Russian Winter Pilaf Recipes

RUSSIAN LAMB PILAF (PLOV) RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place the raisins and prunes into a small bowl and pour over enough water to cover. Add lemon juice and let soak for at least 1 hour. Drain. Roughly chop the prunes.
• Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large pan, add the onion, and cook for 5 minutes. Add cubed lamb, ground lamb, and crushed garlic cloves. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until browned.
• Pour 2/3 cup (150 milliliters) of stock into the pan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, or until the lamb is tender.
• Add the remaining stock and bring to a boil. Add rinsed long-grain white rice and a large pinch of saffron. Stir, then cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
• Add the drained raisins, drained chopped prunes, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through for a few minutes, then turn out onto a warmed serving dish and garnish with sprigs of flat-leaf parsley. Source: " Polish & Russian: 70 Traditional Step-by-Step Dishes from Eastern Europe " from the "Cooking Around the World" series by Lesley Chamberlain & Catherine Atkinson (Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006).

RUSSIAN WINTER PILAF

Steps:

• Process all the dry spices in a spice grinder.
• In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together ground spices together with ketchup, lemon juice and vegetable oil.
• Cube the meat and add to the marinade. Massage the meat with marinade coating it thoroughly. Cover the bowl with stretch wrap in let rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 220 C (450 F) with fan assist turned on, oven rack in the middle.
• Spread the meat in a single layer on a non reactive metal baking pan (avoid aluminum). Bake for 13 minutes and then turn the pieces over, bake for another 13 minutes.
• Turn the pieces over again and bake for 7 more minutes. By now the meat should have developed a very deep color, with some black here and there. That is what you are aiming for.
• Transfer the meat to medium size mixing bowl and let cool to room temperature. At this point the meat can be refrigerated if intent is to finish the dish off on the following day, or continue if doing it today.
• Deglaze the pan with hot water, pass through the sieve two times. Let cool and again refrigerate if finishing off the following day, or transfer to fat separator, if preparing it for today.
• Pour off or remove solidified fat (If refrigerated) from the deglazed juices or broth.
• Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer under cold running water. Chop the garlic and onions, grate the carrots.
• Over medium high heat (8.5 out of 10) preheat a large cooking pot with a lid. Once it is very hot add the skimmed fat following with onions and carrots. Stir around and cook for about 4 minutes.
• Stir in 1 1/4 tsp of sea salt.
• Add rinsed rice and stir thoroughly.
• Add chopped garlic, stir and cook for about 1 minute.
• Add the meat and stir until fully incorporated.
• Pour in the broth, stir and let it come to a simmer. When it starts to simmer reduce the heat to medium low (3 out of 10). Place an inverted, slightly smaller ceramic plate, into the pot, creating a cover and a top weight. Put the lid on the pot and cook for about 3-4 minutes, do not stir. The simmer should be vigorous but not too vigorous to burn everything. This may take some experimenting to determine the right level of heat.
• Chop 3 tbsp of fresh dill, 1 hot pepper and julienne 5 tbsp of carrots.
• Using a pair of tongs retrieve plate from the pot and stir in: chopped dill, hot pepper and carrots. Stir thoroughly by scraping the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat off put the lid on and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Serve warm.

WINTER PILAF

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onions and garlic until softened, about 5 mins. Add the spices and rice, then stir-fry for 1-2 mins. Pour in the hot stock and simmer until the stock is nearly all absorbed, about 20-25 mins. Stir in the turkey, add seasoning, then continue cooking until warmed through. Scatter over the nuts and coriander. Divide between two bowls and serve with a dollop of cranberry sauce.