Dish of Bagration Salad
(click to enlarge)

Salade Bagration


Russia   -   Salat Bagration
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4-1/2 #
**
12 hrs
Best		 This excellent salad is actually the famous Russian Salat Oliv'ye (Olivier Salad) but with Pasta rather than Potatoes. It is named for Pyotr Bagration, hero of the Napoleonic Wars.

8
3
7
4
2
1/3
4
14
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3
3
3/4
1/4
1
1/2
1/4
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oz

oz
oz

c
oz
oz
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T
T
c
c
T
t
t
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Pasta, dry (1)
Eggs, large
Chicken, cooked
Ham, cooked
Scallions
Peas, frozen (2)
Black Olives (3)
Apples, tart
-- Dressing
Olive Oil, ExtV
Wine Vinegar, white
Mayonnaise (4)
Sour Cream
Chili Sauce (5)
Salt
Pepper
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That this salad is named after Prince / General Pyotr Bagration doesn't mean doesn't mean he ever actually tasted it - lots of things are named after him in Russia.

Make   -   (12 hrs - 45 min work)
  1. Cook PASTA the usual way in lots of boiling salted water, being careful not to overcook. Drain and stir with a few drops of Olive Oil to keep it from sticking together. Let cool and place in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Boil EGGS very firm. Remove the yolks for this recipe and just eat the whites with a little salt.
  3. Cut cooked CHICKEN (Turkey will also do) into about 3/4 inch dice. Cut Ham into slightly smaller dice and add both to the bowl.
  4. Chop SCALLIONS small (white and green) and add to the bowl along with Peas.
  5. Pit OLIVES and chop medium. Add to the bowl.
  6. Core APPLES (either red or green will do) and chop medium (do not peel). Add to the bowl
  7. Force Egg Yolks through sieve and whip them with Olive Oil until smooth, then whip in all other Dressing items.
  8. Stir Dressing into the mixing bowl with everything else. Refrigerate overnight (if possible), and serve cold.
NOTES:

  1. Pasta:

      This should be small short pasta. Small elbow macaroni will do.

  2. Peas:

      If you use fresh peas, boil them for for 5 minutes in salted water. In Soviet Russia, canned peas would be used - in fact, to accurately reproduce Soviet cuisine is the only legitimate use for canned peas. OK, they are also useful for accurately replicating American "cuisine" of the Eisenhower era. Any market serving a Russian community will have several imported brands.

  3. Olives:

      Weight is "pits in" (3 ounces for pitted olives). These should be Mediterranean oil cured black olives, not the canned California black olives - unless you really want to replicate Soviet cuisine. Be aware, olive pitters are totally worthless, just whack firmly with the side of your prep knife and pull out the pit.

  4. Mayonnaise:

      Home made is best, but can be risky, especially in business friendly Red States, due to the raw egg yolks. Second best is Hellmann's Real (east of the Mississippi) or Best Foods Real (west of the Mississippi), as nearly all food writers agree.

  5. Chili Sauce

      The pattern recipe fails completely in not specifying what kind of chili sauce, and the 1/4 cup called for seems excessive for general usage. I'm specifying a much smaller amount of Tabasco Sauce, which works well.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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