Russian Gourmet: Stuffed Bell Peppers
During my conversation with George Detsios he mentioned that his restaurant had a very short menu which included stuffed peppers and stuffed cabbage. Stuffed peppers are not hard to make and if you purchase the peppers at the City Market like I did for 3-for-a-dollar they are also very inexpensive. I am not sure if they will be as good as George’s but you wouldn’t know any better anyway.
First, assemble the ingredients and equipment. You will need 6 peppers, lean ground beef, a carrot, few stalks of celery, an onion,a handful of rice, a can of tomato juice, cooking (olive) oil, salt, pepper, large pot to hold the peppers, smaller pot to boil tomato juice and a skillet. If you have a choice pick the peppers other than green, they are sweeter.
Put a handful of rice into a small pot of water, heat it up until it just boils then rinse. Remove the tops from the peppers, clean out the seeds and wash the peppers inside and outside. Do not discard the tops.
Chop an onion, and saute on the skillet with (olive) oil until translucent and soft. Shred a carrot into the skillet and continue sauteing on the low heat.
During that time boil a pot of water, turn off the heat, put peppers with tops in the pot and let them soften up for a few minutes. Drain the water and remove peppers.
While the peppers are cooling, boil tomato juice. Adjust salt/sugar levels to taste.
Mix ground beef, onions and carrots from the skillet, shredded celery and a couple of handfuls of water. Add salt if needed.
Stuff the mixture into peppers. Do not try to fit as much meat into a pepper as you can, this is not a meat-stuffing contest. Place peppers into an empty pot and cover with tops.
If you still have leftover meat – roll it into a meatball and place it in the pot with peppers.
Pour boiling tomato juice over peppers, bring to boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes. The goal is to have the stuffing cooked without letting the peppers disintegrate.
Serve with sour cream.
Here are the rest of my photos.
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Disclaimer:this blog assumes no responsibility if the words “stuffing meat” got you excited. Please move on.Music With The Russian Accent
A clip of the Russian folk string quartet Skaz performing Brahms’s Hungarian Dance.
httpvh://youtu.be/CsmVCIWBoRU
When I was growing up®, there was an old guy “Uncle Kolya” playing balalaika on the street for some change near my house. He sounded a lot like this.
httpvh://youtu.be/HU7oqkJeItQ
Update: This post was published long time ago, so I am adding a new amazing clip by Aleksei Arkhipovskiy called “Hurdy Gurdy“:
httpvh://youtu.be/ZmzP73rPTD4
Continue reading →Stalin-bration’09
Every year an ever-expanding group of morons gathers to celebrate Stalin’s birthday and reminisce about the greatness of the Stalin’s years in the Russian history. Considering that a person born in 1953 when Stalin died is quickly approaching the age of 60, not too many people in the crowd actually remember the life under Stalin but that doesn’t stop them from marching around, dreaming about going back in time. The irony is in the fact that during Stalin’s times marching around or expressing disregard for the current regime would be a sure-fire way to get shot or be sent to labor camps.
And here we see a group kids whose parents could use a few months of labor camps themselves.
Few photos from Gori, Georgia where Stalin was born.
Continue reading →Thomas Hart Benton working on his painting Persephone
Development of my art skills stopped in the second grade when a teacher couldn’t recognize a watermelon in my drawing. However, I would have definitely applied more effort if I knew that a career in art allows for unlimited hours alone with nude women, who will not complain if their features will not look so flattering on the painting. It’s art, you know.
Life Magazine archives have some images of Thomas Hart Benton working on his painting “Persephone” with Imogene Bruton as a model.The following photo located on Google server was deemed in violation of adult content policies by Google. Go figure. You can still see it by clicking the link.
Here is the final version:
More photos of Thomas Hart Benton and his works.P.S. Nude models can apply here for free painting or just to hang out.
Continue reading →Old Photos: Nixon Goes To The USSR
Life Magazine reported on the Nixon’s trip to the USSR in its August 1959 article “The Vice President in Russia – A Barnstorming Masterpiece.” The only reason for this post is the photo of Nixon in a miner’s hardhat.
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