Russian Salad

Ukranian party food. That's how I experienced this salad for the first time. I lived in Armadale, Melbourne and the circle's I moved (& worked) in were predominantly Jewish/Russian. Matzo ball soup quickly grew on me as did toast spread with mashed avocado and chopped, pickled herrings. I'd often visit a friend in Caulfield, who lived with her little granny and medical-doctor Mum, they were new immigrants and always willing to feed me. I didn't have much money so I appreciated each and every open rye bread sandwich served to me --even at 10 o'oclock at night. I remember being invited to dinner on the occasion of my friends birthday. Mum and granny made themselves scarce and dinner was a simple 'girls night', birthday girl + two guests. I only have three food memories of the night. Stale potato chips. Lots of delicious, freshly made vareniki and this salad. Russian salad. Apparantly Russian's just call it 'potato salad' or 'Salad Olivier' because it was apparantly invented by a French chef in Russia.

Russian salad (as its commonly known outside of Russia) has been adopted by a few European nations --and given additional 'twists'. It traditionally has chopped-up bologna meat (think: chopped-up parisa sandwich loaf, devon or hotdogs). I don't like to admit it, but I like processed meat a little too much. This is a potato salad, but what makes it different to the potato salads I'm used to (including my own) is that each ingredient is chopped-up very small. There also isn't as much 'tang' to this salad as I'd like (I like a little vinegar and/or fresh lemon juice) and if it were up to me, I'd double the quantity of chopped pickles and replace the chopped meat with little cubes of cheese! What am I saying .. replace? Maybe half meat, half cheese. Russian salad always uses tinned pea's too. So I set aside our frozen peas and picked up a can instead. So in a nutshell, I recreated this dish and remained true to its traditional ingredients.. except for the bologna. Chicken I hear is quite acceptable for Russian salad, so that's what I used. It tastes almost exactly like the one I ate in Caulfield, except I suspect their brand of mayo was probably different. If you have any budding Junior Masterchef's, this is the perfect recipe for polishing knife skills. All that chopping. Prijatnovo Appetita! (Приятного аппетита!) p.s. Genuine Russian shawl used as a prop under the salad.. a gift all the way from Moscow.Russian Salad
Serves 10 to 12 as a sidedish

-1.5 cups cooked chicken, chopped into very small chunks (deli bbq chicken is fine, skin removed)
-5 free-range eggs, hard boiled, finely chopped
-4 medium carrots
-1 kilo small Desiree potatoes (900-1000grams is fine)
-1 tin of green peas, drained & rinsed (410grams)
-1 spring onion, finely chopped, green part only
-1/2 cup fresh dill (quantity will appear to reduce once finely chopped, substitute with 1/3 cup off fresh parsley if you hate dill)
-3/4 cup finely chopped kosher pickles (preferably not pickled in vinegar, I find kosher pickles in a can from Israel are ideal because they are pickled with water and salt -available at supermarkets... If you don't like pickles, reduce quantity or substitute with fresh Lebanese cucumber, salted)
-3/4 cup light sour cream
-3/4 cup whole egg mayo
-salt & black pepper to season
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-Score potatoes a few times with a knife. You'll boil them whole & scoring them will make the peeling process a lot quicker afterwards.
-Put washed, whole potatoes and unpeeled carrots into a large pot, cover with cold water and a lid, then bring to a boil.
-Reduce heat & gently cook potatoes and carrots until ready. You don't want vegies to be suitable for mash, so test with a thin, sharp knife while boiling. Potatoes should take about 25 minutes to cook and carrots will take up to 10 minutes longer. The knife should go through the vegies easily but not too easily..there should be a some resistance.
-Remove potatoes and carrots with tongs and allow to cool a little before peeling the potatoes.
-Make sure boiled eggs, spring onion, pickles & dill are chopped & peas are drained and rinsed, ready to use. All ingredients in a Russian Salad are chopped very small (refer to blog photo).
-Cut potatoes and carrots into large chunks, spread out onto trays and allow to cool to room temperature before chopping into much smaller chunks. Aim for no bigger than the size of your nail (index finger).
-Find a very large bowl or pot to assemble the salad (it needs to be roomy so you can mix all ingredients properly without crushing them). Once it's all mixed together you can make the salad more presentable by scooping it into a smaller serving bowl.
-Stir chopped dill into sour cream and mayo and mix together well to make your dressing, season with a little salt and pepper.
-Add half of every chopped ingredient into your large pot or bowl, add half the dressing and season with salt & pepper, then with two large spoons, mix and stir salad gently, you don't want to turn the small ingredients into a mash.
-When well combined, add the rest of the ingredients and combine well again, for at least 3 or 4 minutes.
-Spoon finished Russian Salad into a serving bowl and serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. Will keep in the fridge for 4 days. Take out of fridge half an hour before serving.





Organic lettuce from our garden.