A fishmonger persuaded me to buy these two cute guys  – 12 euro each. They will take five minutes to cook, the fish monger told me. What she did not mention is that they will take 2 hours to clean, that the pieces of their shell and their juices will be on the walls and the ceiling, and that I would have to wash the whole kitchen and take a bath after the whole process.  All that for one bowl of crab meat! The meat was delicious, but since there wasn’t that much of it, I made juliennes: added some chopped cooked eggplant, some tomatoes, fish broth, herbs, cheese on top, and grilled in the oven.

With about 300 cookbooks in my library I rarely cook from Internet resources, but yahoo upped its food and cooking section with Shine What’s for dinner weekly mailings, giving you great ideas, focusing on seasonal ingredients and providing lovely photos; and with Chow Ciao featuring charismatic Italian–American Chef Fabio Viviani in short videos which are entertaining, educational and practical. In Russia we say that one takes great pleasure looking at three things: water, fire and other people working – this makes Mr. Viviani (as well as firemen), eye candy. Most of the time though his skillful performance makes cooking look like best pastime rather than work. Probably even very reluctant cooks will at least get a thought of preparing some of those mouth watering dishes one day.

With kind permission of Chow Ciao here is the recipe of Fabio’s Caponata, a Sicilian eggplant sweet and sour dish:

Set the fire on medium and add some olive oil, then add diced onion, carrot and celery. Add a sprig of fresh thyme. As the vegetables are cooking and caramelizing, peel the egg-plant with a potato peeler in a zebra-like fashion, taking some strips of skin off and leaving some on to get a more interesting texture. Cut the peeled eggplant in strips about half an inch thick and then dice. Add the diced eggplant to the pan with the other vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. You need to season as you cook because when you add vinegar and sugar you won’t be able to season it any more.

На среднем огне на оливковом масле готовить лук, морковь, сельдерей, бросить пару веточек свежего тимьяна. Пока овощи готовятся очистить баклажан, но не полностью, а так чтоб он получился как зебра, полоску кожи снять, полоску оставить, для более интересной текстуры. Потом порезать на пласты достаточно толстые, а потом на кубики. Добавить баклажан в сковороду к другим овощам, приправить солью и перцем. Солить перчить надо по мере готовки, потому что когда добавится сахар и уксус, приправлять уже нельзя.

Add the olives and pine nuts. Pour some more olive oil for the intense olive flavor to bring everything together. Everything should be cooking on high temperature, as cooking on low heat will make the vegetables release their moisture, resulting in a soggy soupy dish. When the vegetables have caramelized, add brown sugar and some vinegar. In a separate small bowl mix some tomato paste with a dash of vinegar. Chop some mint, add to the pan.

Добавить оливки и орешки, еще оливкового масла для интенсивности вкуса и чтобы все соединить. Все нужно готовить на достаточно высокой температуре, потому что на слабом огне овощи пустят сок, и получится каша. Когда овощи протушились, добавить сахар и уксус. В отдельной мисочке разбавить томатную пасту небольшим количеством уксуса. Мелко порубить мяту, добавить в сковороду.

When the liquid in the pan is reduced, the Caponata is almost ready. By reducing the vinegar, you are achieving the desired sweet and sour flavor. Remove the thyme, which has lost all the little leaves by now. Add tomato paste and cook 2 more minutes. Caponata can be served as a side dish, appetizer or topping for bread.


Когда жидкость выпарилась, Капоната почти готова. Выпаривание уксуса с сахаром дает кисло-сладкий вкус. Достать тимьян, который к этому моменту потерял все свои листики. Добавить томатную пасту, и готовить еще две минуты. Капоната подается как гарнир, закуска или как овощная икра на хлеб.

For more great recipes visit Chow Ciao page at http://screen.yahoo.com/women/chow-ciao/

My friend Alya says that I should be prohibited for women. While I take this as a compliment to my cooking, it’s not always true and below are some dishes that I cooked during Alya’s visit – many of them quite woman friendly. 

Моя подруга Аля говорит, что меня надо запретить для женщин. Это, конечно, комплимент, но не всегда правда, и вот некоторые блюда, которые я готовила во время Алиного визита – многие из них вполне безопасны для женщин.

One of Alya’s (and my) favourites – champignon carpaccio (full recipe here).

Одно из Алиных (и моих) любимых блюд – карпаччо из шампиньонов (пошаговый рецепт здесь).

Classic meat carpaccio –  beef, ruccola, parmesan shavings, lemon juice, balsamic glaze.

Карпаччо по классическому рецепту – говядина, руккола, пармезановая стружка, лимонный сок, бальзамик.

Very girly lunch – garden salad with salmon roasted with pesto sauce. 

Очень даже девчачий ланч – зеленый салат с лососем, запеченным под соусом песто.

Mussels steamed in wine with herbs or red pepper and clams steamed in their own juice with butter, cilantro and garlic.

Мидии в винном соусе с травами и в сливочном соусе с перцем, и моллюски с маслом, корриандром и чесноком.

Shrimp tapas with garlic butter.

Тапас – креветки с маслом и чесноком.

Melon slices wrapped in hamon with virgin Bloody Mary (tomato juice, salt, pepper, tobacco with a celery stick).

Кусочки дыни, завернутые в хамон, поданы с безалкогольным коктейлем Блади Мэри (томатный сок, соль, перец, тобаско и веточка сельдерея).

Cous-cous with peas, asparagus and carrots.

Весенний кус-кус с зеленным горошком, спаржей и морковкой.

Dorada stuffed with spinach, served with risotto and seafood julienne.

Дорада, начиненная шпинатом, подана с ризотто и жульеном из морепродуктов.

Pancakes with cavia.

Блины с красной икрой.

Well, Alya has a point :)
В общем-то, Аля где-то права

русская версия этого поста на главной странице в разделе *мои рецепты*

I love picnics, everything seems to taste better when eaten outside. In  Russia we have this tradition “to go to shashlyki”: friends agree in advance to go and cook meet somewhere outside, be that woods or somebody’s dacha (summer house). The cubes of meet are marinated overnight traditionally in onion and vinegar or wine, then speared onto skewers and roasted over coals. The smells and smoky flavors are fantastic, the atmosphere great fun. I miss it! So, decided to start a weekly tradition of picnics to enjoy the outdoor eating. This was the first one and there was no time to go to the store, so had to cook something picknicy from whatever there was in the fridge. Russian pirozhki (pies, empaniadas) are great for eating outside and are a meal in themselves. The beauty of them is that you can use anything you like for the stuffing and vary the dough to suit your taste/ contents of the fridge. Here is what I came out with.

1.       Using a fork mix cottage cheese with sugar and salt, grate butter in the same bowl, add sour cream, lightly beaten eggs, baking powder and mix thoroughly.

2.       Gradually add flower, to the point when it becomes not too sticky and you can knead it with your hands, transfer from the bowl to the working surface sprinkled with flower. Add more flower until the dough stops sticking to your hands. Kneed 10 – 15 minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to rest at room temperature while you prepare the stuffing.

3.       Sauté the chopped onion in vegetable oil until it becomes transparent. Add chopped carrot, garlic, olives, tomatoes, tomato puree, and cook for 10 – 15 minutes. Add the meet and cook another 10 minutes. If the mixture seems to dry, add another tomato or some water. Remove from heat and let cool.

4.       Divide the dough into 4 pieces, then each of those into 4 more. Form flat rounds with your fingers, put a spoonful of stuffing in the center of each and seal the edges firmly. Place the pirozhki on the buttered baking tray leaving some space between them. Brush with some egg and bake about 20 minutes on 200 until they become golden.

5.       If the baking tray is full and you still have some dough and stuffing left, divide the dough in two, roll it thinly, place one sheet on a large buttered frying pan, pour out the remaining stuffing, spread it evenly, and cover with the second sheet. Fry on medium heat until golden, then turn on the other side.