December 04, 2007
Mmm . . . Borscht.
I love borscht. But not the canned version!
I'll have to try this recipe. I think it might be nice with orange or yellow beets for a change; the flavor is sometimes milder with those.
The legendary Gorky's (of Hollywood and downtown L.A.) used to put just a bit of cilantro in the borscht. With a dollop of sour cream, that stuff was heaven. Yum. I may not miss socialism, but I sure miss Gorky's.
Posted by: Attila Girl at
12:09 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 85 words, total size 1 kb.
1
If you want it authentic, substitute pickled cabbage with its juice (from a Russian market) for the vinegar in the recipe. Vinegar is the wrong kind of sour. You can use a good sauerkraut and some of its juice in a pinch.
Posted by: Darrell at December 04, 2007 10:27 PM (umZdf)
2
1-1/2 lb non-lean beef with some bones (e.g., shanks), cut into pieces that can fit in a tablespoon;
12 Roma tomatoes
10 cups beef broth (home-made, canned, or in cartons -- not from cubes or essence)
1 bunch small beets, peeled and shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 Spanish onion, chopped
2-3 baking potatoes, peeled, cut into halves and immersed in cold water
1 cup pickled cabbage with its juice (available at Russian stores), or 1 cup sauerkraut (but pickled cabbage is really better here).
1 small head of white cabbage (sometimes available at Russian or Asian stores), or green cabbage with green outer leaves removed; cut into strips slightly wider than you would make for cole slaw or other salads
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 bay leaves
1 bunch dill, minced (tough stems removed)
4-5 cloves garlic, mashed
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of ground cayenne pepper
vegetable oil
1. Bring the broth to a boil in a large stockpot. Immerse the tomatoes, add bay leaves, and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Remove the tomatoes and, using a wooden spoon, push them through a sieve to make sauce. Discard the skins, seeds, and tough stem parts that remain in the sieve. Cover the tomato sauce and set aside.
2. Add 1/2 tbsp salt to the cabbage and mix, squeezing it with your hands. As you continue cooking, turn and squeeze the cabbage every 5-10 minutes, for a total of about 4 times. Then, transfer the cabbage to a colander and let drain. This will get rid of bitter juice.
3. Add meat to the broth and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Skim off scum, add potatoes, and cover.
4. Warm vegetable oil in a large, deep skillet and saute the beets, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring them every few minutes. Add the beets to the broth.
5. Add more vegetable oil to the skillet and saute the onions for a few minutes, until they soften and become slightly translucent. Add the carrots and the bell pepper, mix and cover. Cook covered, stirring from time to time, for about 20 minutes. Add tomato sauce, mix, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove potatoes from the soup and coarsely mash them with a fork or masher. No need to make a puree here, the potatoes should be in tiny pieces. Return the mashed potatoes to the soup. Add the tomato-sauce mixture and the pickled cabbage at this time. Cover the soup and let simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add drained fresh cabbage, stir, and let simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. DO NOT cook the borscht for more than 5 minutes after adding the cabbage! It should still be slightly crunchy when the borscht is served.
8. Remove the borscht from heat. Take small amounts of mashed garlic and minced dill and pound together in a mortar. Add to the borscht. Add the rest of the garlic and dill. Stir. Adjust for salt and pepper and add some cayenne to give the borscht just a hint of spice. The borscht should be very thick (the expression goes that a large spoon should remain upright when inserted into the pot), and rich red in color.
9. One final step: cover the borscht and put it into a small enclosed space which retains heat well (such as an oven). There is no need to heat the oven -- the large stockpot will warm it just enough for the borscht to shvitz to perfection. Leave it there for about 45 minutes and up to 2 hours. Gently rewarm before serving.
Serve with dark rye and sour cream on the side. Borscht keeps well in a refrigerator for 3-4 days.
I skip the bay leaves.
Posted by: Darrell at December 04, 2007 10:29 PM (umZdf)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
June 03, 2007
The Grilling Report.
Week Two of The Kabob Project. The thing that both A the H and I noticed this week was how much pleasure we derived from eating last week's leftover kabobs. He heated his back up, but I ate mine cold over at work on Tuesday night in Culver City (20 miles away—but 45 minutes to an hour to get out there, given L.A. traffic).
Even unheated, rare grilled steak and grilled veggies with charred edges were great eating on the other side of town, particularly when washed down with a luscious ripe peach.
So back to the grill again, this weekend. Saturday night we had turkey steaks. I would have bought chicken breasts, but who has time to pound them down to the right thinness for grilling? [Insert joke here.] The turkey was cheaper, and it was easier to freeze the extras for next weekend. A little Asian-style marinade, rice, and a salad—and dinner was done. I boiled the marinade to use again as a sauce; I'm thrifty that way.
Tonight I continued with the kabobs, but I got a thinner type of steak, rather than the Top Sirloin my local market uses on its pre-assembled kabobs (the husband likes his meat well-done, which doesn't really happen when the meat chunks are the size of small aircraft). The unit price was acceptable-but-not-great; however, I figured being able to freeze the last few small steaks meant I'd get at least three meals/six servings out of that package. Not bad.
This was beef loin tri-tip, and thin enough that I knew I could cut it into tiny chunks, so the first few kabobs to make it onto the grill would definitely be well-done, in accordance with husbandly preferences. I used Spanish onions, instead of the red onions the market employed last weekend, and in addition to green bell pepper I added some red bell pepper. I also threw in some mushrooms. The last few skewers were only peppers/mushrooms, and spent much less time over the fire than the meat/onion kabobs had.
Most of all, I decided that all these flavors would probably be just fine on their own, and I forewent a marinade—just threw the suckers over the fire. We ate them with small amounts of salt and pepper, and a butter lettuce salad with cherry tomatoes on the side. We drank Trader Joe's blueberry soda; it was truly a royal meal. And not a bad belated anniversary celebration, considering we were able to fit it into our budget constraints and our respective diets.
Next, week, though, the plot thickens: we're going to add pineapple, and go Polynesian. (But, no: no wooden skewers. I'm not going to soak those suckers for 30 minutes before dinner. Metal is fine for us. I might get kabob baskets for the veggies, though, depending on what the casualty rates are there-among.)
But for Polynesian, I'll definitely want to marinade the kabobs. Suggestions?
And, of course, I will create a dessert using grilled peaches at some point this summer. After all, grilled desserts are the Final Frontier on my balcony.
Posted by: Attila Girl at
11:09 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 516 words, total size 3 kb.
1
Polynesian marinade? Pineapple juice(Dole), peanut oil, teriyaki or soy sauce, fresh ginger, crushed garlic. Add a touch of roasted sesame seed oil, if you wish, and ground pepper and onion powder. Marinate for 1-2 hours, keeping in mind the pineapple enzymes tenderize and start "cooking the meat. Keep refrigerated while doing this.
The pineapple juice and oil of your choice makes it authentic. The rest can be played with. Pork tenderloin would be a good choice here. If you are worried about the grilling time and pork, you can finish off in a skillet on the stove (or grill). If you do that, I suggest adding a little corn starch to the kabobs while being marinated. Simmer a few minutes in a little chicken stock.
Posted by: Darrell at June 04, 2007 09:16 PM (H8+in)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
May 28, 2007
Mmm. Peanut Sauce.
I've got to try the Thai Peanut Burger. Like, now: never mind that if I light the grill up at this hour we'll be hit by a plague of insects on the balcony that will make Egypt's tribulations look lightweight by comparison.
But seriously—doesn't it sound yummy? And don't tell my you've never had Thai-style spices, beef, and peanut sauce in the same dish. You've had beef satay, haven't you? I suspect it's the same idea, but with a different texture.
Okay: as soon as it's light outside, I'm firing up the charcoal. (Yes, charcoal: it takse a little more time than cooking with gas or propane, but I really feel that the flavor is superior. Plus, it pollutes more, and therefore irritates hard-core environmentalists. What's not to like?)
Posted by: Attila Girl at
10:39 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 135 words, total size 1 kb.
1
I've modified my old propane grill to use charcoal, using the gas to fire the coals.
I sometimes finely slice a partially-frozen ribeye steak and mix it into the ground beef. It adds taste and texture, and I think it would go well with your satay.
Life is too short not to try most new things. Usually.
Posted by: Darrell at May 29, 2007 08:22 AM (z7FS5)
2
Btw, Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter has a true peanut taste, and low sweetness--perfect for satay.
Posted by: Darrell at May 29, 2007 08:25 AM (z7FS5)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
May 12, 2007
Chicken for Dinner Tonight.
It seemed like the logical choice: after all, we're dieting. However, I haven't yet cleaned off the grill for use this year. Next weekend, I think.
So: salad, rice with orzo, and breast pieces sauteed for a few minutes, and then braised. I started with "light" olive oil. (Not light in calories—light in taste. I use this for a lot of my sauteeing, since it's healthy and doesn't have a huge effect on the final outcome, as normal olive oil would. If the oil truly must be neutral, of course, I stick with Canola oil.)
Then I added some Moroccan-style sauce from Trader Joe's, cut heavily with broth to make the dish slightly less spicy.
And then I added some slices of Florida mango, for added flavor and some extra vitamin C.
Super-easy. And yummy. I was experimenting and tasting a lot, but this meal with be ready in 35 minutes or so next time I make it.
Posted by: Attila Girl at
09:05 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 166 words, total size 1 kb.
Thank You, K!
No vitamin C shortage around
here!
One down; eight to go. Yum.
Posted by: Attila Girl at
01:19 AM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 18 words, total size 1 kb.
1
Nice job on staggering out the ripeness, too: we seem to consume about one a day&maybe two a day toward the end of the cycle.
I shall have to find a cheaper outlet for local mangoes. I think one of the Mexican markets might be a good choice: their produce tends to be much less costly (especially when one doesn't care as much about external characteristics—e.g., for cut fruit and cooking purposes).
Probably my favorite fruit, though of course I'd hate to have to choose. And in the summer white freestone peaches tend to capture my imagination, as well.
Posted by: Attila Girl at May 12, 2007 09:14 PM (2WBcM)
2
Oh, good! I always try to hit that ripeness balance, but of course, the mangoes have minds of their own, and decide for themselves in the end.
Pretty Lady used to eat mangoes when she lived in Mexico, and says they were very high-quality fruits. If you go for the taste rather than appearance - why I like my *ugly* mangoes - I'd guess that Mexican produce might be great stuff.
Well. Outside of the e. coli concern, too.
Posted by: k at May 13, 2007 12:55 AM (zBbuE)
3
Of course, "sold in a Mexican market" and "Mesican in origin" may mean slightly different things, unless we are discussing those papayas that are the size of small cars . . .
Posted by: Attila Girl at May 13, 2007 01:59 AM (2WBcM)
4
For a moment I thought this post was about oral sex.
Posted by: John at May 14, 2007 04:12 PM (S3FTS)
5
Both very wet experiences.
Posted by: Attila Girl at May 14, 2007 09:13 PM (+8+0X)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
May 11, 2007
Canned Black Olives Are Vile.
But if one substituted good green olives, spiked with a few Greek-style black ones, you'd definitely
have something, here.
Posted by: Attila Girl at
11:03 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 29 words, total size 1 kb.
35kb generated in CPU 0.0624, elapsed 0.1725 seconds.
209 queries taking 0.1578 seconds, 421 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.