When I first visited Slovenia the Detela family took me out to a restaurant one day for lunch. This was the dish I ordered and I love it! It’s fresh, tasty and as I found when I tried to make it recently, not actually that difficult.
Check out my recipe below…
Ingredients
1 trout per person gutted, cleaned and patted dry
4 slices of proscuitto ham per fish
1 clove of garlic per fish, crushed
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley per fish
250ml white wine
50g butter
Seasoning
Instructions
Generously butter a roasting dish large enough to fit the fish laying flat
Place the garlic and parsley into the fish
Wrap the prosciutto ham around each fish to seal it, season with salt and pepper
Place fish into roasting tin
Pour wine over fish
Place in oven on 180°C and roast for 30 minutes
Remove the fish from the oven and keep warm
Simmer the juices until slightly thickened
Serve the fish with the sauce poured over it and a generous wedge of lemon
Russians are renowned for their world-class crab meat charka. The high quality really does justify the price. However, when times were/are tough, half the crab meat can be substituted with fresh white cabbage, shredded, gently blanched for 2 minutes and dried before stirring into the crab mix. This is a quick dish, ideal to add another plate to the zakuski table.
Pilaff is a classic dish for entertaining and can be varied to personal tastes easily. Traditionally, everyone digs in from a big communal dish which makes it great for this time of year when you have visitors for dinner and want to do something a little different.
Ingredients
600g lean boneless lamb stewing steak
5 tbsp rapeseed oil
700ml water
1 tsp smoked salt
2 carrots, chopped finely
2 white onions, chopped finely
400g long grain rice
1 whole garlic, outer paper removed but left intact/whole
5 sprigs fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
Healt the oil in a flameproof casserole dish
Add the lamb and fry, stirring frequently for 10 minutes until brown on all sides
Add the water
Bring to the boil
Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes until meat is tender
Meanwhile, heat more oil in separate pan
Add the carrots and onions and stir-fry for 5 minutes until softened
Add the rice and stir-fry for 1 minute until translucent
Transfer rice mixture to the lamb and add the garlic
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid
Serve the pilaff heaped onto a warmed dish, garnished with parsley
This is a great hearty dish, perfect for a big party of people and ideal served with chunky fresh bread. The best bit about the dish is it is easily adaptable to cooking in a slow cooker so when you come home from work, your home smells great and you can sit down to a home-cooked meal even when you’ve had a hard day at work!
Ingredients
600g lamb chunks
1.5l lamb stock
3 large white onions chopped finely
5 garlic cloves crushed
3 tomatoes cut into quarters
5 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
5 tbsp long grain rice
5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp coriander for garnish
Instructions
Heat the oil in a pan and seal the lamb chunks
Place the lamb chunks into a slow cooker with the stock and garlic
Fry the onion in the rest of the oil for 5 minutes
Add the puree and tomatoes for 1 minute
Stir and add to the lamb and stock
Add the chili and parsley and cook for 4 to 5 hours
The rice can be added initially to the slow cooker, but if you are at home add 30 minutes before you want to serve
To serve, distribute the lamb between dishes (serves 4) and add equal quantities of liquid and rice mixture to each one
Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with chunky bread
While a great British roast on a Sunday is all very well and good, sometimes my family and I crave something a little different. This roasted chicken dish with aromatic herbs proved a great alternative. With wild mushrooms, celery, white wine and chicken stock, the wonderful sauce is then combined with that traditional Russian flavour of sour cream.
This is perfect for the ultimate feast and great served either with fresh steamed green beans alone, or with an extra side of boiled new potatoes (my preference being the crumbly the better!)
Ingredients (serves 4)
45ml olive or vegetable oil
1.5kg/3lb whole chicken (you could use chicken pieces, just make sure it’s thighs etc. on the bone)
3 celery sticks (peeled so it is not stringy)
1 garlic cloves, crushed
275g wild mushrooms (personally, I wouldn’t bother slicing, even if large but is up to personal tastes)
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
250ml chicken stock
250ml dry white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I tend to prefer flat leaf)
120ml sour cream
Salt and ground black pepper
Flat leaf parsley to garnish
Fresh green beans to serve
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius, 375 degrees Fahrenheit, Gas Mark 5
Heat the oil in a roasting tin and brown the chicken all over
Remove the chicken temporarily
Fry the onions for about 2 minutes in the roasting tin
Add the celery, garlic, wild mushrooms and thyme and cook for 3 minutes
Pour in the chicken stock, wine and lemon juice into the roasting tin (or foil dish as in my case)
Sit the chicken on the top of the stock etc.
Sprinkle over half the parsley
Season well
Place the chicken in the oven for 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 hours or until tender
Baste occasionally to prevent drying out
Remove the chicken from the roasting tin and keep warm
Put the roasting tin on the hob and stir in the sour cream over a gentle heat until you make a thick pouring sauce
Arrange the chicken on a plate, surrounded by the cream and mushroom sauce
Garnish with parsley sprigs
Serve the chicken with the sauce and fresh green beans
This recipe is perfect for a quick but super healthy meal and requires just seven ingredients (and that’s counting salt and pepper as two!) If you don’t want to use salmon, trout is a reasonable alternative, or mackerel could be used but I would imagine that could produce quite a different taste.
This little but absolutely scrumptious dish is a sort of cross between a pancake and an omelette, however, unlike the aforementioned, it is cooked in the oven. This dish is super quick and very easy, requiring relatively few ingredients which makes it ideal to serve as a starter with a garnish of green salad, as part of a tapas selection, or even for a perfect evening supper dish when you are tired after getting home from work and want a quick and delicious snack. Sweet alternatives can also be made, just exclude the vegetables and sweeten with sugar and/or honey.
Charlotte J – stirring. Photo Credit: Jill Robinson
I recently visited Cornwall for a few days as my school friends had rented a large cottage for the week. The kitchen was an absolute delight and I insisted on cooking some good East European fare for my 7 companions.
The best thing about East European cooking is that the recipes are usually not desperately complicated, require just one or two pots and few ingredients, which keeps both washing up and costs down, yet enables you to create a really hearty and tasty meal.
Although this bean stew required smoked pork and a ham bone, I cheated and used pork chops and smoked bacon which added the required smokey flavour. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I would definitely recommend this recipe!
Ingredients (serves 8 hungry beings)
2 white onions
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 red chilies
1 tbsp Hungarian hot paprika (or to taste)
3 tins of mixed beans
20 black peppercorns
8 pork chops
500g smoked bacon
4 tbsp cornflour
Tomato puree or chili powder for colour if desired
Handful of chopped parsley for garnish
Crusty white bread to serve
Instructions
Put mixed beans into saucepan
Place pork chops on top of beans
Just cover pork with cold water and add peppercorns
Heat until boiling
Reduce heat, cover pan and leave on gentle simmer for 2 hours
Remove pork chops from pan
Cut off fat and bone and cut into chunks
Return pork to pan
Chop onions and heat in sunflower oil in separate pan until translucent
Add chopped and deseeded chili to onion and cook for 5-10 minutes
Chop smoked bacon and add to onion and chili and cook until crispy
Add paprika to bacon mix, stir and cook for 5 minutes
Add cornflour to bacon mix, stir and cook for 5-10 minutes
Add bacon mix to stew and stir
Cook for further 10 minutes until well mixed
If desire deeper red colour, add tablespoon of tomato puree or chili powder
Serve into bowls, garnish with parsley (I forgot to!) and serve with chunky white bread
Ikra iz svekly (Beetroot Caviar to you and me) is a ‘poor man’s caviar’ usually served on rye bread. It’s pretty simple to make, can be prepared in advanced which means it would make a good canape for a cocktail party. Plus it caters to any potential vegetarian or vegan guests. I found this recipe in The Food & Cooking of Russia, mentioned in a previous post last week. However, I adapted it to be more Charlotte-friendly, in other words, I made it a little more interesting and a little bit easier.
Be warned, cooking with beetroot can leave you with pink hands, so if you want to avoid this, wear gloves. If you, like me, dislike wearing gloves, keep a lemon handy, it is the best soap for getting rid of stains!
Ingredients
1 white onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 medium cooked beetroots
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp tomato puree
Salt and ground black pepper for seasoning
(To add an extra flavour I used smoked salt)
12 small pieces of rye bread to serve
Finely chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
Chop the onion and garlic finely
Coarsely grate the beetroot
(I used a ricer to effectively mince the beetroot.
it worked well but was messy and due to not wearing gloves I now have very pink hands)
Heat the oil in a medium pan
Add the onion and garlic and fry for 5 minutes until softened and golden brown
Add the grated beetroot to the pan and fry, stirring all the time, for 5 minutes
Add tomato puree
Stir well and cover the pan
Simmer for 10 minutes
Season the mixture
Transfer to a bowl to cool
To serve pile the beetroot on the rye bread and sprinkle with chopped parsley to garnish
The last few days in the UK have been sunny and warm, so it seemed only right to enjoy some summer food inspired by the Adriatic region. This salad is quick but so delicious and makes an excellent starter, light main course or side dish. Serve with some great chunks of fresh wholemeal or granary bread.
This is such a great fresh dish with fantastic flavour and super cheap if you opt to use tinned sardines. Plus, do not forget, sardines are a great source of those all important omega-3 and I truly believe what they say, fish is brain food!
Ingredients (serves 6)
8 large firm ripe tomatoes
1 large red onion
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
6 tbsp good olive oil
18 – 24 small cooked sardines
75g black pitted olives, drained well
salt and freshly ground pepper
(I used smoked salt but regular salt will be fine)
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions
Slice the tomatoes very thinly
Arrange the tomatoes on a serving plate
Top with slices of red onion
Mix together the white wine vinegar, olive oil and seasoning and spoon over tomatoes and onion
