More Food!

This weekend I convinced my wife to make Okroshka. This stuff is just plain uberyummy. I can just eat until I feel like I swallowed a lead balloon. My daughter - who once was an eat-anything kind of girl has turned to be a finicky eater (for now) - shoves the stuff down. There are two things though. If you're worried about the waistline, walk away. In fact walk away from ALL (with blink tag even) Ukrainian food. second, if you're a SoNMican, you're prolly not going to like this either (based on past experience when we last visited and cooked for everyone). That said, the wikipedia aritcle that includes okroshka doesn't do it service and it describes it as something rather different than what my wife makes. My wife does not use kvass! She uses mineral water and buttermilk. We're getting ahead of ourselves here. Let's walk through maing some.

The main ingredient of the dish is potatoes though: it's Ukrainian food, you just can't get around them! You boil them first - often six or seven of them. Boil them with the skin on (but washed). Then peel, dice, and set aside. Boil some eggs. We normally boil as many as we do potatoes: peel, dice, and add to the potatoes. Then take a bunch of green onions as bought from the store, rinse, and dice. Dump in the potatoe mix. Take an English cucumber - I do not recommend a std cucumber that most of us grew up with - and also dice and toss in with the potato mix. Use the whole thing and don't worry about skinning it. You will need your favourite ham now. It is closer to lunch meat than any other variety, but doesn't need to be. We use a low fat, so-called 'heart healthy ham'. Dice and toss in with the rest. Add a dash of salt. Mix the potatoes, green onions, cucumber, and ham. Serve into bowls. Add mayonnaise! To taste, but seriously, not too much. Everything ought to be coated lightly after you mix. Mayo seems to be a staple in modern Ukrainian food too (we recommend a slightly vinegar-y mayo, btw, not Best Foods or Hellman's stuff) . Then add buttermilk. For a large bowl, this ought to be a cup of buttermilk. My wife prefers less, as in half that, I prefer slightly more. Finally add about a quarter cup of mienral water or sparkling water. Lyuda prefers more. I like only a tablespoon, myself.

The taste is nothing like anything I have had before: it doesn't have an equivalent in American food. It sounds like a potato salad, but its not. It's very good but, honestly, I didn't like it the first time I had it. I am thoroughly an addict now. I would also NOT call this a light food unlike what the wikipedia entry says.