Hi,

I'm looking for any classic Russian recipes to try out. Does anybody care to share?

I can't get access to my allrecipes account right now.  That's where I have my modified Blini recipe.  There are loads of blini recipes on the web though.    A traditionally Russian filling is wild mushrooms.  Borscht is another standard.  If I recall correctly the Ukrainian version is more beets and the Russian version has more beef and cabbage.  If you serve anything and everything with sour cream or mayonaise -that's pretty Russian.  If you make bread -Rye bread with cocoa powder added (for colouring) is generally served with Borscht (pumpernickel?).  Dried salted fish with shots of vodka (potato vodka).  Are you interested in main courses?  Do you want traditional but nonstandard?  (There's a great meatball type thing and some dumplings like pirogi that are pretty traditional.  I have recipes for them floating around.

Thank you very much for all of your help! If I could see your blini recipe and your meatball with dumplings recipes, they both sound really, really good, and I would really appreciate it. I am interested in mostly main course dishes and side dishes to go with. I don’t much care if it is standard or nonstandard, so long as it looks good, tastes good, and is traditional. J I already have a recipe for Chernyi Khlib (Russian black bread) that looks a lot like the rye bread with cocoa powder you mentioned; only it uses instant coffee, molasses, and a square of unsweetened chocolate instead.

Hi-

Sorry for the delay.   I think my black bread is the same except I just use cocoa powder instead of coffee & chocolate.  I bet coffee would add a nice touch to it.  It is a really flavorful bread. 

These are, I guess, St. Petersburg style blini.  There are probably a million variations.
Have fun!  Oh and it's not meatball & dumplings -they are 2 different things -do you want those?

Blini w/ mushroom filling

Blini:

1 cup all purpose flour OR 1/2 cup all purpose & 1/2 cup buckwheat flour (for savory blini)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
3 T melted butter

mix dry ingredients together then everything all together.  The batter will be really really thin.  Let it sit about 15 minutes.

If you’re making blini for sweet fillings add 1 T sugar

to cook:
Your first couple won’t work!  (at least mine never do)
 
I use a nonstick omelet pan and use a pastry brush to brush melted butter on it every 3-4 blini.
Pour < 1/4 cup batter (depending on pan size) into pan and swirl around until bottom of pan has a thin coat.  cook one side then flip.   Once done, I put on a plate &  separate them with parchment paper so they don’t stick together.  The trick here (besides dealing with the thin batter and getting it to flow all over the bottom of the pan)  is to make sure your pan isn’t too hot or too cool.  I have a gas stove & keep the temp slightly less than medium.  It takes a while to figure the correct temp for these things.  They are more temperamental than crepes.

on to the easier filling!

Mushroom filling:

2 pounds assorted mushrooms sliced lightly salted and left to drain for a while.
1-2  shallot -diced
1-2 tsp dried thyme.
2 T fresh parsley
1 T lemon juice or vinegar.
about 1/2 cup chicken broth
at least 1 cup sour cream

cook shallots & thyme in butter until soft. (maybe 2 T butter or so -or use olive oil.
add mushrooms and cook until almost done add chicken broth &lemon juice & salt & pepper and boil away until almost all the liquid is gone add parsley.

let it cool a bit then add sour cream.

Blini are (depending on exactly where you are from) folded in quarters or thirds.   Put the filling in then fold in half then half again  or  fold in 3rds.  OR some people just top them with the filling.  
Oh and don’t forget to garnish with sour cream

I sometimes add chicken.
 

Wow, thank you so much for the recipe, it looks so cool! Yes, I would really like to see the other recipes you had mentioned, they look really good also. Thanks again!