Back to my roots- Polish Borscht

Now that winter has set in, with endless grey rainy days determined to bring on the winter sniffles, I was inspired to rekindle my connection to my Polish ancestry and make a hearty beetroot Borscht.  Armed with kilos of yummy organic beetroot purchased from the Melville st. farm-gate market, I set about preparing my soup, using a Jewish recipe that was aired on SBS food by the lovely and rustic chef Ramona Koval.  There are many variations of borscht, clear, thick, beef, but I have found this one easy, and delicious.

Vibrant colours of beetroot and carrot, once boiled

1kg of beetroot, peeled, I also added a couple of large purple carrots, boiled in chicken stock or water with a squeeze of lemon until tender.  Drain beetroot and cut up roughly return to pot with another squeeze of lemon, a bunch of chopped dill, 1 chopped onion, 3 or so potatoes, peeled and diced, 1tsp of sugar, and pepper and salt to taste. Cover with water and cook again for half and hour, season again if needed. Puree.

Now, you can serve borscht chilled or hot, depending on the time of the year, with a dollop of natural yoghurt or sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh dill.  It goes well with heavy Eastern European style breads, such as a dark rye (such as Jackman and Mcross).  Traditionally borscht is also served with boiled potatoes, dumplings or perogies, a stuffed dumpling made from unleavened dough.  Enjoy this hearty and healthy winter's soup and relish in its striking and glorious colour.

Mmmm is that the smell of fresh bread?

I have been making my own bread for a long time now, so long that I could never go back to buying it, although I do like the Pigeon Hole sourdough and the Summer kitchen varieties, but at around $6 a pop, making my own is a lot cheaper! I was making sourdough for a while, but now I am just making basic whites and wholemeal.  I thought I would share this recipe with you because I have had loads of success with it and absolutely love the simplicity of it.

500g of plain flour*                              
2tsp dried yeast
1tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water
melted butter or olive oil for greasing
ground rice for dusting, can use semolina too

Prepare loaf tin with some of the melted butter or oil.  In a large bowl place flour and salt and mix well to incorporate salt, I use a whisk.  Add yeast and mix through, make a well in the centre and add warm water, slowly incorporating dry ingredients until it comes together**.  On a lightly floured surface knead dough until it becomes smooth and soft, allow at least 10 minutes or until dough springs back when lightly pressed. Dough made with wholemeal flour may require more kneading. Shape dough into a round ball, brush bowl with melted butter or oil and return dough. Cover with a damp t-towel and allow to rise for 75 minutes in a warm place.

Once dough has doubled in size knock back the dough for a second rising.  This is done by softly punching the centre of the dough.  Turn dough out on the bench dressed with ground rice and lightly knead out again, I flatten the dough to the length of the tin and fold twice, 1st fold to the centre and the second fold over the first fold, then carefully shape the loaf for the tin. Place in tin and slice the top of the loaf three times until you reach the bottom of the first layer. This will leave lovely grooves in the top of your bread as it rises. Alternatively when kneading for the second time, you can divide the bread into two or more equal portions and place side by side in the tin to allow to rise into pull apart portions once baked, or you can just leave it as one whole. Once in tin allow to rise until 2cm above the tin, at least another half an hour***. Preheat oven to 200C, brush with remaining melted butter or olive oil and bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown, it should make a hollow sound when you knock the base with your knuckles.  Turn out immediately and allow to cool on a wire rack.


* I use Callington Mill light sifted, although I have been mixing half and half with the stone ground wholemeal to make a wholemeal loaf.

** You may need more or less water/flour depending on age, type, brand of flour, accuracy of measurements.

***I have found that the longer you can leave it in the second rising the more airy the bread becomes, giving it an almost crumpety texture, although leaving it too long will result in the bread deflating, although it will retain its airy status,  it will not rise high while baking, resulting in a somewhat flat loaf.


Copyright Tasmaniasfeast 2013

Green Tomatoes!

No there're not fried, but stewed into a delicious spicy chutney!  My tomato crop was late this year, partly due to me not getting my seedlings in early, and my partially shady veggie patch.  I went with only two varieties this year, the brandywine and the black from tula. The voluptuous fruit was absolutely delicious, sweet and juicy with the brandy's ripening to a bright pinky red and the tula's a deep greeny red, verging on purple black. Both fruited late but in abundance, however, by mid April the kilo or so left were starting to subject to disease and I suspect a furry ratty friend that comes feasting at midnight.  So fearing the onset of softer sunshine and wintery days, I decided to try my hand at green tomato chutney, a very traditional and delicious condiment which I have since enjoyed with cheese and cold meats on home made wholemeal bread.

Here is the recipe:

2 tsp of all spice
3-4 cloves
2tsp of brown mustard seeds
2 brown onions
2 cups of vinegar, preferably malt, or a combination of red, white and apple cider vinegar
1kg of green tomatoes
Just under 1 cup of brown sugar
1-2 tsp of salt, taste depending
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Dice up tomatoes and onions and place in a heavy based pot, add sugar, spices, vinegar, salt and stir to combine, place on high heat with lid and bring to the boil. Once boiling uncover* and allow to simmer for a minimum of 1 hour, keep stirring now and then to prevent the chutney from sticking. Once chutney thickens add pepper to taste and allow to cook in a little more.  Heat oven to 110 degrees C.  Place clean glass jars in oven to dry and sterilise for 15 minutes.  Carefully remove jars and place on dry cloth, while hot fill with hot chutney and cap with lid immediately. Turn jars upside down for 2 minutes and then return upright to cool at room temperature. Can be kept in a cool dark place for 3 or so months, refrigerate opened jars.  Make sure you label and date them so as to keep track of whats what and time frames. Enjoy :)

* Be careful when removing lid not to breathe in fumes from the vinegar that escape with the steam.  I witnessed someone  passing out once at cookery school after doing this, unless they were so impressed with the job they had done, lightheadedness is a possibility when breathing in strong fumes.

 © Tasmaniasfeast 2013.

A Fiery Ginger Beer

This is a non-alcoholic beer, and has worked out really well.  The recipe is simple to follow with very little mess.  The result is a warming, gingery drink, with a light bubble for a thirst quenching effect.  I use 2ltr plastic bottles to guard against explosive consequences and grating the ginger works better than chopping it. Enjoy!



Here's the recipe from River Cottage:

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/ginger-beer-recipe

© Tasmaniasfeast 2013.

Elder Flower Mishaps

A silly thing really, my partner and I went to make elder-flower champagne and following the River Cottage recipe went out one sunny day and collected the flowers.  We made up a batch and shared it around, it had a really clean taste with a refreshing fizz and we were very proud of ourselves.  Then one evening entertaining, a friend of ours casually pointed out that the neighbours had a tree growing in their backyard, in which we disputed as being something entirely different.  Well after much debate and the help of our neighbour correctly identifying it as elder-flower we soon discovered that our little concoction was in fact a refreshing champagne made out of Hawthorn flower, which grows un-kept along roadsides and river-streams, left over from colonial days.  We are now making the correct beverage with elder-flowers but I can highly recommend using Hawthorn instead to create a rustic if not more peasant style drink.  Just keep in mind that Hawthorn or elder-flower growing along the side of the road is probably covered in residue from car fumes, its best to pick flowers growing further away from roadsides.  We picked ours along the rivulet in South Hobart.

Just an update, we had a lot of trouble with the fermentation process of this drink.  The champagne bottles all blew their tops, but one, and unfortunately we ended up wasting a lot. The Grolsch bottles we used were more successful, however, required a very patient and careful approach to opening, by gradually letting off the gas.  Aside from the disastrous result the little we did save tasted absolutely delicious and was a nice refreshing accompaniment to Christmas lunch.  At least none of the bottles actually exploded!


Here's the recipe we used:

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/elderflower-champagne-recipe


I just read this beautiful article in the Gardening Australia's Organic Newsletter on Elder flower and its properties.  It really sums up how lovely this plant is, presenting it in a different light and moving away from the notion that it is just a pesky weed with little use, as sadly many other weeds are often lumped.  It also provides a recipe for Elder flower cordial which is rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. Also if the birds have spared you some berries left, now (Feb-April) is the time to be making Elderberry cordial. Containing more Vitamin C than black currant cordial!

Here is a link to the article:

http://organicgardener.com.au/articles/outlaw-plants?WT.mc_id=Shop_OrganicGardener


© Tasmaniasfeast 2012/13.