Baked Cabbage and Apples

This is a super simple and delicious side dish. I've made it many, many times, and people always enjoy it. Its Autumnal flavors can be modified endlessly. If you use a tart apple, such as Granny Smith, you may want to use some kind of sweetener -- sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup. This time, I used Honey Crisp apples that were plenty sweet, so I didn't add anything sweeter. You could also add cinnamon and/or nutmeg, but I never do. I have used dashes of cayenne pepper, however.


Baked Cabbage and Apples
1 small head cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 or 2 apples, depending on size, sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar (optional)
1 cup dried bread crumbs (store bought work fine)
1/2 cup melted butter


Plunge the chopped cabbage into boiling water for 5 minutes only. Drain very well. Place one third of the cabbage into a 2 quart baking dish. Top with half the apples and sprinkle with sugar if using, then bread crumbs. Repeat layers, ending with cabbage, then a layer of bread crumbs. Pour melted butter all over. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Borscht

I am no authority on Borscht, don't have Russian or Ukraine ancestry, have never seen it being made, in fact, I've never even eaten the soup except when I've made it. I did once see a co-worker eating it for lunch in the breakroom, but that is as close as I have gotten to it, other than my own. But we love beets and I find making soup very soothing and comforting when the weather is bad like it was when I made this one. We had three straight days of rain from the storm named Ida, and it was very gloomy.

I believe the real deal Borscht should be started with beef bones but I find that a little disconcerting, so I use already butchered stew beef. Roasting the beets and carrots, before adding to the soup makes them incredibly sweet.

If anyone has any advice or tips for making this soup more authentic, I welcome your comments.


Borscht
1 lb. beef stew meat in bite size pieces
1 - 1 1/2 quarts beef broth
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
3 - 4 plump cloves garlic, minced
1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
4 large beets
4 carrots
1 small head cabbage, sliced
16 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped, fresh dill
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Olive oil for cooking
Sour cream for garnish

Heat a little olive oil in a large soup pot, then sear and brown the beef cubes on all sides very well. Remove from pan and set aside. Add a little more oil if needed and cook the onions until they are beginning to turn golden, stirring often. Add the celery, garlic, and potatoes, cooking and stirring a few more minutes. Add 1 quart beef broth, cover and simmer until the beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, roast the beets and carrots. Scrub the beets well with a vetable brush. Peel the carrots. Make 2 foil packets, add the vegetables, separately to each, drizzle with a little olive oil, then salt and pepper, to taste. Seal the packets, place them on a sheet pan, then into a 400 degree over for about an hour.


Slice the cabbage and add to the pot along with the tomatoes and vinegar. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the cabbage is tender. Peel and slice the beets, slice the carrots, and add them in. Add more beef broth if needed. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, stir in the dill, and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Cook and Tell Vintage Recipe Redux

When I read, on Serious Eats this week, about the Weekend Cook and Tell calling for vintage recipes from the 1960's I immediately thought of a book in my collection. It's a church cookbook, published in 1967, from my home town of Opelika, Alabama.

I have always been fascinated (and a little grossed out) by the salad section of this book--lots of congealed concoctions and aspics, lots of mayonnaise, odd combining of flavors. One recipe has lime jello, pickle relish, canned peach slices, and celery!


One very popular ingredient, in this salad chapter, is Durkee Sauce. I was vaguely aware of such an item but had never had it before and wasn't really sure it was still available. Was I ever surprised when I did an internet search. This stuff is alive and well! I saw it described in a Chow Hound article as, "An American Cult Classic since 1857".

If you can't find it locally, don't worry, there are plenty of copy-cat recipes available. Or you can order it by the case at Amazon.

My grocery store did have the "famous sauce" and I am reporting that I have now purchased my first and last jar.

The cook and tell retro challenge gave me a perfect excuse to try one of these oddball recipes. I chose a recipe called, Vegetable Salad. I really did have hope for it with its canned asparagus and canned peas, because it also had fresh green bell pepper, celery, onion, and cream cheese. The Durkee sauce has an odd mustardy flavor that ruined the recipe, in my opinion, as well as my husband's. In fact, he tried to warn me away from it before I even bought it. Sometimes I just won't listen!

I am not elaborating on the recipe because I really don't recommend that you try it. But if you really, really, want to and can't read the recipe above, just email me and I'll gladly send you the recipe. Along with the rest of the salad.

1967 Vegetable Salad

Candy Roaster Pie

As I contemplated candy roaster pie, and talked to people who've eaten it, I knew I would not use brown sugar, cinnamon, and other pumpkin pie spices, because I didn't want it to taste like pumpkin pie.

I was given a recipe calling for lemon extract, which intrigued me. Having never used, in all my zillion years of cooking, lemon extract, I was thinking about lemon juice/zest and how much to use. Then I thought of the mountain women, of a bygone era, making pies with these beautiful squash and it dawned on me that they probably did not have access to fresh lemons. Which is why they used lemon extract. And they would have gotten it from the Watkins man. I decided to go with that.



Candy Roaster Pie
2 cups candy roaster puree
3/4 cup sugar, separated
2 eggs, separated
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon extract
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 unbaked pie crust

Mix together flour and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Beat together egg yolks and milk. Stir sugar mixture into egg mixture, then flavorings and butter. Beat well and pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven until set, about 45-55 minutes.

Meanwhile beat the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. When the pie has set, remove from oven and spread the meringue over it; return to the oven and bake until browned, about 5-8 minutes.



Candy Roaster Squash Pie

Candy Roaster Squash

Ever since I have lived in these mountains, almost 20 years, I've heard of the legendary Candy Roaster Squash. First from my husband and his family, who have lived here for generations. Also, over the years, many other native people. Everyone has talked longingly, as of a long lost treasure.

Unbeknownst to me, on a farmers market excursion, while I was enjoying the sunny, crisp day, and marveling at the variety and quantites of the pumpkins, squash, and gourds, and snapping photos of them, I took a picture of a bin of candy roasters. I didn't know. I can't possibly show Pritchard Parker every photograph I take, so he didn't know either. I just thought they were kooky looking things.

Several days later, when we were at the market together, and driving by the vendor with these squash, Pritchard Parker exclaimed excitedly, "They have candy roasters!", and slammed on brakes.

These rare heirloom squashes are huge, weighing up to 60 pounds. This one is about 14 pounds.

The pink skin of the candy roaster opens to a pretty golden orange flesh. I was surprised by the smell of it, almost cucumber-like.

After roasting the squash, I have puree which is very delicately flavored, much less stringy than pumpkin, and very juicy, for pie making.
Stay tuned. . .