Speaking of Okroshka (cold cucumber and dill soup), since Conor thinks it is all the rage I decided to try my hand at making it. I mean, it’s good. Why not give it a whirl? I told Caroline that I was going to give it a shot and she had some suggestions. (Caroline is one of my crazy friends in Lugansk who has been cooking up a storm. She made Conor and I fresh salsa last time we were there to visit. I want to be wherever Caroline is for Thanksgiving. She is a great cook). I found a recipe for Okroshka online and decided to work off of that. I don’t really follow recipes in the strict sense, I just kind of use the basics as guidance. The recipe called for Kvass which is a fermented black bread drink that the Ukrainians home brew and jokingly call the Ukrainian Cola. The recipe mentioned that the store-bought kvass would likely be too sweet for the recipe, therefore I was going to take Caroline’s suggestions to improvise. I have no idea at this point where to acquire home-brewed kvass.
What you will need for the recipe is kefir (a drinkable consistency plain yogurt), sour cream, cucumbers, lots of fresh dill, green onions, garlic, hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, spicy mustard, and I used pickled button mushrooms for a meat substance, but normally it’s something along the lines of chopped up hot dog or ham.
Chop all the parts really small and put in a big bowl, mix in equal parts kefir and sour cream, put in a teaspoon to a tablespoon of spicy mustard depending on your taste, and use lots of chopped fresh dill. Once mixed, let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours. If the consistency is too thick when it’s time to serve, mix in some water. Salt to taste. Obviously, it’s served cold.
