Conference turris::cooks

    Well, I don't know what's authentic, but you might try:
    
    2581.2 Russian Black Bread
    2438.3 & 2348.1 Russian Salad
    2267.2, 1135.4 Pirozki
    1630.12, 853.48, 201 Russian Tea Cakes
    849 Russian Dolls
    709 Bev Stroganov (Apparently invented by a French chef
    259.1 Russian Eggs
    15. The Great Russian Dressing Debates
    
    ed

    KRASNAYA KAPUSTA
    	Red Cabbage
    
    1 med. red cabbage
    1 finely chopped onion
    2 T vinegar
    1 t brown sugar
    2 apples
    salt & pepper
    oil
    1 cup water
    
    wash and shred cabbage, discrad core and coarse leaves
    Fry the onion in the oil in a heavy cassarole, add cabbage.
    Stir a few minutes, add remainder of ing. Bring to a boil,
    reduce heat and cook very slowly 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.

    I took this recipe out of Woman's World money-saver section
    and it went over well with my family 
    
    Russian Chicken and Red Cabbage
    
    1 small head red cabbage thinly sliced
    1 T butter or margarine (I used butter)
    1/4 cup red wine vinegar
    1 onion sliced
    1 T olive or vegetable oil (I used olive oil flavored with garlic)
    1/4 cup gin
    4 broiler/fryer chicken breast halves (skin removed) about 2 1/2 lbs.
    1/2 cup sour cream
    1 tsp cornstarch
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/4 tsp drymustard
    1/4 tsp paprika
    1 cup frozen peas, thawed
    
    In skillet, saute cabbage in butter 5 min. stirring constantly.  Add
    vinegar, reduce heat and cook another 5 minutes.  Set aside.  In
    another skillet, saute onion in oil 2-3 min until softened, add gin,
    1/2 c water and chicken.  Cover and simmer 35 minutes until cooked
    through.  Remove chicken to plate and keep warm.  In same skillet,
    combine sour cream, cornstarch, salt, mustard and paprika , bring to
    boil and boil for one min., whisking constantly, stir in thawed, heated
    peas.   Arrange cabbage on platter, top with chicken and sauce.
    
    A few suggestions - prepare the cabbage while chicken is cooking that
    way is stays warm - I put the chicken on the cabbage in a platter
    and kept it warm in the oven while making the sauce - I also used
    more cornstarch than called for cause they forgot to mention the water
    water as part of the ingredients, and with that much liquid you need
    more starch, however I didn't measure.
    
    Makes 4 servings - per serving  387 cals.  47 g protein, 15 g fat, 15 g
    cargs, 500 mg sodium
    
     

    Forgot another note I used only 1/2 head of a small cabbage and it was
    adequate.

Sounds great, bet you could take a shortcut and use 1 or 2 jars of red
cabbage already cooked.

    I made this on Sunday and it was delicious.  A few changes that I made:
    
    	After the chicken is cooked, I made the sauce.  Then I removed the
    bones from the cooked chicken and returned it to the sauce.  Then
    simmered it for about 15 more minutes.  It was absolutely the best
    chicken I have had in a long time.
    
    Thanks for posting it!

    From "A Little Russion Cookbook"
    
    Borshch
    
    No two recipes are the same for borshch, but a fundamental
    ingredient is sour cream.  It is a well known and delicious soup,
    particularly good when served hot on a cold winter's day [aren't
    they all! -ed].  It is also refreshing served cold in summer.
    It should be sour-sweet and have a tang to it.
    
    1 lb raw beetroot
    1 small white cabbage
    4 cups stock (beef, veal or chicken)
    2 potatoes, diced.
    salt and pepper
    1 TBS sugar
    2 TBS vinegar
    1 lemon
    1/2 cup sour cream
    
    Quarter the white cabbage. Blanch it by pouring boiling water over it.
    Let it stand for a few minutes with the lid on.  Lift out, shred
    finely, and pour the stock over it.  Simmer. Peel the raw beetroot
    and cut it into matchstick sized strips, or grate it coarsely.  Cook
    this in a separate saucepan in water and a tablespoon of vinegar for an
    hour.  Add it with its cooking water to the cabbage soup.  Add the
    diced potatoes, season with salt and pepper, add sugar and lemon juice
    to taste (or more vinegar).  Simmer for 25 minutes or until beetroot is
    cooked.  The soup should have a sharp taste.  If there is too much
    beetroot, remove a little.  It can be used as a salad.  Sour cream
    served in a separate bowl is an essential complement.
    
    I think this recipe's directions lack a little bit for a novice. 
    In case it is not obvious, I think the first line should be:
    "Quarter the white cabbage, place quarters in a large sauce pan.
    Blanch it by [perhaps a quarts or more of] pouring boiling water over
    it. Let it stand ..."
    
    ed

    		Medovaia Kovrizhka
    	      (Old Russian Honey Cake)
    
    
    "Honey cakes are among the oldest known Russian cakes."
    Kovizhka are soft, dense, and only about 1 to 1-1/2 inches high.  Two
    cakes are usually sandwiched together with jam.  (I use homemade 
    strawberry-rhubarb.)
    
    1-2 tsp unsalted butter for greasing pan
    2 tbs flour for dusting baking pans
    1/3 Cup sugar
    1/8 tsp salt
    2-1/2 level tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp ground cloves
    1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    1/4 tsp ground cardamon
    1-1/2 cups sunflower or other vegetable oil
    1-1/2 cups eggs (about 8 large)
    3/4 cup plus 2 tbs honey
    1-1/2 cups warm water
    3-1/2 cups rye flour
    1/4 cup jam (plum or cherry is very nice)
    
    2 baking pans, each 8-9" square
     or 1 baking pan, 12" square
    
    Preheat the oven to 275.  Grease and flour the baking pans and shake
    out the excess flour.
    Combine the sugar, salt, soda, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, oil, eggs,
    honey, water, and flour.  Mix with an electric beater at the lowest
    speed for 1 monute, gradually switch to medium speed, and beat for a
    total of 15 minutes, stopping after 5 minutes and then after 10 minutes
    to rest the machine.  Stop the machine and watch the surface of the
    dough.  If bubbles about 1/2" in diameter begin to appear on the
    surface and more are coming, let the dough rest for 10 minutes.  If
    there are no bubbles, beat for 5 minutes more, or until the bubbles
    appear.  Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
    
    Pour the batter into the prepared pans; it should be 1/2" deep.  Bake
    for 1 hour, or until the crust is deep golden (test for doneness).
    
    Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a
    cake rack.  Cool the cake, turning it over once in 10-15 minutes.  When
    cool, spread the jam on top of one of the layers, cover with the other
    cake, and serve.  If one 12" pan is used, cut the cake in half and
    layer the two halves with jam.
    
    Covered with plastic wrap, the cake will keep for 2 days at room
    temperature or 4 days in the refrigerator.
    
    
    Taken from:
      "The Art of Russian Cuisine" by Anne Volokh
    
    

    This recipe looks very interesting -- a good snacking cake for
    nibblers when you have house guests over the Easter weekend.  I wonder
    tho about the rye flour -- does this give the cake a rye flour bread
    taste?  Would there be a good substitue?
    
    Carel

    Rye flour tastes really good in baked sweets - it won't remind you of
    rye bread at all.  One of my folk-dancing friends has a terrific
    Finnish rye cookie recipe (she gave it to me but I lost it!).  Rye is a
    lot more commonly used in Northern European recipes.  So I would say,
    try the recipe as written first, unless you really can't stand, or
    can't find, rye flour, and see how you like it.  If you can'teat rye
    flour at all, use something else - ground oatmeal, or barley flour
    (which is very tasty) - but you will be making a very different cake.
    
    /Charlotte