As a family with a Russian and
American heritage, our family celebrated the traditional
?American? Christmas on December 25 and Russian Christmas on
January 7. I did a little research to add to our family?s
traditions.
Traditionally, Russian Christmas
dinner was held on Christmas Eve, January 6. According to the
research I did, the meal was to start after the first star
appeared in the sky, as this star symbolizes the birth of Jesus.
At this time a twelve-dish dinner was served, representing a
dish for each of the Apostles. The dishes included fish,
mushrooms, and various types of grains ? no meat was served as
it was the last day of Advent, a time of fasting. Fish dishes,
including herring or carp are usually served and symbolize the
ichthus ? relating Jesus and his disciples as the ?fishers of
men?.
The traditional meal that is served
in our family began with the breaking of the flat-bread or
salt-bread. Each person ripped off a piece of the bread before
starting the meal. In the Russian culture bread symbolizes
hospitality and salt is associated with long friendship. In our
family, the traditional meal included: flat-bread/salt-bread;
perogi, saut?d mushrooms, smoked fish, cabbage soup, chick peas
or lima beans, boiled potatoes with fried onions, haluski soup,
and kecelitsa.
We have since modified or
?Americanized? our Russian Christmas dinner. We serve our dinner
on Christmas Day, January 7; because it is not in a time of
fasting, we can add meat to our menu. We still serve many of the
traditional items. We always start with haluski soup! We serve
perogi with fried onions. Instead of boiled potatoes we serve
mashed potatoes.
Below are the recipes for the dishes
our family serves.
Enjoy and merry Christmas from
our family to yours!
Holly and Steve Crump
Waiting to go to Krasnoyarsk
Click on the
dish name below to go directly to that recipe.
Haluski Soup:
(from Helen Grabovetz)
You will need:
-
A big pot- (no cover) ? to boil
noodles in
-
Pan of cold water ? will be used
to cool off noodles.
-
Colander ? to drain noodles
-
Spoon with holes to droop
noodles (it?s a good idea to have a few different options of
utensils with holes in them to see which will work best)
-
3 eggs
-
? cup milk
-
1 tablespoon oil
-
1 teaspoon salt
-
2 cups flour
-
Chicken Broth (we use College
Inn ? you will need at least 1 of the large cans)
Directions:
Fill Big Pot ? full with water
and bring to a boil. Using a blender or electric mixer; mix
milk, eggs, oil and salt on low speed. Gradually add flour
to mixture.
If dough is too thick add ? cup
cold water and mix at low speed. (The thicker the dough, the
larger the noodles come out.)
Drop noodles by spoon with holes
into boiling water until pot becomes crowded. Cook for 1
minute.
Scoop noodles out of pot with
strainer and put immediately into cold water. Noodles must
be completely cooled before serving.
To Serve:
Heat broth separately. Place
cold noodles in bowl and pour broth over noodles!
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Perogi:
(from Helen Grabovetz)
Ingredients:
-
1 medium onion chopped
(optional)
-
1 ? tablespoon butter
-
? lb chedder cheese ? grated
-
3 tablespoons butter
-
1 ? teaspoon salt
-
? teaspoon pepper
-
5 med potatoes boiled and mashed
-
4 cups flour
-
? teaspoon salt
-
? teaspoon baking powder
-
2 eggs ? well beaten
-
? cups milk
Directions:
Saut?onion in 1 ? tablespoon
butter. (If you do not want onions in filling ? this step
can be omitted.) Add onion, cheese, butter, salt and pepper
to mashed potatoes. Mix well.
Sift flour, salt and baking
powder into bowl. Add beaten eggs and milk. Combine well.
Turn out onto floured board and
knead 10 times.
Separate dough and roll out into
5 inch wide circles. Fill each circle with 1 tablespoon of
potato filling. Fold dough in half.
Seal edges by moistening with
water and pressing with fork about ? inch in from edge.
**Do not put one on top of
another before cooking ? they will stick together.**
Bring perogi to a slow boil in
hot water. (Be sure not to boil to fast as they may break.)
Fry with butter and onions until golden brown. Serve hot.
(yields 25 servings)
Note: If you would like to
freeze the dish, after boiling, dip in butter and freeze
individually on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, you can pile them
into another container. To serve once frozen, simply defrost and
fry.
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Borscht:
(From Helen Grabovetz)
Ingredients:
-
2 bunches beets, peeled and
grated
-
3 quarts water
-
2 tablespoons salt
-
2 teaspoons sour salt or juice
of one lemon
-
? c sugar
-
Boiled potatoes and/or sour
cream
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in large
kettle. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until
beets are tender. Served hot or cold. Top with a boiled
potato or sour cream or both.
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Creamy Borscht:
Ingredients:
-
1 recipe Borscht (above)
-
3eggs
-
1 pint sour cream
-
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Prepare Borscht (as above).
Beat eggs and sour cream in
large bowl. Gradually mix in 2 cups of the HOT borscht.
Stir in the egg mixture into
remaining soup. Simmer until hot. DO NOT BOIL. Season to
taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
(We do not add the potato and sour
cream to this soup. Instead it?s we leave it as a side dish.)
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Kecelitsa:
(from Helen Szach)
Ingredients:
Directions:
Place oats, flour, and sliced
rye bread in a bowl. Add lukewarm water, stir all
ingredients well. Cover and place bowl in a warm place to
ferment for 2 to 3 days, mixing occasionally, until mixture
smells sour.
When ready to cook, add 2 quarts
of lukewarm water, mix well. Strain through sieve into
double boiler. Add garlic, salt, pepper and caraway seeds to
taste.
Cook slowly, stirring
constantly. Cook until soup coats spoon. (If soup is too
thick, add a little cold water; if too thin, add a little
flour and cold water.)
Soup may be served with potatoes,
beans, and mushrooms.
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Cabbage Soup:
(from Helen Szach)
Ingredients:
-
4 quarts water
-
2 large cans sauerkraut (with
juices squeezed out)
-
1 large head cabbage- shredded
-
1 ? large Spanish onion ? diced
-
? cup oil
-
1 cup flour
-
1 quart cold water
-
Salt, pepper, onion powder, and
garlic to taste
Directions:
Cook the sauerkraut in 4 cups of
water. When halfway cooked, add the shredded cabbage and
continue cooking.
In the meantime, fry the diced
onion in oil. When onion is transparent add flour. Continue
mixing onion and flour until it turns deep brown. (this is
called Zaprashka)
When brown, take off stove and
add 1 quart cold water.
Mix Zaprashka and water until
smooth. Place back on stove and keep mixing until thickened.
Once thickened, pour Zaprashka into Soup- (the sauerkraut
and cabbage mixture)
Cook an additional 10-15 minutes
more.
May be served with potatoes and
beans.
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