Digital Photography Tips, Recipes, Technology and Photographs from The Mansurovs
I always put up the best recipes on my blog (at least best recipes from my kitchen :)), but this Beefstroganoff is going to top all of them. Taste-wise, I would say, this is one of the closest recipes to the original recipe, created by one of the Count Stroganoff’s chefs. In case you are curious about this recipe and a brief history of beefstroganoff, follow along!
Upside-Down Nectarine Cake is very delicious, soft and easy to make. It is so upsetting to buy fruits that smell great but taste like paper. Even if you go organic, there is never a guarantee that fruits you buy will beat the “sweet” standards. At times like these, I often recall our local bazaars back home, where we could try the fruit before buying it.
One word: DELICIOUS!!! I’ve been wanting to post the recipe for a Grape Leaf Dolma for a while, but it gets a little hard to find nicely preserved grape leaves here in the U.S. Often times, I end up buying easily torn, tough older leaves that were picked too late. When the leaves are pickled, they are impossible to eat!
The best way to make Dolma is from fresh grape leaves. It is absolutely a must to start gathering grape leaves while they are new, smaller in size and very fresh. My dad is an amazing gardener and in season we always had young grape leaves in our possession. Now I live in an apartment building and do not have a luxury of having freshly picked leaves. For that reason, my quest for properly preserved grape leaves has been going on for good 5+ years.
Mongolian Triple is one of our favorite Chinese/Mongolian recipes :) We eat it pretty often at our local Chinese restaurant called “Hoong’s Palace”. The food and the service at that restaurant is just superb, so if you happen to come to Denver or if you already live near Denver, you have to check the place out!
Why Mongolian Triple?
I mean – YUM! Of course you do need to like either the ricotta cheese or the farmer’s cheese for this recipe (ehm, made out of skim milk). In our family, we love both. You have to try these Fruit and Cheese Bars! Every time I have farmer’s cheese in my refrigerator, I know what to use it for! Choices are countless. I hope to share it all with you one by one. This particular recipe has three layers of fruits. Favorite of my children and those who like fruity desserts. Please let me know if you like any of the recipes. I love feedback! :)
OK Gals and Pals. Let’s admit that many of us have hard time choosing what to prepare for breakfast. Just breakfast is half way of the trouble! Knowing how to make a healthy breakfast is the biggest dilemma. This Veggie Scramble is approximately 242 calories! Should I go on? It is delicious, filling and absolutely healthy! It has fat, protein, carbohydrate that we need for a perfectly balanced breakfast. Most of all, it is good for me (as in it is good for everyone)!
Lamb and Vegetable Soup, also known as Shurpa (Sho’rpo) is a well-known Central Asian soup. I’ve prepared it to many of our American friends and every time I get very good compliments on how heart warming, rich and tasty this soup is. There are different types of Shurpa and you can use different vegetables. Another type involves pre-frying the ingredients (qovurma sho’rpo), which I am not very much fond of. I love the one which is slow cooked (simmered). Thus, I decided to share this recipe with you. I should note that everyone makes shurpa differently. If you stumble upon a different type of shurpa, do not be surprised. I chose the one with relatively basic ingredients. Most often there are chickpeas (garbanzo beans) added to give it an authentic taste. But my husband is not a big fan of garbanzo beans in this soup, so I don’t add them. If you want to try, be my guest :)
Chicken and Mushroom Julienne is where the French cuisine meets the Russian cuisine. Despite the name, Julienne is an Eastern European dish, which is made by sautéing a small amount of flour in a hot, dry skillet until it is golden brown and adding clarified butter. The latter method reminds me of French ‘roux’ – the traditional thickening agent for classical French sauces and gravies. Not only flour slightly thickens the sauce, it also gives the dish such a rich taste that you will definitely want to grab some more of that deliciousness. There are ways to substitute the sauce with a simple Russian smetana or heavy whipping cream. But if you ever want to try this recipe, PLEASE do not look for a substitute. You will not regret that you went along with what this julienne has to offer you :)
Meatballs and cutlets are always a hit in our family. This is one of my favorite recipes since I was a little kid. It is very soft and doesn’t require much chewing :P The combination of herbs, vegetables and all the other ingredients involved in this dish makes it a perfect dinner, lunch but not breakfast! :)
You can serve it to your guests and I am sure they will love it as much as you do!
Come summer it gets too hot to eat hot food. So, we tend to deviate towards more refreshing, cooler entrees. Okroshka is one of those refreshing soups served cold and is mostly made of raw vegetables. Most people may not know what Okroshka is and may not like the fact that it is made with Kefir or butter milk. If it makes any difference, original Okroshka is made with Kvas as a soup base. Kvas is a beer-like non-alcoholic drink. It is slightly sweet and has a very rich taste. Well, we chose a leaner and healthier version of Okroshka :)
My mother-in-law is a great cook and while she is visiting us, I am planning to learn as much as possible from her. Okroshka was the first thing she taught me and I just love this recipe! I decided to share it with you guys. Maybe some of you will brave it to make this fantastic and refreshing dish.
By the way, another thing about my mother-in-law is, she remembers every single recipe by heart! How cool is that? :)
