Pasties aka Uych-Pach-Mak

Well, the name Uych-Pach-Mak is from the Russian republic Bashkortostan, the capital of this republic is Ufa (I'm from there). So backhome we make these pasties in the shape of triangle and it's a really popular and very old dish.... but apparenly these kind of pasties are also pretty popular in Ireland but the shape is different.
So, who made it first? We will never know but we can enjoy them now and here :-)

Let's begin!

For the pastry:
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup cold water
• 3 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
Mix it all together and make dough, devide into 3 balls and set aside.

For the filling:
1 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsppon salt
1 tspoon pepper
 mix all this goodness

Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll each ball out until it’s slightly thinner than 0.5cm.
Dust the circles with flour, and spoon your filling into the middle of each one. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little bit of water, then fold each circle in half over the filling and crimp the edges with your finger and thumb to seal them.
Preheat your ove to 350 degrees and place your pasties on non stick backing dish, I place the foil on the backing tray. Put your pasties in the oven and backe for 45-50 minutes.

Serveyour pasties with soup. Or if it's a separate dish, put some chili and shredded cheese on top, or you can even serve your beautiful pasties with gravy or just ketchup!
Bon appetite!!!

Delicious greek pasta salad

My husband said that it was the best pasta salad he has ever had!
Well, it was really delicious and actually you can make a hot pasta dish out of this salad if you are craving something different the next day. Just heat up the salad and add hot marinara sauce. Yummy!!!

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon white sugar

2 1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni

3 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

15 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup sliced red bell peppers

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 (4 ounce) can whole black olives

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper, and sugar. Add cooked pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers, feta cheese, green onions, olives. Toss until evenly coated. Cover, and chill 2 hours or overnight.               

Yummy potato salad

It was my first time of making a potato salad and I found this recipe somewhere in the internet, made some changes and the final result appeared to be sooo delicious that I will definitely make this potato salad again, so let's begin

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 10 red potatoes
• 1 cup low fat mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup low fat ranch dressing
• 1/3 cup dill pickle relish
• 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 onion, chopped         

 

   Place the eggs into a saucepan in a single layer and fill with water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. Cover the saucepan and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 15 minutes. Pour out the hot water; cool the eggs under cold running water in the sink. Peel and chop the cooled eggs.

Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and refrigerate until cold. Peel and cube once cold.               

Stir together the mayonnaise, ranch dressing, relish, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, and celery seed in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs, potatoes, onion, pepperoncini, and olives; stir until evenly mixed. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Apple breakfast Bread

Well, the taste of cinnamon and coffee in the morning is my favorite. So I decided to make something sweet and cinnamony :-)
Here it is!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.              

In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs and add vanilla.             

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix into the butter mixture until moistened. Fold in the apples. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan. 

 Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Russian chicken-pineapple spread

We call it "salad" backhome but in Canada I think you guys would call it spread.
 I would advise you try it on a cracker or a toast for the first time.
Although in Russia we eat it as a salad, just from a bowl.
The dish is very tasty because the pineapple gives its sweetness and there is sour of the onion plus the texture of the chicken and eggs and cheese...all of it creates really interesting taste and I really want you to try it.

The Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
1 boiled chicken breast, boiled and chopped
2 hardboiled eggs, chopped
1 cup of shredded mozarella
1/2 medium onion, copped and marinaded (just put it in a bowl, pour some boiling water, leave it for 1 minute, drain the water and add 1 tbs vinegar)
1 cup chopped pineapples
4 tbs mayonnaise
1/2 t spoon paprika
salt, pepper to taste
All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together, that's it :-)
Enjoy!

Apple pie

Fall is here and what can be better that a smell of cinnamon and apples in your house?!
So, there it is...made from scratch apple pie :-)

Ingredients for the Crust

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

3 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Ingredients for the Filling

• 2 pounds apples
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

 Peel and slice apples. Toss with sugars, cinnamon and flour.  Add filling to the pie.

 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake your pie for 40-45 minutes.

Zucchini boats

1-2 zucchini
1 lb (454 g) lean ground beef
1 / 2 cup (125 ml) chopped onion
1 / 8 cup (35 ml) green chilies, chopped
1 / 8 cup (35 ml) red pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 / 4 cup (65 ml) parsley, fresh
1 / 4 tsp (1 ml) basil
1 / 4 tsp (1 mL) oregano
3 large mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup rice, cooked
2 tbsp (30 ml) red wine
1 / 4 cup (65 ml) Parmesan cheese, grated
1 / 2 cup (125 ml) cheddar cheese, grated
Preparation:
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, scoop insides and sprinkle the boats with salt, put them aside on a paper towel (empty side down).
Cook the meat and mash with a fork. Once cooked, place in a bowl. Add parsley, onion, garlic, and spices and mix. Cook this mixture in a pan about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flesh of zucchini, mushrooms and wine. Cook 5 minutes over low heat. Mix with meat and cooked rice. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Put the mixture in the boats.
 Place the zucchini on a greased baking dish. Heat oven to 350 F.
Cook for 40 minutes, sprinkle cheddar cheese and cook more, until cheese melts.
 Remember one thing that Zucchini should not be peeled and ground beef can be replaced with ground pork.

Surprised Kebab

Haha I didn't know how to name this dish, so now it is Surprised kebab :-)
Well, very easy actually and pretty delicious

Ingredients:
4 large eggs, hardboiled
1 raw egg
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finally chopped
2 tbs bread crumbs
1/2 cup Diana sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t spoon oregano

Boil 4 eggs for 15 min, peel and set aside.
In a bowl mix ground beef, egg, onion, garlic, bread crubs, Diana sauce and oregano. Mix until well combined. Lay the beef on the aluminium foil and place the hardboiled eggs in the middle.
 Make a roll by rolling up the beef with the foil.

 Place the roll on the foil in the preheated (350 degrees) oven.
Bake 40 minutes.
Done!!!! :-)

Eggplant lasagna (Vegetarian)

This is like lasagna only there's no pasta. Slices of eggplant replace the noodles here. Spinach, marinara sauce and cheese help make this baked eggplant dish healthy and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheese ( I used Kraft with herbs and garlic)
• 1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbs basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spoon on-third of the marinara sauce on the bottom of an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Lay one-third of eggplant slices over sauce, sprinkle with 1/3 tbs basil, followed by one-third of the spinach and one-third of the cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove the lid (cover) and bake 15 more minutes.
Serves 4

Doing tomatoes aka "Italian Job"

Well, it was my first experience of preapring italian homemade tomato sauce.
This sauce is so great and you can use it for a whole bunch of differnt dishes - pasta, pizza, chili, minestrone etc..there are too many to list it here.
The sause itself is very simple to make. Let's start..here are the pictures-

Just buy
tomatoes
(1 bushel makes about 15 litres of the sauce)
jars and lids
so, rinse the tomatoes and boil them for about 12-15 minutes or untill they are soft.
Put the tomatoes through the strainer, so the skins will peel by themselves and you will get the sauce you want.
Rinse the jars and pour the sauce, cover with the lids very tight.
In a big pot put all the jars together (very tight, so there is no room left - if there is a lot of room, put any type of cloth in the pot to create almost vacuum, cover the jars with a piece of cloth very tight as well, then add hot water just to cover the lids of the jars. Cover the pot and boil the jars for 30 minutes.
Done!!!!
Enjoy!!!