Russian Easter Dessert (Pashka)

Russian Orthodox Christians created this dessert in celebration
of Easter.

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups small-curd creamed cottage cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
1/4 cup finely chopped blanched almonds

Mix egg yolks and whipping cream in heavy saucepan.
Stir in
sugar and salt.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until
mixture just coats a metal spoon, 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove from
heat; stir in vanilla extract.
Place saucepan in cold water until
custard is cool.
If custard curdles, beat with hand beater until
smooth.

Place 3 cups of the cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons of the
butter in blender container.
Cover and blend on medium speed,
stopping blender occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth.
Repeat
with remaining cottage cheese and butter.
Stir custard into cheese
mixture until smooth.
Stir in candied fruit and almonds.

Line a 2-quart non-clay flower pot (with opening in bottom) with
double layer dampened cheesecloth.
Pour cheese mixture into pot;
fold ends of cheesecloth over top.
Place pot in shallow pan; place
weights on top.
Refrigerate 12 to 24 hours, pouring off any liquid
that accumulates in pan.

To serve, unmold onto serving plate; remove cheesecloth.
Garnish
as desired ith additional candied fruit and blanched almonds.

Refrigerate any remaining dessert.

Yields 12 to 14 servings.

Russian Pot Roast

Serve with hot buttered egg noodles.

5 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium onions, sliced
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (3 to 4 pound) beef boneless rump roast,
chuck eye roast or bottom round
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup dairy sour cream
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup minced dill weed
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cook and stir potatoes and onions in oil in Dutch oven over
medium heat until onions are tender, about 10 minutes.
Remove
potatoes and onions with slotted spoon.
Cook beef in remaining oil,
turning occasionally, until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes;
drain.

Add potatoes and onions to beef in Dutch oven; sprinkle with
bouillon and pepper.
Mix sour cream, water and flour with fork
until smooth; pour over potato mixture.
Heat to boiling; reduce
heat.
Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Stir in dill weed and lemon juice.
Cover and simmer until beef
is tender, about 30 minutes longer.

Garnish with fresh dill if desired.

Russian Rye Bread

Serve with hearty soups.

2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 tablespoon freeze-dried instant coffee
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
4 cups medium rye flour
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg, slightly beaten

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl.
Stir in butter,
molasses, coffee, honey, salt, fennel seed and rye flour.
Beat
until smooth.
Stir in enough whole wheat flour to make dough easy
to handle (dough will be stiff but slightly sticky).
Turn dough
onto generously floured surface; knead until smooth, about 5
minutes.

Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up.
Cover; let rise in
warm place until double, about 1 hour.
Dough is ready if
indentation remains when touched.

Punch dough down; divide into halves.
Shape each half into a
round 5-inch diameter loaf.
Place loaves on greased cookie sheet.
Cover; let rise until double, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush each loaf with egg.
Sprinkle with fennel seed if desired.
Bake until loaves are dark brown and sound hollow when tapped,
about 1 hour; cool on wire racks.

Russian Salmon Loaf (Coulibiac)

In Russia, kasha is sometimes used instead of rice.

Pastry
1 medium onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
5 black peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt
2 pounds salmon steaks*, about 1 inch thick
1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked regular rice
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon
8 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 large onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons minced dill weed
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
Dairy sour cream, melted butter or margarine

Prepare Pastry.

Heat 1 1/2 inches water, 1 onion, the bay leaf, peppercorns and
2 teaspoons salt to boiling in a 12-inch skillet; reduce heat.

Arrange fish in single layer in skillet.
Simmer uncovered until
fish flakes easily with fork, 4 to 6 minutes.
Drain and cool.
Remove bones and skin from fish; flake fish.

Heat 1 cup water, rice and bouillon to boiling in 1-quart
saucepan, stirring once or twice; reduce heat.
Cover and simmer 14
minutes without lifting cover or stirring.

Remove from heat.
Fluff rice lightly with fork.
Cook and stir
mushrooms and 3 onions in 1/4 cup butter until onions are tender.
Gently stir rice, mushrooms, onions, hardboiled eggs and dill weed
into flaked salmon.
Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Shape one-half pastry into flattened
rectangle on well-floured cloth-covered board.
Roll pastry with
floured stockinet-covered rolling pin into a 16 x 7-inch rectangle.
Trim edges evenly.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Mound salmon
mixture over pastry to within 1 inch of edges.
Roll other half
pastry into an 18 x 9-inch rectangle.
Moisten edges of pastry on
cookie sheet with water.
Carefully place second pastry half over
filling.
Press edges with fork or flute to seal.
Leftover pasty can
be cut into shapes to decorate top of pastry.

Cut 1-inch circle in center of top crust or cut slits so steam
can escape.
Mix egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water; brush pastry with
egg yolk mixture.
Bake until golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes.
Serve
with sour cream.
Yields 8 to 10 servings.

Pastry
1 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup shortening
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
10 to 12 tablespoons cold water

Cut butter and shortening into flour and salt until particles
are size of small peas.
Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time,
tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost
cleans side of bowl.
Gather pastry into a ball.
Divide into halves;
shape into 2 rounds.
Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 3
hours.

* Two(16 ounce) cans salmon, drained and flaked, can be
substituted for the salmon steak; omit cooking step.

Ukrainian Dried Fruit Candy (Ovochevi Konfeti)

Posted by Olga 7:31:13am 10/16/03

Source: Traditional Ukrainian Cookery - Savella
Stechishin

To make about 1 pound.

1 cup dried prunes, pitted
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup raisins
1/4 pound walnuts or blanched and peeled almonds (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar or 2 ounces sweet chocolate
(about)

Put all of the fruits and nuts through a food mill, using a
coarse disk.
Add the honey and mix thoroughly.
Shape the mixture
into small balls and roll the balls in the confectioners’
sugar.

Alternatively, line a pan 7 inches square with wax paper or
parchment paper.
Pack the fruit and nut mixture firmly into the pan
to a depth of about 3/4 inch.
Melt the chocolate over warm water,
and cover the mixture with the melted chocolate.
Let it harden,
then cut the candy into 1-inch squares.

Ukrainian Cheese Paska

This rich unbaked cheese dessert mold is traditionally served in
the Eastern Ukraine for Easter.
It is molded in the shape of a
pyramid representing a church dome.

2 pounds ricotta cheese
4 egg yolks
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped candied fruits (optional)
Raisins or naraschino cherries for garnish (optional)

Line a colander with a clean cheesecloth.
Beat cheese with egg
yolks until just smooth.
Cream butter, add sugar, lemon rind,
vanilla, and cream thoroughly.
Combine with cheese mixture and add
heavy cream.
Add the optional chopped candied fruit.
Pour mixture
into the cheesecloth and set over a bowl to drip for at least 24
hours in refrigerator.

Discard the accumulated liquid periodically.
Paska becomes
firmer with time.
Unmold and decorate with candied fruit, raisins
or maraschino cherries as desired.

Serves 8 to 12.