Shashlyk
Shashlyk is an eastern dish originating from Caucasus and Asia. Shashlyk is marinated, always seasoned meat cooked on skewers over a smoky (not flaming) grill. It however won the universal popularity is Russia and became a part of Russian cuisine. Shashlyk is the top popular meal of any outdoor occasion for a big company. Shashlyk is not just grilled meat though. According to Caucasian cooking traditions, shashlyk is made only from lamb, yet in present-day almost any kind of meet and fish goes for Shashlyk. The main rule for cooking Shashlyk is take fresh meat. Here is the recipe of classical lam shashlyk.Ingredients:
Preparation.
Lamb should be non-fat. Cut lamb from lag, cut off extra fat and cube the meat info 3-4 cm pieces. Yet each piece has to have some fat on it. Fat keeps the meat moist and gives it flavour.
The key role in cooking Shashlyk belongs to marinating meat. There are quite few variants of marinade, depending on tradition and preferences, just take some important tips into consideration. Shashlyk guru believe that vinegar kills the natural taste of meat and widely used mayonnaise des not suit at all as it is a cold sauce not available for cooking hot meals. Different sorts of wine can go well in marinade as most wines contains spirits that softens the meat. Thus it is recommended to add 15-20 g spirits or Russian vodka per 1 kilo of meat. Lemon and pomegranate juice can also be used in marinade.
Fresh onions are the essential part of marinade. Some just mix meat and the onions and leave the mixture for a nigh for meet to marinate in onion juice. Milled red and black pepper and other spices, bay leaf and garlic gloves are also added in the marinade. Vegetable oil helps meat absorb fat-soluble components of the marinade. For each marinade, combine all ingredients in a bowl and put in cubed meat. It is recommended to mix the meat and marinade thoroughly like to knead the dough. Let meat stand in marinade for at least 5 hours. Right before placing on skewers each piece is seasoned with salt and pepper. Add a layer of onion, sliced into thin rings after each cube of meat. It is important to cook shashlyk on not flaming fire. So when the flames have completely died down, place the skewers of shashlyk over the coals. It is essential to have some water besides to put out any flame-ups from the fat dripping onto the coals. To check if the shashlyk is done, cut into a piece- if the meat is white, it is done and ready to go to the table. The cooked shashlyk is then garnished with rings of freshly cut or marinated onion and is served with spicy tomato sauce (Tkemali for instance) and red dry wine.back to the top
Chicken Tabaka (Tsyplenok tabaka)
A classical Georgian way of cooking the whole chicken gained its name - Chicken Tabaka from a heavy skillet, "tapha", it is traditionally cooked in.
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Clean a chicken, cut down its breast and thickly rub the chicken with salt and pepper. Put a flattened chicken into a frying pan together with the butter. Press the chicken with the cover (of less size than that of the pan) and place something heavy on the cover to flatten the chicken well inside the pan. Fry the it over medium high heat for 15-20 minutes. Turn the chicken and fry for 20 minutes more, until browned. Serve immediately with fried chips and tkemali or satsivi sauce
back to the top
Chebureki
Cheburek is thin moon-shaped dough filled with meat, mushrooms or cheese and fried in oil. Chebureki has a Turk origin and is a popular meal of Tatar and Caucasian cuisine.
Ingredients:
Dough:
Filling
Preparation:
Boil water with salt and oil (oil makes cheburek bladdery) Pour 1/3 cup of flour in the bowl with boiling water, stirring the mixture thoroughly to avoid the clots. Mashing the flour makes the dough soft and plastic Add an egg and vodka and mix again. Knead the dough adding the remaining flour gradually and leave for at least an hour. Knead once during this time.
To preparing the mincemeat, mince the meat and onion, sprinkle with salt, spices, add a half a glass of water or more or a glass of kefir. Mix all the components. Kefir binds the meat.
Frying chebureki.
Take some dough and make a "sausage", cut diagonally in about 3-4 cm pieces.
Roll out each piece up to 1 mm thin. Spread the mince meat on one half of the dough, fold the piece and press the edges
squeezing the air out. Roll the special device or a saucer along the edges and make sure they do not have holes.
Fry both sides in a heavy hot pan in oil on medium heat .
Serve hot.
back to the top
Russian national meals recipes
Ukrainian national meals recipes
Belarus national meals recipes
Caucasian national meals recipes
Authentic Russian Recipes, Cuisine and Cooking
Russian cuisine and Russian cooking recipes
A detailed description of Russian food and meals on Wikipedia
Traditional Russian meals and recipes
Order Russian food on http://www.russiantable.com/store