Borscht

Ahhh Borscht. My favorite soup out there. I can ( and have) eaten this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some claim borscht to be Russian, some claim it to be Polish. But we can all agree that it is the perfect starter to go with an Eastern European entree.

This is another one of those "working-class" dishes with beets being the common theme. It seems that no two recipes taste the same which is perfectly okay. Borscht allows you to be creative with what you put into the pot.

I've had my Ukrainian friend taste-test my borscht and he said it wasn't bad for a Slovak cook. I took that as a complement! I usually make a vegetarian version however it's not uncommon to add pork or beef to this hearty soup.

(My friend Miras and I enjoying our favorite soup) 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do and I'd love to get feedback from some Eastern European friends!

Ingredients: Serves 6-8

Beets--- 2 LBS
Onion (chopped)--- 3/4 CUP
Potato (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP
Tomatoes (diced)--- 1 CUP
Garlic minced--- 2 Cloves
Stock--- 32 OZ
Olive Oil--- 2 TBSP
Apple Cider Vinegar---1/4 CUP
Salt --- 2 TSP
Ground Pepper--- 1 TBSP

Serve With:

Sour Cream & Chives--- to taste

STEP BY STEP:

• Preheat oven to 400F

• Drizzle oil over beets and wrap in tin foil. Bake at 400F for 1 Hour.

• In the meantime cut onion, garlic, potato and tomato.

• Heat a large pot to Medium and add oil once hot

• Add garlic and onion to pot and saute until translucent

• Reduce heat to Medium-Low and add stock, vinegar, salt and pepper along with the potato

• After time has passed, remove beets from oven. Baking beets makes them tender and allows you to just peel the skin off. Remove skin and chop beets. 

(I was caught "red handed" making borscht")

• Add beets and tomatoes to pot and stir, bring stock to a simmer. 

• Once potatoes are fork tender, (about 15 minutes) use immersion blender to puree until you've reached a desired consistency. I make my borscht smooth but I've also had it with beet and potato chunks. 

(You can always remove beets and potatoes with a slotted spoon and puree in a blender or food processor)

                                                 

• Reduce heat and stir

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and top with chopped chives. Borscht also pairs VERY well with Black bread and Stolichnaya Vodka!!  

Carrot, Okra & Potato Soup

Spring is almost here but before those bulbs bloom try this soup recipe while there's still a chill in the air! This is another cheap and easy recipe that is perfect for college kids. In the fall I love making butternut squash soup and I guess I was in the mood for something orange. So after I bought a 5 LB bag of carrots from Wegmans, I have plenty of this soup on hand for the rest of the week!

Ingredients:

Carrots (chopped)--- 1 LB
Potato (diced)--- 1/2 CUP
Onion (chopped)--- 1/4 CUP
Okra (sliced)--- 1/2 CUP
Stock--- 32 OZ
Olive Oil--- 2 TBSP
Salt--- 2 TSP
Ground Pepper--- 1 TBSP

STEP BY STEP:

• 1. Heat Large pot to Medium, once hot add oil. Add onions and saute until translucent

• 2. Add carrots and potato to pot. Then add stock and increase the heat to Medium-High.

• 3. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Keep pot covered.

• 4. Once carrots and potato are fork tender use a hand blender to puree the veggies. Should be a smooth and thick consistency. 

• 5. Add okra, pepper and salt. Stir and let simmer for another 5 minutes. 

Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. And that's it! It's that easy- hope you enjoy and  be patient, spring is right around the corner!

CRS Meal Week 2: Pescado al Horno

For the second week of Operation Rice Bowl I decided to try "Pescado al Horno" which according to google translate means "Baked Fish". According to the CRS, this dish is commonly enjoyed in the Philippines. With the Philippines being an island nation, it makes sense that fish plays a big role in this recipe.

Now if my 4 years of High School Spanish taught me anything, it's that "pescado" means fish. But why does an island in southeast Asia have a dish with a Spanish name. After a quick search on Wikipedia I learned that the Spanish came across the island in the 1500's. So I guess you learn something new every day!

This is a really cheap and easy meatless recipe. It's great for college students too- I only spent about $5 for all of the ingredients and have left-overs too!

Ingredients: serves 2-3

Tilapia fillet--- about 1 LB
Garlic (minced)--- 1 Clove
Onion (chopped)--- 1/4 CUP
Bell Pepper (cut into strips)--- 1 CUP
Salt--- 1 TSP
Ground Pepper--- 3 TSP
Lemon juice--- 1 TBSP
Olive Oil--- 2 TBSP
Tomatoes--- 1/2 CUP

STEP BY STEP:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350F

• 2. Oil bottom of an oven-safe baking dish. Add tilapia and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice

• 3. Heat stove to Medium-High. Oil frying pan once hot and saute onion and garlic until tender. Next saute peppers until semi-soft. Stir to mix veggies. 

• 4. Pour onion, garlic and peppers on top of fish. 

• 5. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes

Serve with brown rice and tomatoes (I used a mix of cherry and grape tomatoes which were awesome!)

  

The Recovery Kitchen featured on Resources to Recover

Big thanks to our friends at Resources to Recover who featured The Recovery Kitchen's story (Inside the Recovery Kitchen) on their blog! I'm so honored to have shared my story and hope it helps anyone dealing with recovery. I'm also so thrilled to be recognized during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. 

If you want to check out my guest post, you can follow this link. Thanks again to R to R-- Recovery is Possible 

Halušky (Cabbage & Noodles)

After I made my stuffed cabbage, I had plenty of cabbage left to go around. In stead of putting the head back into my crisper I decided to chop it up and (hopefully) become inspired to make something good. Figuring I could make coleslaw, I added vinegar to the cabbage to break it down and become more tender.

But I was running low on ingredients so I couldn't make coleslaw- I improvised and made something that is equally tasty- Halušky. Now for some back story- Halušky is a Slovak/Czech word for tick noodles or dumplings. So when we talk about "halušky" we could be referring to dumplings (like Bryndzové) or Noodles- most commonly served with cabbage.

I love these "recycle recipes" which take leftovers from one dish to make something brand new. This is another dish I grew up eating- who would have known you can do so much with cabbage! These types of meals tell you a lot about the people who used to eat them. Workers in Easter Europe made these simple meals from cheap ingredients. They are fairly quick and easy to make and fill you up for a good part of the day. It definitely recommend halušky to college students who need a cheap and quick meal!

Ingredients: Serves 4-6      

Cabbage (chopped)--- 1.5 LBS (about a Medium sized head)
Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)--- 2 CUPS
Noodles--- 1 LBS (Fettuccine or Bowtie/Farfalle are typically used)
Onion (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP
Garlic (minced)--- 2 Cloves
Ground Pepper--- 1 TBSP
Salt--- 2 TSP
Olive Oil--- 2 TBSP
Water---1.5 to 2 CUPS

STEP BY STEP:

• 1. Chop medium sized cabbage 

• Optional step: Place chopped cabbage into a mixing bowl, add vinegar and stir. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This step helps the cabbage become soft and absorb a biting taste from the vinegar.

• 2. Make Noodles, recipe HERE- I prefer thick fettuccine pasta for this recipe

• 3. Heat a large skillet pan to Medium-High. Add olive once hot then add onion, garlic and cabbage.

• 4. Reduce heat to Medium add water . Water should come to a simmer. Let the cabbage cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Occasionally stir until all water has been evaporated.

• 5. Reduce heat to Low then add salt, pepper, and noodles and saute for about 5 minutes. Occasionally stir to mix the cabbage and noodles together.    

And just like that you have Halušky! Although it may seem like a bland meal, look at it as a blank canvas. You can add bacon, sour cream, and/or a variety of sauces to it!

Old Bay Blackened Seasoning

Recently I've been on a serious blackened spice kick. I guess it reminds me of summer when I always seem to order Blackened Mahi-Mahi, Salmon or Tilapia if we go out for seafood. The craving for this seasoning hit me one day so I looked it up and found that it was super easy.

Once you get the process down you can blacken pretty much anything! I have Blackened Salmon and Chicken pictured in the recipe but feel free to get creative with this spice. (I'm seriously considering trying to blacken a burger or meatloaf next time around!!)

The blackened color comes from the paprika and other spices becoming charred.  But don't worry- your dinner won't have a burnt taste to it. I also like to add Old Bay seasoning just to give my fish/chicken a little more kick!

Ingredients: Makes 4 servings

Fish/ Poultry--- 1 LB
All Purpose Flour--- 1/4 CUP
Egg--- 2 (Large)
Paprika--- 1/4 CUP
Onion Powder--- 1 TBSP
Garlic Powder--- 1 TBSP
Ground Pepper--- 2 TSP
Salt--- 2 TSP
Dried Oregano Leaves--- 2 TSP
Old Bay Seasoning--- 1/4 CUP
Olive Oil or Butter--- 2 TBSP

STEP BY STEP:

• 1. Mix dry ingredients

• 2. Dredge fish/chicken by coating with flour (1), dipping in egg (2), and tossing in seasoning (3) 

(1)

(2)

(3)

• 3. On a stove-top burner, heat a large frying pan to Medium-High and add oil or butter once hot

• 4. Place fish/chicken in pan and let cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. 

(Before)

(After)

I hope you enjoy this taste of summer! 

(Chicken)

(Salmon)

Halupki (Stuffed Cabbage)

My roommates and I enjoy having a nice sit down dinner on Sundays which is special because throughout the week we are usually eating on the go. But the main reason to make a big dinner on Sunday is to have leftovers for Monday and if were lucky, Tuesday. 

Cuisine from Eastern Europe incorporates a lot of cool-season, root vegetables like cabbage and beets. I like to try and buy local & fresh produce and living in State College works in my favor. It's pretty cold for a good part of the school year but most of the time you can find local cold-hardy produce. 

I've mentioned my Poppop a few times in this blog because he's a chef I look up to and halupki will always remind me of him. Although my Poppop is 100% Italian, he really knows how to cook like a hunky. I guess it was a combination of of marrying a Slovak and growing up in the coal regions. But for years my poppop ran the kitchen at his church's annual summer festival. Every year we would look forward to the event and on the Saturday night we would go and have halupki for dinner while polka music played in the background. Even as a little kid I remember being so proud of my poppop as he was running the kitchen. I would look around and see everyone with halupki on their plates and think, "They're all enjoying his food and it's putting smiles on their faces." 

Looking back at the festival, and even to this day, my Poppop still brings people together with his food. And that's what the Recovery Kitchen is all about.    

Ingredients:

Cabbage--- 1 Whole

For the filling:

Brown Rice--- 1/2 CUP (uncooked)

Ground Beef--- 1 LB

Onion (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP

Garlic (minced)--- 1 Clove

Red Pepper (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP 

Ground Pepper--- 1/2 TBSP

Salt--- Pinch

Olive Oil--- 2 TBSP

For the Sauce:

Tomato Soup (condensed)--- One 8oz Can

Beef Stock--- 8oz

All Purpose Flour--- 3 TSP

Paprika--- 2 TBSP

Hot Paprika--- 1 TSP

Onion (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP

Red Pepper (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP

Sour Cream (optional)--- 3/4 CUP

STEP BY STEP:

• 1. Make rice on stove top or rick cooker

• 2. In a mixing bowl, combine beef, onion, garlic, red pepper, salt and ground pepper

• 3. Turn burner to Medium-High heat, oil a 12" frying pan and saute beef mixture until cooked

• 4. Add rice to frying pan to absorb juices that have cooked out of the beef. Reduce to heat to Low once there is no more liquid.

• 5. In a large pot, boil cabbage until it becomes tender and the leaves begin to peel off. This can take about 15-20 minutes.

• 6. Once cabbage is tender, remove from water and carefully peel leaves off. You'll have to cut off the tough part that connects to the stem of the cabbage. 

• 7. Fill each leaf with a scoop of rice and beef. Be sure to not over fill it and be able to fold the cabbage. I usually overlap the two long sides and then tuck the ends down. I then sit the stuffed cabbage seam-side down so they stay intact while cooking. 

(Channeling my Inner Papa Joe)

• 8. Place halupki into a large skillet.

• 9. Heat a sauce pan to Medium. Once hot, add oil and saute onion and red pepper until they become tender

• 10. Add soup, stock, and paprika and evenly mix sauce together. 

• 11. In a small bowl temper flour- Combine a scoop of sauce with flour and whisk until it thickens but is not lumpy. Add mixture back to the sauce in order to thicken it. (You should also temper sour cream if you are adding it to the sauce)

• 12. Pour sauce over halupki. Place skillet on to burner and heat to Medium. This should bring the sauce to a simmer. Allow halupki to cook in the sauce for about 20 minutes. You can always go longer if you want your cabbage really tender. 

Once cooked, allow stuffed cabbage to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Hope you enjoy the recipe- It's a meal I grew up with!