On the menu, this dish was called Pickled Veggies, and while all the pickled veggies were very good, the whole pickled tomatoes were the star. I first came across these interesting pickles at a Russian restaurant in New York City. I was there with my sister-in-law, and our food came with a baffling complimentary plate of whole fresh-looking tomatoes. It was only when I cut a piece of tomato and put it in my mouth that I realized it was pickled. On my pickle plate this time I had four whole tomatoes, cucumber spears, button mushrooms, and shredded cabbage. The pickle spears were really good ones: not too sour, a touch sweet, and crunchy. The cabbage was like really good sauerkraut garnished with shaved carrot and chopped green onion. The tomatoes were sweet, juicy, a little spicy, and mildly sour. I cannot describe how good they were.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: August 12, 2022.
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The cabbage itself was cooked to melt in your mouth, and the two rolls were stuffed with moist meatloaf and just a little rice. They were served with a sweet and tangy tomato sauce that could have been ketchup thinned with some oil. It came with tangy cabbage slaw with lots of dill in it and a garnish of half a hard boiled egg. It was also served with sour cream that had dill garnishing it, as well as some cold mashed potato. It was a delicious rendition of stuffed cabbage rolls, and it was a very satisfying meal.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72795 Highway 111, G2, Palm Desert, California. Date: July 1, 2022. This is a vegetarian cold soup served in Russia and Ukraine in summer. It consists of a lot of diced fresh cucumber along with some cooked potato and hard boiled egg in a kefir broth flavored with chopped green onion and lots of dill. Kefir is a thin yoghurt that's a little tart, and in this soup it was nicely salted. There was crunch from the cucumber, nice herb flavor from the fresh dill, starch and nutrition from the potato cubes, and protein from the chopped egg. This soup is so refreshing!
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: June 3, 2022. This dish, which originated in the Russian Empire, consists of a chicken breast that's pounded thin and topped with cold butter. The meat is then rolled up, coated in egg and breadcrumbs, and deep fried. When you cut the crunchy roll open at the table, melted butter oozes out and creates a sauce. This method of cooking chicken breast keeps it moist. At the Ukranian owned Haus of Pizza, they add dill to the butter and garnish the plate with cucumber slices for crunch and freshness. They garnish the roll itself with fresh dill. I am now a big fan of Chicken Kiev.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: May 3, 2022. I had these pierogies at a Ukranian run restaurant, and I found out that you could have different fillings with one order. The first time I had them, I ordered half potato and half cabbage. These were served with caramelized onion and the onion juice. Today I was told that they were out of cabbage, so I ordered half potato and half cherry. The potato ones came first, and they served me the cherry ones for dessert. The filling for these was sweet and tart, and they were served on a bed of cherry compote. It seemed that the boiled dough for the cherry ones was more chewy that the dough for the savory ones. I've had savory pierogies in the past, but the cherry were my first sweet ones. All the pierogies were served with sour cream, and they were all delicious and satisfying.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: April 5, 2022. My sister and I arrived at Haus of Pizza only to find it closed. We had come for the Russian menu which is served the first week of each month, but as we turned away in disappointment, the Ukranian owner suddenly opened the door and said she would open early just for us. When we were seated at an outdoor table, she declared that she had just finished making borscht, which was amazing as that is exactly what I'd had in mind to order. When we asked if we should have it hot or cold, she said we should have it hot because it was so fresh. The soup was shredded cabbage and beets with a few pieces of well-cooked potato per bowl. Each bowl was garnished with chopped green onion and dill, and sour cream was served on the side. The soup was mildly sour with a hint of sweet, and there was still a little crunch from the cabbage. This was one of those dishes that was more delicious than I can describe. Both my sister and I agreed that this was the best borscht either of us had ever had.
When I ordered a beer, the owner excitedly told us that she now had Ukranian beer. We ordered a bottle each of Avtorske, an amber lager beer. It was on the stronger side, at 7% alcohol, and it was rich as well as a touch sweet and a touch bitter. It was very good. For dessert I had Syrniki. This dish consisted of two farmer's cheese pancakes along with sour cherry compote and sour cream. The pancakes were actually just firm but creamy thick fresh cheese patties that had been pan fried to form a crust on the outside. The dish was not at all sweet except for the sour cherry compote. You could actually have this as a main dish. Since I'm not much into sweet, and definitely not into over sweet, this was my kind of dessert. I will definitely have it again. Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: February 5, 2022. This soup, on a Russian menu, is listed as “German meat soup with pickles. Served in winter.” It turns out to be a Russian soup that became very popular in East Germany. The version I had today had lots of deli meat in it, including pepperoni (after all, this is a Russian owned pizza place). There was also grated carrot in it, and sliced scallions and pickled cucumber pieces. What wasn't really German were the black and green olives. The soup was garnished with dill (of course!) and a lemon slice. It was served with coriander flavored black bread and sour cream, both of which really complimented the soup. When the waitress brought me the soup, she said, “It's all homemade. Nothing out of a can.” The soup was savory and a little sour, and I can't imagine it out of a can.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: December 4, 2021. I discovered a pizza place today that is owned by a Russian lady, and the first week of every month she has a Russian menu that she calls Russian Food Coma. Even though I'd already eaten a gourmet burger, I couldn't pass this up. I sat outside, and when the Russian lady came out to bring me a menu, she started dictating what I was going to have. I was happy to leave my Russian food experience in her capable hands. She started me off with Yellow Split Pea Soup that she said was prepared by her cook from Ukraine. Apparently, the yellow split peas are cooked in a broth, and then a sauce is prepared that includes butter, and the sauce is added to the soup before serving. The buttery soup also contained onion, potato, specks of carrot (probably just for color), and a garnish of fresh dill. Next I got the Vinaigrette which the menu said was beets with fermented veggies. Actually, it was a really nice and hearty salad which, apart from cubes of beet, contained potato, cabbage, carrot, and beans, all cooked, of course, and marinated. The garnishes were chopped green onion, pickled cucumber, and fresh dill. It was a lovely medley, and it was served with a couple slices of Black Borodinsky bread that had been flavored with coriander. The bread was dense but softer than I thought it would be, and the strong coriander flavor went really well with both the soup and the salad. When I'd finished my vegetarian course, I was really full, but then the lady insisted I take some Pelmeni to go. Pelmeni is dumplings filled with ground meat, and I had it for lunch today. It came on a bed of tomato sauce and was garnished with sour cream and, of course, fresh dill. I can't wait for the next Russian Food Coma the first week of December. I'll be there.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: November 6, 2021. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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