Borscht

Contributor: Josh Jasper

Author's Notes: This recipe made a total of 10 two-cup servings. It should freeze and reheat very well.

Borscht


1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion , chopped medium
2 medium carrots , chopped medium
2 medium garlic cloves , minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 quarts beef stock
2 lb stew beef or lamb
1/2 small head cabbage , green or red, shredded* (about 5 cups)
1 3/4 pounds beets, peeled, half grated and half cubed** (about 5 cups)
5 - 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 bay leaf
3/4 pound small red potatoes (each 1 to 1 1/4 inches in diameter), scrubbed***
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh dill , chopped

* How to shred cabbage: Cut the half-cabbage in half again, cut out the stem, cut each quarter-cabbage in half again, separate each eighth-cabbage into a front section and a back section, feed each section into a food processor equipped with a SLICING (not shredding) blade.

** Last time we made it, we agreed that there wasn't enough beet flavor. Cubing some of the beets instead of shredding them helps a lot with this.

*** We now make a point of having small boiled potatoes in the fridge at all times, so we skipped this bit.

1. Heat the butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds.

2. Add the tomato paste and stir in 1/2 cup of the stock to dissolve the tomato paste. Add the remaining stock, cabbage, beets, 4 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Brown the meat and add it to the soup, adjusting heat as necessary to keep at a simmer. Cook until the vegetables and meat are soft and tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water, and add the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking. Cook until a thin-bladed paring knife or metal cake tester inserted into a potato can be removed with no resistance, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes, cool slightly, and cut into quarters.

4. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar, pepper to taste, and 1/4 cup dill. Place 4 potato quarters in each individual soup bowl and ladle some soup over the potatoes. Top with 2 more pieces of potato, a generous dollop of sour cream, and a generous sprinkling of dill. Serve immediately. 

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Swiss Chard

Contributor: Mama_Z

Contributor Notes: I've made a bunch of different short ribs over the years and these are by far the most delicious. I followed the recipe to a T, except I omitted the parsley and I did not use bone-in short ribs. I also stopped at Step 9 and put the meat/veggies in one container and the strained sauce in another and refrigerated overnight. The next night I was easily able to remove the top layer of congealed fat from the sauce and reheat it on the stovetop (I let it cook down for a while so it would thicken -- whisking in flour is optional), brown the ribs, and make the Swiss chard. Short ribs are ALWAYS better the next day or even the day after that. Enjoy!

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Swiss Chard

6	flanken-style beef short ribs (14 to 16 ounces each)
1	tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1	tablespoon black pepper, or to taste
1 1/2	tablespoons kosher salt, or to taste
3	dozen small pearl onions
8	tablespoons olive oil
1	medium onion, chopped
1	small carrot, chopped
1	small celery stalk, chopped
4	sprigs fresh thyme
2	bay leaves
2	tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2	cups port
2 1/2	cups red wine
6	cups beef or veal stock
4	sprigs flat-leaf parsley
2	bunches Swiss chard, stemmed with leaves torn into large pieces

1. Sprinkle the short ribs with 1 tablespoon of thyme and 1 tablespoon pepper, rubbing them into the meat with your hands. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Before cooking, let the ribs sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Set the oven at 425 degrees.

3. Sprinkle the ribs with 1 tablespoon of the salt.

4. Toss the onions with 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet and roast them for 15 minutes or until they are very tender. When they are cool, slip off the skins with your fingers and set the onions aside. Turn the oven down to 325.

5. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil over high heat until it is almost smoking. Sear the shortribs, meaty sides down, working in batches to avoid crowding, until they are browned on their meaty sides. Transfer to a roasting pan large enough to hold the ribs standing up in one layer.

6. Turn the heat down to medium, add the onion, carrot, celery, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves to the skillet. Cook, stirring to scrape the crusty bits in the pan, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to caramelize.

7. Add the vinegar, port, and wine. Turn the heat to high, and let the liquid bubble steadily until they reduce by half.

8. Pour in the stock and return the mixture to a boil. Pour the liquid over the short ribs; it should almost cover them. Tuck the parsley around the meat. Cover tightly with foil.

9. Braise for about 3 hours, or until the meat offers no resistance when pierced with a paring knife. Let the ribs rest for 10 minutes in their juices. Remove them from the oven and then transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet.

10. Turn the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Roast the ribs for 10 to 15 minutes, or until browned.

11. Meanwhile, strain the cooking juices into a saucepan, pressing the vegetables to extract all the liquid. Skim off and discard the fat. Bring to a boil and let the mixture simmer to reduce it so it thickens slightly. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like.

12. In a large skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Stir in the pearl onions, add half the Swiss chard, and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until wilted. Add a splash of water and the rest of the greens. Season with a large pinch of salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes, stirring often, until they are tender.

13. On a large platter, set the Swiss chard mixture. Arrange the short ribs on top, and spoon the cooking juices over them. Serve with potato puree and horseradish cream.

© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

Meat Pie

Contributor: sara_l_r

Contributor Notes: Mega comfort food. Heavily adapted from a Betty Crocker cookbook recipe. Delicious.

Cooking Time: 30 - 40 minutes including all baking time.

Easy Level: 2 out of 10.

Serves: 4

Meat Pie

2 pie crusts

1 pound chopmeat

Half 8 oz. package frozen peas

1 medium yellow onion

3 - 4 medium carrots

Cheddar cheese

1 10 oz. can condensed tomato soup

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Water 

Salt (I use kosher for seasoning and regular Morton's for salting water and baking. Switch to kosher. Your life will change.) 

Pepper (I always use Coarse-Ground Black Pepper. Fresh-ground has a very different flavour that I don't love.)

Rosemary

1 egg

Preheat oven to 425. 

Prebake one pie crust for ten minutes at 425 or until golden-brown-ish. MAKE SURE TO PUNCTURE BOTTOM AND SIDES THOROUGHLY WITH A FORK BEFORE BAKING or your pie crust will be full of air bubbles. If you have any when you take pie crust out you can always puncture them with a fork. Place second frozen pie crust on the stove to defrost.

Cut one medium yellow onion in half, halve both halves down the middle, and slice. Put in a pan with a splash of olive oil.

Chop three - four medium size carrots to steam. You need a steamer pot for this; steaming can also be done in the microwave (place vegetables in about 1/4 inch of water and microwave on high until done (5 - 7 minutes)) but if you have a steamer pot please use it.

Cook beef, carrots, and onion at the same time.

- Saute pound of ground beef in a frying pan on high, no oil needed (the beef will provide enough as fat renders). Salt and pepper thoroughly. Cook thoroughly, but if you get impatient and there's a little pink left it'll finish in the oven.

- Steam carrots on high. Ask your mom/dad/tolerant-partner to show you how to use a steamer pot if you don't know. It's ok if carrots still have a little bite to them when they're done.

- Saute onions on medium-high. Salt onions. Once they're translucent and soft you can stop whenever you want. I like mine brown/black, not everyone does. 

Put tomato soup in a bowl. Fill can with water (swish it around to get the remains of tomato soup off the sides) and add water to soup. Add flour, salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of rosemary (crumble leaves in your hand before adding) Whisk together well or else you will have flour clumps in your pie.

Drain meat and onions! Add meat, onions, carrots and peas to tomato soup mixture as well as about half the bag of shredded cheddar. (If grating your own, I'd say close to a cup.). Mix well.

Transfer all to prebaked pie crust. Top with second defrosted pie crust. (Place the tin over the top of the ingredients and peel sides away, it should come away if you've defrosted enough. Ask your mom/dad/etc. to show you how.)

Make an egg wash for the top of the pie. (Separate an egg (youtube it) and use a paintbrush to paint the top of the pie with the egg white. This will make it shiny.)

Bake at 425 for twenty minutes.

Devour.

Pasta with Bacon and Chicken

Contributor: sara_l_r

Contributor Notes: This is an adaptation of a Pioneer Woman recipe. I took out the stuff that tastes bad and added stuff that tastes better. It is incredibly easy, very quick, super delicious, and looks a little bit fancy!

Cooking Time: About half an hour.

Easy Level: I'd say a 3 out of 10.

Serves: 4 (obviously, halve all amounts to serve 2)

Pasta with Bacon and Chicken

3 - 4 slices fatty bacon

3 good-side chicken breasts (sub 3 chicken tenders per breast)

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

5 - 6 cloves fresh garlic

1 pound pasta

Salt (I use kosher for seasoning and regular Morton's for salting water and baking. Switch to kosher. Your life will change.) 

Pepper (I always use Coarse-Ground Black Pepper. Fresh-ground has a very different flavour that I don't love.)

Pecorino romano/parmesan cheese (FRESH GRATED FOR THE LOVE OF GOD)

Parsley

Chives/scallions (green onions)

Olive oil

Boil water for pasta (enough to cover all pasta with at least an inch of water above it). When water has boiled, add plenty of salt to water and add pasta. In the time it takes for water to boil and pasta to cook, you can do all the rest.

Chop bacon into small pieces (~1/2 inch). Fry in a hot pan (on high) until all fat is rendered (you can tell because the bacon has more or less stopped sizzling and is very brown and crispy). Remove bacon to a separate dish (slotted spoons are great for this) and keep all the fat in the pan. Reduce heat to medium.

While bacon is frying, chop your chicken into ~1 inch cubes. (Size doesn't matter but try to keep it uniform.) After bacon is removed, put chicken into bacon fat to fry. If you need to add some olive oil to give the chicken enough grease to fry in, just a splash is fine. (If your bacon is fatty enough you shouldn't have to do this.)

Saute chicken for about five minutes, then add 1 cup chicken broth and minced garlic. Feel free to turn up heat (I needed to) but don't burn garlic. Deglaze the pan (scrape up all the  brown stuff on the bottom with a whisk to increase the flavor of the sauce). If you have nonstick pans, you won't need to deglaze, and you shouldn't because you'll wreck your pan. 

When chicken is cooked through (cut open a piece and it's a uniform whiteness), reduce heat to medium-low. Add 1 cup cream, black pepper to taste (I add a lot), some salt, parsley to taste (if you buy a bunch at the store, two chops off the head is entirely sufficient), chives or scallions to taste (the same amount of chives as parsley, or 2 fully chopped scallions, should do it) and cheese to taste. I usually add a lot of cheese, maybe half a cup or more. Cook for at least 5 - 6 more minutes to allow all ingredients to meld.

TASTE THE SAUCE. I almost always need to add more cheese. More cheese will kick it up in a more complex way than more salt. 

Pour over drained pasta. Enjoy!!