Sea buckthorn punch balances between tangy sourness and sweetness. It is a great drink for when it’s chilly outside.
Frozen sea buckthorns can be bought in Russian shops. They can used to make a quick jam — simly blitz the berries, sieve to filter the seeds out, and mix with sugar. The berries can be used to makea delicious drink and we will share with you 2 recipes.
Sea buckthorn punch- recipe 1
Products
Sea buckthorns — 300 g/10.5 oz
Lemon — 150 g/5.3 oz
Orange —100 gr/3.5 oz
Ginger, fresh root — 20 gr/0.7oz
Ground cardamon — 5 g/0.18 oz
Fresh mint — 10g/0.4 oz
Sugar — 350 g/0.8 oz
Water — 1,7 l/0.4 gallon
Ice (optional)
Method:
Remove the branches and litter from the berries, rinse with boiling water. Crush the sea buckthorn with a mortar.
Wipe through a sieve, then transfer the sea buckthorn cake to a separate pan.\
Squeeze orange juice and lemon juice into sea buckthorn juice – through a sieve so that the seeds do not fall. Cover a glass container with a mixture of juices with foil and put it in the refrigerator.\
Put the remaining pieces of citrus fruits in a saucepan to the sea buckthorn cake. Fill with clean water, put a sprig of mint and send it to the stove to boil.
As soon as bubbles form in the pan, add granulated sugar, ground cardamom. We mix everything.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a wide container.
Put a peeled piece of ginger in the strained broth for a couple of minutes. Then we take out the ginger, it is no longer required.
Pour into the hot broth the oblepthorn-citrus juice from the refrigerator.
Stir and pour hot punch (non-alcoholic) into a decanter.
Serve the hot non-alcoholic punch immediately without cooling. If the drink is too hot for you, add a few ice cubes to the glass.
Sea Buckthorn Punch – recipe 2
Products:
Sea buckthorns – 300 g/10.5 oz
Lemon – 1,5 psc
Orange -1.5 psc
Water – 1,5 l/0.3 gallon
Sugar – 250 g/8./8.8 oz
Ginger (root) – 20 g/0.7 oz
Cinnamon (stick) – 1 psc
Anise (star) – 1 psc
Cardamon (ground) – ½ tsp
Method:
Prepare the ingredients for the sea buckthorns punch: the amount of sugar can be change according to your taste, the same goes for the amount of spices.
Firstly we need to prepare the juice. For that we wipe sea buckthorns through a sieve place over a deep pot. We keep the remaining cake.
Add the juice of whole lemon and orange to the sea buckthorn juice. Cut the citrus halves into thin slices – they will be needed to serve the drink.
Remove the pot with juice in the refrigerator for the time being.
Put sugar into a saucepan of a suitable volume, add sea buckthorn cake, leftovers of the orange and lemon, spices and ginger, cut into small pieces.
Fill everything with water and put the pan on medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar completely. Then turn off the fire, tightly cover the pan with a lid and leave to infuse at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
Filter the contents of the pan through the seive. Now citrus skins, cake and spices can be thrown away, and the fragrant broth can be combined with sea buckthorn and citrus juice. Mix everything and serve the sea buckthorn punch warm.
When serving, add a little sea buckthorn berries and slices of orange and lemon to the glasses. By the way, when trying punch for sweetness, you need to take into account that fresh lemon slices will add sourness when serving.
Tushonka is canned braised meat. Hearty food which with a very long shelf live (up to several years). In Soviet Russia it was a part of military ration, and it is now popular among tourists, geologists, archaeologists, mountain-climbers, solders and bachelors. Unlike in Spam or Luncheon meat, it is not pinky substance of processed meats, but rather pulled apart beef, pork – actual meat. It has a distinct flavor of pepper and bay leaf, and these days people sometimes crave this food as a fond memory from the past. Tushonka is present in almost every store and is a source for quick and budget-friendly protein. It can be mixed with potatoes for a lazy dinner or used in a staple dish Makarony po-flotski (Marine pasta).
Russian oatmeal cookies (ovsyanoe pechenie, Rus. овсяное печенье) is a rustic and cozy tea time treat. The beauty of this oatmeal cookie lies in its simplicity – nothing fancy, just simple earnest flavour and crispy texture.
The main ingredients of ovsyanoe pechenie is oatmeal, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. The cookies are then formed and baked. Traditional oatmeal cookies are very popular in Russia and they are always found in confectionery deparments or at the food markets.
You can crunch these oatmeal cookies out loud, or you can dip in a cup of tea. Sooo comforting.
Ajika or Adjika is a Georgian-Abhaz hot spicy paste with rich herbal flavour. It is made from red or green hot peppers, salt and herbs (such as coriander, fenugreek, celery, parsley, dill, basil, bay leaf, satureja , marjoram, pepper mint and paprika: people of Caucasus know their herbs!
It is the rich selection of herbs that gives adjika unique piquant flavour which can add an interesting twist to a lot of meals:
It gives a sharp and subtle herbal edge to all meat dishes. You can also marinade your meat in a mix with adjika and vegetable oil. A dollop of this dip next to the mash potatoes can give you a fantastic new perspective on the dish. Some people serve it as a cold snack spreading a small amount over tomatoes and sprinkling fresh chopped herbs. Another way to eat ajika is to slice and bake courgette, spread a little amount of the sauce with chopped fresh herbs and let infuse for a few minutes.
Who will like adjika: Adjika is a very spicy condiment, so naturally it will find its fans among those who like their meal to be an experience of hot flavours. Most likely those people who like Indian and Thai cuisine and like Tabasco and sambal olek will appreciate the rich hot flavours of adjika.
Sweetened condensed milk (Rus. сгущенное молоко) is a thick sweet substance made by vaporizing water from milk. It is usually produced in tin cans that can last for years (unopened and in refrigerators).
Condensed milk is popular around the world in many desserts dishes and treats. In Russia condensed milk is produced in a tin with a well recognized design: dark and light blue background and white letters.
It is very popular to drink tea or coffee with a spoon (or two) of condensed milk, or spread it over a toast like jam. It is also very popular in desserts such as pirozhnoe Kartoshka or as a filling of various pastries. It’s also loved by many home chefs as an ingedient for an easy delicious cream for cakes – just beating condensed milk up with softened butter, it can’t be any easier.
During Soviet times some people would additionally boil a tin of condensed milk in a pan filled with water. The result is so called boiled condensed milk which has a caramel flavor and colour. Nowadays you can buy this product in the shops.
Origin
Condensed milk was invented in the middle of 19 century by an American Gail Borden. There was a practical need for that – back in the day it was a challenge to keep milk fresh for long. Soon after creation of this product Gail Borden established a company that manufactured condensed milk.
During the American Civil War the U.S. government ordered huge amounts of condensed milk as field ration for solders. This was an extraordinary field ration for the 19th century: a typical 10 oz (300 ml) can contained 1,300 Calories (5440 kJ), 1 oz (28 g) each of protein and fat, and more than 7 oz (200 g) of carbohydrate.
Soldiers returning home from the Civil War soon spread the word. Gail Borden became very prosperous, moved to the county in Texas that was soon called after him- Borden county, and build several other factories which he passed onto his sons.
The popularity of this product was up and down thorough the 20 century, but it has gained its niche – not only condensed milk is good as a ration item for soldiers and survivalist, but it is very popular around the globe in many dessert dishes.
