Sauerkraut and Meat Soup

The Russians have a soup meal at least once a day. Shchi, borsch, rassolnik, botvinia, ukha, okroshka, solianka and many others has been a peculiarity of Russia since ancient times. Soups can be made on meat, fish, mushroom, vegetables or milk stocks.

How about a plate of Russian shchi? Nothing can warm your heart and stomach better than this traditional soup meal. Ask Anastasia Web Aizhan to make it for you!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb breast beef
1/2 lb breast pork
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups sauerkraut
1/2 cup sour cream
1 carrot
1 parsley
2 onions
2 potatoes
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp dill
8 black pepper corns

Pour the beef and ham with boiling water, add an onion, potatoes and a part of roots (whole), boil for 1.5 hours until the meat is half-ready. Then add the sauerkraut and chopped onion, the rest of the roots cut in strips and continue to boil for 1 hour.

Preserving vegetables and fruits is an ancient Russian tradition and is still very popular. Nothing can compare with home-made pickled mushrooms and cucumbers. And who never tried grandmother's gooseberry preserve has lost a truly delicious joy of life!
You can ask your Anastasia Web Aizhan from Aksay to make some pickles for you! We are sure she has stored up some old grandmother's recipes.

Ingredients:
4,4 lb little cucumbers
2 tb vinegar 9%
2 tb sugar
100 g salt
water
horse-radish
dill
garlic
pepper
leaves of black current

Cucumbers are pickled in large jars. You can use little ones, it's more comfortable to open them. Clean cucumbers well and put them in cold water for 5-10 hours. Sterilize the jars in the boiling water for 20 minutes. Put a leaf of horse-radish, dill and few cloves of garlic, pepper and couple of black current leaves on the bottom of the jar. Put the cucumbers up to the top. Pour hot water in the jar. Let it cool down for about 10-15 minutes. Pour off this water into a pan, add salt, sugar and boil it again. After boiling add vinegar and let liquid boil for 2-3 minutes. Sterilize the covers in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Pour hot liquid into the jar to the brim. Close the jars with covers. Turn the jar upside down. Cover them with a warm blanket. Leave them for 4-6 hours. If the jars are still warm, let them cool down. Place them in a cool place and keep for months.

Russian potato-and-cabbage turnovers

Every Russian family has its own, handed down from generation to generation the recipe of pirozhki. They vary greatly but one thing is for sure, the Russians put all their soul into them; no other dish reflects Russian national type better than pirozhki.

Ask your Anastasia Web Aizhan from Aksay to make pirozhki for you and your friends!

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 2/3 cups flour
1/2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold butter, cut into bits
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tb cold water if necessary

Filling:
3/4 pound russet (baking) potatoes
2 tb butter
1 onion, chopped fine
3/4 ts caraway seeds
1 tb vegetable oil
3 cups chopped cabbage
3 tb sour cream
2 tb water if necessary
3 tb finely chopped fresh dill
an egg wash made by beating 1 large egg with 1 teaspoon water

Blend together flour, baking powder, salt, and butter until the mixture resembles meal. In a small bowl whisk egg yolks and sour cream; add sour cream mixture to the flour mixture, and blend the mixture until it forms a dough, adding the water if the dough seems dry. Divide the dough into fourths, form each fourth into a flattened round, and chill the dough, each round wrapped well in wax paper, for an hour or overnight.

Make the filling:
Peel potatoes, cut them into 3/4-inch pieces, and boil them until they are very tender. Force the potatoes through a ricer or food mill into a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook onions and caraway seeds in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and oil over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is golden, add the cabbage, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 5 minutes. Cook the mixture, covered, over moderately low heat for 5 minutes more and stir it into the potato mixture with the sour cream, dill salt and pepper to taste. The filling may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.
On a lightly floured surface roll out 1 piece of the dough 1/8 inch thick, keeping the remaining pieces wrapped and chilled, and with a 3-inch cutter cut out rounds. Brush each round with some of the egg wash, put 2 level teaspoons of the filling on one half of each round, and fold the dough over the filling to form a half-moon, pressing the edges together firmly to seal them and crimping them with a fork. Gather the scraps of dough, reenroll them, and make more pirozhki with the remaining filling and dough and some of the remaining egg wash in the same manner. The pirozhki may be made up to this point 5 days in advance and kept frozen in plastic freeze bags. The pirozhki need not be thawed before baking.
Arrange the pirozhki on lightly greased baking sheets and brush the tops with the remaining egg wash. Bake the pirozhki in preheated 350�F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are golden, and serve them warm or at room temperature.