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Moscow, Russia. Plump, coiffed, with twinkling eyes, Galina Paskriobyscheva is everyone's ideal grandmother. When Galina is at home, the family knows the shelves will be packed with jars of pickles, relishes and jams, the survival kit for winter in a traditional Russian household. Already in mid-September the first frosts nip the air, and snow will arrive in October. "Sleep in summer, and in winter you go hungry", runs a Russian proverb.

Galina Paskriobyscheva is also a very modern woman. After qualifying as a doctor in the 1960s, she worked in the Kremlin at such a high level she was not allowed to leave the country. "Gorbachev finally let me out", she says. "My American grandson was already three years old and I had never seen him." By then Galina was famous, a television personality who hosted her own series, one on gardening, another on culinary lifestyle. "Cooking was my hobby when I was in medicine, and I'm still pursuing it", she explains.

Medicine and cooking are inseparable for Galina. When preserving, she cooks vegetables in their natural juices with honey for sweetness, and little or no salt. Combinations are chosen for their vitamins and minerals. For example, she flavors berries with horseradish in a brisk, peppery relish:"good for the immune system", she says, "but the benefits are lost if you add vinegar". Instead she relies on the natural acid in tart berries. "With meat, potatoes and a sauce like this, a meal is healthy, and attractive too".

Blueberry Horseradish Relish: Blueberries are particularly good in this relish, but any acid fruit does well, notably blackberries and raspberries. Serve it with cold turkey, pork, and game.
Pick over 1 pound blueberries and put them in a pan with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook over low heat until berries are very tender and falling apart, 8-10 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then purée them in a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons coarsely grated fresh horseradish or 6 tablespoons bottled horseradish and generous amounts of black pepper. Stir until mixed, then taste and adjust amounts of horseradish, sugar and pepper. Pack the relish in sterilized jars and seal. It can be stored up to a month in the refrigerator. Makes 2 cups relish.

Sheets of fruit leather, forming a vivid, chewy snack, are another Galina specialty that she makes from fresh or dried fruits. "In Russia, we compete to see whose leather is the thinnest, it should be as transparent as stained glass", she says.

Fruit Leather:  The world's best portable snack, leather keeps for months in a dry atmosphere. Any well-flavored fairly acid fruit makes a good leather, particularly plums, dried apricots or prunes, the more colorful the better. A teaspoon or two of ground cinnamon, ginger, or allspice are optional additions.

Halve and pit 1 pound plums, or soak 1/2 pound dried fruits in enough boiling water to cover and leave until cool and plump, at least 15 minutes. Turn on a dehydrator or heat an oven to 150°F. Purée fruit in a blender or processor, for dried fruits adding a cup of soaking liquid or water so blades will churn. Measure purée and for every 2 cups stir in 1/4 cup honey, or to taste. Line 2 trays of a dehydrator or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread purée in a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Dry it in the oven or dehydrator until it starts to shrink around the edges and is no longer sticky. Timing can vary from 2 to 4 hours depending on moisture in purée. While still warm, cut leather in 3 to 4-inch squares and roll them loosely. Makes 10-12 squares.

In one of Galina’s more than 40 books (her culinary encyclopedia was a national bestseller) I recognized a picture of quince. The fruit looks like a craggy, moss-covered pear and is inedibly tough when raw. However when stewed for several hours it turns a deep, beguiling pink with mellow, perfumed flavor, delicious on crusty bread or as an accompaniment to roast pork or duck. The preserve will be one of the leads items planned for the Elisevsky Gastronom, the biggest gourmet food store in Moscow, half a mile from the Kremlin. The Gastronom has been in continuous operation since the late 1800s and its sumptuous art nouveau decoration has recently been restored.

Quince Preserves: Part of the fun of these luscious quince preserves is the dramatic change in color to glowing pink as they cook. They will keep for months in a cool, dry place. You'll find quince in late fall in farmers' markets and some stores.

Heat oven to 325°F. Peel, quarter and core 2 pounds quince. Cut each quarter lengthwise, then crosswise to make 4 chunks. Put them in a casserole with 1 cup sugar and water to barely cover. Heat gently until sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Bring syrup to a boil, cover and cook in the oven until quince is tender and translucent. Cooking time can vary from a half to 2 hours depending on variety and ripeness of the fruit. Stir occasionally and add water to keep fruit moist. At the end of cooking, if necessary boil preserve on top of the stove until syrup is reduced and quite thick. Pack preserves in sterilized jars and seal. Makes 3 cups preserves.

Another little recipe of Galina’s that caught my attention was varenie, a fruit compote that is almost thick enough to be jam and often served for breakfast with fresh cheese. Small, tart red berries of various kinds are common in the Russian countryside, and here I'm suggesting using cranberries. You could add a few raspberries to the mix, too. 

Cranberry Breakfast Compote: As an alternative to fresh cheese, I drain plain yogurt in a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Just a half hour of draining will do the trick.
Put 1 pound cranberries in a pan with 1 cup sugar. Pull sprigs from a large bunch of dill, tie stems and add to the pan with a 1/2 cup water. Cover and simmer until cranberries pop and fall into purée, 4-5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then discard herb stems, add chopped dill, and crush with a potato masher to make a coarse coulis. Taste, adding more sugar if needed. The purée keeps up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Makes 3 cups coulis.

Galina Paskriobyscheva has much good advice, always in a Russian context. “I want Americans to eat more beets", she says, so here is her suggestion for a Thanksgiving side dish.

Monastery Beets: In Russia, monks are known for their poverty, and the riches of their vegetable gardens, where cabbage and beets are staples.
Trim tops of 2 pounds beets, leaving an inch of stem, without trimming roots. Put beets in a large pan of salted water, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until very tender, 30-40 minutes. Drain and let them cool. Trim stems and root and slip off the peel. Halve or quarter the beets, cut in 3/8-inch slices and them arrange overlapping on a platter. (They are quite messy but there is no way of avoiding this). Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Meanwhile fry a large sliced onion in 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat until browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Mix onions in a bowl with 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup chopped pitted prunes, 1 tablespoon honey, salt and pepper. Spread onion mixture on the beets. Serve warm or at room temperature for 6-8.

© 2004, Anne Willan. Distributed by Tribune Media Services International.

Anne Willan is the founder of the famous French cooking school, LaVarenne, and has also served as president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She is the author of over a dozen internationally published cookbooks, including her latest book, A Cook’s Book of Quick Fixes & Kitchen Tips ( John Wiley & Sons, September 2005).