The Russian stove is a massive adobe structure that stood in every village hut. She performed several important functions at once, therefore not a single mistress could do without her. With its help, not only heated the house, but also fed large families. In today's publication it will be told what and how they cooked and baked in a Russian oven.
General recommendations
The Russian stove is a universal appliance in which you can simultaneously cook soups, cook meat, make bread and dry mushrooms. It is important to know how to properly distribute pots of food in it. So, products requiring long-term heat treatment are located in the depths of the furnace. And containers with rapidly digestible ingredients are placed closer to the damper.
Various cereals are surprisingly tasty in the Russian oven. Due to the evenly distributed heat, they come out very fragrant and crumbly. And to enhance their taste characteristics, the housewives of that time supplemented cereals with vegetables, fruits or mushrooms.
Soups cooked in a Russian stove deserve no less praise. It produces amazing borscht, pickles, meat and lean soup.
Prudent housewives were able not only to cook daily lunches and dinners in the Russian oven, but also to dry mushrooms. Better than others, whites, bogs and aspen trees are suitable for these purposes. The collected raw materials are not washed, but thoroughly wiped with a dry damp cloth, cut into small pieces, laid on an oiled baking sheet and sent to a pre-melted oven, the pharynx of which is covered with a shutter. You can store such mushrooms in clean bags of cotton cloth. In the same way, apples, bird cherry, wild rose, blueberries and other forest products were harvested earlier.
How to melt?
Inadequate or careless handling of this design can cause burns or fire. Therefore, when working with it, extreme caution must be observed and adhere to safety regulations. In addition, any housewife should know, not only how to cook in a Russian stove, but also how to heat it.
You need to start the process with laying firewood. It is desirable to place them as close to each other as possible and toss them only after burning the previous batch. It is extremely important to ensure that during the kindling process, the valve of the furnace is in the ajar position and the damper is in the closed position.
To provide access to oxygen, it is enough to stir firewood with a poker. Once they are completely burnt out, you can start cooking. In the Russian oven, food does not boil, but languishes, because the dishes should be filled with liquid no more than a quarter of the total. It is advisable to put and pull out containers using a special grip or a wooden shovel.
Cookware Requirements
Kitchen utensils intended for use in a Russian oven should be as reliable and safe as possible. The dishes made of aluminum, clay or cast iron are best suited for these purposes. It is important that it has thick walls and a relatively small bottom area.
Various clay pots are suitable for making cereals, soups, stews and baked dishes. Their specific pot-bellied shape provides uniform heating of products and eliminates burning. In addition, pottery has such important properties as strength and resistance to high temperatures. But, at the same time, it is less durable in comparison with cast iron containers.
Millet porridge
For lovers of hearty and wholesome breakfasts, this simple and popular recipe considered below will become a real find. Any housewife who lived in the village was able to cook loose and tasty porridge in a Russian oven. Now this technology is almost forgotten, but it will be interesting to learn about it for those who want to study the history of domestic cuisine. To make such a dish, you will need:
- 100 g of millet.
- 1 liter of milk.
- 1 tbsp. l Sahara.
- ½ tsp salt.
Thoroughly washed and dried millet is poured into a suitable cast iron. Salt, sugar and milk are added to it. All this, without stirring, is covered and sent to a pre-melted furnace.
Chicken with potatoes
The method described below will attract the attention of young housewives who do not know how to cook a delicious and satisfying dinner in a Russian oven. To feed your loved ones with a fragrant nutritious dish, you will need:
- 1.5 kg of chicken thighs.
- 7 potatoes.
- 2 large onions.
- 2 carrots.
- Salt and seasoning.
Onion half-rings are laid at the bottom of a suitable container and covered with washed chicken thighs. Slices of potatoes and slices of carrots are evenly distributed on top. All this is salted, seasoned and sent for a couple of hours to the oven. If there is too much heat in it, then it is better to cover the contents of the dishes with foil so that it does not carbonize.
Varenets
This dairy product has long been prepared in Russian villages. In the oven, it turns out much tastier and healthier than what is sold in modern stores. Therefore, if you have the opportunity, be sure to make a dumpling with your own hands. To do this, you will need:
- 3 liters of homemade fatty milk.
- 250 g of thick village sour cream.
Milk is poured into a cast iron and sent to a melted furnace for the whole night. During this time, it will not only become melted, but also decrease in volume. Then it is cooled to a temperature of 37 0 C and supplemented with sour cream. All mix well and place in any warm place. After fourteen hours, the finished varenets is cooled and served.
Pork roll
This option will not go unnoticed by those who seek to find out what can be cooked and how to cook pork in a Russian oven. The answer to this question was well known by our great-great-grandmothers. But over time, most of the recipes were lost or forgotten, and only a small part of them has survived to the present. To make a fragrant meatloaf, you will need:
- 2 kg boneless pork belly.
- 2 carrots.
- 2 onions.
- 3 cloves of garlic.
- Salt, water and seasonings.
The process must begin with the processing of meat. It is washed, dried, beaten off, rubbed with salt, spices and garlic, and then rolled up and tied with a thick thread. The resulting product is placed in a cast iron. It also added peeled vegetables and water. All this is placed in a melted furnace and left for three or four hours.
Barley porridge
According to some reports, this particular dish was the favorite dish of Peter I. It was cooked in a Russian stove in a cast iron mainly on weekdays and served for dinner or evening meal. To independently make a delicious crumbly porridge, you will need:
- 2 cups of barley groats.
- 1 liter of milk.
- 50 g of butter.
- Salt.
Salted milk is poured into a cast iron and brought to a boil. As soon as it begins to boil, cereal is poured into it and languished in the oven until fully cooked. Before use, the porridge is flavored with melted butter.
Whitewash
The technology discussed below will be a real discovery for those who are trying to find out what and how they prepared in a Russian oven from a semi-wild variety of wheat, actively cultivated until the 18th century. The porridge made in this way turned out to be very tasty, healthy and had a pleasant nutty aroma. To cook it you will need:
- 1 cup spelled.
- 100 g butter.
- ½ cup yogurt, water and milk.
First of all, you need to do spelling. It is soaked in a mixture of water and yogurt and left for at least six hours. At the end of the designated time, it is washed, filled with milk, boiled until tender, wrapped in a blanket and left for forty minutes. Before use, the porridge is flavored with oil.
Borscht
In the Russian oven, not only cereals, rolls and fries were cooked, but also amazingly delicious first courses were cooked. To make borsch, similar to the one that the villagers ate, you will need:
- 500 g of chicken.
- 1 beetroot.
- 1 carrot.
- 1 onion.
- 3 potatoes.
- ½ a fork of cabbage.
- 1 tbsp. l tomato paste.
- 2 tbsp. l vinegar.
- 1 tbsp. l Sahara.
- Salt, vegetable oil, seasonings and water.
First you need to do chicken. It is washed, poured with water, supplemented with peeled beets and boiled for one and a half hours. Then the vegetable and bird are removed from the broth and slightly cooled. Beets are grated, stewed with the addition of vinegar and sugar, and then sent to a skillet in which there is already sautéed onions and carrots. All this is complemented by tomato paste, a small amount of broth and languish for a short time under the lid. The resulting frying is transferred to a ceramic container, poured with chicken broth, supplemented with potatoes, cabbage and pieces of meat. The future borsch is salted, seasoned with spices and cooked in a pre-melted oven.
Krupenik
This classic hearty dish, which was cooked in a Russian oven, is a casserole, perfect for a family lunch or dinner. To treat your family with such a groats, you will need:
- 1 cup barley.
- 50 g of dried porcini mushrooms.
- 100 g butter.
- 1 parsley root.
- 1 carrot.
- 1 root celery.
- Water and salt.
It is advisable to start preparing the groats with the processing of barley. It is washed and boiled in salted water. As soon as it softens, it is thrown into a colander, and then sent to a cast iron, not forgetting to flavor with half the available oil. All this is supplemented with pre-soaked and chopped mushrooms, grated carrots and chopped roots. The future groats are poured with the remaining melted butter and cooked in a Russian stove.
Lean cabbage soup
Vegetarian enthusiasts will surely enjoy another simple recipe. Any modern housewife who has the minimum knowledge of cooking can cook real aromatic cabbage soup in a Russian stove. To do this, you will need:
- 850 ml of water.
- 20 g of pearl barley.
- 250 g sauerkraut.
- 2 onions.
- 1 carrot.
- 1 parsley root.
- 6 dried mushrooms.
- Salt, vegetable oil and seasonings.
The salted water is brought to a boil and complemented by a frying made of roots, onions and mushrooms. Washed barley, stewed cabbage and spices are sent there. All this is placed in a melted furnace and cooked for about forty minutes.
Blueberry pie
This sweet pastry with a fragrant berry filling will not leave indifferent either large or small eaters. To prepare it, you will need:
- 200 g of butter.
- 3 cups baking flour.
- 4 eggs.
- 1 cup regular sugar.
- 2 tbsp. l sour cream.
- ¼ tsp soda.
- ¼ tsp citric acid.
- ½ tsp salt.
- 2 cups of fresh blueberries.
The butter is carefully ground with flour, and then combined with three eggs, beaten with sweet sand. Sour cream, salt and soda, extinguished with citric acid, are added there. All thoroughly knead and clean in the refrigerator. After a couple of hours, the dough is divided into two parts and rolled out in layers. One of them is distributed on the bottom of a round shape and covered with a layer of washed berries. Spread the remaining layer of dough on top and grease it with a beaten egg. Prepare a berry pie in a pre-heated oven.
Rye bread
This soft and fragrant pastry will be not only a great addition to the soup, but also a good basis for making sandwiches. Having found out that they cooked and baked in a Russian oven, you need to figure out what is needed for this. To make real homemade bread, you will need:
- 2 cups rye flour.
- 1 cup of water.
- 1 cup wheat flour.
- 1 tsp salt.
- 1 tsp Sahara.
- ½ tsp yeast.
- Lean oil (for lubrication).
Yeast, sugar and half a cup of wheat flour are diluted in heated water. Shake everything gently and clean for a couple of hours in a warm place. The increased sponge is supplemented with salt and the remaining flour, and then thoroughly knead, cover with a towel and briefly sent to a secluded corner, away from drafts. The approached dough is laid out in a greased form and left for proofing. After some time, it is placed in a melted furnace and wait until it is cooked. Before serving, it is necessarily cooled and only then cut into slices and consumed with soup, borsch or other dishes.