Braised Beets

According to Rashi, “all beginnings are difficult.” 

Adjusting to new circumstances and challenges require perseverance and a sincere resolve to be successful.  

In my case, I am still adjusting to my new kitchen.

I used to be able to cook many things quickly as I enjoyed the benefit of 2 ovens. Now, I have only 1 oven, and it recently needed to be repaired too.

So, rather than roasting my vegetables in the oven, I have been experimenting with cooking vegetables on top of stove. I have yet to fully master this technique, but I am happy to say that I am making progress!

Initially, I tried roasting vegetables on top of the stove. The technique behind stove top roasted vegetables is to first brown the vegetables, and then essentially steam them until they are done.  Overall, I was not pleased with the outcome using that method.

Now, I have discovered braising vegetables on top of the stove. This method seems to not only be a time saver, but, the outcome wins the husband and children seal of approval.

In order to cook vegetables on top of the stove, they need to be cut into smaller and more uniform-sized pieces. Since I make a lot of vegetables, I thought I would try slicing them with my food processor and then cooking them. Success!

I went from 2.5 hours to roast beets in the oven to 40 minutes, from start to finish!

I may yet experiment with using a pressure cooker, which could be an even greater time saver. Stay tuned.

I also think the spices could be varied and yield different results that are equally tasty.

Ingredients

Beets, washed and scrubbed

Salt, pepper to taste

Fresh garlic, crushed

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Optional: fresh chopped herbs

Instructions 

 Wash and scrub beets. Slice with food processor. Place beets in a spray oiled pan. Add salt and pepper to taste with a small amount of water. Cook until done. Add crushed garlic and adjust the seasoning. Pour lemon juice and lemon zest over beets while still warm. 

Here are a few pictures:

Sliced with the food processor.

 

Final outcome. The beets are seasoned to taste and most of the liquid is absorbed.

 

I am happy because I have maximum taste with minimal time. 

Everyone else is happy because they taste as good as roasted. 

Plus, this is even small kitchen approved. A win-win overall!

We are all happy!

Enjoy!

Baked Mashed Potatoes

This is a variation of the mashed potato kugel that I posted earlier. I realize that I may be repeating myself with this post, but, it was such a hit that I wanted to share it with everyone.

Over Passover, I had alot of leftover potatoes. So, I decided to mash them with sautéed onions and then bake them in the oven. 

This is a great way to use up leftovers and no eggs!

The recipe is very flexible and depends on the amount of potatoes that you have available.

Ingredients 

Potatoes 

Onions, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste.

Paprika 

Oil

Water as needed to desired consistency 

Instructions 

Boil potatoes. I cooked them in the pressure cooker, 7 minutes to pressure, using quick release method.

Sauté onions in oil until nicely browned. Add potatoes and water to the pan. Mash the potatoes and onions together with enough water to reach the desired texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place mashed potato mixture into a pan. Lightly oil the top, so that the mixture will brown when baked. Sprinkle paprika on top.

Bake in 350* oven until done.

Here are the potatoes in the pressure cooker:

potatoes in pressure cooker

saute onions until browned

mash the potatoes &sauted onions

the final product — yum!

This was such a hit that I could barely take a picture of it after Shabbat. A ringing endorsement.

Enjoy!

Braised cabbage with caraway

  

  

By accident, this post was published last night. 

I try not to post too often, and this was in the queue for posting. 

However, there are so “accidents” in this world. So, I took it as a sign to share this recipe on the blog.

I was inspired by some of the recent posts by others on cooking cabbage. 

Sometimes it happens that we run low on food, but still haven’t gone shopping yet. 

So, I always like to have a cabbage and carrots stowed away as a backup for situations like this. They are less perishable than other vegetables and taste better than frozen.

Ingredients 

1 cabbage, sliced

2 onions, sliced

Optional: 2 grated carrots 

1 can diced tomatoes 

1/2 – 1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Salt, pepper to taste

Optional: crushed fresh garlic or garlic powder 

Instructions 

Sauté onions until slightly golden. Add cabbage, tomatoes and spices.

Cover and cook over a low heat. Check to make sure there is enough, but not too much water. Stir to prevent burning. Adjust seasonings.

Here are some pictures:

Slice cabbage:

   

Grate carrots. I have a small but VERY shape grater for small amounts.

 

 Sauté onions:

 

Add other ingredients:

  

Viola! Final product:
  

The rest of the family does not like cabbage that much. But, this was enthusiastically approved of. My husband said, “this is pretty good!”

Enjoy!

Eggplant Caviar

This past Shabbat, we had a potluck lunch with the women I learn with every week during the summer. We all made various dishes and it was a really wonderful meal. I will miss learning over the winter with everyone!

I made salads and side dishes.  Among my contributions was this recipe for Eggplant Caviar.  I think that another name for this is Romanian Eggplant.  My Aunt Esther (A”H) used to make this all the time.  Her family was from Romania, and I think this may be common from that region.

Ingredients 

2 eggplants, whole

1/4 cup minced onion

1/4 cup minced peppers (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lemon juiced (about 1/4 cup)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

Roast the eggplants whole in a 425*F oven until soft. Slice some holes in the eggplant to release steam, otherwise it might explode in the oven. (This has happened to me and cleaning the oven is not pleasant.)

When the eggplants are cooked, cool and let drain.  Scoop out the inside of the eggplant. Add the onions, peppers, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and blend together.

I don’t make this often, and I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder.

By Sunday, there was hardly any left!  This was all that was left to take a picture of:

Everyone loved it!