I recall this soup from my childhood, my school and even kindergarten years. Pea soup is very rich, fragrant and delicious. It is also very good in cold weather. The cooking of it is quite simple and fast. 20-25 years ago you could get peas at any store in Russia in few varieties – yellow, green, whole or halves. The halves were especially popular for some reason, they were cheap and in demand.
Pea soup in Germany is practically a national dish and usually is served with smoked pork. Similarly, in Netherlands pea soup is cooked from crushed green peas with pork. Russian version of this soup is cooked with potatoes and served with crackers or toast.
This recipe is my grandma’s – she used to make pea soup with smoked ribs and served it with garlic croutons made in the oven. Fantastically delicious!
Russian Monday: Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Ham Shank - "Gorochovy Soup"
Russian Monday: Family Dinner - Cornish Hens Under a Brick, Roasted Potato & Cucumber Salad
March can be a very tricky month. One day the sun is shining and birds are singing, but the next day you wake up and find a pile of snow from overnight snowstorm on your doorstep. That is what happened to us a couple of days ago. School was cancelled, train service was suspended and life came to a complete standstill.
Winter Salad with Beans, Potato & Roasted Beets
The beets color this warm winter salad a delightful purple, but if you like to keep colors separate, add the beets last. This salads good on its own as a side dish, or as a base for pan-fried fish or chicken.
Russian Monday: Borscht with Chicken & Egg
Anyone who ever lived in Russia or Ukraine knows what Borscht is. It is very famous and favorite soup of many. There is a good number of different Borsht recipes in the world and I also have a few on my blog: Vegetarian Borscht, Chilled Borscht, Beet Soup with Sweet Potato, Borscht with Turkey Meatballs - just take your pick. Every time I cook this soup, I make it differently. This time I made Borsht with chicken broth and soft boil egg. I served it with a lot of fresh herbs and toasts. I cooked it yesterday for lunch, and my whole family were fed from one pot. Have a delicious Monday!
Carrot-Orange Muffins for a Winter Morning
Hearty and robust or delicate and cake-like, all muffins have a place on the morning table. Homemade jams and preserves go well with full-flavored muffins, while the more subtle ones need only sweet butter, a little crème fraîche, or perhaps a spoonful of jelly. Some muffins filled with berries, need no accompaniment at all.
Blackberry Marshmallow (No Corn Syrup)
It's a dream come true, you can make your own marshmallow! In a single weekend afternoon, transform your kitchen into a sugar workshop, creating treats for yourself and, if there are children around you, ensure your lasting and unwavering popularity among them.
Turkey Broth With Dumplings
This heartwarming soup benefits from the long, slow cooking process of the broth in this recipe. It is a great way to use up any leftover turkey and it is perfect on its own as a light lunch, or served with bread for a filling and satisfying main meal.
Have a Magical Christmas & a Happy New Year!
"Fair be the path beneath your feet.
Bright be the skies above you-
Where'er you go, still may you meet
Friends that will truly love you".
All-Time Favorite Holiday Cookies
Have you baked your favorite cookies for Christmas yet? If not, there is a whole weekend ahead of you. Gather around kitchen table with your family and make the most special holiday treat. Here are some ideas may help you to decide which one to bake. I love every one of them, I bake few varieties of cookies every holiday season. We always share our sweets with friends and neighbors. Happy Holidays my dear readers!!! And have a very sweet weekend!
French Hazelnut Meringue Cake
"According to legend, the recipe for this delicious pastry came from a fifteenth-century parchment found among the fallen stones and rubble of a monastery in area of Crocq, in the Creuse - one of the 83 departments created during the Revolution, when so many monasteries were destroyed. The monks cooked this creusois cake in ceramic tiles that were themselves creuses - hollow, concave, or curved…
Shepherd's Pie With Truffle Oil
Pure white flakes fall gently from the heavens, blanketing the entire world in a sparkling mantle. All sounds seem hushed. The air is crisp and cold. Whether you're spending an active day outside or passing a quiet afternoon beside the fire, the Shepherd's pie is the favorite of comfort food will warm both body and soul on any winter day.
Spicy Orange Honey Quick Bread
Whenever the holiday season comes around, I'm always in a yearning mood for a Spicy Orange Honey Quick Bread.
There is something about the aroma that fills the house on a cold night, and the combined savory and delicate sweetness of the buckwheat honey, cinnamon, star anise and the nutmeg that compliments just about every hot drink - from a cup of tea or coffee, to a cup of cocoa or even a steaming glass of sangria - to be enjoyed alone or better yet, with your friends and loved ones by the crackling fire.
Lamb Soup with Garbanzo Beans & Garlic
This Russian soup made with lamb, and it's substantial and warming - just perfect for taking the edge off a hearty appetite on a cold winter's day. Lamb and garbanzo beans go together so well, they seem to have been made for one another. Thick slices of warm rustic bread would make the perfect accompaniment.
Still Life with Pears
Still Life with Pears - Winter Collection. For more Still Life, please visit my special page.
Have a wonderful week my dear readers!
Wild Mushroom Beef Stew
Here is a beef stew with the added complexity of wild mushrooms to give it some extra body and flavor. Neither the type of meat nor the choice of vegetables is vitally important, because this dish is very flexible. Add some celery if you like or potatoes, or other vegetables of your choice.
Simple Soup with Turkey Meatballs and Quinoa
Recently I have come across works of fantastic illustrator Norman Rockwell who is very talented artist from New York. I could not help to buy some of his prints. I love book illustrations and have tons of vintage cookbooks with amazing pictures. They have so many details and flavors - I can peer at them for hours, there is something so homey in them... And often I just get an urge to go and cook something, even something very simple, but just to make everyone around happy. This is the story behind this post and the Turkey Meatballs Soup with Quinoa recipe. During long cold winter evenings a bowl of this soup can not only warm up your body, but make your heart melt.
Homemade Marshmallows with Honey and Spiced Almond Coating (Gluten, Corn, Egg, Diary Free)
It was fun to make this luscious marshmallow, I like the flavor of the honey and consistency of it. Easy enough and amazingly delicious recipe. I bet it makes great S'mores brownies and topping for cupcakes! Or you can enjoy a nice warm cup of hot cocoa with a big huge marshmallow on top.
Beef and Vegetable Pie
Comforting and substantial main-course pies are always welcome. Winter chills are warded of with classic Beef and Vegetables Pie. At Christmas either Chicken and Red Currant Pie or Beef and Guinness Pie with Chanterelle Mushrooms would make a stunning centerpiece. Beneath a crust of crisp pastry, a tasty, rich stew of tender beef and soft vegetables is ideal antidote to winter colds.
Quince Cardamom Tapioca Pudding with Homemade Crumbles - Have a Sweet Weekend!
Forgive me for posting a winter dessert today. I was looking for quinces all winter, unable to find them; a couple of days ago finally I got lucky, and here it is.
This recipe comes from many inspirations and memories. I remember one aroma from my childhood when my mother made compote from quince and it was so magically wonderful. I remember eating crepes with quince jam, the best breakfast ever. I never cooked tapioca before so I like to experiment with it and recently I discovered that I love cardamom-)))
This dessert is scrumptious, It takes some time to prepare, and worthwhile every minute of it. I hope you like it as much as I did, save it for next year when quinces are in season or you can make it with pears or peaches, which is certainly going to be a summer dessert!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the poached quinces:
- 3 quinces, peeled, cored and quartered
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom pods
- 5 cloves
- 1/4 cup (50gr) sugar
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 1/2 lemon
For the vanilla tapioca:
- 2/3 cup large tapioca pearls
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup white oatmeal flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- OR 3/4 cup all purpose flour instead if not baking gluten free
- 1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 1/2 tablespoons almond milk
Directions:
Prepare the cardamom tapioca:
In a medium bowl, soak the tapioca pearls in the water for an hour. Drain and discard the water. In a large saucepan set over medium heat, bring the tapioca, milk, honey and cardamom to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer 20-25 minutes or until the tapioca looks translucent. Remove from the heat and place a piece of plastic wrap right on top to prevent a skin from forming as it cools.
Prepare the quinces:
Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover the quinces. Bring the content of the pot to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, place a lid halfway over the pot and simmer for 40 minutes to an hour, or until the quinces are soft when you poke a knife through them. Mash the quince with syrup and reserve.
Prepare the crumble:
Position a rack in the upper third of an oven and preheat to 350°F. Coat a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your fingertips or a fork until the mixture resembles large beads. Spread the beads on the prepared baking sheet and bake, tossing them every so often as they become golden brown for 20 minutes. Let the crumbles cool.
When ready to serve, spoon the quince mixture into the bottom of each of 6 glasses, dividing it evenly. When the tapioca is completely cool, divide it in between the serving glasses on top of the quince mix. Sprinkle with crumbles, again dividing evenly.
Note: You might have leftover crumbles, you can crumble it up over oatmeal for breakfast or over ice cream.
Cranberry-Meringue Tart (Tarte Meringuee Aux Airelles) Beautiful Winter Dessert
Although, we are all waiting for the spring to come, I think there are a few winter recipes that we like to try before the sunny days are here. Today we have 53F outside, but my photographs look like Christmas cards, I guess I can use them next year :-)) probably; I am waiting for the snow - we will see about this. In the meantime, enjoy a slice of the delicious Meringue Tart with cranberries and a cup of coffee, a little treat in February.
This is a winter tart, when cranberries are in season. In a summer this tart can be made with red currant. Both cranberries and red currants are mouth-puckering red berries. Their intense flavor contrasts well with the almond- meringue butter and the crispy, unsweetened tart shell.
This recipe comes from one of my favorite book of chef Georges Perrier Le Bec-Fin Recipes
Makes one 10-inch tart
Ingredients:
- I pound Pate Brisee
- ½ cup finely chopped blanched almonds
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs whites
- Pinch of salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- ½ pound fresh cranberries, washed and drained
- Confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)
Directions:
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness to fit a 9 1/2 or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the pastry even with the pan rim. Cover and place in a freezer for 1 hour. Preheat an oven to 400°F.
Line the pastry shell with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until slightly set, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the tart shell from the oven and remove the weights and foil. Let cool. Reduce the oven to 375°F.
To make the filling, combine the almonds, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. Beat the egg whites and the salt until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat again until almost firm and glossy. Stir in the lemon juice and beat until firm and glossy. Gently fold the almonds mixture and the cranberries into the meringue. Pour the filling into the pre-baked tart shell. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Bake immediately on the lower rack of the oven for 30 minutes or until the filling has set and is no longer runny.
Tip: When cranberries are in season, buy several extra bags and freeze them right in their bag. Than you can make the tart whenever you want. Fold in the cranberries while still frozen.
