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 Natalia 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 Natalia from Tver 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.

Traditional Russian beverages are kvas, sbiten, med, mors, voditsa and many others.
In the good old times when Soviet people had no idea about Coca-cola, they drank refreshing and delicious home-made kvas.
Anastasia Web Natalia from Tver can give you the picture of what it tasted like.

Ingredients:
1 cup boiling water
1 cup rye flour
1 ts sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 pkg dry granular yeast (7g)
4 quarts boiled water, cooled to lukewarm

Pour boiling water over the flour and stir briskly until smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve the sugar in the lukewarm water, sprinkle the yeast over it, and let stand for 10 minutes. Combine the cooled batter, cover and let it rise until light and double in bulk. Stir in 4 quarts of boiled water, cooled to lukewarm. Cover and let it stand in a warm place for 3-4 days. When liquid is clear and tastes mildly sour, pour it off carefully with disturbing the sediment. Cover and keep in the refrigerator.