Syrniki - Russian quark pancakes

- I'm hungry!

- ... (waiting)

- ... (sweet eyes)

- Do you want me to make you something for breakfast?

- Will you make me a toast? (sweet eyes)

- A toast? Sure! What do you want inside?

- Oh well, something not too difficult... Ham and mozarella?

- Hmmm, ok. (Pause) What if I make you syrniki?

- What?

- You'll see!

Syrniki. (plural from syrnik)... How do I explain this? Well it's something very Russian (I already hear a voice of G. saying "BACK to Russia!") and very breakfasty. They look like american pancakes but are made of "tvorog", which is the Russian word for quark, and very little flour. This combination makes them crunchy outside and soft and creamy inside. The taste is something between sweet, salty an sour. It might not sound very tasty, but you have to try in order to understand!

You could also make them with cottage cheese instead of quark. In this case you should first drain the liquid, then put the cheese in a blender and process until it is almost smooth.

INGREDIENTS:

500 gr fresh, thick quark or processed cottage cheese (it is important to use thick quark, otherwise your mix will be too liquid an it will require more flour)

1 egg

5 tbsp white flour

2 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

1 pinch salt

some extra flour for dusting

vegetable oil for frying

1. Place all the ingredients except for sugar in a bowl and mix well. You should have a very thick dough, that doesn't stick to your hands. If it is too liquid add some more flour, just no too much.

2. In a large, non-stick pan heat the oil. Once it starts "smoking" add the sugar and vanilla sugar to the dough an mix well.

3. Take once table spoon of dough, shape in a cake, dust with some flour and place on a pan. Continue with the next syrnik. Depending on the size of the pan, fry about 5-7 syrniki at a time.

4. Fry for a couple of minutes on both sides, turning carefully with a fork, until they are golden brown. Place on kitchen paper towel to absorb the extra oil.

Serve either plain or with jam, honey or caramel syrup! Amazing for breakfast or just a snack with your coffee or tea. You could also add some dried berries to the dough for a little twist and some extra taste! Wonderful!

On the other hand, if your dough is too liquid even with the extra four you could do the following trick. Instead of shaping the syrniki and dusting them with extra flour you could just take some dough with a wet table spoon and place it directly on the hot pan. They will be a bit more flat but still very very tasty! Plus you avoid the extra calories from the flour :P

Stuffed mushrooms

With all the fuss about the e.coli and the uncertainty weather it comes from vegetables or not, I realized that I've been cooking too much meat lately. Therefore, the dinner this weekend was almost completely vegetarian. However, I cooked mushrooms which are said to be the "meat of the poor".

For one more time, I tried recreating my mom's recipe of stuffed mushrooms. I can not remember when particularly this recipe made it's debut on our dinner table, but it was reoccurring from time to time, each time with a little twist.

So, since the weekend was all about vegetarian food, I thought these mushrooms would be just a great idea. Unfortunately, I could not get mom on the phone since she had a long shift at the hospital. So, the only solution was to improvise. I think, I managed to remember most of the ingredients and the result resembled quit closely the original thing. I could not resist adding some bacon to the stuffing, but you could skip it for a vegetarian version.

INGREDIENTS:

15 large (about 4-5cm in diameter) champignon mushrooms, washed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small zucchini, very finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 red paprika, very finely chopped (optional)

5 slices bacon or smoked ham, finely chopped

3-4 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt, ground black and red pepper to taste

1. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, set the caps aside and finely dice the stems.

2. In a heavy sauce pan heat the oil.

3. Add the onions and cook on average heat until soft.

4. Stir in the diced mushroom stems, zucchini, paprika and bacon or ham (if using) and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

5. Add the creme fraiche, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

6. Using a spoon stuff the mushroom caps with the filling and place in an ovenproof deep caserole dish, stuffing facing up.

7. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the mushrooms and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Serve either hot or chilled, as a starter or a part of a main course. Also very good for party food, a bit more complicated than pop corn and tortillas with salsa :P

Buckwheat kasha or porridge

Two days ago the weather was sunny again so it was a great opportunity to go out, ride a bike, take some beautiful pictures of the city and not to think at all of what I would cook later. Unfortunately, a hungry man, returning from the office probably would not share my joy. So when I realized that it was already 6pm so I had to go with something ultra quick. While I was switching between pasta and... well pasta... my eye stopped on a pack of buckwheat that I bought a couple of days ago.

A pack of what?! Buckwheat? What the hell is that? If you never lived in Russia or other countries of ex USSR, these are probably the questions going through your mind, as this "pseudograin" is not very common outside these areas. And I really don't know why this is the case, since it is really tasty and it reminds me a bit of my childhood. So I was really happy to discover it in the Turkish store (what would I really do without it!) in my neighborhood.

When you open the package you see brownish little grains, pyramid-shaped. You don't have to soak it overnight or do anything else. Just rinse it a bit with some water and it is ready to be cooked.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups buckwheat
2 tbsp butter or in worse case margarine
water for cooking
salt and ground black pepper to taste

1. Wash the buckwheat and put it in a medium pot.
2. Add enough water to cover and through the butter in. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the pot on a strong heat and bring to boil, then lower the heat, cover and continue cooking for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally. If necessary add some water.
4. At the end the buckwheat should be tender and non sticky. You could probably compare it's consistency to steamed rice. Place it on a plate and serve as a side dish along with steak, chicken, meatballs, sausages (that's what I did. I know, LAZY!) or anything else you like.

I know that this is not a real recipe, it doesn't even involve cooking as such, but it is veeery delicious! Funny thing, the first time I ever cooked it Stratis was staring at his plate, as if asking "What the hell is THAT?!". Now he actually seems to enjoy it, yesterday he even asked for some extra! :)

Grenki

I was lieing in my bed this morning, wondering if the weather would improve later on and if we would see some sun. It took some time to wake up completely and by the time I was up I was pretty hungry. I was thinking about some nice breakfast idea and remembered my mom's Grenki (very popular Russian breakfast). I think the English name for this is French toast. I literally grew up with this food. It was a typical weekend breakfast since I can remember myself. Some nice memories came to my mind. :) I wonder why I make them sooo rarely.

INGREDIENTS:

10 slices of bread

3 eggs

100 ml milk

pinch of salt
pinch of sugar

some olive oil or butter for frying
sliced ham and mozzarella for serving, optional (you could remove the ham for vegetarian version)

1. In a shallow bowl beat the eggs with the milk, salt and sugar.

2. Heat the oil or melt the butter in a pan with non-stick surface.
3. One by one dip the bread slices into the egg mixture from both sides (don't let them soak though) and place on the pan, few at a time. Fry on both sides until its dark golden. Remove from the pan, set aside and proceed with the next batch.

4. Arrange few Grenki on a pan, place a slice of ham and some mozzarella on each piece, cover and fry over a very low heat until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Alternatively you could serve Grenki with jam or honey. It is a great start of the day and it keeps you full for quite some time. My man sad that Grenki rock!!!