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