately, don't like the fishy smell and that's why I try to marinate fish for at least 30 minutes in lemon juice.

Prepare your fish, wash the inside and dry the fish with paper towels. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon, chop the garlic, add a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the fish cavity with salt and pepper. Put the fish into a ziplock bag and pour the lemon juice mixture. After locking the bag, massage the fish with juice and leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Line a heavy baking sheet with foil and and oil it with olive oil. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place fish atop the foil. Slice the onions into rings. Place few circles of onion inside the fish. If you have few sprigs of rosemary, place it inside the fish. Slice the lemon and place few slices on top of the fish.

Bake the fish for about 40 minutes until the fish is cooked through the bone.