Category: Main Dish

Borsch.

Published on by KellyInTheKitchen2 Comments

Borsch is so misunderstood. It’s a classic in Russian/Ukrainian cuisine, but despite my Russophile tendencies, I avoided borsch for years because I thought it sounded so…awful. But college is a time for experimentation, right? So during my senior year, I finally gave borsch a try, and it totally won me over! It’s a super hearty vegetable and beef stew that gets its characteristic garnet color from its most notorious ingredient: the beet. If you’re not a beet lover, you’ll probably still like borsch (it’s really good, I swear!),  just make sure to puree the cooked beet and tomato mixture before adding it to the broth pot. Old-world peasant cooking at its finest!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs. stew beef, cubed
3 bay leaves
small onion, chopped
3 small red beets, scrubbed clean and cut into bars
14 oz. canned crushed tomatoes
1 tsp vinegar
2 carrots, peeled and cut into bars
2 celery stalks, chopped
large onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1/2 medium head cabbage, shredded
butter
olive oil
salt
pepper
2 cloves garlic, diced

DIRECTIONS

Fill a large pot or Dutch oven 3/4 of the way full with water and add beef and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.

When boiling, turn down to medium low heat and simmer. Skim off the fatty, foamy impurities that rise to the top.

When you’ve gotten most of the fatty bits out of the broth pot, add the small onion. Cover and simmer for an hour. Then remove the bay leaves.

Meanwhile, add butter or olive oil to a pan and heat over medium. When hot, add beets, crushed tomato, and vinegar. Stir well and simmer for an hour.

Fifteen minutes before the beets are done cooking, start the other veggies. Heat butter or olive oil in another pan over medium flame and add large onion, carrot, and celery. Cook for 15 minutes.

After you start the onion-carrot-celery mixture, turn up the heat on the broth and bring it back to a boil. Add potatoes and cabbage to the broth pot.

When the beets and tomatoes have finished cooking, add them to the broth, along with the sauteed veggies. Add salt, pepper, and garlic, stir well, and simmer for at least half an hour.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with fresh chives or dill. Priyatnogo appetita!

Dutch Baby Pancake.

Published on by KellyInTheKitchen2 Comments

If you’ve ever been to the Walker Brothers Pancake House in Wilmette, you’ve seen one of these huge pancakes being delivered to a table near you. Maybe you’ve even tried this light and fluffy mass of puffed-up flour, butter, and eggs yourself. It’s the perfect thing to cook for company because it looks so impressive and unusual. But as you serve it to a chorus of compliments, smile silently to yourself, you big show-off, because it’s actually a ridiculously easy recipe.

INGREDIENTS

for pancake:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat flour
cinnamon to taste (we used about 1/8 tsp)
4 eggs
4 tbsp (half a stick) butter

for topping:
1 – 1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 cup yogurt
your favorite berries
powdered sugar
lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Remove your oven’s top rack and preheat oven to 425 F–the pancake cooks on the middle rack and needs space to rise.

With the stove on medium heat, melt butter in a large cast-iron pan or oven-proof saute pan. While the butter melts, combine all other pancake ingredients in a mixing bowl.

When the oven is fully preheated, pour batter into pan over melted butter, but don’t stir the butter into the batter! They should remain separate.

Immediately place pan into the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes, so that the whole pancake cooks through. The middle and sides will start to brown a bit by the time the pancake is done. Remove from oven and cool about 1 minute.

While the pancake cools, mix together yogurt and honey, and wash and cut up berries.

Transfer pancake to a large plate. Top with yogurt, sprinkle with berries and lemon juice, and add a generous finishing touch of powdered sugar. Serves 2-3 (or a very hungry 1…).

Vichyssoise.

Published on by KellyInTheKitchen1 Comment

There is a lovely vegetable soup called vichyssoise, named for Vichy, the spa town in central France. Whether the soup is French at all is up for debate, though; Julia Child claims the recipe is an American creation. Questionable authenticity aside, this potato and leek puree is an easy, elegant dish that’s pretty simple to make. Served either cold or hot, it’s a versatile dish perfect for unpredictable spring days.

INGREDIENTS

2 large leeks (or 3 medium ones), white and light green parts only, sliced and rinsed thoroughly
1 medium onion, rough chop
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 medium potatoes, washed, large dice; peel if desired (I leave the skins on–see below*)
chicken stock or water (I used homemade chicken stock)
salt and pepper to taste
butter
half and half or heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Heat a Dutch oven or other large soup pot on medium and add a pad of butter. When butter is melted, add leeks, onion, and celery, and cook until softened but not browned.

Add potatoes and just enough chicken stock or water to cover the vegetables. Season with salt, and don’t skimp on the pepper!

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking until potatoes are soft. Remove from heat and puree in batches; I like to pour the pureed soup through a strainer so that there are no lumps, just a smooth, thick soup.

*If you left the skins on your potatoes, like I did, you’re getting a second dish out of your vichyssoise! While straining into your soup bowl, reserve some of the potato puree in a separate bowl–say, 3/4 cup. After you’ve strained the soup, all the potato skins will be caught in the strainer. Scrape them out and mix them into the reserved potato puree for leek mashed potatoes!

Back to the soup. Whether you’re serving it cold or hot, there’s one last step before you dig in. Just before serving, stir in a healthy splash of half and half or cream and add a dash of salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley or chives. Croutons would be good, but I was fresh out. Oh well. Bon appetit!

Vegetable Pot Pie.

Published on by KellyInTheKitchen1 Comment

Growing up, my family used to make chicken pot pie using the easy recipe on the back of the Bisquick box. But the dish we’d end up with always turned out flavorless and dough-heavy. This recipe is your cure for the common pot pie! And you won’t miss the chicken at all; it’s so robust and flavorful that even the manliest carnivore won’t miss the meat!

INGREDIENTS

crust: (if you don’t want to make one, buy a pre-made crust–just make sure you have both a top and a bottom layer)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup milk
egg wash: 1 egg and a splash of water or milk

filling:
1 cup quinoa
1 cup water or broth (I use homemade chicken stock)
olive oil
1 cup red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/2  tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup sweet potato, diced
1 cup spinach, julienned
1 cup frozen green peas
2 tbsp wheat flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

First, prepare the crust. Let the butter sit out while you mix the dry ingredients. Combine the flours, sugar, salt, pepper, and cumin with a fork. Then cut the butter into cubes and break it into the flour mixture, using a fork to combine. Chunks of butter are okay! They melt and make the crust flaky and good.

Slowly stir in the milk. You might not need it all–add just enough until the dough holds loosely together. Cut the dough in half, cover, and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Cook the quinoa. Bring one cup quinoa and one cup liquid to a boil, then turn down to simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Cook onion, garlic, rosemary, paprika, salt, cumin, and pepper until onion starts to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add celery, carrot, and sweet potato and cook until veggies start to brown, about 8 minutes.

While the veggies cook, prepare the bottom layer of crust. On a floured surface, roll out half the dough until it’s slightly larger than the size of your pie pan. Drape the dough over the pan, and press it into the sides to fit. Trim the edges. Bake the crust for about 8 minutes and then remove from the oven.

Back to the vegetables. Stir in the flour to evenly coat the veggies. Cook out the raw flour taste, about 2 minutes.

Now add soy sauce, red wine, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Cook for another minute before adding milk. Simmer until the milk becomes like a gravy or sauce, and remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked veggies, spinach, peas, and quinoa. Fill your pie crust.

Now prepare the top crust. On a floured surface, roll out the second half of the dough so that it will fit easily over your pie. Trim the edges and crimp the two layers of crust together using the prongs of a fork.

Make the egg wash by scrambling the egg and adding a splash or water or milk. Brush it over the crust, especially along the crimped edge.

Poke a few holes in the center with your fork and bake for 15 minutes. Brush with egg wash once more, and return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes, for a total bake time of 25-30 minutes. Let it cool a bit and enjoy!

Czech Goulash (Old recipe).

Published on by KellyInTheKitchen2 Comments

For the updated Czech Goulash recipe, click here.

This is my original recipe for goulash. I’ve since updated it, and I really like the new version much better – it’s more potently paprika-ed and also more authentic, in that it’s less like a chunky vegetable stew and more like the slow-cooked, warming, fortifying dish I ate in Prague. I recommend checking out the updated recipe instead, but in case this one tickles your fancy a little more, I didn’t want to delete it!

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
2 lb stew beef, cubed
3 cloves garlic
4-6 celery stalks, chopped
4-6 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp caraway seed
3-5 tbsp flour, depending on desired thickness (I use all-purpose, but potato flour works just as well, for those with gluten allergies)
8 oz canned crushed tomato
3-5 cups cold water or stock
salt, pepper to taste
marjoram or parsley, sour cream for garnish
2 medium potatoes, boiled and cubed (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil over medium in Dutch oven or other large soup pot. Add onions and cook until transparent. Then add the beef and cook until browned.

Add garlic, paprika, caraway seed, salt, pepper, and flour, if you’re using it. Stir and cook about 2 minutes, careful not to let the seasonings burn. Then toss in the carrots and celery and cook another two or three minutes, until the seasonings coat the veggies and they start to soften.

Add tomatoes and some of the cold water or stock, adding more as needed throughout the process (goulash can be stew-ier or soup-ier, however you like it).

Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. I go for 3 hours whenever I can, and it’s worth it!

Serve with sour cream and parsley or marjoram for garnish. If you’re using potatoes (which we keep separate to avoid making the soup too starchy) add them to your bowl just before serving.

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup.

Published on by KellyInTheKitchenLeave a comment

As I mentioned in my post on Irish Brown Bread, Irish cooking isn’t the most sophisticated of world cuisines. Their bread is one exception, and their soups are another. This five-step root vegetable puree is perfect for chilly weather and involves more waiting than actual preparation/tending — very low maintenance. It’s a yummy, healthy soup that will warm you from the inside out!

IMG_0604

INGREDIENTS

4 parsnips, peeled and sliced

4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 sweet potato, cubed

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried thyme

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 large leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced (just the white and light green parts)

1 bay leaf

5-8 cups vegetable broth

salt and pepper

Just the Recipe link: Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine parsnips, carrots, onion, sweet potato, garlic, ginger, cumin, thyme, and 2 tbsp olive oil. Toss to coat. Spread a single layer onto foil-lined pans and roast until starting to caramelize.

IMG_0595

Heat the last tbsp of oil on medium low in a Dutch oven or other large pot and add leeks and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft.

Add the roasted veggies and broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender.

Remove bay leaf, puree in batches, and enjoy. “Enjoy” is best done with lots of buttered Irish Brown Bread!