Belgian Waffles

Finally! One of my lovely friends, Sarah Colby, gave me my first waffle iron! How happy am I? Waffles are finally within reach! Waffle and pancake batter is fairly simple, so it only took me one sojourn to create a wonderful waffle batter. Do you have a pancake batter you trust? All you need to do is double or triple the amount of butter in the recipe. Extra fat allows for the fluffiness that the waffles need to be a beautiful vehicle for your sauces.

Herring Under its Fur

To finish off our Russian feast, we served the famed Seledka pod shube (Herring Under its Fur). It is a quintessential salad that combines some of our favorite ingredients. Honestly, I have not eaten it that many times in my life, since my family almost always chose to make the Olivier, a more chop and mix kind of dish, but I relish it anytime it is on a menu. To make this dish properly, you need to accept that you will have red-stained hands that smell of salted fish…but boy is it worth it.

Olivier

We are on a roll with Russian recipes from our Domestic Union celebration, so here is another! This one belongs to my mom. She taught me this recipe when I was a kid. For every family gathering or celebration, we all gathered in the kitchen and chopped…we chopped up eggs, potatoes and carrots, pickles and cucumbers…it seemed like the chopping went on for hours, but Olivier was always ready by lunchtime as a snack while we cooked the rest of the meal.

Borscht

Today, it is time for a Russian classic! In fact, when you think about Russian food, this dish is probably what you are picturing an older lady with a handkerchief covered head stirring with a large wooden spoon. Yes, borscht. It may or may not be a stereotype, but it is definitely a classic!

Bouillabaisse with Rouille

The Bouillabaisse is foolproof! Bouillabaisse originates from Marseilles and was made of cheap cuts of fish and eaten by fishermen who reserved the better cuts to sell. Since then, it has become a quintessential dish. It is served with baguette and a Rouille drizzled into the soup to add flavor, much in the same way that sour cream is added to the Russian Borsht.

Quiche Lorraine

Quiche Lorraine is one of the quintessential quiches. The combination of leek and bacon is perfect. I have seen versions with onion or green onion, but the buttery sweetness of leek, I think, is unbeatable in conversation with egg, bacon, and Gruyere. Gruyere is the best cheese to use, but a freshly grated Swiss cheese will make a beautiful pastry as well. For this meal, I poured my filling into tart crusts instead of pie crusts to create a different filling to crust ration and we all loved it!

Herbed Roast Leg of Lamb

Today, I want to share with you my recipe for Roast Leg of Lamb. I love this recipe! It seemed like a perfect dish for our Domestic Union celebration, but with 50 guests, boy did we need a lot of it! This is one of the oldest recipes in my repertoire. I have made a version of this lamb for Thanksgiving and any other holiday when someone would buy me a lamb leg since I was in high school. It was inspired by my father. When we had a bit of money for meat in Belarus in the summer, we would take our lamb into the woods, start a fire and stab it all over and shove garlic in before baking it. My dad would walk around in the woods and find an evergreen tree with little berries, I think it was juniper. We would place that with the meat over the fire and allow it to roast. I wanted to incorporate the garlic and smoked herb flavor and add in some freshness by adding lemon juice and zest. Please do not overcook the lamb!

Spinach and Chard Quiche

My filling, inspired by chef Alain Ducasse, had some lambs brain in it for a bit of extra flavor. If you want to add it, a half a lamb’s brain will do, or perhaps a bit of prosciutto or some pancetta.