Moscow Meals

Moscow took the news of our departure poorly and today it is cold with a strong chance of rain.  Cindy came across this marvelous site, what I’m going to call, The History of the Russian Smile. Speaking of smiles, there are a lot of Vietnamese that aren’t smiling today in Moscow.  I think many of them are from right here in the complex.

I mentioned that I was going to be doing a grand cassoulet for our neighbors and grand it was. It was a new variation that incorporated lots of Italian sweet sausage, thick slabs of bacon cut into chunks, and chicken, all of which was browned, drained and set aside. Into some of the remaining fat, I placed two coarsely chopped onions, four chopped carrots, the cloves of two small heads of garlic and some chopped chives.  When they were brown, I added a can of diced tomatoes, a cup of chicken stock, a cup of red wine, a small can of tomato paste, a large can of northern beans and a small can of red kidney beans.  I mixed it all together, added salt, pepper and herbs and let it simmer for about twenty minutes, stirring often from the bottom up. I then added the browned meats and let it simmer another twenty minutes before transferring it into two - one large and one small – glass roasting pans.  I covered the large one tightly with foil and baked it in a 400° oven for an hour and then did the same for the little one. (The oven is too small to cook them together.)

Cornbread with Tarragon and Ginger

While they were cooking I made some corn bread that I flavored with tarragon and ginger.  I also started preparing the filling for my apple compote tart. I had never made this before but I had thought about it all morning.  I chopped up two large green apples and placed them in a big glass bowl. I added a handful of raisins that I had plumped in brandy and an equal amount of chopped walnuts.  In a smaller bowl I added a tablespoon of flour, two tablespoons of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and a pinch of salt.  I mixed that together, stirred it all into the apple mix and then placed it in a saucepan with two pats of butter and cooked it over low heat until the butter had melted and everything was starting to thicken.  I let it cook while I got the tart dough ready in the pie pan.  I assembled it all, baked it for an hour and took it out when it was brown.  I served it with whipped cream and it was very lovely.

The Other Cornbread

Apple Compote Tart

Paprika Chicken, Cole Slaw, Garlic Carrot and Potato Sticks

Last night I made paprika roasted boned chicken, homemade crunchy coleslaw and garlic roasted potato and carrot sticks.  For dessert I made an apple crisp and served it hot with some thick cream.  Cindy was very happy, which of course is my raison d’être.

It would appear that the boys and girls of Club 54 have found a new clubhouse. On one of my walks today I took a shortcut and found them at an enclosed garbage shed that holds five dumpsters and seven of them. They seemed very happy; must have gotten a jump on the weekend festivities.  At least they are out of the elements and not at a public bus stop.

After reading this article, perhaps I’ll start to watch more Russian television.  It looks like it would be a scream.

Today starts a nice three-day weekend for Cindy so we’ll make the most of it and wander more around Moscow.  The big Victory Day parade is on Monday, followed by a boat ride and fireworks.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend, Cindy and Wm