Eastern European Recipes
101 recipes found
Rolled Walnut Bread (Kalacs)
White Borscht
This white borscht, a nod to the tradition of sour soups in Ukrainian cooking, is simply a perfect meal: rich and satisfying, yet bright and delicate and clean all at once. It’s given its distinct tang up front, by soaking a hunk of sourdough bread in the simmering broth, and also at the end, by whisking in a little crème fraîche before serving. At the center is the delicious, subtle, complex broth. The better the kielbasa, the better the broth, obviously, and it’s worth using the whole garland for that complex smoky seasoning it imparts. There’ll be extra for snacking. The chopped dill keeps it all bright and fresh and lively in the mouth. A year-round classic to have in your repertoire, it’s especially beloved in colder months. When weather forecasters announce a dismal spell of sleeting days in a row, you’ll think, oh, good! White borscht weather!
Hungarian Goulash
There is no high drama about simmering a stew. However fine, stew is a homey, intimate exchange, a paean to the way living things improve when their boundaries relax, when they incorporate some of the character and flavor of others. Soulful, a word inextricably linked with a good sturdy stew, is the payoff to the cook who plans a little and has the patience to abide.
Chlodnik
Balkan Eggplant and Chile Purée
This is an eggplant-centric version of ajvar (pronounced “eye-var), the Balkan red pepper and eggplant relish. Serve it with toasted pita triangles or warm pita bread. It differs from other eggplant purées because once the eggplant is cooked and puréed with the other ingredients, the purée itself is simmered until thick.
Potato-Cheese Pierogies With Bacon
With pliant skins surrounding a rich mash of potatoes and cheese, Julia Hlinka’s pierogies are the epitome of satisfying northern Slovakian farm food. Instead of the traditional sheep's cheese, she uses American cheese — a reminder of her move to the United States in the 60s — which melts into the potatoes. She tops the pierogies with bacon as a treat. Alternatively, you can also serve them dressed with a little melted butter and chopped chives.
Barszcz (Classic Polish Borscht)
Most Slavic countries have their own form of beet soup, a winter staple across Central and Eastern Europe. Barszcz, the Polish variation, is usually served as a clear burgundy broth with bright, wintry flavors. It is sweeter and beefier than Ukrainian or Russian borscht, and much less textural: Most vegetables are strained after imparting their flavor, though the soup may include grated beets or morsels of meat. This recipe is adapted from “From a Polish Country House Kitchen,” an anthropological cookbook by Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden (Chronicle Books, 2012). Strain the vegetables entirely and sip the restorative broth directly from a mug, or serve the soup with sour cream and enjoy with pierogi.
Tkemali (Plum Sauce)
If you can find tart green plums, they are best for this dish. Otherwise, use unripened red plums.
Hungarian Stuffed-Under-The-Skin Chicken
Floating Island With Apricot Creme Anglaise
A dessert whose sweetness can set an adult’s teeth on edge is given a tart reprieve in this recipe. In thinking about a less-sweet take on île flottante, Melissa Clark considered: What would Julia Child do? Would she purée fresh apricots and stir the mush into the custard to make a sauce that was tangy and bright? The result is a dessert that takes a few hours of your time, but it rewards deeply. It’s a familiar classic, brightened up.
Red Tulip's Goulash Soup With Dumplings
Cabbage, Feta and Dill Piroshki
There are as many possible fillings for piroshki as there are countries that claim the yeasted, stuffed buns as their own. In Russia and Ukraine, where they are an especially popular street food, you’ll find versions that are baked and versions that are fried with fillings both sweet and savory. In this baked version, the slightly sweet, butter- and egg-enriched dough encloses a filling of silky cooked green cabbage, which provides a nice counterpoint to salty feta. Once you’ve made these a couple times, you might start dreaming up your own fillings. Piroshki are a wonderful way to use up odds and ends.
Cabbage Stuffed With Chicken and Mushrooms
Mung Beans and Rice (Mashkitchiri)
Chicken Blintzes with Wild Mushrooms
These are not your average blintzes. Elegant and savory, they are as good for a midnight supper as they are for brunch. Though the recipe is a bit complex, it can be parceled out into a series of small, manageable chores; both the pancakes and filling can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, and once the blintzes are assembled, they can wait in the fridge as well. The final step of browning and crisping the blintzes in butter is almost no work at all.
Mashed Potato and Broccoli Raab Pancakes
A delicious way to use mashed potatoes, whether they be leftovers or freshly mashed. Use leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving for these, or just steam up some potatoes and mash (that is what the nutritional values here are based on, not on your buttery leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes). Whichever way you go, the mixture is very quickly thrown together.
Butternut Squash and Purple Potato Latkes
Purple potatoes add a bit of color and some extra nutrients but regular white potatoes work, too. Of course you can use white potatoes for these, but I loved the idea of the color combo when I created the recipe. The purple doesn’t show up so much once you have browned the latkes but the anthocyanins in the potatoes are still there.
Ice-Cold Schav
Nothing revives and refreshes in a heat wave like this ice-cold schav, made with the exceptionally tart herb sorrel. The soup is seasoned at each stage: You salt the sweating shallots, the cooking potatoes, again when you add the sorrel and finally again when all is combined, which seems like a lot of salt. But once the mixture is chilled, the flavors are masked and dulled so it will taste just right. Using the stems of herbs is a habit I've formed in general, but in the case of sorrel I wish it were an herb all on its own — that you could just buy sorrel stems. I've seen Instagrammable versions of the soup with the egg cut into pristine wedges and bright green watercress substituted for drab muddy sorrel, but I think the way to go here is without vanity: Scatter well-chopped hard-boiled egg liberally over the drab soup, and follow with the minced stems, also liberally.
Kolaches
Transylvanian Goulash (Szekely Gulyas)
Armenian Vegetable Salad
Invigorating Paprika Chicken
Georgian Beans (Lobio)
