Russian Potato Salad ( France/ Spain/ Russia)

Russian Potato Salad  was created by a young French chef who travelled to Moscow and set up a restaurant called The Emitage where this salad became the signature dish by young Lucien Olivier and called Olivier Salad.  The salad consisted of potatoes and varied vegetables mixed with chicken, shrimp, Lobster and then mixed all together with a secret mayonnaise  elaborated by chef Olivier.  Olivier died young and never revealed his recipe but another chef colleague tried to copy Olivier recipe in a moment of carelessness.  The salad was then imitated through Russia and its popularity travelled to other European countries becoming extremely popular in Spain. You may find this recipe being served in every cafe, bar, restaurant in Spain as an appetizer or "Tapa".  It has become an established known Spanish appetizer through the entire Spanish country.
INGREDIENTS ( Ingredients may vary, here one of my personal variations)

 Two or three potatoes ( medium to large)
Two or three boiled eggs
One can of tuna
One small  can of tuna
Two to three large carrot boiled and diced
One small package of frozen peas
One can of asparagus
One can of artichoke  hearts
One small can of red bell peppers roasted
One small can of olives ( green manzanilla or pearl black)
If desired you may add cooked shrimp

For the mayonnaise
One pasteurized egg
two cups of olive oil
one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice
one tsp of salt

METHOD
You will boil the potatoes in large portions with the carrots and peas.  Do not allow these to get too tender and fall apart. Cool in cold water.
In a large bowl mix together the cut up potatoes, carrots, chopped onion, boiled eggs, tuna, artichoke hearts, asparagus , olives and peas.  Add to this a little olive oil for moisture.  Then add the home-made mayonnaise and  decorate with the peppers, extra egg, olives and shape to make it attractive.
Let cool in the fridge and serve with  fresh French baguette.





Russian Potato Salad  was created by a young French chef who travelled to Moscow and set up a restaurant called The Emitage where this salad became the signature dish by young Lucien Olivier and called Olivier Salad.  The salad consisted of potatoes and varied vegetables mixed with chicken, shrimp, Lobster and then mixed all together with a secret mayonnaise  elaborated by chef Olivier.  Olivier died young and never revealed his recipe but another chef colleague tried to copy Olivier recipe in a moment of carelessness.  The salad was then imitated through Russia and its popularity travelled to other European countries becoming extremely popular in Spain. You may find this recipe being served in every cafe, bar, restaurant in Spain as an appetizer or "Tapa".  It has become an established known Spanish appetizer through the entire Spanish country.
INGREDIENTS ( Ingredients may vary, here one of my personal variations)

 Two or three potatoes ( medium to large)
Two or three boiled eggs
One can of tuna
One small  can of tuna
Two to three large carrot boiled and diced
One small package of frozen peas
One can of asparagus
One can of artichoke  hearts
One small can of red bell peppers roasted
One small can of olives ( green manzanilla or pearl black)
If desired you may add cooked shrimp

For the mayonnaise
One pasteurized egg
two cups of olive oil
one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice
one tsp of salt

METHOD
You will boil the potatoes in large portions with the carrots and peas.  Do not allow these to get too tender and fall apart. Cool in cold water.
In a large bowl mix together the cut up potatoes, carrots, chopped onion, boiled eggs, tuna, artichoke hearts, asparagus , olives and peas.  Add to this a little olive oil for moisture.  Then add the home-made mayonnaise and  decorate with the peppers, extra egg, olives and shape to make it attractive.

Let cool in the fridge and serve with  fresh French baguette.

Hard Boiled Eggs filled with tuna ( Spain) Huevos rellenos de atun

Friday, January 20, 2012

Hard Boiled Eggs filled with tuna ( Spain) Huevos rellenos de atun

Spain has a love for tuna in its dishes.  I know many dishes that contain tuna fish as one of the main ingredients.  In fact, you can always find cans of tuna in my pantry because there are so many different ways you can use it.  Many tourist traveling for first time to Spain are surprised when they order their salad ( a house salad) and it comes accompanied of tuna and some olives.  Yes, tuna, I would say is one of the most common ingredients in Spanish cooking.

INGREDIENTS

One large can of tuna

One dozen eggs

Mayonnaise

Spanish tomato sauce

One small onion

This is really a very simple recipe with a lot of flavor an easy to prepare.  Start by cutting in half the boiled eggs.  Do not over cook them or the egg yolk will turn green.

Prepare a mixture of tuna, chopped onion and mayonnaise.  Fill each half egg white with the tuna mixture.  Prepare the tomato sauce or you can buy a already prepared Spanish style fried tomato sauce.  Apply a spoonful of the Tomato sauce to each egg and finally spread on top the egg yolks all crumbled with a pinch of salt all over the eggs.  Chill and serve.

Fried Tomato Sauce

To make this sauce you will need some ripe tomatoes ( 6-10)

3-4 garlic cloves

olive oil

beef flavor bouillon ( one large)

Let the tomatoes cook till all  the water has reduce and the tomatoes acquire a dark rich red color.

Once done, you will have to use a puree strainer to get a smooth mixture with no tomatoes skins.

Kanelsnegle ( Danish Cinnamon Roll) Denmark

Monday, December 12, 2011

Kanelsnegle ( Danish Cinnamon Roll)

Kanelsnegle (Danish Cinnamon Rolls)

I am thinking Christmas. I am thinking sweet yummy gifts. Nothing better comes to my mind this week that some wonderful, soft, warm, delicate, full of butter and cinnamon Kanelsnegle. Kanelsnegles in Danish, Kanelbulle in Swedish, Skillingsboller in Norwegian, are all the original Cinnamon roll that have come to us in the United States through our ancestors. The difference between one and another is not much. The Swedish recipe does not call for an icing or glace on top, rather sprinkles of pearl sugar. Pearl sugar is hard to find in the US. You may have to order it online, although I know IKEA use to carry it. The Danish version is topped with a shrill of icing. All these Scandinavian recipes have some cardamon, which comes from the family of the ginger.  I have made Cinnamon rolls for many, many years, especially on Sundays when my kids were little and we would eat them for dinner. 



Bertha Marie Jensen

Today, 15 days left till Christmas, I will honor my great-grandmother, Bertha Marie Jensen, whom of course I have not met but have been told much about.  She came from Aarhus, Denmark to the United States with her parents around the age of 10 or 11.  Since my grandmother was then half Danish, I know that many of my childhood eating habits must have been Danish.

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons of  dry active yeast (if used a rapid rise yeast, the time for rising will be reduced to half the time)
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1- 1/4 cup of warm milk
Place all these ingredients together in a bowl.  Cover with a cloth a place to rise in a warm place for 15min.( quick rise yeast) 30 minutes for a regular yeast.
I a large bowl mix
5- 1/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
teaspoon of cardamon
After the yeast mixture has fermented and doubled its size mix in this mixture
2 beaten eggs
Then add to the flour and knead for about 5 to 10 minutes

If you have used the rapid rise yeast you can roll out into a rectangular shape the dough.  If you have used the regular rise yeast you will have to let rise in a bowl for 30 minutes till it has double its size and then roll out the dough.

Once you have the dough rolled out into a rectangular shape you will add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of soft butter, spreading it all over the dough and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Following you will roll together into a long tube shape and cute into equal sizes.
Place on a cookie sheet and let rise again covered with a cloth in a warm place till the rolls have double in size.

Remove cloth and with one beaten egg brush the tops of the rolls. Bake till golden for about 10 minute in an oven of 425 degrees F.

Once done cover with a glaze made with confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla extract and  milk to an almost liquid consistency.  Best when served warm.

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