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A few days ago I invited my cleaning lady to join me for lunch, since I just finished preparing lunch and had plenty to spare. When she saw the casserole, she happily proclaimed that this dish looked exactly like her families favorite chicken dish, which she remembers fondly from her childhood when her mother prepared it back at her country of origin, the former Soviet Union.
I then remembered that I had the same dish a few times during the 70´s when I visited the Soviet Union often, namely the cities of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), Yalta, Odessa, Moscow and a few others. During that time, there were many  “speakeasy”, restaurants, which were actually not official businesses, but clandestine operations were one would ring a bell at what looked like a regular residence, somebody opened the door just a crack and you asked if there was food available. The door person/proprietor then told you what was available that evening.
Mostly, the menu consisted of either poultry or fish, since that was usually the only protein available for ordinary folks (sometimes !!! available I should say).
Furthermore, there was lots of root vegetables and other produce, eggs, sturdy fruits, and other fresh products that can be produced on farms and/or small back yards. Usually, the door person/proprietor just said “Poultry” or “Fish”, since only one of these proteins featured on any given day.
And, as mentioned earlier, chicken or fish prepared like the dish featured on this page today showed up a few times over the years – protein, veggies and potatoes, slowly braised in a casserole until tender and all the flavors had combined into a simple but heavenly dish.
The drinks of choice were always Vodka and /or Krim Sekt, drunk from heavy, tall glasses. The vodka was ordered by the ounce, for about $ 1 per ounce, the Sekt (sparkling wine) by the bottle, for about $ 2.50 per bottle. We usually sold one pair of used blue jeans for $100.00 on the black market (very dangerous at the time), so money was no object during our stay´s. (The other bargain was one pair of jeans for a 250 gr can of the best quality Russian caviar (or $ 35.00 cash), whatever was more easy)
Dealing on the Black Market was very dangerous, so sometimes we went the easier way and jut traded one-way by buying on the Black Market with $.
Anyway, here it goes,  “Запечённая курица с картофелем, луком и паприкой”  (Braised Chicken With Potatoes, Peppers And Onions)
(The Russian name for the dish was provided by Anna, so I assume its the correct spelling 🙂
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Bon Appétit !   Life is Good !
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Click here for more  Chicken  on  ChefsOpinion
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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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