by Masha on September 26, 2011
If you are organizing a formal banquet or a wedding banquet then you will probably lay the table in the Russian style as it is considered the most formal.
The first thing to start with is the service plate. This should be placed directly in front of the dining chair. The rest of the plates should then be set at an equal distance around the table. Ideally this should be about 2 feet to allow plenty of elbow room. A soup bowl should then be placed on top of the service plate.
You are then ready to move onto the cutlery. To the left of the service plate moving outwards from the plate should be placed a salad fork, then a dinner fork and finally a fish fork. To the right of the service plate, again moving outwards from the service plate should be placed a dinner knife, fish knife and then a soup spoon. The blades of the knives should be pointing towards the service plate. Above the plate place a cake fork with the handle pointing towards the left and finally above the cake fork place a desert spoon with the handle pointing towards the right.
The bread plate should then be placed about the forks and a butter knife placed on it. The butter knife blade should be placed so that it is pointing towards the plate.
You are now ready to move onto the glasses. The three main glasses are a water glass, a white wine glass and a red wine glass. However on some occasions there may be a vodka toast as well in which case a vodka glass should also be laid. Start with the water glass which should be placed to the right of the desert spoon. It should be arranged so that it is above the dinner knife. To the right of this you should place the white wine glass and the right of this you should put the red wine glass. Napkins should be placed in the soup bowl.
One of the idiosyncrasies of the Russian style of table setting is that every place setting has their own salt and pepper shaker, so these should be placed above each setting. If you are using them, flower arrangements should be placed at intervals along the table.
Banquets and weddings are occasions when there are a large number of guests. This means a lot of crockery, cutlery and glass. The best way of acquiring these is to use a professional supplier of crockery such as Churchill Crockery. They have a large choice of ranges and you can easily buy the quantities you need.
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by Masha on February 11, 2010
Rolled Waffles
My mom taught me how to make the rolled waffles. They are a great desert and can be filled with anything at all. They are quick to make and fun to share.
To make rolled waffles you will need:
- An ice-cream cone maker (looks like a waffle maker, but makes thinner waffles)
- Unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- Sugar (about 300 gramms)
- A pinch of salt
- 5 eggs
- Flour (about 300 gramms)
- Milk (quantity depends on how skinny or thick you want your waffles to be)
Start warming up the waffle maker and melting the butter. I usually microwave the butter for about a minute – a minute and a half to melt it. While melting the butter, combine eggs with sugar and salt using a mixer. Add melted butter, mix some more. Add flour, carefully mix some more. Make sure all the flour is thoroughly mixed with no chunks. Add milk. Keep adding milk until consistency of the dough is like thick sour cream. If you want thinner waffles – add a bit more milk to make the dough a bit more flowy.
By the time your done with the batter, your waffle maker (or ice cream cone maker) should be warmed up. Spread a small piece of butter on the waffle maker before starting making the waffles. Put a table spoon of dough into the waffle maker and close it. Start checking the color in about a minute by opening the waffle maker. When the color is dark tan, the waffle is ready – take it off the waffle maker and roll it up while it’s hot.
Repeat until all the batter is gone. Your waffles are ready! 
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
4 tablespoons sour cream
6 slices cold boiled meat cut in thin strips
4 green onions, chopped
12 radishes, chopped
12 radishes, chopped
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
Sugar
Salt
Mix ingredients thoroughly. Chill. Serve with kvas or beer. Add sour cream if desired.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
1 medium cabbage
2 medium apples
2 medium carrots
1 small onion
Mayonnaise
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
Shred cabbage. Dice apples. Grate carrots. Slice onion. Combine and moisten with mayonnaise. Add sugar and sour cream. Mix thoroughly.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
1/2 pound mushrooms
2 onions
1 tablespoon table fat
Soup greens
Soup bones
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup lima beans (soaked overnight)
1 large tomato, chopped
2 quarts water
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup barley, washed
Slice mushrooms and onions; saute in table fat. Add remaining ingredients except barley. Simmer 1 hour. Add barley; simmer another hour.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
1 pound dried yellow peas
8 cups water
2 onions
2 large carrots
2 stalks celery
2 springs parsley
Drippings
Salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon flour
2 dill pickles
Soak peas in 8 cups water until they swell. Cook in same water; add vegetable and drippings; boil until tender. When tender, add seasoning and flour, rub through a sieve, and simmer 10 minutes. Dice pickles; add. Serve with fried croutons.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
1 onion, chopped
Butter or table fat
Flour
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 1/2 pounds sauerkraut
8 cups meat or mushroom stock
Sour cream if desired
Brown chopped onion in fat. Stir in flour. Add tomato puree. Add sauerkraut. Cover and simmer very slowly. Add meat or mushroom stock. Simmer 2 hours or until wanted. If meat is used, serve separately, cut in small pieces. Sour cream if desired is served separately. Shchi goes well with buckwheat porridge. Serves 6.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
1 pound shchav (sorrel)
2 teaspoons salt
1 pinch pepper
1 quart boiling water
2 eggs
Wash sorrel thoroughly and chop well. Add 1 teaspoon salt and boiling water. Boil 5 minutes. Beat two eggs, and 1 teaspoon salt to the eggs. Pour 2 cups of the hot sorrel mixture into the cold beaten eggs, stirring constantly until well mixed. Pour the egg mixture back into the remainder of the sorrel mixture and cool. Serve cold with sour cream. May also be served with hot boiled potatoes. Serves 4 to 6.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
Russian soup is an all-embracing subject. Volumes could be written on it. But for any woman it is enough to know that a large bowl of borshch or nearly any other Russian soup will provide more hearty food for less points than almost any other one-dish meal; particularly when served with little pastries – called pirozhki – filled with cabbage, left-over meats, meat specialties, fish or eggs.
1 pound soup meat
5 cups water
Soup greens
1 onion sliced
Salt and pepper
5 beets
1/2 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons butter or table fat
1/2 tablespoon flour
1 cup strained canned or chopped fresh tomatoes
Sour cream
Wash meat; place in large pot with 5 cups boiling water, soup greens, sliced onion, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until meat is tender. Peel and cube beets, put in separate pot, add vinegar and butter or fat, cover with water and cook until tender. Add flour to beets, mix well, then add to strained meat stock. Add tomatoes and boil for 10 minutes. Serve 1 tablespoon sour cream with each portion. Serves 4 to 6.
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by Masha on January 30, 2010
1 pound potatoes
Butter
Milk
Salt
Boil water. Add potatoes and salt. When the potatoes are cooked, pour out the water, add butter and milk and mash the potatoes.
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