• robm on July 31, 2011

  A comprehensive book covering Russian cooking, including recipes from what are now the former Soviet republics. Russian cooking has been out-of-fashion in the West for a while, but that's a shame -- there are endless superb dishes to be sampled!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Eggs stuffed with mushrooms (Yaitsa farshirovanniye gribami)

  • Rradishes on March 31, 2019

    Mushroom stuffed eggs are a classic and a family favorite. Really adaptable too (soften butter instead of cream, or just sautéed mushrooms lightly dressed in mustard, or mayo. Take your pick!) Will be making over and over again.

• Beet caviar with walnuts and prunes (Svyokla s orekhami i chernoslivom)

  • MelMM on March 03, 2016

    I made a few adaptations in the interest of time. I steamed the beets in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes instead of cooking in the oven. I chopped the prunes before adding to the brandy to speed absorption, and brought both ingredient to a boil together before removing from the heat. I sped up the cooling of the beets by giving them a quick shower under cold water, then slipped the skins off. I added the prunes to the food processor with the beets, instead of at the end. I toasted the walnuts lightly in a skillet. This is supposed to sit in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight, and I have to say I skipped this step. It sat in the fridge for maybe 20 minutes. It was great right away, and also the next day. As you can imagine, what with beets and prunes involved, this caviar was on the sweet side, but the sweetness was nicely balanced by the lemon and mayo, plus the slight bitterness of walnuts. This just might be my favorite beet dish ever.

  • deboChicago on April 16, 2019

    I have made this recipe frequently for company. It always impresses. I find that three beets is really too much--one really large or two smaller beets would do, but then you might want to reduce the number of prunes a bit (from 7 to 5, perhaps?) to limit sweetness. Otherwise, I make it as written, the day before serving. It lasts over a week in the refrigerator.

• Wild mushroom caviar (Gribnaya ikra)

  • MelMM on March 03, 2016

    The caviar is supposed to sit at room temperature for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld, and this is the one caviar where I actually did that. While it didn't make that big a difference with the other two (which I also tasted after sitting, and again the next day), with this one it did. The flavor of the dill really doesn't come through until after the caviar rests for a while. It gets stronger the longer it rests (and is stronger still the next day). So when adjusting seasonings, keep this in mind. This was absolutely delicious, and was our favorite of the three vegetable caviars we made, although the beet one was a close second for me. The amount of mayo in both this and the beet caviar is minimal enough that it doesn't come off as a mayonnaise-based salad, at all. In fact, you can barely tell it's there. Anyway, this was a winner, and I'll happily make it again.

  • deboChicago on April 16, 2019

    This is another recipe I frequently make for company. It is one of my most requested recipes. Super umami.

• Eggplant caviar, Odessa style (Baklazhannaya ikra)

  • MelMM on March 03, 2016

    This is a very good eggplant salad. It was our least favorite of the three we tried last night, but that is just because the other two were so good. A little more sitting time would have helped (I had some of the leftovers for breakfast this morning, and it was improved). The downside for us was the raw onion and garlic, which we were tasting for the rest of the evening. Even after tasting again today, that's still a bit of an issue. Let's just say this is not a salad you want to serve the first time you have your new boyfriend/girlfriend over for dinner. But once you are well-acquainted enough to agree to face in opposite directions in bed that night... Really, I am giving this veg caviar a hard time. It's good, and a quick sauté of the onion and garlic (not enough to brown them) would have taken the edge off.

  • IowanCorn on August 11, 2024

    Easy to put together once you've got the eggplant roasted. Tasty, it makes a very nice chip dip.

• Miniature salmon croquettes with dill mayonnaise (Pozharskie kotletki iz lososini)

  • Breadcrumbs on March 09, 2016

    p. 37 – When I see the word croquette I immediately imagine crispy, crunchy rolls or patties of deliciousness so it was easy to decision to plan a tasty meal around this recipe. I’d never made or eaten a salmon croquette before and I was expecting them to bear a resemblance to the various fish cakes that are always a favourite here. I wish I could say this recipe was worth the effort but unfortunately it disappointed us. While the grated onion provided some flavour to the patties, they were still pretty bland and even with the sauce they were just ok but certainly nothing special. My biggest issue with the croquettes was the salmon itself as this cooking method dries out the meat and doesn’t allow it to shine. I couldn’t help but feel I’d wasted a lovely piece of salmon. Needless to say I won’t be repeating this recipe. Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/march-2016-cotm-table-appetizers-soups-salads-1032840?commentId=9821578

• Tiny meatballs with pine nuts and raisins (Kololik)

  • ashallen on October 23, 2020

    These are very nice, but then I'm always a fan of raisin-nut-meat dishes! I substituted chopped slivered blanched almonds for the pine nuts which worked OK - they weren't as tender as pine nuts. I roughly chopped the raisins also to disperse them more evenly in the meatball mixture. Salt is "to taste" - I used 3/4 tsp fine salt but would use more next time. Some of my meatballs overshot the minimum cooking temperature for ground beef/lamb (160F) and were less tender and juicy than the more lightly cooked ones, so I'll keep a closer eye on them in the future. We didn't squeeze lemon juice on them as the author suggests but did eat them with pomegranate molasses glazed carrots tossed with cilantro (Melissa Clark recipe) which worked really well.

• Cold veal meat loaf with horseradish sauce (Versienos vyniotinis su krieny padazas)

  • mcvl on June 20, 2015

    Superb meatloaf -- use dill pickle juice instead of chicken broth for moistening the mixture.

• Classic Russian cabbage soup (Shchi)

  • mcvl on September 02, 2020

    I didn't have half the ingredients called for, and it was still delicious and stick-to-your-ribs satisfying.

  • jrgreenw on February 20, 2024

    I simplified by using stew meat rather than making stock as the recipe calls for, also I did not have a turnip. Used homemade sauerkraut, it was delicious.

  • velvetelle on April 06, 2025

    Never could made decent cabbage soup until this recipe.

• My mother's super-quick vegetarian borscht (Vegetariansky borshch moyei mami)

  • deboChicago on April 12, 2020

    This is a really wonderful recipe. We have been making this for more than a decade. Highly adaptable, always delicious. Also great for company.

• Azerbaijani meatball soup (Kiufta bozbash)

  • ashallen on June 04, 2020

    Nice comfort-food type soup with large, tender, prune-stuffed meatballs. Aromatic flavors from large quantities of tarragon, mint, and parsley. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the various flavors melded. My prunes were on the small/tart side and that worked well - large prunes would be harder to mold the meatball mix around and really sweet ones would be a bit cloying. I used a flavorful homemade chicken stock instead of lamb/beef stock as specified in the recipe - worked fine, but this would be really nice with a flavorful beef stock. Recipe doesn't say how big to cut the potato chunks - scant 1-inch chunks with skins-on worked well. Recipe calls for 1/4 cup rice in the meatballs - I used cooked rice, but based on some internet research it looks like I should have used uncooked rice - next time! Leftovers kept well to next day - soup thickened but flavors were still good.

• Clear salmon soup (Ukha)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    Well, now I know how to clarify a soup with egg shell and egg white. The result was terribly mild and on the sweet side. The use of parsnip in the broths lends to this. I would suggest omitting them if you prefer a more savory broth.

• Wild mushroom soup with barley and cheese (Gribnoy sup s perlovkoy i sirom)

  • Rinshin on February 05, 2017

    A perfect 10 - this is the mushroom soup I've been hoping one day I meet. Everything about it is superb. Intense mushroom flavor along with hint of gruyere and parmesan cheese. This is also very easy to make. I added a T of quinoa along with barley the recipe called for. I normally cook soups longer than what recipes call for and I did cook this soup longer before adding the carrots, celery and potatoes to concentrate the flavor.

  • velvetelle on April 04, 2025

    Really superb.

• Armenian lentil and apricot soup (Vospapur)

  • westminstr on April 01, 2016

    It was a little too sweet for our tastes with the addition of the apricots.

• Lentil and spinach soup (Vospapur)

  • jenburkholder on May 19, 2023

    Good lentil soup, healthy and tasty, but not especially unique or interesting. I'd repeat as it made good lunches but maybe punch up the flavors a bit.

• Estonian chilled cucumber soup (Kholodniy sup iz ogurtsov)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    It's like drinking a hearty piece of rye bread, in a good way.

• Moldavian potato, feta, and scallion salad (Salata de cartofi cu brinza)

  • jenburkholder on May 26, 2025

    Very tasty alongside a grilled flank steak. I used Bulgarian feta and added the Kalamatas in slivers. Subbed in Yukon Golds as that was the potato on hand. Simple but a little different - would repeat.

• Russian cooked vegetable salad (Vinegret)

  • jenburkholder on May 11, 2021

    This was good. The first day the flavors didn't seem quite balanced, but it got much better as it sat. I omitted the peas, because peas are disgusting, and used more beets.

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    Pink, Magenta, Burgundy, these are the colors of this salad once it's sat a day or two to meld. But gosh is it a lovely potato salad. Those extra days do it some good.

• Cucumbers in sour cream (Salat iz ogurtsov so smetanoy)

  • Gio on March 11, 2016

    Pg. 117. For this little salad I used both sliced cucumbers and radishes. Kirby cucumbers were presalted etc. per the recipe but the radishes were not. I liked the combination of colors and flavors: tangy, refreshing. I didn't mind the preponderance of dill but it does add that slightly bitter citrus flavor that I'd rather have in moderation.

• Mushroom and egg salad (Salat iz yaits i gribov)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    Every single recipe with mushrooms in this book is a triumph. My husband's favorite egg salad. I could make this weekly and he would never complain.

• Moldavian tomato, cucumber, and pepper salad (Salta de patagele, castraveti, si ardei)

  • deboChicago on August 09, 2019

    So fresh and delicious. Wonderful!

  • deboChicago on August 22, 2019

    This is going to become a regular summer dish. Great again today.

• Beef Stroganoff (Bef Stroganov)

  • eve_kloepper on November 24, 2019

    Delicious, but needs more sauce for the noodles. I increased broth to 1 cup and flour to 1 1/2T to take care of that.

• Piquant Georgian beef stew (Khalia)

  • eve_kloepper on April 15, 2025

    Fabulous stew. Did not change a thing, although I did have to add quite a bit of water, bit by bit, as the dish simmered. Served this with brown Rice and Ottolengi's charred okra with tomatoes.

• Braised beef stuffed with horseradish (Troskinta jautiena su krienu idaru)

  • IowanCorn on November 12, 2022

    A very filling dish, especially if you eat the vegetables along with the beef. I followed the advice in the heading of the recipe to just stir the horseradish paste into the pan drippings instead of stuffing it into the beef, mainly because cutting the stuffing holes halfway through the cooking of the roast seemed really messy. I also made this in my slow cooker, which lengthened the cooking time, but at the end, the bread and butter roast I was using was so tender I could cut it with my fork. I substituted potatoes for the parsnips and upped the carrots from 1 to 3. The roast and vegetables are very tasty with the horseradish sauce, giving it a unique flavor. I might do this one again.

• Russian hamburgers (Kotleti)

  • Gio on March 06, 2016

    Pg. 162. Interesting, different mixture one might use for meatballs or kofte. Outcome was delicious and very well liked. We used ground lamb not beef, peanut oil. and ghee instead of butter, Panko for the breadcrumbs. Recommended..

• Veal cutlets with chanterelles in Madeira sauce (Telyatina s lisichkami s sousom is Maderi)

  • PanNan on September 15, 2024

    Delicious! The sauce made the dish. I doubled the chanterelles to a pound and would do so again as it didn’t overwhelm the sauce at all. I served this dish with noodles and there was just enough sauce to cover the meat and noodles.

• Uzbek lamb stew with cumin seeds, coriander, and bread (Zharkop)

  • mcvl on May 08, 2020

    My Instacart shopper thought sweet onions were the same as regular yellow onions, so I used only onions, no carrots, in this recipe, hoping to cut down on the saccharinity; worked well. Tasty little dish.

  • jenburkholder on November 01, 2022

    This was quite tasty. I increased the spices a bit (personal preference) and left out the potatoes and bread, then served with mashed potatoes. After the effort of taking lamb shoulder off the bone I think next time I'll stick to the Costco boneless leg of lamb!

• Grilled pork chops with garlic sauce (Kostitsa se porc la gratar cu muzhdei)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    The recipe is perhaps fine with barest of cooking times on a grill. but for those stuck inside, place the chops in a 9x13 baking dish or casserole. Take the pan drippings, add stock to remove the fond and pour over the finished chops. Bake at 350 for another 30 minutes. The pork chops end up tender and the sauce pleasurably sopable.

• Grilled chicken with garlic and walnut sauce (Kotmis garo)

  • Tommelise on September 26, 2020

    Link broken

• Chicken croquettes Pozharsky (Pozharskiye kotleti)

  • AgusiaH on June 24, 2012

    I used only ground chicken (no veal) and 2 egg whites. I forgot to add madeira wine but croquettes came out excellent - very light and delicate.

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    I used ground turkey to replace the veal. We loved them, even as leftovers.

• Chicken paprika (Kuritsa s paprikoy)

  • jenburkholder on June 05, 2023

    Oh this was good. Like all the best comfort food it was super satisfying to eat, everyone enjoyed it, and I can't wait for the leftovers. Used only thighs and probably could add another pepper next time. I also increased the marjoram (1/4 tsp??) and was generous on the paprika. Lots of salt/pepper also a requirement!

  • IowanCorn on July 29, 2023

    Tasty, and not too hard to make, but the sauce didn't thicken up like I though it would. Instead of chicken parts, I used skinless chicken breast cut up into pieces, so I skipped the browning step. I served it over buttered noodles, and was really good that way.

• Estonian fried smelts (Kalavorm)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    The dredge works for any small freshwater fish and its delightful. Smelts are less available lately, and Great Lakes smelts are recommended for rare consumption. My guess is this would be fantastic with fresh sardines.

• Haddock and scalloped potatoes (Zapekanka iz ribi i kartofelya)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    While a bit labor intensive for the weeknights, it's well worth the effort.

• Russian fish cakes (Ribniye kotleti)

  • Rradishes on January 08, 2018

    So good. These are very light, melt in your mouth texture, with nice sweetness of the onion. I used cod and didn't have any of the "fishy" taste. The key is to be generous with the onion and use soft white bread. Crunchy on the outside, fluffly on the inside. Will make again

• Smothered red peppers paprikash (Lecho)

  • jenburkholder on September 06, 2022

    Very good. Go heavy on the paprika. I didn’t add any sugar.

• Spinach in yogurt sauce (Borani)

  • Gio on March 06, 2016

    Pg. 324. Great recipe! With the simple yogurt addition and with onion and garlic the taste of the spinach was lusciously mellow. Onion and garlic are cooked in butter, the spinach is added and cooked till just wilted. Off heat yogurt is stirred into the spinach mix and combined, then gently heated through That's it. Served with the Russian Hamburgers.

  • Barb_N on March 19, 2016

    Inspired by Gio's note, I made this as a last minute side. The only deviation was adding a bit of arugula in need of eating. Delicious, quick and definitely a keeper!

• Zucchini-cheese patties (Kabak mucver)

  • deboChicago on January 07, 2020

    This is a real favorite. Delicious when freshly made and great reheated.

• Stuffed cabbage (Golubtsi)

  • Rinshin on February 11, 2017

    Not sure what makes these Russian, but it was good and basic stuffed cabbage. I did not notice dill or parsley taste from the sauce and perhaps next time I would increase the dill. I tripled the amount of sauce and instead of using tomato paste, I used one 14 1/4 oz can of tomato sauce.

• Rice and lamb pilaf (Kovurma palov)

  • Barb_N on January 11, 2021

    I followed the spicing of this dish but used already cooked turmeric rice and cubed lamb shoulder. I added dried cherries and sliced almonds at the end, similar to other recipes.

• Rice and mushroom pilaf (Plov s gribami)

  • Breadcrumbs on March 09, 2016

    p. 366 – In the headnote to this recipe AVB notes that “whenever pilaf appears at Russian dinner parties, the hostess always claims she invented it”. While I chuckled when I read that, I can’t say I’d be keen to take credit for inventing this recipe as it produced a good but not great version of the dish. In particular, we really looked forward to the lovely caramelized onions in this dish and unfortunately we found the flavour of the dried mushrooms to be a little overpowering so the sweetness of the onion was not as pronounced as we’d expected. Also, I didn’t really think there was enough sour cream to have any discernable impact on the dish. As I said, this was a good pilaf but definitely not anything special enough to warrant repeating. Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/march-2016-cotm-table-vegetable-dishes-rice-grains-dumplings-1032842?commentId=9821615

  • Rinshin on March 31, 2016

    Mushroom heaven! For people who love the taste of various mushrooms, this pilaf has wonderful rich taste. For my taste, the amount of sour cream was perfect as it did not overpower the aroma and taste of porcini and white mushroooms. I added a small splash of dry sherry while cooking the mushrooms. Served with pan fried flounder over coleslaw.

  • mcvl on February 22, 2022

    Good solid dish. My little grocery store didn't have any fresh dill, so I used dried dillweed instead. I wouldn't make it again without fresh dill. I like Rinshin's idea of using a little sherry, will do that next time.

• Moldavian cornmeal mush (Mamaliga)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    Delicious even on its own. I feel a full Moldavian spread would be worth the time and effort with this mamaliga as its unifying force.

• Kasha and wild mushroom casserole (Zapekanka iz grechnevoy kashi s gribami)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    The barley version is preferable unless you can procure kasha processed in Eastern Europe. American brands turn to an unpleasant mush.

• Barley-shaped pasta, Russian style (Barli pasta s gribami)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    You have to find the pasta first. Once you do, this is a delight.

• Tahini rolls (Tahiniov gata)

  • Snadra on December 30, 2016

    Seriously delicious rolls - perfect for breakfast with coffee.

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    DELICIOUS!!!! Although if I made again I would try the recipe in “falastin” that uses metric weight as I cannot abide measuring bread flour in cups

  • IowanCorn on April 14, 2025

    These were interesting, but I'm not sure they were to my family's preference. The mouthfeel was gritty, and the batch didn't use the entire tahini/brown sugar mixture for the rolls that the recipe called for. It could have been the brand of tahini I used, but I don't think I'm going to repeat this one.

• Pasta, lamb, and feta cheese casserole (Ghiymya hinkal)

  • ashallen on October 30, 2020

    Great comfort food for a cold night. The flavor of the spiced meat mixture with the salty feta is delicious and I enjoyed the springy texture of the homemade noodles. Recipe calls for a "medium-size" casserole dish - I used a 1.5 quart/8x8-inch dish which worked well. I substituted 6 oz drained canned whole tomatoes for the fresh tomato and roughly chopped slivered blanched almonds for the pine nuts - both substitutions worked very well. I was also short on lamb and used 2/3 lamb + 1/3 ground beef. We accidentally ate up all of our yogurt earlier this week and were unable to make the sauce, but the casserole was still great without it.

• Savory strudels (Vertuta)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    I've yet to try the feta and potato filling. While the mushroom filling was delicious, the end result was too dry in texture for my liking.

• Open cheese tartlets (Vatrushki)

  • LKrishnan81 on November 03, 2022

    Lovely with the raisins, equally lovely omitting them and topping each vatrushki with three sour cherries.

• The Riga rye bread (Rizhsky)

  • ricki on January 10, 2023

    I followed the version of this on the King Arthur website, https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rizhsky-khleb-riga-bread-recipe. Delicious, and easy. Fairly light, but very even, texture. With organic pumpernickel flour, 270 g AP flour, and honey I did the bread machine dough cycle. Formed into one ball. Baked in cast-iron dutch oven, 25 minutes covered then 15 uncovered. One difference in the original recipe -- it divides the butter and uses only 1 tablespoon in the dough. Try that sometime.

• "Guest-at the doorstep" apple charlotte (Sharlotka "gost" na "poroge")

  • KatieK1 on November 30, 2023

    This recipe also includes eggs, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon.