Summer Borscht (Холодный борщ)

Wow, September already?  Jeez.

Cold borscht is a dish I think of around this time of year, just as fresh beets are coming up, right around late August.  The first time I ever had it was on my birthday in my little kitchen in Iwate.  I'd thrown myself a birthday shindig and invited a few work colleagues.  Three hours before guests were set to show up my boss knocked on my door, arms full with a big pot full of beets and dairy, and without much of an explanation or apology took over my kitchen to make his specialty: cold borscht.  He had to make it at my house, he explained after twenty minutes of silence, because his -- like most Japanese homes -- didn't have an oven and roasting was the key, he said.

Up to that point I'd heard of borscht but never tried it.  I didn't even know what was in it (despite two years of college Russian).  And now here was my Japanese boss happily shucking roast beets and popping them into a pot full of broth.  Surreal moment, right there.

He was a super sweet guy.  I miss those folks.

Mr. Wakayanagi was kind enough to let me watch over his shoulder.  I didn't have the good sense to write things down as he worked, instead committing the process to memory.  I think most of it stuck, but to be honest it was kind of a wild party so I might be missing a few steps.  Even the pictures are hazy.

I still don't even remember this guy's name.  I called him Bambi after that.

The back story, if I understood it correctly, is that Mr. Wakayanagi's family had roots in Hokkaido and the recipe had been passed down that way.  It might be more complex than that (most likely it is), but that's the bit I feel confident about.  At any rate it's a good recipe, excellent for a colorful dinner on a hot day.

Summer Borscht (Холодный борщ)

Makes:  ~ 8 cups (easily halved for a more manageable batch)

Credits:  Wakayanagi-kachosan, plus some input from various Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian recipes.

Total Time to Make:  60 minutes to roast beets, 30 min to cool the beets, 45 min to cook the soup & eggs, 2+ hours to cool the soup, 15 minutes to garnish/serve.  So ballpark 4.5 - 5 hours start to finish.

Ingredients:

• Approximately half a dozen large fresh beets, washed & trimmed.  Reserve greens for other uses.
• Can sub:  3 cups of chopped canned beets
• 4 cups beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tsp majoram
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1 cup Greek/plain yogurt + 1 cup milk 
• Alternative:  can use 2 cups of plain kefir, drinkable yogurt, or, if so inclined, buttermilk
• 3-4 hard-boiled eggs
• fresh dill, chopped cucumber, scallions, and sour cream for garnish
• optional:  peeled, boiled, cubed potato for garnish

Directions:

1. Individually wrap fresh beets in tinfoil.  Add a few drops of water to each packet.  Bake at 400F for 40-60 minutes or until tender.  Allow to cool enough to handle safely.
2. Remove tops & bottoms of beets.  Use fingers to peel them completely.  Cube the beets.  
3. Heat the stock in a large soup pan on medium-low or simmer.  Add beet cubes.  Do not allow the stock to boil.  
4. Add majoram, lemon, and soy sauce.  
5. Keep on low heat, stirring gently every 5-10 minutes, for 30-45 minutes or until the stock has turned deep purple.
6. Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature.
7. Using a standing blender or immersion blender, puree the beet soup.  Take extreme care not to splash, as beets stain on contact and can easily ruin clothing or kitchen towels.  (Apron recommended.)
8. Mix yogurt and milk together with a whisk.  Add the yogurt mix (or kefir/buttermilk) to the soup.
9. Refrigerate the soup for 2+ hours (or overnight).  Be certain the soup pot is room temperature before placing in the fridge, as placing hot objects on cold shelves can cause them to shatter or crack.
10. To serve:  place a generous handful of chopped cucumber in a bowl.  Ladle cold soup overtop.  Top with slices of hardboiled egg, scallions, fresh dill, and sour cream (if desired).  Optionally, add cubes of potato to the bowl with the cucumbers for a heartier soup.

In my searches I found that there are many variants on cold borscht (also called holodnik, or holodni borscht), many of which center around how to cook the beets and what kind of dairy to use.  The options, far as I could tell, are: (1) boil/bake the beets, either separately or in the broth; and, (2) use various combinations of yogurt, kefir, milk, sour cream, or -- and this makes me gag to think about -- buttermilk.  There was even one that, so far as I could tell, was just shredded beets in a quart of buttermilk.  I...  yeah, no.  I don't do it that way.  

I like to roast fresh beets (for sweetness, also to keep dirt out of the stock since they're impossible to clean perfectly).  

The idea is to scrub them, cut off tops and bottoms:

Wrap these individually in foil with a few drops of water in each packet:

And then roast 'em at 400F for 40-60 minutes or until they're tender.  Let them cool long enough to handle comfortably.  You'll find that the peels slide right off:

See how easy?  I seriously ate an entire beet just like this.  Nature's candy!

Once they're peeled, cut the beets into cubes.

Now you're ready to get started!

Warm up your stock (beef, veg, or chicken all okay depending on your tastes), but -- and this is SUPER important -- do not let the stock get warm enough to boil.  The reason this is important is because if the beets get too hot they'll turn grey and get a little bitter.  This won't ruin the soup, but it will rob it of the gorgeous pink-purple color.  I keep the heat on medium low until it just starts to steam, then turn it down to low-low and drop the beets in.

Since the beets are already cooked it's not critical to heat the stock for long.  I give it about 30-45 minutes to let the color and flavor from the beets seep in.  (And give me time to boil the eggs.  I won't go over how to do that here -- just ask Google if you're not sure how to hard-boil an egg.)

Add in your lemon juice:

Majoram:

And soy (or salt, if you're avoiding gluten/soy):

Once the stock's good and red I take it off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.  Then I blend it.  I used an immersion blender, but let me say with all seriousness that whether you use a standing blender or an immersion blender, you want to be so, so careful at this point.  Put on your scrubbiest teeshirt.  Wear an apron and gloves.  Make sure your favorite towels are out of the room.  The reason here is because it's very easy to slosh the stock onto your clothes or towel and it will stain.  So pretty please be careful and consider yourself warned.  Also, don't pour hot liquid into your standing blender.  Wait for it to cool first or you could end up with a cracked blender and hot purple liquid all over.  

This will give you a gorgeous dark purple puree:

When I learned the recipe from Mr. Wakayanagi, he used a drinkable yogurt product from the local dairy that's not unlike kefir.  Since my local market doesn't stock either of these things, I kludge it with a mixture of half yogurt and half whole milk.  Seems to work just fine.  If you want it more sour, use more yogurt.  If you want it really sour, use sour cream.  If you want it OMGSOUR, use buttermilk.  Up to you.

The way I do it, I first measure out a cup of Greek yogurt:

And then whisk it together with a cup of milk:

Into the pot it goes!

This is seriously my favorite part.  I love love love watching the colors change.

Isn't that amazing?

Damn, nature, you gorgeous!

Pop that bad boy in the fridge for a couple of hours -- even a day or two if you want -- and let it get good & cold.  When you're ready to serve, pop a handful of chopped cucumber into a bowl and ladle the soup over it.

Doesn't that pink just blow your mind?

Next up are 1-2 halves of a boiled egg (alternatively, you can chop it up into small pieces), and a few pinches each of fresh dill and scallions:

Tell me that doesn't look like Elmo.  

You can also top it off with a dollop of sour cream if you want:

And that's it!  You also put in cooked, cubed potato pieces if you want, or serve it with rolls.  Up to you.  

It's great on a hot day because it's full of fresh veg, has protein, and best of all is nice and cool.  Just make sure not to wear your favorite shirt to dinner.

Indian Brunch Part 2: Parsi Eggs (Akoori)

Hi there!

You'll find Part One here, in case you missed it.  Since I did a fairly long intro there I'll err on the side of brevity here and just give a little background before launching into the recipe.

Akoori, also called Parsi eggs, are a kind of spicy scrambled egg with middle-eastern-slash-south-asian influences.  What, you might ask, does that mean?  Well, to be quite honest it means that there's any spice at all -- at least compared to how I grew up on them, where black pepper and parsley were about the height of egg adventurousness.  If you've had a southwest scramble before these are in the same vein: veggies, egg, and a little kick.  I made them a two weeks ago alongside upma (savory cream of wheat) and a modified raita where I swapped out the cilantro and veggies for lemon zest, mango, and blueberries.

Skim to the bottom for a condensed recipe.

Parsi Eggs

Total time:  10 minutes to prep, 15-20 to cook.

We're going to start this adventure like we do so many other recipes here:  add 1 tsp cumin seeds to 0.5 tsp oil that's been heated on medium-high heat.  Wait until the seeds sizzle (about 10-30 seconds):

Now, what veggies you use is totally up to you.  I went for a fusion touch because I like mushrooms in my eggs.  If you want to skip any of these veggie choices or sub in your own (eggplant, kale, spinach, chard, peas, zucchini, whatever, etc.), then please do that.  If mushrooms are your thing, cook those first:

Give them about 5 minutes and plenty of space ("don't crowd the mushrooms," as Madame Julia used to say).  Then add minced onions:

Give those about 3-5 minutes to soften up, then about 0.5 tsp each of ginger and garlic (minced or paste):

And, after letting that cook for 2-3 minutes, add in any other squishy veggies you like.  I added a tomato and some bell pepper:

I let those continue to cook on LOW heat (as in, turn it down at this point) while I mix up my eggs and that seems to be enough time (about 2-3 more minutes) to bring the whole shebang together.  If you'd like, go ahead and add 0.5 tsp cumin powder and/or 1 tsp fresh minced cilantro the stir-fry.

As for the eggs, I used 2 eggs, a dash of milk, 0.5 tsp turmeric, and 1 tsp chili powder (please adjust to your own taste):

When the eggs were all whisked I poured them in the pan over my veggie stir-fry:

And then just let them cook for a few minutes until the eggs started to firm up.  This part works just like regular scrambled eggs, so I didn't bother to take extra pictures of that process.  Once the eggs start to firm up just push them about gently until there's no more runny bits, and you're done!

They're more traditionally served with toast or flatbread, not unlike the scrambled eggs you're probably used to.  I always feel so accomplished starting off my day knowing I've already gotten one serving of veggies in.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 tsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Apx. 1/4 cup each vegetables of your choice.  Some suggestions to get you started are:
• mushrooms
• onions
• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• chili peppers / jalepenos
• green peas
• zucchini, squash, or eggplant
• dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or chard
• 0.5 tsp minced ginger or ginger paste
• 0.5 tsp minced garlic or garlic paste
• 0.5 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp minced cilantro (fresh coriander)
• 2 eggs, whisked with an optional dash of milk
• NOTE:  the milk isn't vital, but adding a tiny splash to eggs when making an omelet or scrambled eggs helps it to puff up and helps to stretch your eggs a little further.  That said, it should be known that this is kind of a ghetto kludge and is frowned upon by Real Foodies.
• 0.5 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder (optional, adjust to taste)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. On medium-high heat, cook the cumin seeds in hot oil until they sizzle (about 10-30 seconds).
2. Add any vegetables that take longer to cook, such as mushrooms or onions.  Allow 3-5 minutes each for these to cook until soft. 
3. Add ginger and garlic, saute with veggies 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
4.  Add soft veggies such as tomatoes, leafy greens, or peppers and turn the heat down to low.  
5. Add cumin and cilantro, stir occasionally on low heat for 2-3 minutes while whisking eggs.
6. In a mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, turmeric, and chili powder.  
7. Pour egg mixture over stir-fry and allow to cook until the eggs are just beginning to set.
8. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently push the eggs around the pan once, breaking them into smaller pieces.  Continue to stir occasionally until eggs are cooked through.   (Note: be sure the pan is on low heat before starting this step.)
9. Serve hot with toast or flatbread.

Indian Brunch Part 1: Upma (Cream of Wheat with Stir-Fried Vegetables)

India is a stupendously diverse place, you guys.

Every time I refer to something as "Indian" I get a little ping of guilt.  Not only is the country itself huge, it's chockabock full of hundreds of different subcultures that vary by caste, ethnic group, religion, region, and of course the normal variation that occurs just from family to family.  To help confuse things more, when I say "Indian" I often mean "South Asian, generally," or "countries in the Indian sub-continent," because several countries in South Asia have a number of similarities across culture and cuisine and it's difficult to hone in on what precisely I mean without the wording getting awkward.  It's kind of like how people refer to America when a number of things that are true for the U.S. are also true for Canada, but maybe not the case across the entire North American continent.  Or the difficulty that some of us experience when trying to refer to places in and around the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.  These things get tricky.

So when I say this is an "Indian" brunch, I'm using that as a shorthand to refer to a couple dishes I put together this past weekend using savory, produce-filled breakfast-type foods that are sometimes served in parts of South Asia, though I've added some fusion elements to bring it more in line with my own tastes.  As if all that weren't confusing enough, part of the brunch was a dish called akoori, or Parsi eggs, which have a middle-eastern influence.

Although I made the upma and the akoori together for a single Sunday brunch, there is nothing in the world stopping you from making them separately.  To my knowledge they're not commonly eaten together.  I like the idea that both are similar to western breakfast foods and the carbs in the cream of wheat complement the protein in the eggs, resulting in a more balanced meal than either provided on their own.

Do what makes you happiest, I say.  And as always scroll to the bottom if you want the condensed recipe.

Upma (Savory Cream of Wheat with Stir-Fried Veggies)

Total Time:  About 20-30 minutes, depending on how fast you chop.
Weirdest Ingredient:  curry leaves
Credits:  Believe it or not, I first spotted a version of this recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook that Doc got me the week I moved in with him.  From there I adapted it using influences from Veg Recipes of India, Vegan Richa, and Indiaphile.  Making upma is like making oatmeal: you can personalize it pretty much any way you want, so please feel free to get creative with the ingredients.

Because this all comes together so fast I suggest gathering all the ingredients first and then cooking.  Normally I tend to dig things out as I go, but for this I line it all up ahead of time.  Which, as you probably know, is how "real" cooks do it.  I never seem to have the patience to think that far ahead unless there's a reason I need to move quickly.

First, let's talk terminology.  Semolina is a wheat by-product made from soft (durum) wheat and is coarser than flour.  When boiled with water, it makes a porridge that -- depending on your location -- is called either cream of wheat or farina.  In the west we tend to eat it like oatmeal: typically as a hot breakfast cereal with sweet additives like cinnamon, honey, or fruit.  Raw semolina is also a popular way to dust pizza stones (along with cornmeal) to give that grainy, slightly nutty quality to the crust.  In India (see above re: shorthand) one of the many uses of semolina (aka sooji / suji) is to boil it up, similar to cream of wheat, but with savory elements like vegetables and spices.  I've also seen versions of upma made with vermicelli noodles and quinoa, so I'd like to think that this recipe is pretty forgiving of substitutions.  The quinoa in particular appeals to me since that'd be a wonderful way to swap in some extra protein if that's of interest to you.

Completely unnecessary trivia:  Like cream of wheat and grits in the U.S., upma is more of a "southern" dish -- in this case referring to the south part of India and into (so I've read) Sri Lanka.  For northerners like me (and north Indians like Doc), it's a less common food where we're respectively from.  In fact, until I started researching this post I wasn't 100% certain of the difference between cream of wheat (made from -- get this! -- ground wheat) compared to grits (made from ground hominy, or white corn treated with lime).

Isn't learning fun?

So anyway, to get started the first thing is to "roast" the semolina grains.  Not a strictly necessary step if you're in a hurry.  On medium-low heat, I use a skillet to heat 3/4 cup of semolina (more than plenty for two adults) for about 3-4 minutes, stirring them about every 20-30 seconds or so:

What you're looking for is a color shift from pale white to more of a very, very light golden.  Thing is, it was very cloudy and my camera battery was running low, so I wasn't really able to capture that color shift in a photo.  This is the after shot, which is ostensibly the same color as the one above.  I guess the advantage there is that it shows we're not looking for a dramatic browning of the grains here -- just enough to give them a lightly toasted flavor is plenty:

Take the pan off the heat and scrape the grains into a separate bowl to cool.  I then use a damp paper towel to wipe down the skillet to remove any semolina dust and then re-use the same one for the next step, which is to heat 1 tsp of oil (ghee is a popular choice, I myself prefer olive oil) and 1.5 tsp of mustard seeds:

You'd think I'd just start recycling these oil + seeds photos from all the other Indian recipes I've posted, and yet I can't seem to shake the impulse to take a fresh photo each time.

Anyway, about 10-30 seconds is plenty of time for the mustard seeds to start to sizzle, at which point you'll want to add 1 tablespoon of dal (small lentils, I used masoor dal since they cook fast) and 2 tablespoons of unsalted broken cashew pieces:

Because the dal are so small they can actually cook about as well in oil ("dal fry") as they do in water.  Give 'em about 2 minutes of stir-frying -- as in, you keep stirring continuously as they fry -- before adding in 2 tsp of curry leaves (okay to omit if you don't have them):

Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.  Next up are 1/3 cup of minced onion (any kind is okay, doesn't have to be a red onion like in the picture) and 1 tsp of ginger paste:

Stir-fry this for another 3-5 minutes to soften up the onion, then add in Veggies of Your Choice.  Tomatoes, green chillies, and peppers are popular.  I swapped the chilies for spinach.  There's about a quarter cup of each vegetable here.  I encourage you to add more or swap things out according to your tastes.

Another 3ish minutes should be enough to soften up the veggies, at which time you can add an optional teaspoon of red chili powder for kick, if you'd like:

Last is 1/3 cup of green peas.

You don't have to stir-fry these if you're using frozen since they'll heat up enough in the next step.  Overcooked peas get mushy so unless you're using raw I'd immediately push everything to the edges:

And then add in 1.5 cups of either vegetable stock or water and the roasted semolina you made a few minutes ago.  The rule is 2x as much liquid as you've got semolina, in case you want to adjust the amounts.

At this point I reduce the heat to low and just stir it every 1-2 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.  As you might guess, the semolina expands quite a bit when it's cooked.  As long as the dish is hot and all the liquid is absorbed (add more if you want to water it down some), you're done:

If you've got other things going on the stove then feel free to let this sit on low heat.  Give it an occasional stir to prevent burning or sticking.

I added in fruit raita (swap in fruit of choice, such as berries, pomegranate seeds, mango slices, apple, banana, etc. for the veggies in this recipe) along with akoori (Parsi eggs) to round out the meal.

Upma (Savory Cream of Wheat)

Serves 2-3 adults

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of semolina (also called sooji/suji or farina/cream of wheat)
• It's okay to use 2 packets of plain cream of wheat / farina from the cereal aisle since it's just a pre-measured serving of semolina.
• 1 tsp oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1.5 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 TBS dal/lentils (such as masoor dal or urad dal, ok to mix multiple kinds)
• 2 TBS unsalted cashew pieces
• 2 tsp curry leaves (okay to omit)
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• Apx. two cups of thinly-sliced vegetables of your choice (e.g. bell pepper, chili pepper, spinach, mushroom, tomato, kale, zucchini, cooked potato cubes, shredded carrot, etc.)
• 1 tsp red chili powder or paprika (optional)
• 1/3 cup frozen green peas
• 1.5 cups vegetable stock or water
• 2 tsp minced cilantro (fresh coriander) for optional garnish
• salt & black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet on medium heat, roast the semolina grains 3-4 minutes or until very lightly toasted.  Remove from skillet and set aside in a separate bowl.  Wipe down the skillet with a damp paper towel and return to stove.
2. Roast mustard seeds in hot oil for 10-30 seconds or until they start to sizzle.
3. Add lentils and cashew pieces, stir-fry 2 minutes or until lentils just begin to brown slightly.
4. Add curry leaves and stir-fry another 1-2 minutes.
5. Add onion & ginger paste, stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until onions soften.
6. Add vegetables, stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until soft.
7. Add chili powder, stir-fry 1 minute.
8. Add green peas and immediately push all vegetables to the edge of the pan to create a hole in the center.
9. Into the cleared space add first the liquid (stock or water) followed by the semolina.
10. Stir the mixture every 1 minute or so for about 5 minutes or until semolina has absorbed all the water and heated through.  Turn down heat to low.
11. If desired, add additional liquid to thin out the mixture.  
12. Add cilantro if desired, along with salt and pepper to taste.
13. Can be served either hot or cold.