Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): Belarus

Welcome to Belarus! This is our 100th country in this project! Hard to believe that we are over halfway through the countries! Belarus is an eastern European country that is landlocked and borders Russia. In fact, almost half of Belarusian exports go to Russia! Belarus is known to have strong ties to Russia, and it was evident in their food as well. According to Google, the population of Belarus is 9.18 million people, and the capital is Minsk. Their national dish is...

Draniki!

It is a potato pancake. We've seen these in Israel and other eastern European countries as well. To go with the Draniki, we made Borscht and strawberry Kissel. Sounds simple enough, right? Here's what we did:

DRANIKI

2 lbs potatoes
1/2 onion

1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoons gluten free flour
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Oil for frying
Sour cream for serving

Grate the potatoes and onion in a large bowl.
Squeeze out almost all excess liquid.
Add the eggs, flour, garlic, dill, salt and pepper, and mix well.
Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium, add a few tablespoons of oil and heat through.
Drop a tablespoon of batter and flatten it to make a pancake.
Cook until the pancake looks golden brown around the edges, then flip and cook for two more minutes.
Keep your pancakes warm until serving time.
Sprinkle with more chopped fresh dill and serve with sour cream.

(Source: Draniki)

BORSCHT

1 large onion, chopped
1-2 russet potatoes
2 tbsp avocado oil
2 beets, diced
2 carrots, sliced
2 turnips, diced
1/2 a green cabbage, sliced thinly
6 oz can of tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
32 oz beef stock
sour cream, for garnish

In a large pot, cook onion in oil until soft and slightly golden.
Add the rest of the ingredients, except sour cream.
Add additional broth as needed to “cover” all the veggies.
Bring to a low simmer and cook for at least an hour (I did 2).
When the veggies are cooked through, ladle into serving bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream.
Enjoy!

(Source: Borscht)

STRAWBERRY KISSEL

1 lb strawberries, tops cut off & quartered (I used frozen)

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 lemon, juice from lemon

1/4 C cornstarch

1/2 C water

Add the strawberries, ½ cup of granulated sugar, and lemon juice of half a lemon into a medium-sized pot and stir to combine.
Turn the heat to medium-high and cook the strawberries for about 5-8 minutes, until the strawberries begin to sweat and the liquid comes to a boil.
Remove the pot from the heat and add the strawberries & liquid into a food processor or blender.
Blend until the strawberries are smooth.
Run the strawberries through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.
Put the strained liquid back into the pot over medium heat.
In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water together and mix until they are fully combined and the cornstarch is dissolved.
Pour the cornstarch slurry into the pureed strawberries and stir until the mixture thickens and sticks to your spoon.
Pour the liquid into two cups and place them in the fridge to harden.
Once set, enjoy!

(Source: Strawberry Kissel)

The verdict? We really enjoyed this meal. The Draniki were delicious - unlike any of the other potato pancakes we had. It didn't really make a batter like most, and then the result was more like thick hashbrowns that you could pick up and eat. They were very tasty! The borscht was very good too - especially on a rainy day! The soup thickened as it cooked which made it more like a stew, and the thick beet juice was a little bit sweet from the carrots and delicious. I didn't care for the strawberry kissel. The texture was very strange - almost like jello. I could also taste the cornstarch in it, which was a bit off-putting. Handsome Husband ended up eating mine :-)