The Nativity of Christ has always been the main and bright holiday in Rus'; it was always looked forward to and celebrated widely and cheerfully. Walking, sleigh rides, troika rides, fortune telling are traditional Russian pastimes on this holiday. Of course, among all the entertainment, people did not forget about the feast. Moreover, in Russia there is a long and rather strict fast before Christmas.

After Lent, just before Christmas, on January 6, comes Christmas Eve. It precedes breaking the fast. You can begin to break your fast only with the appearance of the first star. You are amazed at the knowledge, experience and their reasonable use by our ancestors. After all, you couldn’t eat too much on Christmas Eve. Only the dishes we'll talk about below. And this is without knowing such concepts as diet, how to escape from fasting, etc. They just limited it and that’s it.

And only on January 7, in the morning, the real breaking of the fast began. And a pig and a roast goose, and lamb, and hare, and a glass too, everything was on the table. Traditional Christmas dishes are meat dishes. Another must-have dish is baking. All kinds of pies, kulebyaki, pies, pies, pancakes with different fillings, casseroles. Sweets included fruits, berries, honey, gingerbread, and cookies.

So how? Have you already worked up an appetite? Let's get down to business now.

Menu for the festive table on Christmas Eve and Christmas: Russian cuisine

Since the Christmas feast begins on Christmas Eve, January 6th, and continues on the 7th, I think that we need to start on Christmas Eve. Let's try to go through this briefly.

Menu:

On Christmas Eve:

At Christmas:

On Christmas Eve, as a rule, the whole family gathered, and in general anyone could come, so a lot of people gathered. Since ancient times, 12 dishes were placed on the table on the last evening before the birth of Christ. (as a symbol of veneration for the 12 apostles who were with the Savior). There had to be an even number of people at the table, and if there was an odd number, then an empty chair was brought and the device was placed.

Well, okay, now we will look at 2-3 recipes for traditional, obligatory dishes on Christmas Eve before Christmas, and the rest are optional, but preferred. You can prepare something similar if you wish.

1. Kutya (sochivo) classic with Uzvar

Kutya is the “hostess” of the Christmas table. Uzvar is another must-have dish on the Christmas table. If kutya is considered the hostess of the holy supper, then uzvar is its master.

Ingredients:

For kutya:

• Peeled wheat (polished) - 2 cups
• Raisins - 1 glass
• Walnuts - 1 cup
• Poppy - 1 glass
• Sugar - 3-4 tbsp.

For uzvar:

• Dried fruits - depending on the number of guests. Based on the calculation of 100g of dried fruits per 1 liter of water. If you want a thicker uzvar, add 120 g of dried fruits per liter of water.
• sugar - at the rate of 3 tbsp. for 1 liter of compote. Do it to your liking.

Preparation:

1. First, wash the wheat in cold water.

2. As soon as the water becomes clear, set to cook. The ratio of water to grain is 2 to 1. The wheat will cook for approximately 40 minutes.

3. Wash the poppy seeds well too and pour boiling water over them.

4. Remember to stir the wheat periodically to prevent it from burning.

5. Dry the peeled walnuts in a dry frying pan for about 5 minutes. Don't forget to shake or stir.

6. 20 minutes after the start of cooking, the wheat must be salted.

7. Wash the raisins.

8. Wash the dried fruits, then fill them with cold water and leave for 20 minutes.

9. Fill poppy seeds with water, for 100 g of poppy seeds - 70 ml. water, put on the lowest heat and simmer until the liquid is absorbed for about 30 minutes. If it turns out that the liquid is absorbed earlier, add a little more water.

10. Pour boiling water over the raisins for about 15 minutes.

11. Let the dried fruits cook, right in the liquid with which we poured them. As soon as it boils, add sugar and cook for 10-15 minutes.

12. The poppy seed is also ready, there is no liquid. Set aside and cover with a lid.

13, 40 minutes have passed, our wheat is ready. Rinse it with cold water.

14. We begin to collect kutya. Place the prepared wheat in a deep cup.

15. Pour the nuts into a plastic bag,

wrap and roll with a rolling pin several times to crush the nuts. You can cut them with a knife, grind them in a meat grinder, or grind them in any other way. But this one is the fastest.

16. Add nuts to wheat.

17. Add raisins, after draining the water.

18. Sprinkle poppy seeds with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and grind well in a mortar. Well, if you don’t have a mortar, grind it in a cup with a rolling pin until it’s semi-liquid.

19. We also add it to our kutya.

20. Now add honey. It is advisable to add it liquid. To do this, you can warm it up or dilute it with a little warm water.

Mix everything well. Our kutya is ready. Our uzvar is also ready and has steeped a little.

Serve kutya on the table with uzvar.

Bon appetit!

And now I want to show you a more common version of modern kutya:

2. Video - Christmas kutia made from rice

And one more, well, completely simple recipe for kutya - for children

3. Video - Rice kutia

4. Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• Beets - 1-2 medium
• potatoes - 3 medium
• carrots - 1 medium
• Canned green peas - 3 tbsp.
• onion - 1 medium head
• pickled or pickled cucumbers - 2 medium
• Sauerkraut - 3/4 cup
• Salt, sugar, pepper
• Vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Boil beets, potatoes, carrots, cut into cubes.
2. Peel the onion and also cut into cubes.
3. Mix all ingredients, season with vegetable oil as you like. I really like it with unrefined sunflower oil.

Bon appetit!

5. Two recipes for dumplings with potatoes

The first recipe uses sour cream as a sauce. Please use vegetable oil. The second recipe meets all the canons of Christmas Eve.

A few days ago we cooked unusual, large dumplings in a frying pan. But there are probably countless recipes for making dumplings and especially fillings for dumplings.

6. Delicious and simple salad of colorful beans

Bean salad is prepared quite quickly; it is a very nutritious dish that can fully replace meat. Beans contain a large amount of protein, vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, as well as fiber, which has a positive effect on the digestion process and reduces cholesterol levels.

7. Peppers stuffed with vegetables

Stuffed peppers or cabbage rolls – this dish is usually prepared with rice and meat as a filling, but for a Lenten Christmas table you can wrap mushrooms and millet in cabbage leaves. It turns out very tasty!

The rich composition of pepper makes it very beneficial for the heart and maintaining immunity. The beneficial properties are especially relevant for diabetics and people controlling body weight, since bell peppers, despite their ability to stimulate appetite, reduce blood sugar levels.

8. Fish with ginger sauce

It is allowed to eat it on Christmas Eve.

9. Seafood

In addition to fish, you can eat any seafood on Christmas Eve.

We prepared two excellent seafood salads. Today you can safely use them.

10. Stuffed eggplants in the oven

Eggplants and mushrooms are another chic ingredient for your Christmas table.

A lot has been written about eggplants and that they are a very healthy product, there are countless benefits in them, and that they have very low calorie content, and in general one of the healthiest vegetables on par with potatoes.

11. Apples baked with honey and nuts

The main winter vitamin dessert is a delicacy!

Ingredients:

• Apples – 4 pcs.
• Honey – 4 tbsp. l.
• Walnuts – 100 gr.
• Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg - to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash the apples. Cut off the top and stem. Cut out the core and some pulp. So that the apple mold remains.
2. Grind the nuts into coarse crumbs.
3. Mix honey with nuts, add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg to taste and stuff apples.
4. Cover the apples with “caps” with stalks. Place the apples in a fireproof bowl. Add some water.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees until the apples are soft. From time to time, pour the resulting syrup over the apples.

12. Spicy pumpkin

Another gift for those who are planning to organize a traditional Christmas Lenten dinner.

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin - 1 kg.
• Sugar - 1 tbsp.
• White wine vinegar - 125 ml.
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp.
• Garlic - 1 clove
• Black pepper, a pinch of ground cinnamon
• A handful of fresh mint leaves

Preparation:

1. Peel the pumpkin from the peel and seeds, cut the pulp into long oblong slices 1 cm thick, cut each slice in half.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, fry the pumpkin with peeled garlic for 3 minutes. As soon as the garlic darkens, remove it. Remove the pan with the pumpkin from the heat and carefully drain off the excess fat.
3. Sprinkle the pumpkin with sugar and cinnamon, mix well, pour in the vinegar, add mint and pepper to taste.

Cover with a lid and let steep for at least 15 minutes. Can be served both cold and hot.

Bon appetit!

Well, now let’s look at what you can prepare on Christmas Day to break the fast. Of course, first of all we will look at cooking geese and ducks. We prepared several different options for the New Year.

13. Christmas goose and duck

Today I will try to tell you step by step and show you how to cook geese and ducks for New Year and Christmas. Since their preparation for two neighboring holidays does not differ from each other. Here there are recipes for geese baked whole in the oven and pieces in a frying pan and duck in the oven. Please watch and repeat.

Another goose recipe.

14. Video - Christmas goose

15. Pork in orange marinade

Ingredients:

• Pork ham – 3 kg.
• Oranges – 4 pcs.
• Apple – 1 pc.
• Honey – 1 cup
• Muscat wine – 1 glass
• Dry white wine – 1 glass
• Water – 1 glass
• Cinnamon – 2 sticks
• Onions – 3-4 pcs.
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Olive oil – 4 tbsp. l.
• Rosemary – 1 tbsp. l.
• Salt pepper

Preparation:

1. Rinse the meat, salt and pepper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the juice of 2 oranges, honey, wine, cinnamon, chopped onion, minced garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Place the pork in this marinade, cover with film and leave in the refrigerator for a day. From time to time, turn the meat in the marinade so that it marinates evenly.
4. The next day, remove the meat from the marinade, place it in a fireproof dish, pour the marinade over it and add water. Place slices of 2 oranges and an apple on top.
5. Cover the dish with foil. Bake in the oven at 180 C for 3 hours. Turn the meat over from time to time and baste with marinade.

When almost ready, remove the foil and let the meat brown.

Bon appetit!

We haven't prepared any cold dishes. Let's see the jellied fish.

16. Fish aspic

Another absolutely New Year's dish is aspic. What is it made from, from various poultry meats, and from beef, especially offal, pork, and rabbit meat. In our country, aspic is made mainly from fish.

17. Fish baked in the oven in puff pastry and fish in batter

18. Video - Beef jellied meat

19

19. Jellied meat made from beef, pork and chicken

Ingredients:

• Pork knuckle - 1 pc.
• Chicken legs - 2 pcs.
• A little beef - 500-600 g.
• Onion, bay leaf, pepper, salt, spices

Preparation:

1. Place all the meat in a saucepan, about 5 liters, and fill it with water. We don't cook.

2. Just leave it in the water for 1.5-2 hours. After a couple of hours, the blood remaining in the meat will be released into the water. You will see the water turn red.

3. We drain this water, rinse the meat and fill it again with clean water. Let's cook. Add onion, carrots, bay leaf.

4. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam so that the surface of the water is clean. Usually we remove it with a spoon with holes. Unfortunately I didn't have it on hand. After removing the foam, close the lid and leave to cook for 3.5 - 5 hours. (As I have said more than once in my recipes, cooking time depends on many factors: what kind of stove, what kind of meat, what kind of water, etc.) So check it. The meat should separate freely from the bones.

5. After 3.5 - 5 hours, half of the water has boiled away. We only added half a liter of water once.

6. Remove the meat from the broth, and add garlic to taste, salt and pepper to the broth.

7. Add chopped parsley and dill. Bring almost to a boil, but do not boil. Mix well and leave to stand on a warm stove.

8. Let's take on the meat. The meat is already well cooked.

9. Separate from the bones and cut into small pieces.

10. Mix all types of meat, add salt and pepper, mix well.

11. Place several chopped round carrots in a deep cup

12. Add greens.

13. Place meat on top

14. and fill with broth. We put it in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning your jellied meat is ready.

Meaty, tasty, fragrant.

Bon appetit!

20. Different pies for Christmas

I have already released several recipes for making pies. These are very tasty pies and not very complicated recipes. We prepared them for the New Year, but not all of them. We take it and cook it for Christmas.

21. Video - Delicious Christmas Turkey

One of the most beloved and traditional holidays in our country is Christmas. At all times, children and adults have been and are waiting for him with impatience.

This word itself evokes thoughts of fun, gifts and magic.

Nativity is a religious holiday and is celebrated in different religions on their own specific days.

Christmas begins after a long fast and Christmas Eve, which helps to harmoniously emerge from the state of fasting and indulge in the joys of cooking.

How did our ancestors decorate the festive table?

The floors in the house were covered with hay and straw. They even put straw under the tablecloth on the festive table. This was done in memory of the birthplace of Christ - the manger.

An even number of cutlery was placed on the table, regardless of the number of guests. They sat down at the table to celebrate Christmas with the appearance of the first star in the sky.

In the old days, the Christmas meal was non-alcoholic and Lenten, and Christmas treats were cold. Their number was 12 - the number of apostles. Having sat down at the table, it was necessary to say a common prayer.

Some recipes for old dishes.

1. Sochivo.

Wheat grain is crushed to remove the shell. Then they are sifted, washed and clean grains are boiled in water. The porridge should be liquid.

At the end of cooking, add a spoonful of honey with crushed poppy seeds and walnuts. Take 100 grams per glass of wheat. poppy seeds and nuts, a couple of tbsp. l. honey.

2. Vinaigrette.

Boil beets (2 pcs.), carrots (1 pc.) and potatoes (3-4 pcs.) in their skins, then cool, peel and cut into small cubes.

Then add finely chopped onion (1 pc.), cucumber (1 pc.) and washed sauerkraut. Add half a can of canned green peas and salt to the mixture. Everything is seasoned with vegetable oil.

The cucumber can be salted or fresh.

3. Jellied pike perch.

Peel, wash and cut the pike perch into large pieces (2 kg). Then boil it for half an hour along with carrots (2 pcs), onions (1 pc) and celery (1 pc).

Add salt, pepper and bay leaf to taste. The broth must be strained and mixed with gelatin - 2 tbsp. Then the pieces of fish are poured with broth and the dish is placed in the refrigerator.

Also on the table were pork dishes, cold Lenten borscht, honey pancakes, pies with mushrooms and cabbage, honey cake, jelly, cookies, etc. Sour cream and milk were not used when preparing dishes. Only vegetable oil.

In modern times, a lot has changed, but old people try to adhere to religious traditions and teach this to young people.

Of course, more modern dishes are put on the table - pork aspic with horseradish, crab salad with apple and celery, cauliflower with chicken and buckwheat biscuits, etc.

Modern Christmas snacks

Let’s briefly go over the dishes that we are used to cooking nowadays.

1. Goose stuffed with buckwheat, forest mushrooms and apples.

The prepared goose carcass is rubbed with salt, garlic juice and pepper inside and out.

It should lie on the table for a couple of hours and soak. At this time, buckwheat (1 cup) is cooked in goose giblet broth. Peel, rinse and cut carrots, onions and celery (1 piece each).

Cut 4 apples into cubes. Fry pieces of smoked brisket (100-200 g) and mushrooms (300 g) in a frying pan, then add vegetables to them.

At the end of frying, everything is mixed with apples and buckwheat. You need to stuff the goose with this mixture, sew it up with thread and fasten it with toothpicks. The goose is pierced in several places with a fork to allow the fat to drain out.

The bird must be cooked in a special oven baking oven at 200 degrees. Two hours will be enough.

2. Pancakes with caviar.

Regular pancakes are filled with red or black caviar and served on the table. The dish is simple, but it looks appetizing and tastes royal.

For dessert, lovers of sweets are served, which the younger generation is simply delighted with.

After the feast, all uneaten dishes remained on the festive table until the morning, and children and adults went to caroling.

Children especially liked this activity. They received sweets from the hostesses of neighboring houses in exchange for carols.

Modern children also do not disdain carols, so at Christmas you have to stock up on sweets and fruits for unexpected guests. And it’s great that the traditions of our people do not disappear, and the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ brings joy to people every year!

If you carefully study the history of the holiday from a culinary point of view, it turns out that housewives prepared two tables: a fast one for Christmas Eve and a rich one for Christmas morning.

On Christmas night from January 6 to 7, a festive Divine Liturgy is celebrated. On the day of Christmas itself, believers break their fast (they eat fast food, not fast food). The twelve days after Christmas are called holy days, or Christmastide. This is probably why, according to legend, there should be 12 dishes on the Christmas table. Some of them started on the morning of January 7 from Christmas Eve - this is kutia and vzvar. The remaining, modest dishes were waiting in the wings.

Christmas Eve: first star

The holiday begins on the evening of January 6 - Christmas Eve begins. According to church rules and folk tradition, on this day they do not eat until the first star appears in the sky - in memory of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the Magi the way to the place of the Nativity of Christ.

They also say that Christmas is not celebrated alone - it is a family holiday. It was customary to gather either with the parents, or with the whole large family at the eldest in the family. Before the first star, the housewife had to prepare several obligatory Lenten Christmas dishes. The main items on this menu were kutia, or sochivo, and vzvar (uzvar).

Sochivo, or Kutya

An indispensable dish, without which neither Christmas nor Easter were celebrated in pre-revolutionary Russia. Christmas Eve - from Sochiva, or kuteynik - from Kutya, was the name of the day before Christmas. And he spent the whole time waiting for the miracle of birth. It was believed that the richer and tastier the juice, the more productive the next year.

The products from which kutia was prepared were endowed with special meaning: grain was considered a symbol of resurrection to life, honey - a symbol of health and a prosperous (sweet) life, and poppy promised prosperity in the family.

Pre-revolutionary writer of everyday life A.A. Corinthian wrote: “In the evening, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, the Russian people, who invariably adhere to the old pious customs, do not break their fast: according to the Church Rules, they are allowed to eat only juice at this time. Breaking the fast is in the morning, after early mass; and until the morning they still stand in Filippovka Rus' , running from November 15 (28) until the merry joyful Christmastide."

However, wheat was not always the basis of kutya. In the southern regions of Russia, rice was more often cooked. However, nuts, honey and dried fruits remained a constant part of the recipe.

Traditional recipe sochiva
wheat grains - one glass,
poppy seed - 100 g,
peeled walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews - 100 g,
honey - 3 tbsp,
dried fruits.

Crush the grains in a wooden mortar, adding a little warm water so that the wheat shell comes off. Then the kernel must be separated from the husk by sifting and washing. Cook crumbly lean porridge in water, adding 2-3 glasses of water to the cereal.

Grind the poppy seeds until you get milk of the poppy seeds, add honey to it, mix and add to the wheat porridge. At the very end, add crushed nuts and dried fruits steamed with boiling water.

Rice juice

rice - 1 glass,
raisins - 50 g,
prunes - 50 g,
dried apricots - 50 g,
almonds or walnuts - 50 g,
honey - three tbsp.

Rinse the rice, add cold water and bring to a boil. Drain in a colander and rinse again with cold water. Then pour in 1.5 cups of cold water and cook until tender without removing the lid. Steam dried fruits in hot water (15–20 minutes).

Chop prunes and dried apricots. Crush the almonds. If all the water has not boiled away, it should be drained and the rice should be cooled. Add dried fruits, honey and nuts to the rice.

Vzvar

The second mandatory dish of the Christmas table. They prepared a broth from dried fruits, but instead of sugar they added honey. The most popular was apple broth with the addition of dried or soaked cranberries, lingonberries or raspberries.

In the south of Russia, smoked pear was always added to the drink. Mint, oregano, currant leaf, thyme and other aromatic herbs are often added. There is no need to boil the broth: just pour boiling water over the fruit and leave to infuse. A thermos is perfect for these purposes. It is often diluted with broth and eaten in the form of a liquid sweet porridge.

Lenten pancakes

Christmas Eve evening would not be complete without Lenten dishes. But if kutia and vzvar were obligatory, then pancakes, vinaigrette, cabbage rolls, fish pies, vegetable stews or porridges remained welcome guests on the last day of Lent. Pancakes were a common item on this menu. They perfectly complemented boiled fish or caviar, jam or honey. They just made them without milk and butter. For example, with potato broth or mineral water.

The vinaigrette

Lenten vinaigrette or with herring was served very often on Christmas Eve. The recipe is simple, but the dish turns out tasty and inexpensive, which made it possible to cook it in poor families. And in the homes of the wealthy, sturgeon or whitefish could be added to the Christmas vinaigrette.

Christmas goose with sauerkraut

Christmas: Abundant Breaking of the Fast

When the night passes and after the service the family returns to the house, the long-awaited holiday of Christmas begins. Lent is left behind, and meat dishes, milk and butter pies, fatty fish and luxurious desserts appear on the table.

It was believed that baked goose (or other poultry) and pork dishes should be an indispensable attribute of the Christmas meal. Of course, in the pre-Christmas days, millions of geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens were brought to the country's markets.

“Christmas in Moscow was felt for a long time - with a cheerful, business bustle. We just started to start fasting in Filippovka, on November 14, for the Christmas fast, and at the freight stations, especially in Rogozhskaya, geese cackled day and night - “geese trains”, to Germany: before It was, before the glacier cars, a live cargo. You won’t believe it - hundreds of trains! A goose walked through Moscow - from Kozlov, Tambov, Kursk, Saratov, Samara... I don’t remember the Poltava region, Poland, Lithuania, Volyn: from there the routes are different. And the duck , and chicken, and turkey, and grouse... capercaillie and hazel grouse, bacon-brisket, and... - whatever the soul requires for Christmas,” wrote Ivan Shmelev.

Small goose
cabbage - 800 g,
bulbs - 4 pcs.,
cumin - 0.5 tbsp.,
salt,
oil.

If the carcass is frozen, let the goose lie in the refrigerator for a day. Then wash the goose, rub the outside and inside with salt and caraway seeds. If possible, you can boil the whole goose in red wine, about 40 minutes. The wine will soften the bird.

Stew sauerkraut with butter and onion in a saucepan, covered. Stuff the goose with this cabbage and fry on a baking sheet, pouring a little broth on it and pouring it over the goose. Then the goose fat will melt - you will pour it on it.

Cold pig with horseradish

Pig on the table

Pork was an equally traditional product on the Christmas table. According to legend, when Jesus was born, all the animals joyfully greeted the divine baby in the manger - except the pig. She grunted annoyingly and prevented the baby from sleeping. That is why, as punishment, the pig became an indispensable dish on the Christmas table.

Even during Lent, they began to transport whole convoys of pork to the capitals, to central fairs - there were huge carcasses, barrels of corned beef, and suckling pigs. “It’s bad, it’s bad, but two or three pork carcasses are needed, and black piglets to fry with porridge, about three dozen, and white piglets for aspic, molosnichki, two dozen, so that there will be enough for the beginning,” wrote Ivan Shmelev in “The Lord’s Summer.”

Many dishes were prepared from pork, but in every wealthy home the table was decorated with suckling pig with porridge or cold pig with horseradish.

The recipe from Ekaterina Avdeeva’s book “The Handbook of a Russian Experienced Housewife” is simple: boil the whole pig in salt water with fragrant herbs - thyme, dill - and onions. Then cut into pieces and top with horseradish and sour cream. Serve cold.

Pork belly stuffed with cabbage and apples

In the old days, porridge was served with pork legs, but you can also make buckwheat porridge with pork belly with cabbage and apples. It will turn out very juicy.

Pork belly - 800 g,
cabbage - 400 g,
apples - 5 pcs.,
butter - 1 tbsp,
onion - 1 pc.,
salt and pepper.

Chop fresh cabbage, add salt and squeeze. Add finely chopped sour apples and butter to the cabbage and mix. Wash the pork belly, chop the bones in several places, and cut a large hole between the bones and meat with a knife.

Place the prepared minced meat there, sew it up, place it in a frying pan or baking sheet, sprinkle with finely chopped onion, add 3 tablespoons of water and fry in an oven preheated to 200°C until cooked. Serve with crumbly buckwheat porridge.

Jellied pig and rooster

Wash the knuckle and legs of the pig well and cut into pieces. Place in a saucepan, add cold water until it covers the meat by a few centimeters, boil and skim off the foam. After an hour, add the rooster carcass.

Cook the jellied meat over very low heat for 6–8 hours until the water boils to half its volume. 20 minutes before the end of cooking, add bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to taste to the broth. Remove the meat from the broth, separate from the bones and cut into pieces. Strain the broth. Sprinkle chopped garlic at the bottom of the dish, lay out the meat, pour in the broth, carefully mix with a spoon and refrigerate until set.

Rye pie with fish

For the test:
rye flour - 1 cup,
wheat flour - 1 cup,
milk - 1 glass,
dry yeast - 1 tsp,
sugar - 2 tsp,
salt - 1 tsp,
vegetable oil - 1 tbsp. l.

For filling:
pike perch fillet - 500 g,
peeled mussels - 200 g,
onion - 1 pc.,
carrots – 1 pc.,
pickled cucumber brine - 500 ml,
vegetable oil - 2 tbsp.,
dill - 1 bunch,
salt and white pepper to taste.

Knead the dough, for which 1 tsp. dry yeast pour 5 tsp. warm water, let stand for swelling for 10–15 minutes. Sift wheat and rye flour, pour in vegetable oil, milk at room temperature, add sugar and salt, add yeast, knead.

Leave the dough to rise in a warm place. The dough should rise twice and be kneaded twice. We divide it into 2 parts.

For the filling, boil mussels and fish in cucumber brine and drain in a colander. Peel and finely chop the onions and carrots. Fry vegetables with fish and mussels in a frying pan. Let's add salt and pepper. Turn off and add chopped dill. Form a pie in a baking tray, spread the top with egg yolk and bake for 50 minutes at 170°C.

Ginger Pie

butter - 100 g + another piece for greasing,
dark unrefined cane sugar - 100 g,
flour with baking powder - 175 g,
ground ginger - 4 tsp,
light molasses - 175 g,
ginger wine - 3 tbsp.,
eggs of any size, can be broken - 2 pcs.,
finely grated fresh ginger the size of a hazelnut,
finely chopped canned ginger - 150 g,
powdered sugar - 75 g,
ginger root for decoration - 1 pc.

Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease a 23cm baking dish. Beat the butter and sugar with a pinch of salt until the mixture is fluffy. Sift together the flour and ground ginger.

Pour in light molasses (for convenience, use a pre-greased spoon and a silicone kitchen spatula), 1 tbsp. wine and mix everything. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then gradually add the flour.

Mix everything with fresh and canned ginger. Spoon the resulting mixture into a baking dish. Smooth the surface and bake for about 50-60 minutes until the dough sticks to the surface of a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake. Leave the cake to cool in the pan. Once the cake has cooled completely, make the glaze by combining the caster sugar and remaining ginger wine and drizzle over the top of the cake. Cut the ginger root into thin pieces and decorate the pie.

Custard soufflé in Russian

any berries - 500 g,
water - ½ cup,
sugar - 2 cups,
egg whites - 5 pcs.

Make a puree from the berries, add water and cook. Add sugar (about the same amount as puree). Beat the whites into a stiff foam. Add to puree. Place the puree in baking dishes and place in an oven preheated to 170 degrees for 30 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Hello dear readers. Christmas is no less important a holiday than New Year, although many today completely forget about it. On this day we celebrate the birth of Christ, which means that the celebration must take place according to all the rules. Many of us, while celebrating Christmas, completely forget about the true meaning of this holiday. It is for these reasons that we believe that any dishes can be prepared for the holiday table. Although in fact there is a list of certain dishes that would be appropriate for a holiday meal. This holiday involves preparing exclusively Lenten dishes, so you will have to give up some of the usual delicacies. At Christmas, the whole family gathers together at one table, so it is necessary to prepare a sufficient number of festive dishes.

There are a huge number of similar dishes, but for celebrating Christmas you should choose the most suitable ones.

Of course, today not everyone adheres to fasting, but still some lenten dishes are traditional today and are served at the Christmas table.

What dishes are prepared for Christmas? What to cook for Holy Evening

If for the New Year we can prepare absolutely any dishes, then for Christmas we need to prepare a somewhat restrained menu. Ideally, all dishes should be lean, which means they should not contain meat, milk or eggs.

Now, many do not follow this important rule when preparing various meat delicacies.

But if you are used to sticking to traditions, then during the celebration you will have to give up your usual meat treats. Therefore, you should prepare traditional dishes for Christmas.

The main dish that everyone is used to preparing on this important day is kutia. Traditional kutia is made from boiled wheat, which is supplemented with liquid honey. In this case, it acts as a symbol of fertility and prosperity.

Today, boiled rice, which is also served with a small amount of honey, is becoming a popular substitute for wheat. Each family prepares kutya according to its own special recipe, so today there are a huge number of variations of this traditional dish.

Dinner is prepared the day before Christmas, and the hostess must be in a good mood during preparation. At this time, we need to forget about all existing problems, because our mood can affect not only the preparation of dishes, but also the general festive atmosphere.

The festive table should consist of 12 traditional Lenten dishes, personifying all the apostles. Therefore, it is necessary to think through the holiday menu in advance, which will contain only lean dishes. Also, let me remind you that it is better to celebrate Holy Evening with close people.

An obligatory dish is kutia, which is ceremoniously placed on the family table, giving the owner of the house the right to be the first to try this delicacy. Only after this can the rest of the family taste the kutya, scooping it up with a spoon.

And now it’s time to get acquainted with the rest of the festive dishes that will be present on the Christmas table.

12 dishes for Christmas - recipes

Nowadays, not many people would agree to give up a baked bird or meat pie. In this regard, a festive menu was compiled, consisting of meat dishes, without which the celebration would hardly be considered successful. Although many still fast without experiencing any discomfort.

We will look at a modern version of the Christmas menu, which consists of a wide variety of dishes prepared according to a special recipe.

1. Kutya

If earlier this dish was prepared exclusively from wheat grains and honey, today there are a huge number of options for its preparation, which differ in the variety of ingredients.

Today, in addition to wheat, rice is also used, which is supplemented with raisins and walnuts.

We will consider the next version of kutya, for the preparation of which we will need the following ingredients.

Ingredients:

- a glass of rice and wheat grains;

- a glass of raisins;

- 100 g honey;

- sugar and salt to taste.

Preparation

The cooking process takes a small amount of time, so this dish will please any housewife.

First of all, you need to boil the rice in lightly salted water, then transfer it to a colander and rinse under running water. Place the washed rice in a separate bowl, where we mix it with honey and sugar. We thoroughly wash the raisins, then pour boiling water over them so that they gain moisture.

Add softened raisins to the rice and mix thoroughly. Actually, the dish is ready, which means it can already be served.

2. Pie with cabbage and mushrooms

This dish is considered lean, because mushrooms are used as a meat substitute. This option is perfect for those people who still adhere to fasting during these holidays.

That is, there may be meat dishes on the table, but it is always important to provide a choice to guests who can follow the good old traditions.

Preparing such a pie will not take too much time, because we will use ready-made dough for its base.

Let's take a look at the list of products that will need to be prepared to prepare such a pie.

Ingredients:

- half a kilogram of puff pastry;

- 200 g champignons;

- 100 g hard cheese;

- half of white cabbage;

- a third of a glass of milk;

- 20 g butter;

- two medium-sized potatoes;

- two tablespoons of vegetable oil;

- a mixture of dried herbs, salt, pepper.

Preparation

Despite the fact that this is a pie, it does not take long to prepare. At least most of the time will be spent baking the pie itself. But first of all, you need to try to chop the cabbage as finely as possible, adding a little salt and pepper.

A small amount of vegetable oil is added to a heated frying pan, in which we will fry our cabbage until fully cooked. Cut the mushrooms into small slices and fry in a separate frying pan along with the basil. The frying process will take at least 10 minutes, and the prepared mixture should be poured with soy sauce.

Next, we begin to prepare the potatoes, which need to be boiled until fully cooked and the prepared butter and milk added to it. Essentially, we are preparing a puree that will become part of the filling. Mix the mushrooms with cabbage and cheese, then add the prepared puree.

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees, into which we place two layers of puff pastry. After just 15 minutes, the cakes will be completely ready, after which they will need a little time to cool completely.

After the cakes have cooled, distribute all the prepared filling onto one of them, and cover with the second cake on top. Sprinkle grated cheese on top of the pie and place in the oven for another five minutes until the cheese is completely melted.

3. Compote with dried fruits

Since at this time of year it will be problematic to prepare compote from fresh fruits, dried fruits come to our aid, which will be an ideal basis for uzvar.

You can use not only dried fruits, but also various spices that will give the drink a special piquancy.

In order to prepare such an uzvar, we will need:

- two liters of purified water;

- half a kilogram of various dried fruits;

- 3 tablespoons of sugar;

- a tablespoon of honey.

Preparation

First, let's start with our dried fruits, which will include: pear, apple, cherry and apricot. You can choose the ideal combination of fruits for yourself, that is, you don’t have to use them all.

We wash the dried fruits and leave them in warm water so that they have time to soften. Boil water for the compote and add the prescribed amount of sugar, after which we place the fruit in the syrup.

Boil the compote for about half an hour, after which we give it a little time to cool. Add a spoonful of honey to the warm drink.

4. Easy baking

No holiday table is complete without baking, but more often than not, we make do with the store-bought version. For such a holiday, you can take the time to bake delicious homemade pies yourself.

For this we need the following products:

- half a kilogram of apples;

- 500 g flour;

- 60 g margarine;

- 1 pack of yeast;

- one glass of milk;

- three tablespoons of sugar;

- 2 teaspoons sunflower oil;

Preparation

It is necessary to dissolve the yeast in milk, adding a teaspoon of sugar. Beat the eggs together with melted margarine and sugar.

Pour a few tablespoons of vegetable oil into the mixture, and begin to gradually introduce the prescribed amount of flour. Gradually knead the dough, after which we leave it for about an hour so that it has time to rise.

Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes, which will need to be fried in a frying pan, adding a small amount of sugar. Next, we form the pies themselves by placing an equal amount of filling into the dough.

The pies will be ready 15 minutes after they are placed in the oven, and the oven should be preheated to 200 degrees.

5. Salad “Poloninsky”

This salad is a meatless dish, so it will please everyone. In addition, it is quite simple to prepare, which will not take you too much time.

For preparation you will need the following ingredients:

- two small beets of the same size;

- about a dozen walnuts;

- one onion;

— 300 frozen mushrooms;

- a few cloves of garlic;

- a teaspoon of vinegar;

- about five tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Preparation

The beets are baked in the oven for about an hour, after which they are peeled and cut into strips. Add a little vinegar to it.

Grind the garlic and nuts using a meat grinder. Mix all ingredients and season with vegetable oil.

6. Vinaigrette

This salad is familiar to everyone, because it is prepared from the simplest vegetables, which are first boiled until fully cooked, peeled and cut into cubes.

To prepare, we need potatoes, beets, carrots, pickled cucumbers and beans.

All these ingredients are thoroughly mixed, and the salad is complemented with vegetable oil and fresh onions.

7. Dumplings with potatoes

For dumplings, prepare ordinary yeast-free dough from wheat flour. The filling can be boiled potatoes with the addition of fried mushrooms and onions. Both wild and porcini mushrooms can be used.

8. Stuffed cabbage rolls

Ordinary cabbage rolls are prepared with meat, but if you are fasting, then this ingredient can be replaced, for example, with the same mushrooms. Most often, rice is used for the filling, but you can also replace it with millet.

The Lenten version, consisting of mushrooms and millet, is complemented by stewed carrots, onions and tomatoes. The further course of action is probably known to everyone.

9. Pickles

We need to create an interesting mixture of sauerkraut, tomatoes and frozen cranberries.

This light, slightly spicy salad will please absolutely everyone, and at the same time, it will serve as an ideal snack.

Cranberries and cabbage are a rather unusual combination, but the taste is quite interesting.

10. Vegetable stew

To prepare such a lean dish you will need carrots, celery, onions and parsnips. If this combination of vegetables seems boring to you, then you can supplement it with the same mushrooms. They will give the dish a special taste and aroma.

By the way, it is best to use dried mushrooms, because only they can make vegetable stew so fragrant.

11. Cabbage

The classic version of this dish involves the use of meat broth, but if we are fasting, then it should be cooked in water.

To prepare cabbage we need sauerkraut or raw cabbage, to which millet is added. You can add potatoes or parsnips to the resulting mixture; the choice is yours.

The carrots are grated and then fried along with the onions in vegetable oil. Boil the dish until fully cooked.

12. Baked apples with honey and nuts

To prepare such a festive dessert, you will only need sweet varieties of apples. The secret to cooking apples evenly is to first pierce them with a fork all over the surface.

Remove the core from each apple and place inside each apple a teaspoon of honey and walnuts, which must be chopped in advance. Sprinkle sugar mixed with cinnamon on top of the apples and place in the oven.

Please note that a small amount of water must be poured into the bottom of the mold to prevent the fruit from burning.

Lenten dishes for Christmas

Each of the proposed recipes has several cooking variations. In fact, even from an ordinary dish containing meat, you can prepare a lean version by replacing the meat with another ingredient of similar calorie content.

Traditional delicious dishes for Christmas are rich in a fairly large number of different vegetables, which makes them lean. If you are not used to fasting, then you can prepare classic versions of such dishes.

Each of us wants to spend Christmas at the festive table, enjoying delicious homemade dishes. Some strictly adhere to fasting, while others do not deny themselves anything even on such a day.

But both have their own ideal menu, the dishes of which may vary depending on the ingredients used.

Prepare 12 dishes for Christmas that will decorate your table and delight not only you, but also your guests. I hope you liked the recipes!

2 years ago

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Christmas is considered one of the greatest Orthodox holidays throughout the world. In Russia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7, this day ends the forty-day fast. The day before, on Christmas Eve, it is customary for the whole family to gather around a table set with twelve Lenten dishes. This meal is called a rich supper; every dish on the Christmas table has a sacred meaning. So, traditions of the Christmas table.

Traditional dishes for Christmas

Christmas Eve

The festive family dinner on January 6 includes 12 Lenten dishes - the same number of apostles who took part in the Last Supper. On Christmas Eve, it is customary to prepare dishes from vegetables and fruits to bring good luck and prosperity into the house for the whole year.

The main dishes of the table on the Holy Evening before Christmas are: Kutya and Uzvar .

Kutie called porridge, cooked from whole grains, with the addition of honey, crushed nuts, raisins, and crushed poppy seeds. Christmas kutia can be made from wheat, barley, rice or pearl barley. It is with the tasting of kutya that the Christmas Eve meal begins.

Each component of kutya has a symbolic meaning. Grain is a symbol of renewal of life, honey symbolizes health and well-being in the home, poppy and nuts symbolize prosperity and success in business. According to folk traditions, tasty and “rich” kutia ensures a good harvest and becomes a talisman for the family home throughout the year.

Traditional drink on Christmas Eve - uzvar This is the name for compote made from a mixture of dried fruits - apples, cherries, pears, plums and others. It is customary to add honey, dried rose hips or rowan berries, and aromatic herbs (mint, lemon balm, rose petals) to the Christmas dinner. This drink is rich in vitamins and minerals, has tonic properties and strengthens the immune system.

The first course on Holy Evening is Lenten borscht or thick soup with millet and fresh or sauerkraut. In different regions, boiled beans, dried mushrooms or abalone (dough products with a lean filling, similar to small dumplings) are added to lean borscht.

On Christmas Eve, cabbage, mushrooms, stewed cabbage, lean or mushrooms, or millet porridge, or with fruit fillings are served as a mandatory dish on the table. A mandatory attribute of Christmas dinner is boiled peas, beans or broad beans with fried onions in vegetable oil. Also served on the table are fried fish and homemade pickles - sauerkraut, pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers, pickled apples.

Dinner on Christmas Eve begins after the first star appears in the sky - until this time, only children were allowed to eat. After the prayer, all participants try kutya, then borscht and other hot dishes are served. The meal traditionally lasts 3-4 hours; this evening carolers go from house to house, sing songs and wish the owners well-being. They are presented with sweets and pastries and invited to the table. In many families, on the evening of Christmas Eve, children bring kutya to their godparents or grandparents.

What to cook for Christmas

The fast ends on January 7th , meat and poultry dishes appear on the table - boiled pork, goose or duck with apples, and more. The Christmas menu also included dairy dishes - porridge with milk - or milk noodles.

Table setting for Christmas

In the process of preparing for the Christmas holidays, it is important not only to prepare treats, but also to pay attention to table setting. Most often in decor there is a combination of white with red or green.

Lay out an elegant tablecloth with a pattern and complement the decoration of the festive table with paper or textile napkins in a contrasting color.

For decorative elements, you can use figured candles and figurines of angels.

A traditional decoration for the festive Christmas table is the didukh - a talisman woven from ears of corn or straw.

Multi-colored garlands and an elegantly decorated Christmas tree will help create a festive atmosphere in the room.

Treats prepared with love and a beautiful setting of the Christmas table are the key to a rich harvest, prosperity and well-being in the home. May 2017 bring health, love and prosperity to every home!

On my website you will find recipes for treating friends and family at Christmas. Share your family's traditional Christmas treats in the comments.

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