A Russian Recipe

Photo of our kitchen in E-burg

After "Food Safety Alerts," published below, I'd like to talk about cooking at home.  In the heat of summer, it’s nice to have a cold soup for lunch.

A Russian favorite is called Okroshka, and it is with pleasure that I share this recipe with you. Note that the quantity of each ingredient is left to your discretion.

OKROSHKA SOUP
Boiled potatoes, diced
Boiled egg, diced
Cucumber, peeled and diced
Green onion, chopped
Fresh dill, chopped
Sausage or other meat, chopped
Horseradish
Mustard
Sour cream – as a topping
Kvas

Oh-oh. The last ingredient is a bit of a problem in the U.S. Kvas is a beverage made from fermented black bread. Although it’s possible to make it at home, no one does that any more. A fair substitute, I think, would be near beer, or nonalcoholic beer.

An alternative is to use the milk product called "kefir."  It's available in most American supermarkets, and it's something like a light yogurt.  It can be used as the broth of this cold soup in place of kvas, thinned out a bit with water.

If you try this in the U.S. and mix near beer or kvas with the chopped vegetables and meat, I think that to get the full Russian experience of summer you should also turn off your air conditioner.