Russian Cabbage Borscht

What do you do with four heads of cabbage that you have been accumulating over the past few weeks from your CSA? Nothing!! That is what we were doing until my Mom complained about the cabbage to some of her friends. We got many suggestions, but not many that I liked, including sauerkraut! My Mom's friends brought her the old Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen and the Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas Cookbook. We had some turnips from our CSA and my Mom had just bought some beets at the new 'Pop-Up' farmers market so she went ahead and made this Borscht. I missed the 'Pop-up' market myself in November but my Mom took some pictures you can see below. She said it was really fun and we are both looking forward to the one in December.

As for the Borscht, surprise, surprise...I actually liked it, although I liked mine without the sour cream since I am not a sour cream lover.

And don't forget to check out the next Winter 'Pop-up' Farmers Market from the Salt Lake Downtown Alliance on December 17th and the Wasatch Front Winter Market at Wheeler Farm the 1st Sunday of every month. I plan to check both out in December.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
2 cups beets, thinly sliced (Downtown Market)
8 cups vegetable stock or water
1 large onion, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 tsp. caraway seeds
2-3 tsp. salt
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced (Utah Farms CSA)
1 small head cabbage, chopped (about 6 cups)
2 tsp. caraway seeds
8 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tbl. salt
2 tbls. honey vinegar Slide Ridge Honey
2 tbls. honey
1/2 tsp. dried or fresh dill
sour cream (Winder dairy)

1. Place potatoes, beets and water in large saucepan and heat over medium heat until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.
2. Melt butter in large dutch oven. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add caraway seeds, salt, carrots and cabbage and sauté for additional 3-5 minutes. Add water from the beets and potatoes and cook until all the vegetables are tender. Add the beets, potatoes, honey vinegar, honey and dill.
3. Cover and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Serve topped with sour cream and extra dill weed if desired

Grilled Cheese with Twist

Grilled Cheese with a Twist

Looking for a quick and easy meal, like a grilled cheese, but tired of the same sandwich over and over again, then this is the recipe for you! This new take on a classic is delicious. All you really need to do is choose what kind of cheese you want and you are good to go. Bacon is good on anything, as I am sure you all know, and on this sandwich it is no different. The pears and bacon together with the cheese makes the perfect mix of salty, sweat, and creamy. Apples are also good. Feel free to experiment and try different fruits and cheeses. Of note, check out the Gold Creek Farm website. They are now selling some of their cheeses in local Harmon's store in the Salt Lake Valley. This is perfect for a quick meal and can be entirely local! Please enjoy and keep yourself warm in this chilly weather! 

Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Pear

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon, cooked (Clifford Farms or Christiansen Farms)
• 2 pears (or apples), thinly sliced (Utah Farms CSA)
• Smoked cheddar cheese from Gold Creek Farm or blue cheese from Snowy Mountain Creamery or Barely Buzzed from Beehive Cheese. 
• Sourdough bread, 8 slices (Crumb Brothers)
• Butter (Winder Farms)

Make like you would any grilled cheese sandwich but only this one uses fruit and bacon and is great when the weather starts getting a little chilly.

Pears in Mulled Red Wine or Port Wine

During the fall season, we tend to get a fair amount of local pears from our CSA.  Years ago my mom remembered this recipe that her friend Kris made with pears poached in Port Wine and then served on a salad but she could not find the recipe. Instead, I found this recipe for canning the pears in red wine. These are pictures of the pears we canned last year and then used in salads over the winter. Our problem is we don't really know how to can that well so we placed these in the refrigerator since my Mom didn't trust our canning skills (she also placed some pickles she made this year in the refrigerator). Maybe, we will get better at canning if we do it a bit more and take a class next year with Wasatch Community Gardens.
Anyway, these pears are really delicious on a fresh salad with some toasted nuts and blue cheese. We add toasted pecans that you can order from Thompson Family Farm and blue cheese from Snowy Mountain creamery. We got some arugula from our CSA this week but the pears we made this year aren't really ready to eat yet. You can use the wine to make the dressing for the salad.  We'll post a picture of the salad with these pears once they are ready.

2 cups dry red wine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 and 1/2 pounds pears
lemon juice, mixed with water to make 10% solution
small handful of cloves
2 pieces of 2-inch cinnamon stick

1)  Sterilize two 32 ounce canning jars and lids.
2) Make the wine syrup.  Mix sugar in 2 & 1/4 cups water in heavy saucepan and heat over medium heat until it comes to a slow boil and all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add in the wine. Place cover on pan to keep warm.
3)  Peel and slice pears. Place sliced pears in 10% lemon juice solution to keep from browning.
4) Pack the pears into the sterilized jars. Add cloves and one piece of cinnamon stick to each jar.
5) Bring the wine syrup back to a boil and pour over the pears. Leave a 1/4 inch headspace. Process the jars in boiling water canner for 20 minutes. Use within one year (if they last that long).

Red Wine and Balsamic Wine Reduction

1/2 cup of the red wine from the pears
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
2 tbls. honey

1) Combine red wine, vinegar and honey in small saucepan.  Cook over low-medium heat for about 5-10 minutes or until reduced to a syrup-like consistency.

2) Mix red wine reduction with 1/4 cup of olive oil and serve over fresh green salad with pecans, pears and crumbled blue cheese.