Happy Maslenitsa, my friends! Maslenitsa or Pancake Week is a eastern european religious and folk festival that celebrates the end of the winter and the start of spring. In Orthodox tradition it is the week of preparation before the start of Great Lent, a time to eat all the cheese and dairy and animal products forbidden during [Continue Reading…]
Easy Beef Belyashi
You know sometimes when you’re just doing your thing, like sweeping the kitchen floor and singing “Love me like you do” into the tip of the broom, and a random taste appears in your mouth out of nowhere, and you’re like WHAT IS THAT. WHAT. IS. THAT. And it’s not an actual taste, but it’s [Continue Reading…]
Homemade Creamy Ricotta Cheese
Have you ever tried making ricotta cheese? Try this recipe for homemade creamy ricotta cheese and you will be amazed how simple and delicious it is! Ricotta is very similar to farmers cheese that I’m used to from back home. Farmers cheese is the Eastern European ricotta except milk is left to ferment and curdle first before [Continue Reading…]
Farmers Cheese Pancakes – Syrniki
Remember how I made the delicious farmers cheese? Farmers cheese is an Eastern European version of ricotta cheese except it first curdles at room temperature to start off the fermentation process and then finished with the help of some heat. It really is best for your digestive system due to lactic acid bacteria which guards your healthy [Continue Reading…]
Uzbek Steamed Dumplings – Manti
These Uzbek Steamed Dumplings – Manti are the bomb! I could hardly wait to take them out of the steamer and sink my teeth into one, not to mention I had to wait to take pictures! It was torture, pure torture! But now all is good in the world again. I had my Manti with a big scoop [Continue Reading…]
Russian Kefir Crepes
This post is sponsored by our generous friend Katya and her fisherman dad who treated us with the freshest caviar out there 🙂 Thank you, thank you! You know life is great when you’re eating this. Classic Russian Kefir Crepes, or as we call them bliny, served with caviar. These thin Russian Kefir Crepes are my favorite weekend [Continue Reading…]
Meat Aspic (Kholodets)
Meat Aspic or Kholodets is another traditional vintage dish for various eastern european countries. It represents a simple healthy broth cooked from parts of meat which is then cooled down to jellify. Most recipes call for adding a pack of gelatin to jellify the broth, but I like my kholodets the old-fashioned, natural way by simply [Continue Reading…]