Drink, and Taste Russia!
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| Not finished mashing, without the addition of water. The bottom of this tool is flat. |
- Some Starch
- Some Sugar
- Some Berries (about 1 1/2 cups)
- Hot water
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| Mashing. . |
Okay, so first I would like to apologize for the truly awful measurements. I can say there was quite a bit of starch (maybe 1/4 of a cup?) and probably the same amount of sugar. What happens is that you put all the ingredients into a sauce can, dutch oven, or pot, mash the berries with a flat surface (here there is a tool for it-see picture for more detail). You must make sure that there are no clumps of starch, or it will be gross later. I am not sure if there is water in this part of the making of this drink- but I will say that if there was it was very little- like a couple table spoons! After you have all the berries pretty much mashed and NO starch clumps, you add boiling water to the can, stir everything, let set for 5 minutes, and then serve! It is a very tasty drink, although it will take some getting used to the thickness of the drink. I would call it a pseudo-solid! For some reason, I felt that this drink tastes of Russia (like for some reason I think Chai tastes like Christmas). So enjoy!
Russian творог Cookies- About 1.5 cups of творог*
- About 1.5 cups Margarine
- 9 unlevel spoonfulls of flour
- 1/4 C. Sugar (or as needed)
First, combine the творог and margarine in a meduim bowl. Mix this with a fork, stirring until the mixture is mostly smooth. Next add the 9 spoonfulls of flour. A way to tell if you have the right amount of flour is when you mix it (with your hands), if it is extremely sticky you should add more. It should stick to your hands a little, however there should be a doughey-ness about your mixture.
Take a medium sized plate or flat-bottomed container and put the sugar into the bottom, spreading evenly. Take a small pinch of dough and roll into a ball. The ball should not be more than 3 centimeters in diameter. Then press the ball flat, using your forefingers and thumbs and making the dough as evenly distributed as possible in a circular shape. Press one side of your dough circle into the sugar, fold in half, press into the sugar again, and fold it a second time in half. You should have a fan-shaped piece of dough. Then press both sides into the sugar (obviously, you shouldn't press so hard your dough is squished- only press with enough pressure to make the sugar stick to the dough) and put onto a prepared cookie sheet.
I failed and didn't look at the oven for baking temperature, even though all my American friends would have to use google to set their oven appropriately anyways. You will just have to guess, taking them out after 12 minutes or until cookies are a golden brown!
These are super tasty when fresh! You can decide for yourself if the magic wears off once thy are more than a day old.
*творог is translated as cottage cheese, however it is much drier than the American market version. It is, in fact, described to foreigners as a dry milk product, although it does have some moisture to it. After some research I found out that the closest equivalent is called Farmer's cheese in the USA.
