Russian Dressing.

There seems to be a big argument as to the origin of Russian Salad Dressing. Most Americans think it's really French or Catalina dressing, just packaged to differentiate by using "Russian" to entice its users.

I did a little research and this is what I found:
It appears that there is indeed some controversy of the origin. Many believe its origin is America around 1922, based on selected ingredients associated with Russian cuisine. It's a creamy vinaigrette concoction, the same base as French Dressing.  Russian dressing has a sharper taste, using horseradish while French is sweeter with the use of brown sugar and vinegar. It's also been sited that the original Russian dressing used caviar, tomato product and sour cream. I gave up on my research after finding no real concrete information about this dressing.

Net net, I chose a recipe that may be influenced by the Russians but most likely was invented by Americans. Go figure. I'm not doing that great with meals this week. This was a crock pot meal, consisting of chicken and russian dressing. My day became unmanageable and I ended up missing dinner altogether due to my busy work schedule, including my photo capture.

So, I asked Hannah to guest blog but she was busy needing me to help her with her journalism paper so here I am. The good news, according the Hannah, "yeah, it was good. Katy liked it too". I questioned Andy and he said they all ate the meal, maybe because they were SO hungry. Or maybe because it was like bbq chicken (my added opinion).

Russian Chicken
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 bottle Russian Salad Dressing (I used Wishbone)
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 jar apricot preserves (10-12 oz.)
Salt & pepper to taste

Place chicken in crock pot. Salt and pepper to taste.
Combine Russian dressing, soup mix and preserves in a bowl. Mix and pour over chicken.
Cook on low 6-8 hours. Slice and serve over rice.


I ran into a few Russians in my quest for Russian answers. They couldn't help me.
Happy Is.