Borscht (Pressure-Cooker or Not)

Record snowfall last month, record flooding this last week, it's been one of "those" winters and we've barely started!!

All the crazy weather puts me in the mood for soup. Well, pretty much ANYTHING puts me in the mood for soup.
One of my favorites growing up, was the delicious borscht my German-Russian Grandma would make. Smelling it cooking even now takes me back to her steam-filled kitchen with the soup-pot bubbling away on a rainy afternoon, munching on Pfeffernuesse and listening carefully to her heavily German-accented cooking tips. She never used a recipe.

Life seems to fly by a lot faster now, than 40 years ago when I sat in her kitchen. I wish I had time to stand and watch my soup simmer for hours. Fortunately I discovered that Grandma's Borscht translates very well to either a pressure cooker or crock-pot with nearly similar results.

For this particular recipe, I much prefer the pressure cooker as the veggies cook up beautifully but don't disintegrate. If you haven't discovered the wonders of this cooking machine, I implore you to read up on the benefits and see for yourself. I won't spend hours trying to convince you that modern pressure cookers are nothing like exploding vintage models, I could quote facts and show diagrams but I think it's all about what you're comfortable with. If it isn't something you see yourself ever using, then stick with a crock pot or the stove. But they are great time-saving devices. Huge. And the best part? My Grandma's Borscht takes about twenty minutes! I think she would be baffled by the need for speed but would approve of the authenticity of the final product.

Even if you think you're not a beet fan, you need to try borscht just once, you may be surprised at the subtle blend of flavors and what a wonderful, and healthy winter soup this is. No canned beets though. That would be so wrong. And don't worry about an exact measurement of each veggie, or using ones you don't care for - as long as you have around the total amount.

**If your veggies are organic, go ahead and leave the peelings on and scrub well. They soften up nicely in the pressure cooker.
If you want to do this in a crock-pot, peel the veggies first, chop in more uniform, smaller pieces and cook on low for about 5+ hours until done

Miller Family Borscht

(Pressure Cooker Edition)

2 Tbsp margarine
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 (28 oz. ) can chopped tomatoes
1 lb. small beets, scrubbed well, and sliced in 1/4 in. slices
1 lb. cabbage, coarsely shredded or chopped
3 large carrots, well-scrubbed, cut in 3 or 4 chunks
2 small parsnips, well-scrubbed, cut in 3 or 4 chunks
1 largish turnip or rutabaga, cut in chunks about the same size as the carrots and parsnips
Coarsely chopped chard, kale or beet tops, about 2 cups, packed.
6 cups vegetarian "beef" flavoured stock
3 bay leaves
2 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
optional garnish:
vegan sour cream
sauerkraut

Heat margarine in pressure cooker. Saute onion about three minutes, until soft. Add remaining ingredients except vinegar, sauerkraut and sour cream.

(I'm going to assume you already know how to use your particular pressure-cooker now - these are the guidelines that work with my model, but pretty standard for most types.)
Lock lid in place and bring to pressure over high heat. Adjust heat to maintain high pressure and cook for ten minutes. Quick release under cool running water. Remove bay leaves, stir in vinegar and add some salt if needed.
Garnish (optionally) with a spoonful of sour cream and/or sauerkraut and
serve.

I'll leave you with this fun picture of my daughter and her adorable hat. A family friend used the pattern from this knitter's blog and made this awesome "Brain-Monster (or Shark?)" Hat for her.
Totally perfect winter hat for a nine-year-old, don't you think??!! She's in LOVE with it.

Good-Bye to the Garden.

:Sigh:
It was just last week that I took these bright, cheerful, green garden pictures.
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But looking out today, I sadly realize "gardening" is probably, officially over for the season, (save for the kale we'll be able to harvest all winter long).
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I love my garden and the vegetables we harvest; the work and time we invest, the weeds we pull.
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It's very much a part of our summer routine even though my kids aren't always huge fans of weeding in the hot sun or picking slugs off the tomatoes. (Secretly they love it. They do. I swear...)
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Regardless of my kids' opinions, I for one am sad to see it all tired and wilt-y, with powdery-mildew taking over the last bits of zucchini and squash.
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We didn't do a whole lot of variety this year, I regret, now, that time got away from me this spring.

But as always, I have bigger, better plans for next year.
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Who knows what the new season will bring!?!

Winter Kale!

Wow! After several days of freezing temps and unexpected snowfall last week, I haven't ventured into the garden until today. I was thinking there wouldn't be anything much to look at but I was surprised (and pleased) to find that I still had a bit of Russian kale and tons of Lacinato (also known as: cavolo nero, Tuscan, blue, black or dinosaur) kale growing!

I absolutely LOVE kale,it's so beautiful! The dinosaur kale and Russian are probably my favorite greens.

So, I picked a couple heaping handfulls and made it into a really wonderful soup. I love this stuff on cold winter days. It's so easy, it always turns out great and though I admit my kids aren't totally thrilled with it yet (it's growing on them though) my non-vegan friends LOVE the stuff!

Kale and Sausage Soup

6 ounces Tofurky kielbasa (or Soyrizo works well too) , sliced,
1 large onion, chopped,
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound fresh kale, washed,
26 ounces vegetable or "chicken" broth
4 cups water
2 carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon dried leaf marjoram, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice

Saute Tofurky, onion and garlic in oil in large pot over medium-low heat until tender, about 10 minutes.
Cut off stems of kale and slice into 1/2-inch pieces. Keep stem pieces separate. Coarsely chop fresh leaves.
Add the broth, water, carrot, marjoram, salt, pepper and kale stems.

Bring to boiling. Lower heat; cover and cook for 15 minutes longer. Add the leaves at this point along with the rice to the pot. Bring to boiling. Lower the heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.

(I usually add a good shot of Tabasco at this point too).

Soooooooo yummy! Ahhhhhh... I wonder if I have leftovers...