Rossolye – Red beet salad with potato, herring and egg (en)

Niki (son n° 2), after a very shy childhood where he only played with his best friends (still best friends after 25years!) and almost didn’t speak to anybody else, in his late teens he changed completely and became a rolling stone. He still never stays at home for more then 3-4 months.
It all started in 2007 when he went in Erasmus to Tallin, Estonia.
After a year away from home, he felt restless staying in one place too long.
After that he went to Iowa for 6 months, Sharm 4 months, Ibiza for 3 months. Working in resorts and villages.

He liked it very much Tallin and Estonia, made a lot of friends, learned very good english and likes to go back often.
So the other day at the dentist when I met Giovanni, Sofi’s (daughter n°4) school friend and he asked me to help him choose between going to
Madrid and Tallin (to study) I didn’t hesitate….Tallin!!
🙂

This a typical Estonian dish, and it is not serve like this. All the vegetables, the appke and the herring are mixed together.
I made it like this to show you the ingredients.
It is a simple and quick dish to do, and it is also very tasty!

Rossolye
I found the recipe on Alleasyrecipes.com

You need:

For the dressing
3 teaspoons powdered mustard (I used already made mustard, couldn’t find the powdered one in the chaos down in the garage
1¼ teaspoons sugar (I didn’t use it)
1 to 2 tablespoons warm water
1 cup sour cream

For the salad
2 hard cooked eggs, finely chopped
2 large or 4 small boiled and peeled fresh beets, or 4 canned beets, cut into ¼ inch dice
1 pound (about 3 medium) boiled potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice
1 pound (about 2) sour dill pickles cut lengthwise into narrow strips, then crosswise into 1/8-inch-wide bits
1 fillet of pickled or matjes herring, drained and cut into ¼-inch dice
1 pound boiled beef, or cooked ham, veal or lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into ½-inch dice
1 large, tart red apple, cored, peeled and cut into ¼ inch dice
3 hard-cooked eggs cut into quarters

(I used only 3 eggs, 5 seemed a little to much)

In a small bowl, combine the dry mustard with ¼ teaspoon of the sugar and stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm water, or enough to make a thick paste.
Set aside for 15 minutes. Then stir in the sour cream and the remaining teaspoon of sugar.
I just mixed the mustard with the sour cream

In a large mixing bowl, combine the finely chopped eggs, diced beets, potatoes, pickles, herring, meat and apple.
Add the sour cream dressing and toss together lightly but thoroughly until all the ingredients are well moistened with the dressing.

Traditionally, rossolye is mounded high on a square or round serving plate, garnished with sliced hard-cooked eggs, and chilled.
Serve as a first course or as part of an appetizer table.

I served it as a first course with black rye bread. Delicious!!

This goes to Lynne from Cafe Lynnylu hosting Estonia, Abbecedario and us until 17 nov 2013