Windows to Russia

Lets make an interesting dish served in Russia just about by everyone. I believe that most buy it at the store now already made and it is available in almost any grocery store around Russia…

Kholodets (also called studen in some parts of Russia) is a jellied meat dish of traditional Russian cuisine. It gets its name from kholod, the Russian word for cold and is an essential part of winter holiday festive meals. However it can be cooked anytime – as long as you have seven hours to plunge yourself into the cooking process plus extra time for some preparations before cooking. Otherwords you need about a total day to prepare this dish…

Come to Russia and someone will invite you to eat a treat of Kholodets…

Don’t make a face until you try it. Then you can make a face… 🙂

Lets make Kholodets…

Ingredients:
7 pints (4 liters) cold water
2 tablespoon salt
2½ lb (1 kg) calf’s feet (or pig’s feet)
3 bay leaves
1 lb (450 g) lean beef chuck, plus bone (or pork loin)
1 whole head garlic
1 lb (450 g) chicken necks, skin removed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I like to use crushed red pepper also)
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
3 hard-boiled eggs

Method to cook and prepare:

In a large kettle or stockpot heat the water until warm.

Then add the calf’s feet, beef, and chicken necks. (pork if not beef)

Bring to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat to a simmer.

If foam is on the top of the water skim it off. Then keep skimming off the foam as it rises to the surface. Do this until it stops foaming…

When the foam has stopped rising, add the onion, carrot and 2 tablespoon salt.

Partially cover the pot and cook the broth over very low heat, at a gentle simmer, for 6 hours, until the broth is rich.

After 6 hours the water level should be reduced by about half.

Now about one hour before the broth is ready, add the bay leaves and finish the last hour of simmering.

After 6 to 7 hours, It is then time to strain the liquid through several layers of cheesecloth into a clean pot. You should be able to obtain about 3½ pints (2 litres) of broth liquid.

Now with what is strained out in the cheese cloth: Remove carrot, onion, bay leaves and discard (I like to eat it (except bay leaf) instead of wasting them.)

Remove the meat from the chicken necks and shred it along with the beef/pork. Remove the feet and remove any meat if desired from them.

Peel the whole head of raw garlic and press the cloves through a garlic press. Stir in the pressed garlic 2 teaspoons salt and the black pepper. Mix all very well with the meat you just shredded.

Prepare 1 liter or 1 quart molds by spraying them very lightly with Pam oil. Pour in enough broth to cover the bottom of the mold generously, then refrigerate until the broth has jelled. (Also Russians makes lots of small molds of this as individual servings for guests.)

Top the jelled layer with sliced hard-boiled eggs (and other garnish, if desired).

Then place a layer of meat on top of the sliced eggs and pour on the remaining broth to cover the ingredients well.

Then place in the refrigerator and allow to chill for 8 hours or overnight. (See takes lots of time!)

Scrape off any loose fat that has formed on the surface (You want just the meat, eggs and jelly).

To turn out, run a knife carefully around the edges of the gelatin to loosen it. Wrap the mold for just a moment in a hot tea towel, then place a serving platter over it and invert the Kholodets on to the plate.

Serve it well chilled with a pot of spicy mustard on the side. (Actually grey poupon is really good with it…)

So hey if you have some pig feet and calves feet laying around then give this recipe a try. You do not add any gelatin because the idea is to use these pig/cows feet to create that gelatin…

This is really very good and I have discovered that to not drink vodka is acceptable by Russians in this day and age. But to not eat their Kholodets is an insult…

It is a Russian tradition from the old days…

Windows to Russia!

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Sugar Beet Field...

I have talked extensively about the increase in agriculture production over the years in Russia. In fact I recently had a post about John Deere and her new production plant in Russia. “The Underline of Russia is Pointing at Increase in Food Production…” Now I would like to present another tidbit of information:

Russia is likely to produce 5.3 mln tonnes of beet white sugar in the 2011/12 harvest for which harvesting started recently, which is significantly higher than a previous estimate of 4.0-4.2 mln tonnes, the Russian Sugar Producers Union said. The new forecast is based on current average beet yields of 40 tonnes a ha and a cultivated area of 1.29 mln ha.

With annual domestic consumption estimated at 5.4 mln tonnes, the new forecast means that the country will already be nearly self-sufficient on its own beet sugar supply. Given that Russia has also raised its refining of imported raw cane sugar in 2011 sugar stocks in the country at the end of this year are likely to total 4 mln tonnes. Read More >>>

This hits home to Sveta and I because we sometimes stop on the way home from the village and raid a sugar beet field (We bad thieves!).  We pass field after field of them during certain parts of the trip and the temptation is just too much for a good treat. We only take two or three beets but they are so good boiled and buttered…

Yes I see a huge increase in putting old defunct Soviet farm land back in service and it is very obvious as we travel Russia that big money has been spent to make Russia much more self-reliant than reliant on others. The first few trips that I took in Russia 5 years ago was a much different picture than what you see now traveling…

Farming! That is change you can believe in…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

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Coca-Cola now sees the US as a less friendly business environment than Russia, China or the rest of the world…

Coca Cola has flagged an estimated $3 billion in investment into Russia, over the next 5 years, at the opening of a $120 million plant in Rostov. “We believe that the Russian market, the Russian consumer, the Russian economy is going to grow, is going to be a dynamic – a very dynamic – environment,” and adding “Our system is part of the fabric of Russia’s economic development and we continue to invest in Russia to create jobs and stimulate growth across our supply chain,” said Coca-Cola chief executive Muhtar Kent…

This move by Coca-Cola comes just days after it unveiled plans for $4 billion in investment into the Chinese market, and in the wake of Pepsi’s $3.8 billion purchase of Russian drinks producer Wimm-Bill-Dann in 2010. The Rostov plant is expected to produce 450 million liters of drinks and juices per year…

“It’s like a well-managed company, China!” Muhtar Kent, Coke’s chief executive, told the Financial Times. “You have a one-stop shop in terms of the Chinese foreign investment agency and local governments are fighting for investment with each other.”

Mr Kent also pointed to Brazil as an example of an emerging economy that is making itself attractive to investment in ways that the US once did. “They’re learning very fast, these countries,” he said. “In the west, we’re forgetting what really worked 20 years ago. In China and other markets around the world, you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment.”

This was all said in conjunction to a Coca-Cola company that looks at the USA as a defeating the prospering of business. I have to agree that America has demised herself in the business world…

Looks like Coke corporation is going to fade slowly into the US sunset and take a whole bunch of jobs away from the US. Coke does not mess around and my company I worked for used Coke as a model of a good business. We spent a lot of time studying how they do business. I was close to Atlanta, Georgia and made many trips to attend seminars at the Coke facilities. I can tell you that a “Big Government” strangling a business and its profits is low on the list of priorities for any corporation to survive. Much less entrepreneurship…

This is a wake up call from one of the oldest, largest and most recognized companies in the world…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

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UPDATE: Alexei Kudrin resigned on Monday as Russia’s finance minister and deputy prime minister after a dispute with President Dmitry Medvedev. The president has already signed Kudrin’s resignation request, the presidential spokeswoman said.

Update 2: First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov will oversee financial issues in the Russian cabinet while Anton Siluanov will become acting finance minister following the dismissal of Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

In an article earlier today I said: “We will see the long term repercussions to that slip of a Kudrin tongue.” Okay – Looks like we are finding out right now about that slip of tongue in America. The Russian press has taken the ball and ran today with Kudrin’s words of wisdom about Medvedev over the weekend. Now Medvedev has put his foot up Kudrins butt…

President Medvedev has asked Finance Minister Kudrin for his resignation following Kudrin’s public refusal to keep his position in the future if Medvedev heads the Russian Government.

Aleksey Kudrin said he has to discuss the situation with Prime Minister Putin first. Medvedev demanded that the issue is settled before the day’s end.

“You can discuss it with whoever you want, including the Prime Minister, but as long as I am the President I take such decisions,” Medvedev said. “If you believe that we have differences, you can tender your resignation right here and now.”

The president said making loud public announcement over the workings of the government, “looks improper and cannot be approved of” due to the violation of chain of command.

“Nobody abolished discipline and subordination in the government,” Medvedev said. The fact the Finance Minister’s statements were voiced while he was in the United States was particularly offensive, he added.

I also taught my managers that, “No One is indispensable!” I would also teach that you must always remember, “Someone else wants your job!”

I find this awesome because it is so much like a corporate show down in the real world. You gotta nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand…

Medvedev will not go down easily as a lame duck president. These last few days Medvedev has gained a lot of respect back, with me at least. That is what counts in my book. I promise you that Putin will kick Kudrin’s butt also…

That is why I love Russia…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: There was an article earlier about how Medvedev was reading the blogs on the situation of the Russian presidency. Looks like he really has been because us bloggers have stirred the WWW here in Russia over this situation. I have been simply slammed today on these articles…. 🙂

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Sveta called and it looks like we go to Turkey on the 2nd of October. We will be there on a 15 day and 14 night tour package that cost us $729.00 American dollars. That includes airfare, hotel and all food for two (2). Why that is less than $50 dollars a day…

So as I was sipping that cup of chicory today. I was thinking about Turkey and what I have to do to get ready for our trip. That is the worse part of it all. I will be worn out before I get to the trip. That is okay though and I know of a sweetie (Sveta) that is excited as all get out, to go to Turkey… 🙂

We bought a package to a well known hotel that caters to Russians and Germans as their main clientele. It is called the White Inn Hotel near Alanya, Turkey. It is on the Mediterranean Sea and it looks like a great place. We picked it because it is more isolated than most of the sea based hotels and reviews by Russians are really pretty good. It seems that Russians main complaints about this hotel is related to a tiny swimming pool (But what about the ocean?)  and alcohol. There seems to just be not enough free and strong alcohol… 🙂

Nestled between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, White Inn Hotel is 5 km from the center of Alanya. It has a private beach area and offers air-conditioned guestrooms with balconies. White Inn rooms have parquet floors and simple furnishings. They come equipped with satellite TV and a minibar. The private bathrooms include a hairdryer. In the morning the Inn serves a buffet breakfast with fresh fruit and hot tea. The hotel’s restaurant offers buffet meals with traditional Turkish dishes prepared from fresh ingredients. Guests can relax in a sun lounger by the seasonal outdoor pool, or visit the fitness center. The hotel has a Turkish bath and provides free Wi-Fi in public areas.

We have done a lot of studying and we have come to discover that in Turkey, you seem to have three main traveling groups. The Germans, the British and the Russians. Now it seems to us that Britain’s dislike vacationing where the Russians and the Germans seem to be prominent. Whereas the Russians and the Germans just party anywhere and everywhere. Regardless if the British are around or not. The British make it clear in reviews what hotels are over run with them damn – Russians and Germans…

We picked a hotel that was not over run with the British… 🙂

Kyle and Sveta
Windows to Russia!

PS: I think I need to remember to take my chicory with me…

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ROSTOV-ON-DON, September 26 (RIA Novosti): The Coca-Cola Company has launched a $120 million plant in south Russia to supply non-alcoholic beverages for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi, the company said on Monday…

You just gotta admire Coca-Cola. They know how to work the system in Russia and they got their nose everywhere. They have a very long term strategy for Russia and the investment is a large sum of money. I find it interesting how some companies can flourish in Russia and others whine and cry and die…

I call that true capitalism. I was taught it is a “dog eat dog” world!

I taught my underlings, “You talk the talk – Then you walk the walk!” Then I would say, “You politely crush your competitors, while you talk and walk…”

Coke does just that in Russia…

Kyle Keeton
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I watched the start of what we in America call a lame duck president. The minute that Medvedev supported Putin in the Next presidential election, he had to have known that his power would falter and sputter. I think that is why they waited so long to announce the facts of what they were doing. The Finance Misister Kudrin had this to say:

Putin, who announced his presidency bid at a United Russia pre-election convention, indicated that Medvedev would succeed him as prime minister to supervise post-election modernization reforms.

But Kudrin threatened to resign after the presidential election in March.

“I will definitely refuse,” Kudrin, 50, said when asked whether he would join Medvedev’s government. He spoke in Washington at a World Bank meeting.

“I have many disagreements with Medvedev on economic policy, first of all concerning the significant military spending,” said Kudrin, who is widely seen as the architect of Russia’s economic stability in the 2000s. Read More >>>

Okay! That caught a few off guard around Russia. Kudrin made it clear that he will follow Putin’s lead, but when it comes to Medvedev, Forget It!

I expect to see a wave of important people stop swooning over Medvedev now. Over the years I have watched presidents in America lose that ability (become a lame duck) to get anything done. They become byproducts of a system and unless they command real respect from the beginning then they get none in return…

This weekend it became very clear to the Russian population that Putin as we all suspected never really let go of the reins of Russia. Yes Putin did (as I stated in several articles), allow Medvedev to try to step out on his own. But that stepping out was always centered on international issues. The internal affairs of Russia were held in an iron grip by Putin…

I remember Medvedev firing the last Moscow mayor. I remember the bad decision on the Libyan UN vote. I remember the education reform bill. I remember many issues that I wrote articles about and I said that Medvedev hung himself by his actions. His actions were his true reactions to the situation and not his reaction for his political career. Many things that Medvedev has done have made him very unpopular. He has seemed weak at times and naive. He enacted things that would destroy a long term president, such as alcohol, bribery and tobacco control. He could get such things going and now Putin can continue such motions and not take the fall. Now it all make sense because he was a man who knew he did not have to run again for president…

I remember in particular that I realized that Putin was behind the old Mayors firing when the new mayor was

It is strange but I see a different Medvedev now after this announcement for Putin. I myself realize that my old ingrained ideologies about what a leader should be like overruled what I should have been picking upon. I was not alone in this happening. Russia looked upon Medvedev as a great guy but…

This has given Putin the opportunity of a lifetime for a leader. Putin has so many aces up his sleeves now that Medvedev has planted all the seeds. If Putin removes a bad seed in people eyes then he looks good to the people. If Putin lets a seed grow and it becomes a wonderful tree that everyone loves. Then he looks good. If Putin has to keep a bad seed then he always has Medvedev to take the blame for that bad seed. But if Putin prunes and takes care on the growing of the seeds that Medvedev planted then everyone comes out ahead…

I know that I kinda wandered from the branch, so to speak! But the Kudrin reaction was just the first of many that will be expressed in Russia. The only problem is that Kudrin expressed his reaction in America while at a World Bank meeting…

We will see the long term repercussions to that slip of a Kudrin tongue…

Kyle Keeton
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The West has been working overtime promoting Medvedev as the best choice for Russian president again. It has been many articles about how terrible for the world if Putin should be allowed to take over the presidency again. I myself expected this situation to fall this way but I still say (Article) that I see no reason for Putin to be president again. He has all the power that he could want and need. Obviously, Putin sees it differently…

I tried to watch Medvedev’s face while all this was going on and am not sure how much of this was really his decision or not? It does not matter, but it shows a whole another level and class of politician compared to the Western worlds politicians…

I wonder if Obama could do the same as Medvedev?

So let the heart attacks and strokes begin in the Western world over this announcement. Now you know why Britain showed up last week. To try to get back in good graces with Putin. Think it worked?

My curiosity is going to be watching how much power that Putin takes back from the Prime Minister? When I first came to Russia the Prime Minister was very powerless. Then Putin took the spot and it became a powerhouse of a position…

I really respect the Russian government. It is more open than the American government. Unlike a presidential election in America that costs a billion dollars. Russia just tells who will be president. It is no different than America, except America makes it out to be a game to try to placate the people. That money being spent on a presidential election in America is a waste…

When Sveta heard that Putin was running again. She said, “Good, That is just right!” Sveta has said before that Russians like a strong leader and they like a long term leader. That is the way it should be…

I was raised different but I see what she means and after doing a lot of studying on the USA system of presidency. I see some major revamping needed on the US process…

But this is about Russia and the ruling tandem. I really do not see anything changing much except now the West once again has to endure the man who takes what the Wests says “with a grain of salt!”…

Maybe that worries the West…

Kyle Keeton
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has proposed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to run for Russian president in next year’s election, ending months of speculation over which man would run for the post.

Speaking at the annual congress of the ruling United Russia party on Saturday, Medvedev said he was ready to make way for Putin and do “practical work in the government.” That means Putin could still be running Russia in 2024.

Earlier, Putin told the congress that Medvedev should top the party’s list of candidates in parliamentary elections on December 4. The party is led by Putin and dominates Russian politics.

“Given the offer to head the party list and engage in party work, and given a successful run at the elections… I believe that it would be appropriate if the congress approved Vladimir Putin’s candidacy for the post of the president of Russia,” Medvedev said to a prolonged standing ovation at Moscow’s gigantic Luzhniki sports complex.

“This applause spares me the need to explain what experience and authority Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin possesses,” he told thousands of flag-waving delegates.

Putin was constitutionally barred from standing for a third consecutive term in 2008 and anointed Medvedev as his successor.

“I have always been asked: when are you going to make up your mind?… I and Vladimir Vladimirovich have sometimes been asked: have you fallen out with each other?”

“What we propose to the congress is a long thought-out decision,” Medvedev said. “We were actually discussing this course of action as early as when our union was being formed.”

There had been intense speculation that Putin may seek a return to the Kremlin when elections are held in March next year. Both Putin, 58, and Medvedev, 46, have said they could stand for president, but ruled out running against each other.

Medvedev said he would be ready to take over from Putin as prime minister if United Russia were to win in the December polls.

Putin took the floor after the announcement to address concerns over population decline and unemployment.

“I want to thank you for the positive reaction to the proposal for me to run for Russian president,” Putin said. “For me this is a great honor.”

The premier said he had “no doubts” Medvedev would form a “new, effective, young and energetic” cabinet when he headed Russia’s government and “continue his work on modernizing all aspects of our lives.”

Windows to Russia!

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As Sveta and I travel to the village of ours in Russia. I always talk with Sveta about the humongous increase in agriculture that I see going on in Russia. It has been a powerful driven force over the 5 years that I have been traveling Russia…

MOSCOW, September 23 (Itar-Tass) — Russia may not only satisfy fully its own demand for food, but it may become the world’s leading supplier, Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Boris Gryzlov told the United Russia Party’s congress on Friday. “Russia has a territory, where we may use agricultural lands to provide food, as experts say, for 20 percent of the world population,” Gryzlov said. “We may not only satisfy ourselves, but we may be major suppliers of food in the world.”

That got me thinking and the last village trip a few weeks ago, presented me with no less of a stipulation that enforced my thinking’s. We saw hundreds of new John Deere tractors being delivered to farms all over the place. I was just stunned at the millions and millions of dollars in tractors that I saw everywhere. Then we started to see the fields with green John Deere tractors plowing the fields for Winter wheat. Then I discovered…

Deere & Company has officially opened in 2010 its new manufacturing and parts distribution facility south of Moscow in Domodedovo. The John Deere Domodedovo facility is the company’s largest single investment to date in Russia. The facility will manufacture agricultural, construction and forestry machinery as well as distribute service parts in the region…

This is part of the revamp of Russian agriculture and smart companies have jumped on the band wagon. There is an agricultural explosion happening in Russia…

We also have watched as thousands and thousands of acres of once dormant land left from the Soviet era, has been plowed and replanted again. I remember that Putin and Medvedev had said that farms are to become a priority and we must become self sufficient to feed us and the world…

We also have been seeing at least 6 new huge chicken farms open up on our trip to the village. I have been studying that the increase in cattle farms is exponentially growing and something that seems trivial but is not, the old decrepit farm buildings are getting new roofs put on…

Now this has been a silent non obtrusive expansion of farm capabilities by Russia. Russia has an incredible amount of farm land that is not being used and I see that fact being exploited back into production. That is smart…

I always think about several good friends in America who are farmers. I think about how they need these guys here in Russia to help with the implementation of increasing the production. One of these guys in particular wishes to live and farm in Russia. The fact is that he could fulfill his dream because Russia is a growing agriculture society, that just might obtain the title of world food producer…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: The hints at what I say are for you to see. The chicken wars, grain wars etc. etc. Example: The little store on the corner of our block has nothing but Russian grown chicken and they are proud of that…

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