Russia: Pork Loin braised in paprika & caraway sauce, Pumpkin baked with almonds & cream; baby Potatoes tossed in sunflower oil, garlic & dill; Apple & Egg Salad

We did our best to honour the traditions of Russian special occasion dinning 

(as far as we could gather from the internet),
with our table setting having a white & gold theme, 

napkins folded decoratively on the plates,
modern Russian party music playing & quality vodka flowing.
We made toasts before each round of vodka shots during the meal
& made sure that everyones food was served onto their plate by someone else. 

our 

Russian 

menu included

Paprika Pork Chops 

Pumpkin Baked in Cream

Potatoes a la Russe

&

Apple Salad with Eggs

PAPRIKA PORK CHOPS

Ingredients:

·      4 loin pork cutlets/chops

·      3 tbsp oil

·      2 onions, peeled and sliced

·      2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

·      2 tbsp paprika

·      1 can chopped tomatoes

·      1 tbsp sugar

·      1 tsp caraway seeds

·      1 red and 1 yellow pepper, seeded and sliced

·      3 oz mushrooms

·      Sprigs of parsley to garnish

·      Soured cream to serve

Method:

1.     Trim off excess fat from pork. Preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F).

2.     Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the pork and fry quickly on both sides. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish. 

3.     Add onions, garlic and paprika to the pan and fry for 3 minutes. 

4.     Stir in tomatoes, sugar, caraway seeds and season to taste. Bring to the boil.

5.     Add peppers and mushrooms and pour over the meat. Cover with a lid and bake for about 1 hour until the pork is tender.

6.     Garnish with parsley. Serve with soured cream for spooning over each serving and rice.

NOTE: we doubled this recipe to feed 6 with leftovers

Baked Pumpkin

Ingredients:

·      1kg pumpkin

·      2 tbsp butter

·      1 cup cream

·      6 tbsp dried and finely ground bread-crumbs

·      4 eggs - hard boiled  - Chopped finely.

·      2 tbsp sugar

·      2 tbsp almonds ground

Method:

1.     Boil pumpkin in salted water, cut it in strips.

2.     Put them in a stew-pan, sprinkle with dried and finely ground bread-crumbs.

3.     Cover the top with chopped eggs and pour over cream.

4.     Bake in the oven for a half an hour.

5.     Before serving sprinkle with sugar and ground almonds.

Potatoes a la Russe

Ingredients:

·      2 kg small salad potatoes, or other early potatoes with firm flesh, peeled and immersed in cold water

·      1 large lemon, quartered

·      2 tbsp fresh dill weed, minced (tough stems removed)

·      1/3 cup sunflower oil

·      3 cloves garlic, pressed

·      1 large bay leaf

·      1 tsp black peppercorns

·      salt to taste

Method:

1.     Bring a pot of water to a boil.

2.     Squeeze lemon quarters into the pot, then drop them into the water.

3.     Add bay leaf and peppercorns. Drain potatoes and add them to the pot.

4.     Bring to a boil once more, reduce heat, season generously with salt, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, but not falling apart.

5.     Drain potatoes in a colander. Wipe the pot dry while it is still hot (do not rinse!).

6.     Transfer the potatoes back to the pot.

7.     Sprinkle with 1 tbsp dill and all but 1 tbsp sunflower oil. Add garlic. 

8.     Cover the pot and, holding the lid down, shake it vigorously for a few seconds, to coat the potatoes.

9.     Transfer the potatoes to a serving dish;

10.  pour the juices from the pot over them.

11.  Drizzle with reserved 1 tbsp of oil and sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp of dill.

Apple Salad with Eggs

Ingredients:

·      4 ea apples cored and peeled

·      3 tbsp green peas

·      2 ea eggs hard boiled

·      3 tbsp mayonnaise

·      fresh greens

Method:

1.     Cut apples into small cubes.

2.     Chop eggs finely. Add peas, mayonnaise and stir thoroughly.

3.     Decorate with greens

 

 I found all the recipes I used & a lot of others
I would like to cook in the future  at http://www.ruscuisine.com