2 large, fresh beets

3 cups water

1/2 cup very thinly grated cucumber

¼ cup finely minced green onions or scallions

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons fresh dill weed (or 1 teaspoon dry)

½ teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon vegetable-seasoned salt

2 cups buttermilk

yogurt (optional)

wash beets and cut off long root and top. Quarter beets and put them in a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and remove lid. Allow to cool until the beets can be handled. Slip beet skin off and coarsely grate the beets right back into the water they were cooked in. Add the cucumber, onions, lemon juice, honey, dill weed, pepper and seasoned salt and refrigerate overnight, or place in the freezer for 2 hours. Right before serving, mix in the buttermilk. Serve with a dollop of yogurt.

Make about 7 cups, which is about 4 servings.

Did you like this recipe? Send me a comment letting me know.

Thought this was a good choice for this week's: Ruby Tuesday  given the fact that borscht is absolutely delish, hot or cold.

The above is a pic of the borscht recipe from my cookbook, Not Just for Vegetarians and if I do say so myself, it's the best borscht I've ever tasted (and believe me, growing up on the Canadian Prairies where the winter weather can plummet to -70C with windchill; you eat a lot of soup to keep warm LOL). Yes, the borscht is definitely served hot, at that time of year!  

And yes, you did read that temperature above correctly. Hard to believe but we kept on going, even when it was that bitterly cold: To work, to drive....

They call Prairie folks "hearty" is it any wonder why???          ;)

I combined 3 very old family borscht recipes, took out the ham-hocks (yuck), tweaked the spices and herbs and voila: Russian Beet Borscht, my way. Do hope you will give it a try. Truly a meal in a bowl. Don't forget the rye bread and a dollop of sour cream (regular or vegan) to complete. Yummm..... 

Happy Cooking and Happy Ruby Tuesday !  :)

From ?Broccoli? to ?Borscht? to ?Puffed Rice and Meatballs,? each of these new stories invites us into the uniquely captivating private worlds of Vapnyar?s Eastern European 魩gr鳮 There?s Nina, a recent arrival from Russia, for whom the colorful abundance of the vegetable markets in New York represents her own fresh hopes and dreams. . . Luda and Milena, who battle over a widower in their English class with competing recipes for cheese puffs, spinach pies, and meatballs . . . Sergey, who finds more comfort in the borscht made by a paid female companion than in her sexual ministrations. Each of the women and men who inhabit these witty, tender, and beautifully observed stories needs and longs for the taste and smell of home, wherever--and with whomever--that may turn out to be.

Russian in its wit and in many of its rich details, but American in its insistence on the quest for personal happiness, however provisional and however high the cost, Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love masterfully illuminates a very particular facet of desire with entirely charming results.

From the Hardcover edition.

Order Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love from Amazon for $9.99

Don't have Amazon Kindle? You can always purchase it from here
Or if you prefer to read the Print editions instead, you can get it from here

vs.

Next up, it's "Big Salty" versus Clutch City!

UTAH:

(Maybe Salt Lake Citizens aren't ALL that bad...)

Reputation: Almost nil. Foodies usually tend to be liberal hippie douches who sniff their own farts, and unless you're talking about Sundance or Zion National Park, most of them wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near conservative Utah.

Local Flavor: Utah food is more renown as family food. The kind of family fare you can only get when a religious zealot convinces his cult to walk to a godforsaken hellscape to where the water isn't even drinkable. I tried to go a whole breakdown of Utah and not mention Mormons. I honestly did try. But come on, its ALL anyone can think about when they think of Utah.

Top Restaurant: Which ever one has a full bar.

Signature Dish: Green Jell-O.

The offical state snack food of Utah. And the part of the United States where Mormons are common (Utah, Arizona, Southern Idaho, Nevada, parts of Colorado) is called the "Jello Belt". If that's not signature, I have no idea what is. Also, Jello isn't a dessert in Utah, it's a "salad".

What Are They Eating in the Locker Room?: There's nothing Utah loves more than White People. So it makes sense they'd have to go to the former Soviet Union to find Caucasians capable of playing in the NBA. So Russia's Andrei Kirilenko and the Ukraine's Kyrylo Fesenko probably get their borscht on before every game.

What The Locals Say: Co-worker Travis is from Salt Lake City. When asked about how he thought Utah measured up as a food city, he just sort of sighed and shook his head. "I don't know man. There isn't a whole bunch of places to go. People usually just eat at home."

And when I checked out the "The Essential Mormon Cookbook" online, I knew the Utah food scene looks like a huge-ass pot luck dinner.

HOUSTON:

(I'm actually fraternity brothers with this douche)

Reputation: Not what you'd expect. Everyone immediately thinks oil derricks, cowboy hats, and Cadillac cars, But Houston is actually a pretty diverse city with a wide range of food options. Fancy stuff is there (I mean, Houston has money and they do like to spend it) but they did inherit a lot of Cajun refugees from Katrina and they know how to cook. Add that to Texas barbecue tradition, and it Houston has a decent food rep.

Local Flavor: Well, we mentioned barbecue, and Houston's proximity to Mexico means a good taco is probably easy to find. But did you know Houston has one of the largest community of Southeast Asian immigrants in the hemisphere? And around the TGI McFunster's flagship store, Vietnamese is our favorite cuisine. And with a click glance at the map says "Little Saigon" would be a good place to start. Or one of the two (2!) Chinatowns Houston has in its sprawling city limits.

Top Restaurant: Going with the "What locals say" portion a little early here, Clint is a friend of mine from Katy, TX (home of Renee Zellweger, Roger Clemens, and Clint Black!) just outside Houston:

"The most beloved spots is Goode Company barbecue. The menu seems strange to some but is probably more what Texas bbq was really like around the early 1900's. Specialties include a slew of different house cured sausages, fork tender brisket, and barbecued duck legs."

Signature Dish:

Look at that. Beef ribs. Hot links. Brisket. Check out the pink around the slices of brisket. That's called a "smoke ring". It represents everything that's good and wholesome and decent on this crazy planet. Slap it all on a piece of wax paper with a couple of slices of Wonder Bread, hold the sauce (thats for the Yankees), serve it up with a mason jar full of Iced Tea and/or bottle of Shiner Bock and that's not a meal... it's a transcendent experience that allows you to complete yet another check on your list of things to do before you end your life in a coked-up shooting spree with the cops. (Your plans may vary)

What Are They Eating In The Locker Room?: There are 1.3 billion Chinese. And of all of them, Center Yao Ming is probably the most recognizable in the whole world. Seeing as how he's from Shanghai, we'd show up to the locker room with some Shanghai Crispy Chicken. You just boil a chicken until its tender, then roast it till the skin is crispy.

What? His favorite food is McDonald's? Well, fuck him, then.

What the Locals Say: Back to Clint. (He never said if he was from Old Katy, north of I-10, or merely from the Katy Area. This matters because Katy Area bitches be frontin'):

Houston has several spots known globally for innovative as well as classical cuisine. Tony Vallone's legendary Tony's constantly evolves (sashimi to souffle) to cater to Amex blackcard holders. The small yet beloved Brennan's cooks seafood and steaks with a nod to classical French techniques and garners two Michelin stars.

But this is Texas and Texas is known for barbecue. As far as mom and pop joints go, everyone has their favorites. Landmarks include Otto's (made famous by the patronage of a former one term president, who was also a former C.I.A director and may or may not have trafficked cocaine into the states depending on whether or not you believe the lyrics of the legendary Geto Boys.) Others swear by Drexler's, Clyde the Glides establishment where they perfect brisket, ribs, and sausage on a daily basis. Of course found in every strip mall and roadside trailer are numerous gems that would help Chicagoans realize that they have never really had real barbecue.

Houston is also a coastal town and is currently in the throes of a fine dining seafood movement. The newly opened Reef stands out on this front. There is also a shit-ton of cajun, Tex-mex, and mex-mex in H-town.

As for Utah?

The beer in Utah CANNOT by law exceed 3.2%. Just sayin'

The Verdict:

Big Oil vs. Big Love... Vince Young vs. Steve Young... Beyonce vs. The Osmonds...

Is there really a debate about this? Barbecue, Vietnamese food, AND a rapping midget!?!?!

HOUSTON WINS!

]]> http://realfoodlover.wordpress.com/?p=166 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:26:53 +0000 realfoodlover http://realfoodlover.wordpress.com/?p=166

As you can imagine, as soon as I got wind of the Real food festival, I knew I had to go.

Opening this Thursday 24 April at 10 am in Earl's Court, this is London's foodie festival of the year.

With about 500 small producers under one roof, including Blur musician and cheese maker Alex James, it must be one of the the biggest farmers' market in the world.

(Thus meriting a picture of my esteemed mother's borscht. She strains the cooked beetroots, adds lemon juice to the liquid and beats in an egg. See pic from Saturday lunchtime, above.)

The Real food festival ends at 6 pm on Sunday 27 April. Here's how to get tickets.

There's a real buzz going on in the food world about this festival. Everyone I speak to is on their way.

I will be going on Thursday. My first stop, Nichola Fletcher's stall (P648).

Nichola is a deer farmer from Auchtermuchty, Scotland. I just read on her website how the deer in her care are slaughtered. Sentient beings, they die instantly with no stress - it is awesome.

Deer are well-real because they have not been so intensively-farmed or bred (unlike those poor chickens).

Nichola is also an award-winning author. I know Nichola from the Guild of Food Writers. Fellow members, we have 'met' online.

I am looking forward to meeting Nichola in real (my favourite word again!) life.

And tasting her compassionately-killed venison.

7 rödbetor
2 gullökar
1 litet vitkålshuvud (c:a 250 gram)
2 lagerblad
3 stycken vegetariska buljongtärningar
2 morötter
1 kruka persilja
salt och peppar
1 krm svartpeppar
1 1/2 l vatten
1 msk vinäger

• Lägg undan en rödbeta till sista momentet. Skala och strimla grönsakerna (t.ex. med matberedare).
• Fräs grönsakerna med litet matolja i en rymlig gryta tills de fått färg.
• Tillsätt vatten, buljong samt kryddor och låt koka upp. Avlägsna gärna skum som flyter upp på ytan.
• Låt soppan koka i 40-60 min. Skala och riv den sista rödbetan och tillsätt den mot slutet för en mer intensiv färg. Smaka av med vinäger, salt och peppar.
• Strö på klipp persilja innan den serveras. Servera gärna med grovt svartbröd.

I have to say that when buying fresh beetroot, there are usually only two things that come to mind for me - firstly, the fantastic raw beetroot and horseradish salad from the best Polish restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, A Polonesa (OK, so there is only one Polish eaterie in the whole of Rio) and secondly, but no less mouth-watering, that hearty soup known as borscht.

Let's hope that by posting this recipe for borscht, I don't kick start a foodie flame war. Borscht is something I have been making on and off since well before the Berlin Wall came down and our Eastern European friends have turned it into a deep political debate about who invented it and what it should consist of. Even the spelling of borscht (anyone remember the London branches of Borscht 'n' Cheers in the 80s?) now seems to have changed to 'borshch'. James Meek's excellent Guardian article 'The story of borshch' goes into much detail about the origins of this soup.

I noticed in the article that some of the original recipes Meek quotes use alternative ingredients. One of the things I won't dispense with however is beetroot.

But I will dispense with potato this time. Why? Well, because I don't have any at home, but I also like to cook with ingredients that I do have and for recipes to evolve over time. I've never cooked borscht without potato before, but sometimes the potato gives me bad acid when combined with onion.

So today I'm making it by substituting broad beans for potato starch. Authentic in some parts of Ukraine apparently, along with a sprig or two of tarragon. Normally I would bump up the flavour of my non-meat stock with a quite a few fresh bay leaves, but I have some tarragon lying around and that should combine nicely with a touch of white wine vinegar to bring out the sharpness needed in the soup.

So here is borscht for 2008...

Ingredients: (for vegetarians)

• 2 medium sized carrots
• 1 medium sized onion
• 3 or 4 medium sized beetroot (fresh is best but pre-cooked is OK, although if in vinegar leave out the vinegar in the recipe)
• 2 cups of broad beans (frozen are fine)
• 3 or 4 fresh bay leaves
• sprig of tarragon
• 3 or 4 large cabbage leaves (or any other greens)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
• salt and white pepper to taste
• fresh chopped parsley
• sour cream or yoghurt to dribble on after serving

Finely chop the garlic, onion and carrots. Fry in oil until softened and add to pot. Cover with enough water to cover all the ingredients (non vegetarians can use any meat stock), add bay leaves and tarragon and bring to boil. Then add the broad beans.

Prepare fresh beetroot by peeling it (use rubber gloves on a washable surface!) and chop roughly to add to the soup. Add the tablespoon of white wine vinegar and simmer for 5-10 mins until beetroot is tender.

Then scoop out bay leaves and tarragon and blend into a creamy consistency. If it's too thick, add a little hot water.

Add salt and pepper to taste, dribble on sour cream or natural yoghurt, and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.

Food should never be taken too seriously and it's worth experimenting with different vegetables to get a mix that you like. More importantly, as this is food created by using ingredients to hand, use what you have left over in your larder and fridge. In short, improvise!

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the white stuff which is very similar to a good żurek and in my limited experience comes as the liquid with floating bits of white kielbasa (and possibly egg?). I'm certain the recipe varies from place to place. If I recall correctly, Easter is the main occasion for white barszcz so not long to wait.

As for the red stuff, I can take it or leave it. For me, doing anything to a beetroot other than pickling it is to take it well outside its comfort zone and to heat it up is, well, strange. So this is a difficult country for me when hot beetroot is served up so often either as czerwony barszcz or as a hot vegetable with many meat-based meals. All the more difficult when everyone around me is waxing lyrical about whether the beets served up today are good, bad, indifferent and showing great interest in the recipes. The best thing you can do with red barszcz is to nuke it with as many spices and floaty bits as you can get away with without annoying the barszcz-police such that it becomes as far away from beetroots+water+heat as you can get. I think the sour cream helps a lot but I've not often had that served up with it here. It is often served here with uszka, dumplings (more or less), floating in it. Alternatively, you can get a cup of it and drink this while munching on a krokiet, sort of pastry-like thing.

Almost forgot. What is nice, in the summer, is the cold beetroot soup who's name escapes me in Polish but it begins with "L", I think? (EDIT - Thanks to Darth - the name is chłodnik - not an L in sight!). Poland's own gazpacho. I have very little idea how this is made but it uses the green parts of the beet as well as the tuber. It resembles muddy pond water after a herd of buffalo have marched through leaving grassy bits floating around but it tastes really good. Most Poles I know, don't like it. According to Wiki article linked to above, this is "Mostly Lithuanian", well, it was all the same commonwealth once upon a time.

That's Lawrence Larva from the Way-Out Bugs collection.

Moving on to the Wacky Fruit and Veggies collection, we find Perky Pear. (Note: Using the search term "perky" on eBay will bring up perky pairs a'plenty. It's kind of a code word.)

There's also a host of resin heads from what might be called the Decapitated Animal collection.

Slavic Treasures also creates the standard Santas and snowmen, as well as a line of sports teams ornaments. But just when you're recovering from skewed cartoon teeth and glassy-eyed taxidermist's models, they whip out something from their Halloween Harvest Goodies line, such as this...

...which they call "Ghostly Blue," but which I personally think of
as the "Specter of Skoal."

Collect 'em all.

Every culture has its own signature roster of soups with names that range from bisque to borscht and from potage to chowder. No matter what you call it, soup must be saucy. Although you can start with a prepared broth, making your own broth and stock is inexpensive and easy (more on that topic later in the week).

This week I’ll be in Vegas, livin’ large with my honey, so for the next few days you’ll see posts about soup and soup-making by my colleagues at the test kitchen. Stay tuned for these wonderful entries:

• Tuesday: Saucy lady Amy Snider serves up a slimming soup

• Wednesday: Spice girl Sabrina Falone takes us on a soup-scented trip through Italy

• Thursday: Man with a pan Rob Heidenreich shares broth-making tips

• Friday: I’m back with a recipe for easy and economical Lemon Parsnip Soup

No?

...K I Mke you Borsch.

photo and caption by: Jordan

And of course, the recipe itself came from another colleague, from the top of his head to the email I've kept for 12 years...

Cold Beet Soup

Beets are a bumper crop at the farmer's market, but the best part about them are the oft-removed greens. Beet greens have a delicious earthy flavor, and add wonderful texture to the soup.

• five medium sized beets (bigger than a billiards ball, smaller than a baseball), and their greens (stems and leaves)
• one cucumber, quartered and sliced
• two hard boiled eggs, chopped
• one small onion, minced. Sweet onion if you have it.
• one quart of buttermilk
• fresh dill, chopped
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Trim the greens from the beets, wash and chop both the leaves and stems. Sauté the beets with a tsp of olive or canola oil, and some salt and pepper. Once the stems are tender, take them off the heat and set aside to cool.

Wrap the washed beets in aluminium foil and set in a baking pan. Bake beets in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until
you can pierce through the beet with a knife. Remove from oven, then unwrap the beets in a big bowl of icy cold water to cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel and grate the beets.

Mix the greens and beets together in a large bowl.

Add the cucumber, eggs, and onion.

Now it starts getting shocking - add the buttermilk and stir. The color will bloom into a shocking hot pink. Add the dill, but be sparing - a little goes a long way. Cover and put into the fridge to cool.

Serve the soup with small boiled potatoes, served hot.

A Los Angeles man died today of head injuries after falling several stories when a (non-professional) stunt involving an escalator went wrong. The man, whose name has not been released, was trying to slide down the moving rubber banister when he lost his balance and (basically) proved Darwin's theory.

Witnesses say the man (I'm so tempted to write "douche" right now) had been drinking heavily.

A pretty straight forward story, if I do say so myself. Unless, of course, this is some kind of build up to CSI: LA and it was really a serial killer who gets people drunk and then greases those all-too-tempting banisters with a kind of rare lubricant, one trait of which being that said lubricant evaporates hours after being applied, leaving no evidence!

Yeah, this Writer's/Producer's Strike needs to be over before I exhaust all of my imaginary CSI spin-off scenarios.

On A Side Note: If anyone from CBS is reading this blog I think I could really bring something exceptional to the table if you put me on as a producer in my latest idea: CSI: KIEV. If you want a little preview, I'll give you a hint. Every murder... somehow... involves borscht.

We've all heard it, that scolding, scalding, "Don't fiddle with your food!"

Well, now I'm old and retired, have some time on my hands and an encouraging wife and there's nobody around anymore, who cares if I play with my food.  So I'm going to play to my heart's (and stomach's) content!

I'm not an expert at anything.  Heck, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.  I'm most certainly not an expert at food, but I enjoy it, eat it, cook it and best of all - I play with it.  Who wants to eat the same old stuff day after day?  For that matter who wants to be confined to the same old recipies day after day.  I've been experimenting with life for the past 57 years and now, I've decided to experiment with food.

 I've had a modicum of success lately, at inventing my own recipies.  I'll be sharing some with you, which you can duplicate if you wish.  But, I'll also be sharing the adventure with you in hopes of encouraging you to do some experimentation of your own.  So, my blog is not so much to give you a window on my lab (kitchen) as it is to encourage you to fiddle with YOUR food!

Hi, my name is Myke and I'm an addict.  I've been hooked on food ever since Dr. Worthlin severed my umbilical chord.  And unlike my friend Darwin, I love to eat!  I have never met a food I didn't like!  I have eaten Balut and Durian in the Philippines.  (Both are especially suited for fiddling with.)  I've eaten Cod Tongues in Newfoundland and Fried Green Tomatoes in Georgia.  I've had Century Eggsin Hong Kong and Borschtin Chicago.  I have loved them all and eagerly look forward to trying other wonderful and new tastes, textures and temptations.  Through it all I've only failed to acquire at taste for one thing - Buttermilk.  I love to cook with it, but drinking it straight, like my mother often did, remains a challenge for me.  I do make use of it (straight) though.  When driving, should I get sleepy, butter milk is my perfect remedy.  Instead of taking NODOZE I buy a quart of buttermilk.  I promply take a big swig straight from the carton.  Then I tell myself, "If you get sleepy, you're going to have to take another swig."  Works every time.

Just writing this has made me want to make up a big batch of my mother's Spanish Rice.  I'll spread it all out flat on my plate as I did as a child.  Then, without any fear of reprimand, I'll cut trenches, paths and avenues through it as I merrily eat away!

 P. S.  My sweetheart is a better cook than I and every bit as adventurous.  She's taught me most of what I know about the kitchen.  We cook separately and together and the kitchen is the favorite room in our house.  Much of my fiddling will include her and I look forward to her contributions to my plate and palate.

Savouring my last bowl of chinese borscht, I waited in anticipation for what the year 2008 might bring - much like what the drunken chicken in the steaming wok (I was attempting to make) might turn out to be in awhile.

It's been a trying year, but I'm pretty sure it's a fruitful year ahead brimming with interesting adventures.

Life might have given me lemons for the past 12 months, but I am gonna learn how to turn them into lemonade :P

Happy New Year 2008 everyone! Have a blessed year ahead.

From my fractional polish heritage, I was so lucky to have been included in my sister in laws family Christmas Eve tradition.

Once horrified by the memories of beet soup with homogonized milk, that puce nightmare was no comparison to the hard work and detail which had been presented before us to gobble up.

The bright colour and warmth of this simple, smooth broth sets the perfect stage for the celebration ahead. Borscht is may be peasant food, but like it's counterparts, it is pure comfort. Served as the first course during the Christmas Eve feast with miniature mushroom filled pierogi packages called uszka, this wonderful tradition becomes the delight of the Holiday table.

RED BORSCHT WITH PORCINI MUSHROOM PIEROGIES

4 Beets, trimmed and scrubbed
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Onion, roughly chopped
1 Carrot, roughly chopped
1 Stalk Celery, roughly chopped
2 Cups Shredded Red Cabbage
3 Sprigs Thyme
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
Freshly Cracked Pepper, to taste
9 Cups Water
3/4 Cup Reserved Mushroom Liquid, see below

Trim and scrub the beets, leaving at least 1" of stem.
Loosely wrap them in foil and roast in a 400ºF oven for 1 hour, or until fork tender.
Once the beets are cool enough to handle, trim the stems and peel. Chop the beets into small cubes.
In a large stockpot, heat the oil and sweat the onion and garlic.
Add the chopped carrot,celery and beets.
Top with the water, thyme sprigs, salt and cabbage.
Bring the pot to a rolling simmer and cook until the carrots are soft; about 40 minutes.
Strain the soup through a sieve into a new stockpot.
Pour the reserved mushroom liquid through a cheesecloth and add along with the fresh pepper, sugar and lemon, adjusting salt and other seasonings if and where necessary.
Keep warm on a low heat until ready to serve.

PORCINI MUSHROOM PIEROGIES

1 Cup Dried Porcini Mushrooms
1 Cup Boiling Water, or enough to cover mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Leek, white and light green parts
1/4 teaspoon Dried Thyme Leaves
1 teaspoon Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Pour the boiling water over the mushrooms to reconstitute. Let them sit for about 30 minutes.
Strain and reserve liquid.
Trim, rinse and finely chop the leeks.
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan.
Add the leeks and garlic, sautéing until soft.
Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the leeks along with the thyme, salt and pepper; sauté for 2 minutes more.
Remove from heat and add the parsley.
Cool mixture and make the dough.

PIEROGI DOUGH

2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2/3 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Hot Water
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt

Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor.
With the motor running, add the oil and drizzle hot water through the feed tube just until the mixture comes together as a dough. (You may not end up using all of the water.)
Cut the dough in half, cover and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
Roll out the first piece of dough about 1/8" thick.
Cut 2" rounds and either using a pierog/ravioli press or by hand, add a small amount of the mushroom filling to the center.
Dampen the edges, fold the dough in half and seal tightly.
You may either pinch the two opposite edges together to create the uszka's "tiny ear" appearance, which also resembles tortellini or leave the edges flat.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
To cook, drop the pierogies into rapidly boiling water for about 3 -4 minutes, removing them once they float.
Add the pierogies to the borscht just before serving.

Movie was good. Women leaving the theatre were heard to exclaim "I saw Viggo's balls!"

Some of the violence felt gratuitous, much of the nuttage was implied.

You can't beat a good borscht. But you can't always trust the person making it.

Its cold outside and have some cooked red cabbage from the weekend and some beetroot from the vegebox . So it is time to revive a recipe from earlier in the year , giving credit to the recipe to flickerite Nairnski who describes it as the "finest soup ever tasted"

Borscht - Beetroot Soup

2 cups of shredded red cabbage
1 roughly chopped medium beetroot
1/2 chopped red onion ,
1 tbsp cumin ,
1 crushed clove of garlic
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Dash of balsamic vinegar
11/2 pints of boiling water

1. Put all the ingredients in a pan ,pour over the boiling water , bring to the boil again and simmer on a medium heat for 45 minutes
2. Puree til smooth
3. Serve with goats cheese , a slop of cream , fromage frais

If you are feeling very good you can even make your own bread as I see I did last time I made borscht back in January

Bread Recipe

Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini ( who writes far more beautifully than I do )

500 grams strong white flour
5 grams salt
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
10 fl oz of water, at room temperature
Flour for dusting

1. In a food processor combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Pour in the water. Its very wet dough . Leave in a bowl somewhere warm like the airing cupboard overnight
2. The dough will increase in size and get bubbles on the top also it have a stringy consistency.
3. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface gently bring the sides over and over . Put it into a floured le cruset pot. in the oven pre-heated to 230°C
4. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid, remove the (hot) lid, and bake for another 15 minutes, until beautiful and golden

Powered by ScribeFire.

I'm back in Canada again. Don't ask, it'll just make you sad. And strangely - instead of being in Toronto with my family, I'm in Montreal (a city I lived in for five years ... five years ago) having a mini-vacation. Again, don't ask - suffice to say, in two days I'm heading to Toronto to take care of some sad family affairs.

But for now, I'm making lemonade with lemons, visiting old friends and old eating favourites, and it's interesting to hunt down my previous tried and true eating experiences on a cold, 5-year-old trail. This seems to have affected bar selection most, but I had a few nasty surprises when I tried to track down that old hole-in-the-wall eating place only to find it closed. Fortunately, there appear to be some institutions that continue to stand the test of time.

Any former Montrealer, when returning to the city, immediately sets his or her internal homing beacon towards one thing: BAGELS. True Montreal bagels are baked in one or two shops (although there are many imitators around the city that do relatively good versions): Fairmount or St. Viateur. While there doesn't appear to be a war between these two bakeries - there seems to be more than enough business to go around - most people tend to prefer one over the other. I ALWAYS go to St. Viateur. ... mostly because Fairmount seems to be too crowded whenever I try to expand my horizons or compare.

See how that bagel man beckons you like a creepy Japanese cat? It is truly a siren call, my friends.

Now, let me add that Montreal bagels differ from New York, or conventional, bagels in many ways. They are much smaller and chewier, they come in only two flavours (poppyseed or sesame) and they are cooked in an old-fashioned wood oven. Many a debate has been fostered over which types of bagels are superior: large numbers of New Yorkers have come to Montreal, seen the wiry, chewy tiny bagels and proudly proclaimed that these were no bagels they could recognise. However, I love Montreal bagels for several reasons: you can taste the old wood oven in the smoky nuttiness of each bagel, and furthermore, they're the right size. Really, who needs such giant bagels? Last time I was in NYC with N, eating one bagel with cream cheese would leave me stuffed for 5 hours - and plug up the plumbing to boot! No, my friend, Montreal bagels are where it's at.

Here are the proud workers packing up my dozen sesame bagels and setting up a new line of little dough bagels on those long planks before plunging them into the oven. When the bagels are ready, the oven-man pulls the plank out and dramatically swings it up in a vertical stroke; the bagels fly through the air before landing happily in the bagel-dock. It's masterful.

They came to me warm from the oven, a golden, delicious and chewy gift from heaven. Thank you, St. Viateur, and thank you Montreal bagels. (I might add that the other wonderful thing about St. Viateur is that it's open 24 hours a day. I can't name the number of 4am missions we went on in university in order to get some fresh out of the oven.)

As I walked away from the bagel shop, I noticed a church having a bazaar. Never one to turn down randomly discovered kitsch, I wandered in only to find this menu:

It was a Ukranian Catholic Church, and it was full of people chowing down. I decided on Borscht, saving my appetite for future adventures. I ordered it with meatballs, and I was given a sweet, steaming mug of bright pink thin borscht with a couple of delicious meatballs hidden at the bottom:

It whetted my appetite for the tastes of Eastern Europe so easily found all over Canada (everyone has a grandmother who makes pierogies, or barring that, a friend's grandmother who makes pierogies and gives you frozen Ziploc bags full of them) ... and I set off down St. Laurent to search for the perfect vareniki (pierogies) ... which will have to wait for another post.

Happy Birthday (to me!) and Happy Halloween!

Greece

Tuesday saw Joe & I suffering yet again to get everything completed, but we made it.

It had never occurred to me to ever make gyros from scratch (including pita).  I'm glad we did as they were much better than anything I've ever had.  I also jazzed up the tzatziki sauce with cumin which the chef liked - for some reason our recipe didn't call for it to be included.

The other noteworthy item from Tuesday was Kalamarakia Yemista - squid stuffed with rice, raisins and pine nuts and topped with a tomato type sauce and the tentacles.  Wrap the tray in foil and bake for 15 or so minutes.  This was both easy and delicious.

The only problem with this day was that at the end of class with minutes to spare I felt like an artist with every color of paint in the world staring at a blank canvas with no ideas.  Consequently the plating was pretty lame.

Russia -  what a bitch

Yesterday the chef's evil streak came forth when she assigned groups of four both menus:

1. Blini plate - caviar tasting
2. Chicken Kiev
3. Borscht
4. Salmon Coulibiac with Lemon Veloute
5. Russian cole slaw
6. Cucumber salad
7. Goulash soup
8. Pierogi
9. Golabki
10. Kolachky

My group of four was the only one to present every dish (only one other group presented the Kolachky - a type of cookie made with yeast) and we were the only ones to turn in the caviar/blini plate (though it was admittedly not the prettiest caviar plate I've ever seen).

The cookies surprisingly came out pretty good despite not letting them rise because there was no time.  I was in charge of the borscht and the salads.  Later I ended up being in charge of the cookies and half the caviar plate because no one else had started working on them.  If you want to know the secret to a rich borscht I'll tell you now:  Forget about it while simmering on the stove top until there's nearly no liquid stock left, repeat this step one more time and finally redeem yourself by adding more stock at the end and turning the heat off.  This redeemed me from my head up the ass moment the day before where I forgot about a pot of sugar, water and lemon simmering away.  When it occurred to me to check it later I knew it was beyond hope before I even saw it.  Only the quick thinking of saying "Hey Justin, you gonna use all that?" saved me on that one.

North vs South 

And just like in the Civil War, the North won.  Unfortunately I was fighting for the South today.

After an hour or so lecture on the history of cuisine in Italy the chef divided the kitchen - the front half cooking the northern Italian menu and her "boys in the back" cooking the southern menu.

At first I was kind of pissed about it because I thought the menu was better for the north - osso bucco, polenta cakes, risotto.  But then I realized I already know how to make those things.  The southern menu consisted of things I'd never made or worked with like octopus or didn't know how to make, like canellone.

What this class wasn't though was challenging, seeing as there were eight people to make four items we weren't exactly stretched for time.  And yet deep in my heart I feared that we wouldn't finish in time.

I volunteered to make the Insalata di Frutti di Mare with a guy I hadn't worked with since Skill I.  The salad consists of shrimp, octopus, squid, clams, various julienned vegetables (red onion, carrot, celery & red pepper), various chopped herbs (oregano, basil, parsley), white wine vinegar, olive oil, S&P & lemon juice.  I set about julienning everything while Garza prep'd the seafood.  Somehow I ended up finishing before him so I ended up helping him slice up the squid and finish the shrimp.  We cooked everything up, tossed it all in a bowl and let marinate for as long as we could.

After that there wasn't a whole lot to do as the other six people had everything else pretty much under control.  Was the chef just feeling sorry for us for yesterday.

So with nothing else left to do I helped roll the cannelone which were stuffed with shrimp and leeks that were cooked in shrimp stock.  And then I helped Joe roll up his panzarotti (similar to deep fried ravioli or pierogi).

The moment of truth finally came after the chef tasted all the courses.  The good news was that our salad was her favorite dish of all.  The bad news is that we ended up losing the overall by 4-2. 

Miscellaneous items:

Here's an interesting piece in the NY Times about celebretiy chefs by Frank Bruni.

And finally, if you're one of those people who keep doing google searches looking for how to tie a cravat (or "culinary neckerchief" and you end up on this site you will find nothing here.  Do what I did - ask someone to show you or check your orientation packet.