Festive dinner 2022: what to cook when there’s no electricity?

What is the problem?

In peaceful times, a few days before the New Year, many people had a ready-made menu for the New Year's table. But now, due to problems with electricity, it is not easy to plan your favorite holiday dishes because almost all of them require a stove, oven, blenders, and other appliances to cook. Families living in houses with electric stoves are significantly affected. There is a real battle for dinner every day, and its festive version, which needs much more time to prepare, will require extra effort.

What is the solution?

It is not worth canceling the celebration, just like welcoming the New Year with only sandwiches on the table. Rubryka has prepared a selection of recipes for original and delicious dishes that can be prepared without electricity, on a tourist stove, or in those short hours when our houses have electricity.

How does it work?

🥗 Salads 🥗

Salad with herring is not only the famous "Fur coat" salad, for which you need to boil vegetables for a long time. It is also many other variations because herring tastes good with raw vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms. Such salads are dressed with white sauces like mayonnaise, sour cream, or vegetable oil. Everything depends on the components and fat content, as well as the saltiness of the herring. For the 2023 celebration, try making a herring and apple salad.

Ingredients:

• 200 g of pickled herring fillet;
• 1 onion;
• 2 apples;
• 1 small celery root;
• 3 tbsp of oil;
• dill or parsley;
• 1 tbsp of vinegar;
• 1/3 tsp of sugar.

Preparation:

1. Cut the herring fillet into small pieces across the bones.
2. Peel the apple, remove the core and cut it into cubes. Peel the celery root and also cut it into small cubes.
3. Peel the onion, cut it into quarter rings, put it in a bowl, add vinegar, and sugar, pour boiling water over it, and let it marinate for about 20 minutes. Then drain the liquid and add the onions to the main ingredients.
4. Chop the greens. Combine all the ingredients and dress the salad with oil.

To feed guests a delicious dish and surprise them with your culinary skills, you don't have to put expensive delicacies on the table. Prepare a variation of the Caesar salad with smoked chicken. The taste is more interesting, and you don't need the stove!

Ingredients: 

• 120 g of smoked chicken fillet;
• 80 g of small marinated mushrooms;
• 2 leaves of Beijing cabbage or lettuce;
• 1 small fresh cucumber;
• 1 egg; 
• 3-4 spring onions;
• 2-3 sprigs of parsley;
• a handful of small white bread croutons.

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp of olive oil;
• 0.5 tsp of lemon juice;
• 0.5 tsp of mustard;
• ground black pepper.

Preparation: 

1. Cover the bottom of a deep salad bowl with leaves of Beijing cabbage or lettuce cut into large pieces.
2. Put a layer of chopped smoked meat and cucumber on top. 
3. Put whole mushrooms, chopped onion, and parsley. 
4. Place a boiled egg cut in pieces in the center of the salad as a flower, sprinkle with croutons and pour over the sauce.

This is the kind of salad prepared by Transcarpathian housewives for the holidays. You will be surprised how delicious the combination of just four simple ingredients can be.

Ingredients:

• 200-300 g of fresh cabbage;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 can of corn;
• 150 g of semi-smoked sausage;
• mayonnaise for dressing;
• green onion;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. Shred the cabbage and the carrots on a coarse grater. Salt the vegetables and knead them with our hands, so they become softer and release a little juice.
2. Cut the sausage into cubes, and drain the liquid from the corn.
3. Mix everything in a salad bowl, add chopped green onions and freshly ground pepper, and season with light mayonnaise.

🥘 Quick main dishes 🥘

Unfortunately, due to the blackout this year, not everyone can cook a traditional duck or turkey in the oven for the New Year's table. But there is a chicken dish that surpasses these dishes in taste, has an appetizing appearance, and is also prepared many times faster. This is "Jewish" chicken. The recipe has a secret, but thanks to this unexpected ingredient, the meat is tender, and the sauce is delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg (approximately 9-10 pieces) of chicken legs;
• 1 kg of onions;
• 100 g of prunes;
• 1 unfull tsp of soda;
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil;
• 3 bay leaves;
• salt and pepper to taste;
• 1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce (optional).

Preparation:

1. Clean the onion and finely chop it into cubes or slabs. Not to cry from cutting so many onions, you should cool them well, for example, by throwing a bag of onions on the balcony overnight. Or constantly wet the knife with cold water during cutting.
2. Pour refined oil into the bottom of a deep pan or thick-walled pan. Lay out the onion and stew it over medium heat until it decreases in volume and becomes softer. 
3. Salt the onion well and immediately add soda to it, stirring constantly. This is where the real magic begins — the onion turns yellow and releases a lot of juice. This is the time to add the chicken legs. 
4. Place the chicken in a single layer on top of the onions. Add chopped prunes and, if desired, sweet chili sauce. The sauce is not an obligatory ingredient, but the dish will be even tastier with it. Salt and pepper the legs to your taste.
5. Close the pan with a lid and simmer the chicken over medium heat for 20 minutes, then turn the pieces to the other side. At this stage, we also add a bay leaf. 
6. Salt and pepper the meat a little again. Simmer for another 20 minutes under the lid on medium heat. 

Pay attention that you must take the same amount of onions as meat. There is no need to add water. The meat and onions are stewed in their juice.

Mashed potatoes are suitable as a side dish for "Jewish" chicken. But we suggest cooking potatoes in the peasant style in a pan. If you do not have the opportunity to prepare or heat the side dish just before serving, such potatoes will taste good cold. We won't need an oven to cook it either.

Ingredients:

• 650 g of potatoes;
• 45 g of sunflower oil;
• 0.5 tsp of turmeric;
• 0.5 tsp of ground paprika;
• ground black pepper and salt to taste;
•  2 garlic cloves.

Preparation:

1. Potatoes are prepared in the peasant style together with the skin, so do not peel them. Wash the potatoes thoroughly. It is better to rub them with a brush. If a lot of soil stuck to the potatoes is difficult to remove, pour water over it and let it soak for 30 minutes. After that, it will be easy to remove the soil.
2. Cut each potato lengthwise into four slices. It is better to use special varieties of potatoes intended for frying. Inside, such potatoes have a yellowish pulp and little starch. If you see a lot of starch in your potatoes, it is better to wash them with water (already cut) to rinse them off the surface.
3. Put the sliced ​​potatoes in a bowl, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, and turmeric. Mix thoroughly so that the potato pieces are evenly covered with spices.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and fry until cooked, stirring every 3 minutes.
5. The inside of the potato should be soft, and the outside should be covered with a golden crust. The frying time depends on the pieces' size, the pan's thickness, and the heat, but it will take about 20 minutes.
6. In the end, add finely chopped garlic. It should warm up well but not burn.
7. Transfer the finished potatoes to a bowl/plate lined with napkins or paper towels to absorb excess fat.

🍰 Desserts 🍰

The New Year's table of 2023 can not be without desserts. After all, cookie cakes have long become recognized delicacies. They can be prepared quickly, and the result will be no worse than classic options with a long baking process and cream whipping. 

Below is a recipe for a delicious and simple cookie and banana cake. Sour cream interpenetrates the cookies and makes them very soft and tender. No more than 15 minutes are needed to prepare the dessert, and you can enjoy dessert in two hours.

Ingredients:

• 300 g of biscuits;
• Four bananas;
• 500 g of sour cream;
• 100 g of powdered sugar;
• a packet of vanilla sugar (8 g);
• 100 g of dark chocolate; 
• 50 ml of cream.

Preparation:

1. Prepare the cream. In a deep bowl, beat sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
2. Peel the bananas and cut them into circles.
3. We form a cake: put cookies on the bottom of a 30×23 form. Pour a couple of spoons of cream and spread it over the entire surface. Place bananas on top, then cookies, cream, and bananas again. And repeat two more layers. The top of the cake is a layer of cookies.
4. Put the cake in the cold for 1 hour.
5. Prepare the glaze: chop the chocolate into a small bowl and pour the cream. Melt over low heat or microwave for 2 minutes.
6. Take the cake out of the refrigerator and pour the chocolate glaze on top. Level the chocolate with a spatula, decorate it and put it in the fridge for another hour.

Instead of sponge cake batter, we also use ordinary cookies in the recipe for this delicious dessert. You don't have to spend extra time on the cream for this cake: it can be prepared easily and quickly. Even a tourist gas burner can handle this.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of flour;
• 3 tablespoons of potato starch;
• 125 g of sugar;
• 2 yolks;
• 1 liter of milk;
• 200 g of soft butter;
• 280 g of fresh halva + 20 g of halva for decoration;
• 450 g of chocolate cookies;
• 180 g of blackcurrant jam.

Preparation:

1. Pour half of the milk into a deep bowl, and add sifted flour and potato starch. Mix everything with a whisk until smooth.
2. Pour sugar into the milk and add two egg yolks. Stir again.
3. Pour the remaining milk into the saucepan and then the prepared milk mixture.
4. Put the mixture on fire and cook, stirring continuously, until thick. Then cool.
5. Add soft butter little by little to the prepared cream, continuing to beat with a whisk.
6. Crumble the halva and pour it into the cream. Mix everything well until smooth.
7. Put a layer of chocolate cookies in a baking dish and grease it generously with cream. Next is another layer of cookies, then a layer of jam.  
8. Then we repeat the alternation of layers several times: until the ingredients run out.
9. Grease the top abundantly with cream and put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
10. Take the cake out of the refrigerator and sprinkle chopped halva on top. 

Notes: 

• You can take any jam, but currant jam goes well with the taste. 
• It is necessary to let the cake soak: it is better to even leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
• Egg whites left over from making the cream can be quickly boiled in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then used in salads.

Even more helpful solutions!

Due to extended blackouts, residents of high-rise buildings buy en masse gas burners, which tourists usually use to cook food while camping. But now, these convenient portable devices are also coming in handy in apartments. 

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine warns of increased fires due to improper use of tourist burners. The service reminds the basic rules of operation of these devices and warns that small gas cylinders can be as dangerous as large ones.