Borscht

Dinner tonight.  Hearty, warm, and uses lots of fresh farm ingredients.

Borscht (Russian cabbage and beet soup)

knob of butter, bacon grease, or double glug of olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1 large, sliced carrot
1 stalk chopped celery
1 tsp caraway seeds
3 cups chopped cabbage
4 cups of stock
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potatoes
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced beets (peeled)
1 can (or cup) of diced tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbs sour cream per serving
a pinch of dill per serving

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, saute your onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are starting to soften.  Add caraway seeds for a couple of minutes, then the cabbage for a couple of more.  Add stock, potatoes, beets, and tomatoes, and boil for about 30 minutes.  Season to taste, and serve with a dollop of sour cream and a pinch of dill.  Probably best with a heavy rye loaf.

A couple of recipes

Here's a recipe that uses kohlrabi AND summer squash that I found on the Straight from the Farm blog.  Visit their site -- they have good pictures of filling the empanadas.


Kohlrabi & Squash Empanadas
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated
2 medium kohlrabies, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large summer squash, cut into small cubes
2 large scallions, both white and green parts, finely cut
1 radish, minced (optional)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
1 box of pre-made pie crust or one batch homemade*
1 egg

In a medium skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and ginger to brown.  Add kohlrabi cubes, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Toss well and cook 3 or 4 minutes until kohlrabi are softening a bit.  Add squash cubes and continue to cook for 4 more minutes.  Add scallions, radish, nutmeg and another pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix well and cook for one minute before removing from heat.  Set mixture to this side to cool.

Roll out dough to be a little thinner than pie crust typically is.  If you are using pre-made crust from the store, run your rolling pin over it once or twice.   Using a cereal bowl or large circular cookie cutter, cut out 6 inch-ish circles from the dough.  It should yield about 15, give or take depending on your cutter and dough thickness.

Pre-heat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Prepare egg wash by beating egg with a teaspoon of water and set to the side along with a small bowl of water.

To make the empanadas, spoon one tablespoon of kohlrabi and squash mixture into the center of a circle of dough.   (It’s better to have less filling than too much or the empanadas won’t hold together. Feel out the right ratio that allows you to close off the dough without any filling popping out.)   Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it around the outside edge of the dough.  Fold dough over the filling to create a half circle.  Press down edges.  Carefully pick up the dough pocket and pinch edges (see photo) to seal them tightly.  A fork can also be used to crimp the edges if you want a less tedious method.

Repeat above process to finish all the empanadas, laying them on the lined cookie sheet when done.  With a fork, prick the tops once and brush with egg wash.   Bake for 8 minutes and turn over.  Bake another 5 to 7 minutes until deep golden brown and flaky.  Best served straight from the oven.

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In case you've been throwing your beets and cabbage into the bottom drawer and forgetting about them, I harvested these from Simply Recipes:

Beet Hummus - you can use up our cucumbers dipping in it

Roasted beets with balsamic and orange zest glaze - side dish

Colcannon - Irish mashed potato and cabbage dish

Italian sausage and cabbage stew - cabbage stew doesn't sound super appetizing, but the recipe sounds pretty tasty

Cabbage without borders

Cabbage grows well, stores well, and keeps you well.  And I don't think we've seen the last of it.  So here a few simple ways to use it up.  Please, chime in with more.  I've listed each of these as vegetarian, but all of them are good with a pound or so of ground beef added to the skillet first.

Simplest Cabbage
2-4 T butter
1/2 head shredded cabbage
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the cabbage in the butter until tender, season to taste, serve as a side.


South of the Border Cabbage
2-4 T butter or corn oil
1/2 head shredded cabbage
1/2 onion, diced
1-2 sliced jalapenos
a package of your favorite corn tortillas
a package of cotija or queso fresco

Saute the cabbage, jalapenos, and onion in the butter (or oil) until soft.  Serve as filling for the tortillas, topped with some cotija or any other variety of fresh Mexican cheese.


East of the Border Cabbage
2-4 T butter or olive oil
1/2 head shredded cabbage
1/2 onion, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
2 T Worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 t paprika
1/2 c sour cream

Saute the cabbage and onion in the butter (or oil) until soft.  Stir in the tomatoes, spices, and Worchestershire sauce and simmer another 2 minutes.  Turn off the heat, stir in the sour cream, and serve.


Even Further East of the Border Cabbage
(This is actually a dish called yakisoba, a street food famous in Osaka, Japan.  I've only had this made with chicken, but pork and tofu are acceptable substitutes.  Stir fry bite sized pieces of about a pound of meat or tofu ahead of time if you'd like to use them.)
2-4 T sesame oil
1/2 head shredded cabbage
1 onion, sliced into thin half moons
thumb length chunk of ginger, diced
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, in 1/4" rounds
yakisoba sauce to taste (Asian section as the grocery, or much cheaper at the Asian store, or sub 1/3 c soy sauce, 1/3 c ketchup, 1/8 c rice wine, and 2 T sugar)
about a pound of yakisoba noodles (refrigerated near the tofu at the grocery, or much much cheaper at the Asian market, or substitute soba, lo mein, or ramen without the seasoning packet)

Brown the meat/tofu first.  The put the onion, ginger, and carrots into the mix until just beginning to soften.  Add the cabbage and season with the yakisoba sauce.  Cook about two minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften, then mix in the noodles and stir well.  As everything gets coated with the sauce, it will start to caramelize.  Stir in the scallions a minute before turning off the heat.  Serve.
(You can watch a video of a Japanese lady making it here.  What is up with the dog?)