My CSA box was loaded with so many good things this week.  There was fennel, tons of tomatos, and beets. I made a lovely salad.



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Recipe found here.

Beets often get no love.  Why not? They're beautiful. See?



Show some beet love, with recipes within!

MMM!



( Recipe behind the cut )

Yowsa.

This was my first time cooking with (but not eating) nettles, and to begin with I'd thought to just wilt them and serve them as is, but in the end I wimped out. The just felt sort of... harsh, so I chopped them up, seasoned them, and mixed with ricotta for a spread-like... thing. That was pretty tasty!



Recipe and more pictures here.

I am trying to be a good earth inhabitant and this bled over into the easter/spring feast.
Natural egg dyes.

Can anyone recommend some good recipes involving broccoli rabe or beets?  (That is, I don't want them in the same recipe.)

I've always loved eating broccoli rabe in restaurants, so the other night I bought some and sauteed penne with it, Italian sausage, hot pepper flakes, and an entire head of soft roasted garlic.  It was delicious--but I'd like some more adventurous recipes using the stuff.

Same goes for beets; I often eat them roasted with some cheese (chevre, a hard ricotta, brie, etc.) and sometimes a vinaigrette.  Any other suggestions, other than pickling them?

Thanks so much, y'all!

So, 2 versions. One is the more or less "true" one, and the other one is the lazy American one.
First of all, of course, a disclaimer - 10 Russians, 15 borscht recipes. So this is just mine :)

You will need:
a bunch of beets (preferably with greens)
2-3 potatoes
beef or veggie stock, chicken also works. Some people make it on chicken alone, i usually mix it with a vegetable broth.
a medium onion, diced
carrots, shredded or diced
a little bacon
some fresh cabbage or sauerkraut
a couple tomatoes

1. You cook the beets separately, just boil them. Save, don't cook, the greens.  You can add a little vinegar to the water so that the beets don't lose color. It'll take about an hour until they're somewhat tender. 
2. Bring the stock to a boil.  Add cut potatoes.
3. After about 15 min add cabbage or sauerkraut.

4. In a frying pan, heat up some oil and fry the carrots and onions until the onions are golden. This is the step I like to add bacon to.

5. Add the onions and carrots to the soup.

6. Let the soup cook (not boiling) for another half hour r so.

7. In the meantime, cut up your beets, or use a grater.  Let them sit with a little lemon juice.

8.  Cut the beet greens and add them to the soup.

9.  in that same frying pan combine the cut up beets and some garlic. Warm it but don't let the juices boil.

10.  Add the beets etc to the soup - from this point on you have to really watch for the soup not to boil, it'll make the beets lose the pretty color.
11. Add quartered tomatoes. Simmer on low for another 45 minutes or so.

Serve with sour cream and a little horseradish.  Garnish with dill.

Lazy American update: Now i make pre-made stock, canned beets that i don't have to cook, already shredded carrots and canned sauerkraut. My grandma would probably disown me.

Enjoy!

I posted that I have some clients I'm cooking for that require many dietary restrictions. Here are a few pics of what I cooked for them today....all are Organic and Vegan:

Quinoa Cilantro Salad:


Sunshine Beets and Greens:


( Carrots and Brown Rice Pilaf Here )

It's time, once again, for "Iron Chef America: the Home Game"!

All you have to do is watch an episode of "Iron Chef America" and, in real time, once the secret ingredient is revealed give yourself 10 minutes to come up with 5 original dishes featuring that ingredient. The dishes must be dishes that you can prepare and should be as original as possible. In my case, this means that since I have no clue how to use truffles and don't know how to make ice cream, I can't -honestly- put such dishes forth as valid ideas. As I've said before, since taste cannot be a factor, it has to be hypothetical taste ... ie, "what flavors go well with each other".

So, if you're interested in playing along, set your timer and click below for the secret ingredient... You have ten minutes to come up with five dishes...

Ready?

Set...

( Allez Cuisine! )

So, how did I do?

Whatta ya think, sirs?

( Iron Geek Dave's Dishes )

So, thoughts?

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

Anyone have some creative uses for pickled beets, besides just eating them or putting them on a salad?

I pickled a LOT of beets last fall, and after all the holiday canned stuff giving, I still have several jars left.

Someone had asked for beet recipes earlier. Here's one we enjoy.

Orange Kissed Beets

6-8 large beets
1/4 cup Seville orange marmalade
1/4 cup butter
3  Clementines (seedless), peeled and segmented or Kumquats (12)
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (optional)

Cook beets boil in water for 45 minutes or until tender, cool and peel. Julienne beets with mandolin or food processor or knife.Melt butter and marmalade in large skillet. Add beets, stir. Add clementine segments or sliced kumquats (leave peel on)  Serve warm.


This makes a very lovely side dish, very colourful and tasty. My sister Laura has adapted this recipe from one she read in a magazine from the Ontario Liquor Store.
Seville Orange marmalade is more bitter than most store-bought marmalades. If not available beets will be somewhat sweeter. Beware beets will stain everything. There are over one hundred recipes for beets on Epicurious

I love beets when I get them in restaurants, but I never know what to do with them at home. I think that my mom just used to boil them or steam them, but I'm looking to do something a little classier tonight. I want to make some kind of beet and warm chevre salad, since I have some fantastic chevre in the fridge that's going to ripen soon.

How do you prepare beets so that they're nice and sweet and juicy?

Unbelievable. As every cook knows, New Year's Evening is the red letter evening for the entire restaurant industry. If you aren't completely booked solid, with a waiting list on NYE you are probably doing something wrong. And yet, somehow, I managed to get NYE off this year. For the first time in the 7 years I've been cooking. In fact, I know it was this long, because the last NYE I had off was when I was in cooking school.

So what is a cook to do with his unexpected freedom? Why, cook a 6 course tasting menu for his family, of course!

AND get photographs for the internet. First, allow me to introduce my family- we posed for a cheesy family photo after dinner, and I think it is a good way to start out the post.
( Post-tasting menu Family Photo )Here's us. That's me, second from the right, between my mom and my girlfriend glapaloopscap. My sister Heather and her boyfriend Duncan are on the left, with my lovely parents in the middle.

I really threw together this tasting menu only a few days in advance, and I had quite a few criteria for supper that I was trying to fufill. I wanted to be able to try a few new flavour combinations, create a mini-tasting menu around my mom's proposed large entree. But, Heather and Duncan need to be out by 8PM, so it is crucial that my courses be all but completely prepared in advance. I had some practice with this when I did my 9-courses a few months ago. Furthermore, shellfish and red meat are out, since my sister is a vegetarian, and doesn't care for shellfish. And I didn't want to saddle my mom with a huge disaster to clean up.
So here's what I came up with.

Chioga and Golden Beet Chips with Hot Juniper and Blueberry Gelee
( More pictures and recipes )

This entry is directly copied from my own LJ, sorry if I'm on any of your friendslists and it shows up twice for you. I just thought that this community would like the pictures and recipes from my tasting menu on Monday.

Well, I said that it would be over the top, and it was. I've got a photoessay, I've got pictures, I've got recipes, I've got a LOT of typing to do. It's 12:19AM right now, and I have been working on these photos since 9 to get them ready. How long-winded will I be today? Will anybody actually read the words, or do you all just want to see the pretty pictures?
( Pics, and recipes are here )
OK, I've just spent three hours on this post, it is 3:37AM There are still two more courses to write up, but I'm done for now. Perhaps in the morning I'll do the rest. But for now- Sleeeeeep!

It's beetroot season here, and one of our favorite dishes is what we call "Swedish pot", with grated beetroot, carrot, and minced beef. It's one of these simples dishes that show that, sometimes, less is more.
( Recipe and more pics behind cut )

HI!
Tonight, I made a super fast and delicious dinner, with the help of my local organic CSA!

( pictures and recipes )

I was having a discussion with a friend the other day about the concept of fast food--and how good food doesn't take much longer to make than it would take for you to hop in your car and go pick something up once you get the hang of cooking. To prove it, I timed my casual Saturday lunch today. From the moment I opened the refrigerator to the last dish being washed, it took me two hours and eight minutes. Cooking time, eating time, cleaning time, in about two hours. Okay, it may take about an hour to eat a fast food meal, including driving time, but think of all the fun you can have cooking, hanging out in your kitchen with family, and just taking a deep breath away from the daily grind.

I consider this meal to be a fairly simple composition, based on what I ate when I lived in France [for reference, I currently live in Mississippi]. The chopping is reasonably time intensive if you're a slow chopper, and I recommend sharpening knives often.

Fresh Fennel salad with sweet onions, apples, and Manchego cheese in an apple cider vinaigrette. ( Fennel Salad )

Potatoes roasted in olive oil, smashed garlic, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. ( Roast Potatoes )

Roasted beets in an orange, parsley and poppy seed vinaigrette. ( Beets )

Along with these dishes, I sauteed up pork chops, squeezed some fresh orange juice and made some iced rooibos tea. Unfortunately, I now know that my anti-foodie husband doesn't like beets or fennel. Alas.

If you haven't cooked your own beets, you're missing out. If you've been traumatized by them in your childhood, give them another whirl. They're an entirely different beast when done at home. If at all possible, make your own vinaigrettes. So worth it, and you know exactly what goes into them. I make enough for that particular dish, tailoring the vinaigrette each time. It's quicker that you'd think it would be and oh, so tasty.

If my camera worked I'd have taken a picture. It's very pretty and wholesome-looking food.

Scrub small red potatoes and cut them in quarters. Put them in a shallow foil-lined roasting pan (I used a foil pie tin) with six cloves of garlic that have been cut in half lengthwise to make little garlic cross-sections. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle liberally with dried dill leaves.

Scrub small beets, cut the tops off, and cut them in quarters. Again, drizzle with olive oil in a roasting pan (less oil than you used for the potatoes and garlic) and toss to coat. Turn them all cut-sides-up (i.e. curved peel sides down).

Put both roasting pans in the oven at 400 F for an hour.

When there's about fifteen minutes left on the oven timer, take the potatoes out and flip them over so that each piece is dill-side-down. Cut the stem ends off Brussels sprouts and arrange them cut-ends-down in a steamer basket in a pot with an inch of water in the bottom. Cover and put them on the stove over medium-low heat. Stick them with a fork every five minutes to see if they're done.

Here's where I cheat... at this point I also made Hollandaise sauce from a packet of sauce mix. By the time it was done, the sprouts were also done. If you know how to make Hollandaise from scratch, do so and time it accordingly.

The end result is roasted potatoes that are just a bit crispy on the outside, beets that are slightly caramelized and cooked just enough that they're still pleasantly crunchy, and sprouts that have a nice crispy vegetable texture and are not mushy. And Hollandaise sauce, of course. The potatoes didn't need salt, either.

Aside from the sauce mix, everything that went into this was whole recognizable food, and nothing was covered up or disguised. I think that's my favourite kind of meal. It's nice when 'comfort food' is something that doesn't take a hell of a lot of work.