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 Albina 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.

Cabbage rolls with millet

Golubtsy, or cabbage rolls with millet, is a traditional and very laborious Russian dish. It takes a lot of patience and skills to make it. However, we are sure your sweet Anastasia Web Albina from Kazan will succeed in pleasing you with the perfect golubtsy!

Ingredients:
4 3/8 lb cabbage
1 c millet
1 ? oz salt pork
2 carrots
1 onion
2 tb flour
4 tb tomato paste
8 tb sour cream
2 tb butter
2 c water or broth
hot peppers
salt to taste

Pour boiling water over a head of cabbage with the stem removed. Separate leaves from head and trim the veins. Dice the onions and carrots fine and saut? until the onions are starting to brown. Wash the millet well, cover with water and bring to a boil. Strain and combine with chopped salt pork, carrot/onion mixture peppers, salt and the raw eggs. Mix thoroughly with hands, then place portions of the mixture onto the cabbage leaves, roll tightly and tuck in the ends. As you finish rolling the cabbage rolls, put them into a Dutch oven, and add the sour cream dressing, boil thoroughly strain, salt and serve.
Sour cream dressing: brown the flour in the butter. Add tomato paste and sour cream and some of the broth from the millet.
Alternative: put cabbage rolls in a large baking pan, make the sour cream dressing without thinning it, cover the rolls and bake at 325 F for about an hour.

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 Albina from Kazan 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.