Friday 27 April 2012

A Meander Through A Little Of The Russian and Ukrainian Countryside and some Vegetarian Russian Caviar...




By popular demand-well at least from a couple or so of you...a little taste of the countryside from my trip to Russia and the Ukraine.

What I loved about the countryside, was the contrast of the sight of familiar looking trees and wild flowers together with the less familiar styles of Russian architecture.

 It all seemed so exotic...

Seen here are some wonderfully old windmills-plus a horse!


 
I just had to see these strange windmills a little closer...

But up close, they only seemed even more curious!


 
There were also some glorious old wooden churches,


 
I particularly liked the shape of the roofs on some of these old churches...



 
There was an extremely interesting open air museum situated in the Ukrainian countryside where I took some of these photos. Here they were preserving some delightful thatched old homes.

One of which had a roof which almost looked like a felt hat,


 
Some had more a wattle and daub appearance,




 
Others had a more ‘manicured’ thatched roof...



 
After all the hustle and bustle of the cities it was delightful to see a newly married couple celebrating in the countryside with a simple buggy ride.



 
Now after that we need some sustenance...

Following on with the Russian inspired theme, I offer some Russian Vegetarian Caviar!

Baklazhanaya Ikra
...Russian Vegetarian Aubergine Caviar 

  

 
This is a very simple Russian ‘poor man’’ caviar made from aubergines (Eggplant), totally vegetarian of course...and there are many versions about, but this is mine...

2 aubergines
2 onions-chopped
3 fat cloves of garlic-crushed
4 ripe tomatoes-chopped
A small glass of Vodka
A splash of Extra Virgin British Rapeseed oil
A little lemon juice
Half a tsp sugar
Freshly ground sea salt-Maldon for preference
A very generous grinding of aromatic pepper


Bake the aubergine in a hot oven (200C) for about 50 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile fry the chopped onion and garlic in the rapeseed oil until soft then add the chopped tomato and vodka and burn off the alcohol for 2 minute.
When the aubergines are cool, peel off the skins and lightly mash the pulp.
Turn down the heat, add the sugar, aubergine pulp, salt and pepper and simmer very gently for 30 minutes until the mixture is very soft and unctuous. Add a splash of lemon juice and serve on sliced buttered griddled bread.

I made some fresh sourdough bread to accompany my 'caviar'...


 
This is fabulous as a supper dish-though I wouldn’t say no if it was served up at lunchtime!

The creamy aubergines contrast so well with a tasty slice of buttered bread...

I do hope everybody liked this second Russian interlude. I may have one more post if people are interested...




 
A good evening to everybody...


34 comments:

  1. Yes please to another Russian post. I do like the sound of the eggplant caviar. I still have a few coming on so I feel they will be destined for this dish.

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    1. Hi Liz,

      I guess coming to the end of your season you will still have the odd eggplant or two so hopefully a new recipe might come in handy then to tempt the family-the title might at least! I’ll get working on another Russian inspired post...

      Delete
  2. This looks like another wonderful post - which I really look forward to reading this evening. It just struck me though that you are showing in my newsfeed as not having posted for about three months... which I knew was incorrect. Gremlins I guess..

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    1. Hi Elaine,

      Yes other people have said about only an old post of mine showing up-really don’t know why or how I can correct it-most annoying...

      Hope you enjoy reading this recent post later-it’s been fun for me looking at the photos again!

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing these images. I find them compelling. I have never seen such wonderful countryside together with such beautiful architecture. It is all so very foreign to what we see here in Australia. Just love the image of the bride and groom enjoying their wedding day in what appears to be, glorious weather. And I have never heard of 'poor man's caviar' before either - this is a day of 'firsts' for me xx

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    1. Hi Charlie,

      I was so pleased to take that photo of the bride and groom. I was in two minds whether to take it as I had to be very sensitive when taking photos of people. However in this case, nobody even noticed me!

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  4. I hope I will get some Aubergines from the plants I am growing this year (only ever once grown them, many years ago), and if I do I will undoubtedly make your recipe.
    Re Maple tree seedlings. I reckon they would survive in the post for a couple of days if properly packed. Let's let them get a little bigger and then have a go. There's nothing to lose, is there? Please give me an address to send them to (my email is on my blog profile).

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    1. Hi Mark,

      All the best with your aubergines. I grew three varieties last year in my greenhouse which did well-their names escape me at the moment... However I did find them all on the bitter side and they benefited greatly from being salted before cooking.

      The ‘Russian Caviar’ is rather tasty and morish and I very much enjoyed having the odd spoonful from the leftovers in the fridge this morning...I’m going to try and freeze a small pot to see how it does being stored this way.

      Thank you so much for the offer of the Maple seedlings-I’ll send you an email...

      Delete
  5. I enjoyed the photos also wow what interesting windmills. Loved the old church's also the couple taking a buggy ride is very neat...loved this one thanks...dusty

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    1. Hi Dusty,

      Thanks for stopping by. Those windmills were really interesting and I loved all the use of wood with the old buildings-so different in shape to what we normally see...

      Delete
  6. More, please! Wonderful photographs, spectacular buildings. I love the blue and white spotted dome, those fabulous churches, the windmills which look as though they could move about when you are not looking, and oh, those thatched buildings. Your simple supper dish looks rather tasty too. I would love to see more.

    PS The gremlins must have left, you are back where you should be in the news feed!

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    1. Hi Elaine,

      Thank you so much for your kind words about the photos. It has given me a lot of pleasure making some posts with them. I know what you mean about those windmills...I too could imagine them moving around under the cover of darkness-perhaps to the sound of Tchaikovsky ‘Nutcracker suite’ and then at the first signs of dawn, squatting down where they ended up...

      The poor man’s caviar is a surprising delight-the contrast of the hot and cold works really well. Either have it warm with buttered bread or cold on hot buttered toast.

      So glad the gremlins have gone though credit for that was due to kind advice from Mark!

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  7. love the photographs the place looks amazing and i love the little cottages, so cute! Make one want to dance about country dancing style in gingham. I will definitely be trying this recipe it looks gorgeous, although i will not be growing my aubergines, sorry.

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    1. Hi Wobblymouse,

      Nope, have to say the urge to dance around in gingham completely slipped me by!!

      Highly recommend the ‘caviar’. My little aubergine plants are coming along and if I get a glut this year I’ll know whom to pass them on to...

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  8. Helo good morning, I'm your newest follower, I love your visit to Russia, my great Grandmother came from Kars Russia from what I understand back in 1907 or 13...I would love to see more photos...I truly enjoyed it...The windmills are beautiful, I love windmills and I adore the roofs...great post thank you for sharing...I have a blog as well @ spoonwither.blogspot.com...come by and visit sometime...Happy Sunday with love Janice...

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    1. Hi Janice,

      Thanks for stopping by and glad you liked the post. No Russian ancestors in my family-at least none that I know of!!

      Delete
  9. Those windmills are just outrageous. I wonder what they are used for.

    I love those houses! They are so quaint. I recently watched this series called "Tales from the Green Valley," where they recreate farm life from the 17th century. In it, they detailed the process of thatching roofs. It was fascinating!

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    1. Hi Prairie Cat,

      The windmills were fantastic-I suspect they were originally used for mainly grinding rye flour as that seemed to be the main crop around there.

      Thatched roofs are lovely. My grandparents’ old cottage was thatched but they got rid of it because of the high cost of maintaining it-plus my grandmother hated the sound of all the ‘wildlife’ scuttling around above her...

      Thought though you might like this clip that was on the news this week!

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-17814451

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    2. Hah! I definitely got a kick out of that video. That dog appreciates the value of a good thatching job.

      Delete
  10. gorgeous gorgeous photos! that one with the white horse on one side, and the windmill on the other looks out of a fairytale really, I wouldn't have believed it to be real had it not come from you blog, looks like a screenshot off a movie haha. very intriguing caviar! I would eat this over the real stuff anyday, I love aubergine spreads, and this one, with the boost of vodka sounds just yummy. ok, that said, I actually have not tried caviar before. too poot. heh, hence why this "poor man's caviar" is even more perfect.

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    1. Hi Shu Han,

      Nice to hear from you. We saw quite a few horses that were out grazing like that. They were tied to a long line and then come dusk they were collected up and walked back to their stables presumably...

      The poor man’s caviar is delicious-I just wish aubergines were cheaper to buy...it’s going to be a long wait until mine are ready in the greenhouse!

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  11. Woah, very very pictures of your trip... and you are really a good cook... I would choose to eat the poor man's version of the caviar rather than the real one... and your sour bread looks sooo tempting...

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    1. Hi Lrong,

      Thank you for your very kind comments...I have to say though, I’m not that good as a cook as I seem to go for quite simple dishes nowadays...as long as I can enjoy the preparation and cooking of a dish and of course the sharing and eating with others. Growing your own and knowing where my food comes from is also very important for me and I am thoroughly enjoying all this blogging with like minded people across the world!

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  12. What a contrast between this post and the previous post. Hope you will post more. I am learning a great deal through your writings, thanks.
    Like LRong above, I too would rather have the poor man's version of caviar than the real one.

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    1. Hi Norma,

      Thanks for stopping by and your kind comment. I’m looking through some more of my photos to do one more post on the Russian theme if I can...

      I absolutely agree with you about the caviar. No doubt I am just a ‘plebeian’ as I could never understand all the fuss about the ‘real’ caviar-this one though is absolutely delicious!

      Hope you are feeling better now.

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  13. Hi GD - thanks so much for posting these... I love the second photo so much. I've always wanted to go to this part of the world. My sister had the luck to visit a university friend in Belarus some years ago and it looked like a wonderful experience. Any time you want to post more photos, that's ok by me! :D

    This version of aubergine caviar looks nice too - I've never had it with tomato before.

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    1. Hi Charles,

      I did find it fascinating to visit places not used to visiting international tourists and would really recommend it if the opportunity arises...yes it can be rather ‘challenging’ at times but the rewards are wonderful!

      I’ll do another post-just can’t decide which next of my favourite Russian recipes to cook this weekend and then post!

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  14. You have shown me a side of Russia that I have never seen before or imagined it to be like. Thanks for the tour.

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    1. Hi Elaine,

      It was amazing. We travelled the long distances from St Petersburg to Moscow and then on to Kiev overnight by the long distance train service (an experience in itself) to try and see more but unfortunately much of which was of course swathed in darkness so couldn't see too much!

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  15. Yes, please, on more Russian posts! The vodka in the Russian Caviar caught my eye, your own addition or something you picked up while there?

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    1. Yes adding vodka to this variation on the recipe was my own idea/whim.

      I’m afraid though that the original Russian Lemon vodka that was brought home has long since been consumed...regretfully.

      Just working on another Russian post and cooking up a recipe!

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  16. I don't know how I missed this post. I absolutely love the windmills and buildings. How wonderful! I would love to see what is in those windmills.

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    1. Hi Becky,

      Yes I too love windmills and these were very strange looking ones indeed... We have a windmill locally not too far away from us that I sometimes drive past. I must take my camera one time and get a photo of it.

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