Real People's Recipes - Val's Russian Salad

It's no secret that I love trying food from other countries and discovering the history behind each dish. When I was at Val and his girlfriend Olivia's leaving party the other day, he started preparing this Russian salad and I was really interested and then I remembered I hadn't done this feature in a while so luckily he agreed to share his recipe with me and my readers. The party was amazing, the variety of food was great and I also got to try these tasty Brazilian condensed milk sweets - Brigadeiro.

Tasty traditional Brazilian sweets - like a squidgy caramel with cocoa

"The dish is called "Olivier salad" but in restaurants its usually just called a "Russian salad".

The version i usually make is vegetarian and very easy, some people add meat to it like fine chopped chicken or duck.

As its a very popular salad in Russia, I'm sure each chef makes their own special recipe. Its usually served as a garnish to a roast dinner, like they add peas to dinner in UK I guess :)

I moved to UK when I was 13. I have always been able to cook for myself, but lately I found that the only way to get the Russian cuisine was to make it. So now I find recipes for the dishes I like on the internet and then tweak it to my taste, also my mother gives me tips and cooking techniques.

In Russia many people buy fresh produce on the market or grow it themselves on allotments - so much of the cuisine is seasonal and uses local products only. Here in UK you get so much imported ingredients its easy to cook dishes from anywhere and any time of year."

Val peeling the eggs

The potatoes which are boiled whole

The delicious finished salad

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes - boiled whole then diced
2 carrots - boiled whole then diced
lots of gherkins! - diced fine
about a cup of peas  - cooked
4 boiled eggs - chopped
mayonnaise - enough to coat
fresh dill
salt and pepper

Just combine the ingredients in a bowl then serve. Didn't last long at the party, everyone loved it!

Real people's recipes - Vegetable and coconut curry!

Mado

This recipe comes from my lovely auntie, Mado. I've asked her a few questions to give you a bit of background behind her, hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed hearing the answers!

Where abouts did you grow up and when did you move to Sheffield? In Kharian, Pakistan. I moved here when I was 16, March 1967. I came here to join my family, I had a headache for seven days and was depressed because of the lack of sun. The first time I saw snow, I fell over! I thought televisions were too small because I was used to watching cinema screens. the first thing I ate was toast with butter for breakfast and I thought it was awful because I couldn't taste the butter at all. I soon found out that food here had no taste or smell compared to back home.
Who do you like cooking for? Family and friends.
What is it that you enjoy about cooking? I find it really therapeutic and relaxing, and I enjoy it because I am good at it! It's easy for me. I also like the fact that people enjoy my food when they eat it.
What are the inspirations behind this dish? I wanted to make something different from my usual curries, this was an experiment that resulted in a dish that a lot of people really like. It's very healthy and it can be enjoyed by vegan and meat eaters alike. It's my own creation.
What would be your last meal? It would probably be a mixed lentil curry with a salad of cherry tomatoes, red onions, radishes, cucumber and quinoa. Pudding would be carrot halwa.

Sweet potato, courgette, green bean and coconut curry.
This is a delicious, rich and creamy recipe full of flavour. When served alongside salad and rice and beans it makes for a very satisying dish.

Ingredients
2 Large Onions
4 cloves Garlic
Thumb of Ginger
Tin Coconut milk
2 courgettes
Green beans
1 Sweet potato
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder

Method
Fry your onions, garlic and ginger together with salt until the onions have softened.
Add your veg and spices and fry for a few minutes longer, until the vegetables are slightly tender.
If it starts to stick add a splash of water.
Now add the coconut milk and cook until the potatoes are soft.

Sweet potato, coconut, courgette curry. Vegan, gluten free and delicious!

Real People's Recipes - Dave's Nachos

Today Dave made me his famous delicious nachos. I've had them before when he's brought them to parties. They make great party food and I must have the recipe. He invites me over for lunch and as I arrive he's halfway through making them...

Me - So Dave tell me how you've made the nachos.


Dave - I make it in layers and the first layer is just the plain nacho...nacho..you know, corn nacho. Then I layer in some avocado, some boiled egg, today I'm putting in something special from the garden - courgettes because they are available now so I steam them a bit then put them in with some mushrooms oh and I put some spring onion in and some olives, the pimento olives I've used today. I put some pine nuts in as well.

(Some of the ingredients)

Then I top it with some salsa mix then add an orange cheese, Leicester cheese. So I put two layers of that down then it all goes in the oven. You can put in different types of olives if you like but today I'm using pimento.
This one I'm making more tastier.

(Dave sprinkles on the pine nuts)

Its nice when you serve it with something else so today I'm serving some corn and some garlic bread with cheese. Since I don't eat cheese I put a special cheese on the garlic bread so I can eat that, and that's it!

Me - Looks tasty!

Dave - So it becomes almost like a meal. It can be seen as a meal.

Me - So many layers.

Dave - its two layers. You gotta use a good nacho. I tried the cheaper ones but they get too soggy so I switched back to the more expensive ones. If you wanna add spice to it you can but you gotta be careful with how it will mix with the other ingredients. The cheese is important you don't want to use one that won't fit in with salsa.

(Layering the cheese and salsa)

Me- so how long are you going to cook it for?

Dave - til the cheese melts. It goes in the oven.

Me - So whilst that's cooking why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?

Dave - I used to watch my mother cook all the time and so that's where I picked up my interest in cooking. I enjoy it. I eat better if I cook for other people as well.

Me - Where were you born?

Dave - I was born in Chicago, Illinois. I grew up here, came here to study.

Me - What year did you move here?

Dave - 1980 I studied psychotherapy and developed teaching methods for teaching science and other subjects

Me - When was the first time you made nachos?

Dave - Oh for my kids with my family






The nachos come out with the cheese melting through the layers and looking delicious and Dave cuts into it like a pie and gives me a 'slice'. It's delicious! What I love about this recipe is its versatility. You can use pretty much whatever you have in your cupboard/ fridge and everyone loves them. Plus there's lots of healthy veggies in there so it makes a very good lunch alongside salad or corn on the cob as I had today. Its wonderful party food. I think I might make it for a movie night in with friends. Thank you Dave for the recipe, interview and for cooking for me!