Julian's Fresh Brussels Sprouts Salad

My Facebook friend Julian, who lives in London, posted the other day about how he was about to enjoy a raw brussels sprouts salad. Hmmmm.... I thought... I love salad. And coleslaw. And sprouts. Sounds perfectly delicious!!

Julian has an allotment garden, something that is rare in Toronto, where he grows his own sprouts. Can you colour me jealoooouuuuuse??  I made mine using sprouts from the store. I think fresher is better, so head to the farmer's market if possible.

Julian's garden

Julian's Fresh Brussels Sprouts Salad

INGREDIENTS
3 cups chopped or shredded raw brussel sprouts
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 finely chopped spring onions
A handful of fresh chopped coriander (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Juice of 1 lemon
pinch of sugar
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 T olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, mustard and salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil, until dressing comes together.
2. Trim ends from sprouts, and discard any tough outer leaves.  Chop finely or shred, using knife or mandoline. (If using mandoline leave ends on so that you have a "handle" of sorts to hang on to as you slice).
3. Lightly toast pine nuts in a non-stick pan, on medium-high heat. Toss around as toasting, and keep a close eye on them as they will burn quickly. Should be a very light brown colour once toasted.
4. Chop spring onions and coriander, and combine with sprouts. Drizzle with dressing and toss madly.
5. Gobble up.

Header image by Barbara Agnew, Flickr
Garden image by Julian

Russian Cabbage Borscht

As I mentioned yesterday, I scored at the supermarket with 5 lbs of beets for 99 cents, and a large red cabbage for another 99 cents. What came to mind? Borscht, of course!!  My favourite borscht recipe comes from Moosewood.

Image by Darwin Bell

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potatoes

1 cup thinly sliced beets

4 cups vegetable stock or water

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon caraway seed (optional)

2 teaspoons salt

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 large carrot, sliced

3 cups coarsely chopped red cabbage

black pepper to taste

handful fresh dill weed

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup tomato puree

sour cream, for topping

chopped tomatoes, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1.  Place sliced potatoes and beets in a medium saucepan over high heat; cover with stock, and boil until vegetables are tender. Remove potatoes and beets with a slotted spoon, and reserve stock.

2.  Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, caraway seeds, and salt; cook until onions become soft and translucent. Then stir in celery, carrots, and cabbage. Mix in reserved stock; cook, covered, until all vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

3.  Add potatoes and beets to the skillet. Season with black pepper and dill weed. Stir in cider vinegar, honey, and tomato puree. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer at least 30 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream, extra dill weed, and chopped fresh tomatoes.

Photo credit
Moscow at night by Jamie Silva, Flickr

Baked Beet BreadRoll

I have been exploring the Bengali supermarket around the corner from me, wandering down the aisles inspecting all the different ingredients and spices, and pestering the staff with questions on what they are and how to cook them. One day I will travel to India and Bangladesh and learn how to cook these dishes properly, but for now there is the web!

Thanks to Mr. Google I have bookmarked a few Bengali food blogs and will be experimenting with their recipes. It may take some practice, but it all looks SO good.

One of the blogs I am really enjoying is Bong Mom's CookBook, and since I picked up a 5 pound bag of beets today for 99 cents, I am now on the lookout for new beet recipes!  This is her recipe for Baked Beet BreadRoll, a snack for surprise visitors. I imagine you could also serve two or three rolls together with a green salad for a nice lunch or dinner.

Baked Beet BreadRoll
Recipe by Sandeepa of Bong Mom's CookBook

Ingredients

For the Stuffing
Red Beet - 1 and 1/2 of the medium sized ones. Chopped into small pieces and put in the blender to chop finely
Green Coriander Leaves ~ a quarter of a bunch chopped
Green Chillies ~ 4/5 chopped fine (optional)
Raisins or Kishmis ~ a fistful (about 20) soaked in water
Cashew or Kaju ~ 20 crushed
Salt
Garam Masala ~ 2 tsp heaped

For the Roll
Bread ~ a slice for each roll. Filling makes 12.
Butter ~ 1 tbsp melted
Egg ~ 1 beaten

Stuffing Instructions

1. Chop the beet into small pieces and put them in the blender. Process them till they are chopped real fine, beet being solid you will not get a fine paste (you don't want that) but it will be granular.
2. Heat oil. Use olive oil if you want.
3. Add the chopped green chillies, the chopped beet, and sauté.
4. Add the chopped coriander leaves, the raisins, the crushed cashew.
5. Add salt & the garam masala.
6. Sauté and cook covered for about 10 minutes till the beet is cooked. It will be lightly crunchy but totally dry.

Assembly Instructions

1. Take a slice of bread (it is better to use wheat bread her mom says, but she only had White Bread at home).
2. Remove the sides.
3. Now comes a slightly difficult part. To make the bread pliable you have to sprinkle water on it and then press it between your palms to drain the water out. If you have already done this before it is easy, else it will take one or two attempts to get this right.
4. Make a round from the stuffing and put it at the centre of the bread. Now mould the bread around the stuffing to make a roll or a round.
5. Brush the rolls with little butter and the beaten egg. Use a brush lightly to do this.
6. You can fry it at this point if you want. If you are frying no need to brush with butter.

To Bake

1. Refrigerate for about an hour
2. Take the roll out of the refrigerator and lightly brown them on both sides on a griddle or shallow frying pan.
3. Heat oven to 400F
4. Sprinkle corn meal (I used semolina/sooji) on the baking pan which has been lined with aluminum foil.
5. Place the rolls on the baking pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes
6. The baking time might vary, so check and bake till the roll is evenly browned
7. Serve with hot Tea or Chai.

Photo Credit
Inani Beach, Bangladesh, by Mohammad Hasan, Flickr

Rutabaga Fries, or how much do you love your rutabagas???

I love my rutabagas very much.

Rutabaga with onions and garlic
Image by downtownpearl

On Wednesday I had a burger for dinner, and thought I'd try something a little different than french fries. I had read about rutabaga fries, and since I had half a rutabaga leftover from earlier in the week, I thought let's give this a go.

I admit, I didn't re-read the recipe before I made the fries, so they took a while to cook. Apparently you should steam them first, dry them thoroughly, toss in oil (and herbs or spices as desired) and bake.  Instead I just cut into french fries, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and hot pepper flakes, and cooked at 400F for about 40 minutes, tossing from time to time.  They were delicious: crispy, buttery, with a little heat from the pepper.  What a nice change from french fries.

Here's the original recipe:

Rosemary Rutabaga "Fries" -- from Stephen Cooks!

6 servings, about 4 ounces each

Ingredients

• 1 rutabaga, about a pound and a half
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400º.

1. Peel the rutabaga and cut it in 1/2" x 1'2" spears. 

2. Steam about 12 minutes in a steamer basket until just tender. 

3. Dry the spears with paper towels and then toss with the olive oil, the garlic and the rosemary.

4. Lay the rutabaga spears out in a single layer (ideally with none of the spears touching each other) on a jelly roll pan and bake in the preheated oven about 25  minutes, turning once.  

5. Place them under the broiler for a few minutes, watching closely, to finish browning them. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

Other flavouring suggestions:

1. "Indian." Omit garlic and rosemary. After cooking scatter on some garam masala (recipe below).

2. "Chinese." Omit garlic and rosemary.  Before baking, toss the rutabaga spears in a mixture of hoisin sauce, sesame oil, grated ginger and five-spice powder.

Other ideas for your rutabaga, elsewhere on the web:

• Roasted Rutabaga with Sage and Dates
• Ginger Rutabaga Muffins
• Winter Slaw
• Apple Rutabaga Soup (I would use far less butter and substitute soy milk for the cream... but you can decide for yourself!!)
• Smoked Paprika and Rutabaga Bisque (ditto)

Tell me, how do you cook your rutabagas??