My Best Borscht

If you’ve ever tried to get borscht (beet soup) outside of your kitchen, you know there is no borscht standard: there’s a Ukranian borscht, a Polish borscht, a Russian borscht, creamy borscht, borscht with chicken broth, borscht with no sugar, with dill, without, I could go on.  This is all to say, when you order borscht at a restaurant or deli, you can’t be sure what you’re going get.  Unless you’re a borscht aficionado, don’t let post-traumatic-borscht disorder stop you from trying this out.

This borscht takes the traditional versions, makes them vegetarian, and adapts them to a more modern American palate. We can also think about this as an American recipe in that it is quick, easy, and simple.

This is one of my favorite recipes.  Whenever I’m sad, tired, sick, or lonely, I make borscht.  It’s like vegetarian chicken soup for the soul.  It’s warm, hearty, and sweet.  Perfect for the cold, rainy days under which Chicago is currently suffering.

The next time the weather has got you down, let this soup warm you up. :)

My Best Borscht

• 5 cups medium fresh beets (about 2 lbs)
• kosher salt
• 3 1/2 cup beet stock
• 1/3 cup honey (or 1/2 cup sugar)
• 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped dill (frozen or fresh)–here’s how to freeze fresh herbs
• 20 oz greek yogurt (optional)

1. Wash and peel beets; cut into fours.  Place the beets in a large pot of boiling, salted water (remember that you’ll need 3 1/2 cups of this stock).
2. While beets are cooking, combine remaining ingredients: honey, lemon juice, pepper, salt, dill, and–if desired–greek yogurt.
3. When beets are tender (about 30 minutes) remove the beets to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Measure out 3 1/2 cups beet stock and set aside (you’ll want the stock to cool slightly before adding to yogurt mixture or the yogurt will curdle).
5. Using a microplane, grate beets and mix with yogurt mixture; add beet stock, mix well, serve and enjoy!

Black Bottom Pumpkin Cupcakes

As I was writing this recipe, it occurred to me that I wasn’t really sure I understood the difference between a cupcake and a muffin.  What was this thing I had created?  Does a cupcake need frosting? Could that really be all it is?  Do muffins need oatmeal or bran?  I’ve seen muffins without wholesome, breakfasty ingredients.  Are muffins breakfast food and cupcakes desserts?  I was lost in a world of sweet batter.

Pickled Cauliflower

Well, at least in Chicago, the fresh food season is pretty much over.  This is the part of the year where we rely more heavily onions, potatoes, apples, and anything we froze during the summer.  Luckily, I froze quite a bit.  My stand-alone freezer is totally and completely packed. All summer, I cut and weighed, boiled or blanched and ended up with a freezer full of vegetables and fruits, berries and jams, herbs and sauces. I even froze some pickles and leftovers from summer meals.  (We’ll see how those pickles turn out.)

Real Salted Caramel Apples

Caramel apples, candied apples, taffy apples… what’s the difference?  I’ll tell you.   Candied apples are apples covered in a cinnamon flavored clear candy (here’s a good recipe).  The difference between caramel and “taffy” apples is a little more tricky.  Some say there’s no such thing as a taffy apple, but I think the distinction is useful. Cook it a little less and you’ve got caramel apples, cook it a little more and you’ve got taffy apples.

I’ve never made caramel apples before.  So, I started to research caramel apples.  I have a good idea of how to make caramel–I was pretty sure I had made it… and then passed it by on the way to toffee.  But as I was sifting through recipes, looking to mix and match to devise a recipe that would result in the kind of caramel apples I was imagining, I found an abundance of recipes that ask us to melt caramel candy and dip apples in it.  I know it’s the snob in me that doesn’t like that, but I don’t.

So Long, Basil, and Thanks for all the Dishes.

I’m back!  This was a trying week, but everything is starting to get back on track and I wanted to make sure that I shared this recipe before it got so cold that no one would have a basil plant in all the world.

Eighth Annual Moving Weekend!

Though it takes even more time away from my already hectic schedule, this weekend I’m moving… again.  It seems like I can’t stay in one place for more than a year.  I think this is a residual reflex left over from a career of schooling.  Each four years of my undergraduate work, two years of graduate work, and now two years in between–each year I move.   So, as one of my favorite groups of students concludes an accelerated semester of composition (they did really well), and two more begin, I’m moving once again.

Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

I do not like eggplant.  It’s embarrasing, but I don’t like it.   I made this dish anyway–for my mother who loves eggplant just about as much as I despise it. I expected to post this recipe if my mom enjoyed it and trash it if she didn’t.  I didn’t, in my wildest dreams, think I would be chowing down on an eggplant heavy stir fry.  But I did.

Butternut Squash Empanadas

Well, tomatoes and corn are on their way out, but winter squash season is here.  Dedicated readers will recall my general distaste for most things squashy and my constant search for ways to serve squash in less squashy ways.  This one was definitely a winner.  Well, with one little snafoo.

Whole Radish Tart

Okay, it’s possible that I may have a tart problem.  I can’t help myself!  They’re quick, easy, and make for no-fail main courses.  And this tart makes the radish the star, the main course.  You’re welcome radishes.

Glazed Carrot Salad

Work has become a more demanding force in my life and I’ve been left with an hour or less to put together a dinner (and to photograph it!).  My recipes, as a result, might be getting a little simpler, but I guarantee that they’re just as good.