The Russians have a soup meal at least once a day. Schi, borsch, rassolnik, botvinia, ukha, okroshka and solianka 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 borstch? Nothing can warm your heart and stomach better than this traditional soup meal.
Ask Anastasia Web Oksana to make it for you!

Ingredients:
3/1/2 c canned tomatoes
5 or 6 med. size potatoes cut in halves
1 large carrot cut fine
1 small peeled beet
black pepper & salt to taste
1 small onion chopped butter
4 c shredded cabbage
¾ c sweet cream
½ c fresh green pepper chopped
2 tb fresh or dried dill
1 celery chopped fine
2/1/2 qts water
1/1/2 c diced potatoes

Put water to boil in large kettle. Add 1/2 c canned tomatoes. Drop in boiling water 5 or 6 med. size potatoes, chopped carrot and the beet. Add 3 tb butter in frying pan. When melted add chopped onion, cook tender but do not brown. Add 3 c canned tomatoes and let simmer with onion and butter until a thick sauce. Into a separate frying pan put 2-3 tb butter to melt. Add 2 c shredded cabbage and fry. Cook tender but do not brown. Shred another 2 c to add later to the borstch. When potatoes are tender remove them to a bowl. Add 2 tb butter, mash well, then add ? c sweet cream and mix well and set aside.
Add 1/1/2 c diced potatoes to the stock and the remainder of the shredded cabbage. When diced potatoes are tender, add the onion-tomato-sauce, then add the cooked cabbage, and the potato-cream mixture. Add 3 tb butter to the borstch. Stir well.
Add fresh chopped fine green pepper. Add 3 tb fresh or dried dill. Remove beet, one hour later after borstch is ready.
Borstch is ready to serve. Serve with chopped garlic in your soup bowl and a fresh piece of bread and butter. Yummy, enjoy...

Small pies filled with minced meat

Are you hungry? Have you had dinner yet? Wanna try Russian pelmeni?
Anastasia Web assures you Oksana from Novosibirsk makes them so yummy!

Pelmeni came to Russian cuisine from Siberia; the name is translated "bread ear" from the Komi language.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 c flour
1 c milk or water
1/2 ts salt
1 tb vegetable oil
3 eggs

Mincemeat:
250 g beef
250 g pork
1 onion
salt and pepper to taste

Grind beef and pork in the meat chopper. Add chopped onion, salt and pepper. Mix flour with eggs, salt and oil until soft dough forms. Knead on floured surface until the dough is elastic. Take some dough and make a "sausage" out of it (1 inch in diameter). Divide into pieces (1 inch thick). Roll each piece so that they are 1/16 inch thick. With the help of a cup (2 inches in diameter) make rounds on the dough. Fill each round with 1 teaspoon of the mincemeat, fold into half-moons. Pinch edges together and connect the opposite sides. Pelmeni can be frozen to be cooked later, or cooked immediately. To cook pelmeni, boil a lot of water, as they can stick to each other. Drop pelmeni into boiling salted water. Stir them from time to time. Boil for 20 minutes. Pelmeni are served with butter, sour cream or vinegar, ketchup.

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 Oksana from Novosibirsk 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.