Tag Archives: cabbage

Chunky Borscht (Eastern European Beetroot Soup)

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I love Borscht. My mum used to make it in the summer for as long as I remember, liquidising it as directed by her 1960s Kenwood Chef booklet. I thought it was the only way to have it, until in my early 20s, once only, I had a chunky version made by a friend’s mum back from Poland.

I had tried googling the recipe in recent years but was overwhelmed by the amount of borscht recipes out there. That was until I watched the Hairy Bikers make their version in their ‘Hairy Biker’s Northern Exposure’ series. With beetroot fresh from my new allotment, I made this for the first time last night. It made exactly 4x500ml pots which have been labelled and taken down to Alresford Country Market this, so other than licking out the pan I had any of this long awaited soup. So I am hoping that beetroot is not to everyone’s taste, and at least one pot does not sell.

1 tbsp vegetable oil
15g/½oz butter (didn’t use any)
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
3 medium sized beetroots (around 450g/1lb unpeeled weight), peeled and diced (I used 2 small ones, grated, and still the soup is a wonderful rich reddy purple)
1 large waxy potato, diced (I grated a value white potato)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1½ litres/2½ pints good quality beef stock (I only used 1 litre made with beef stock cubes as i was adding tinned tomatoes)
½ purple cabbage, finely shredded (used 4 large leaves of a green cabbage)
2 tomatoes, skinned, cored and chopped (used 1 tin of chopped tomatoes)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve (Nope, don’t have any of this to hand!)
sour cream
1 tbsp finely chopped dill

Soften the onion, carrot, & celery in the oil/butter in a large saucepan for a few minutes. Add the potato & garlic and fry for a few more minutes. The Hairy Bikers added their beetroot at this stage but I decided to add my raw grated beetroot later just in case it lost it’s colour. Instead I added the tomatoes which they added later.

Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes, then add the cabbage and beetroot and simmer for another 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with sour cream and dill if you have it. If I have any soup left to try I might try Greek Yoghurt…

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry
Instagram: sunhillmakesbakes

My Leftover Turkey Compilation

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It’s 28th December, and despite having a 5kg bird to work our way through with only five of us I will have to cook sooner or later.  So I am trawling through last year’s turkey recipes and thought it would be good to bring them together in one place.

In no particular order:-

East Meets West: Sunday Roast Leftovers Chow Mein Stir Fry

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As Autumn (slowly) approaches and we have begun having Sunday roasts again, I am being begged by the kids to make this kind of chow mein for them midweek with the leftovers.  It really doesn’t need a lot of leftover meat (or arguably any at all) as a little goes a long way! You could always make a vegetarian version of this without meat or gravy.

I first made this a few weeks ago.  I had intended to refer to one of my earlier Chinese stir fry recipes on my blog, but Princess was so engrossed with her favourite app on my phone that I tried to do it from memory. I pulled the most commonly used Chinese ingredients out of the cupboard and fridge and just made it up as I went along. The kids declared it the best noodle dish ever (their memories are so endearingly short) so I thought I had better write it down to ensure I can impress them again!

Serves 4-5 (3 kids – 2 adults)

1-2 handfuls of leftover roast (chicken, pork, beef, xmas turkey), chopped into mouthsized chunks
2 large carrots, grated
Something green – 1/4 cabbage shredded, 10 runner beans, finely sliced, pak choi, grated broccoli stalk etc
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic,  crushed
Small knob ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 large serving spoon of leftover gravy (optional)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp Sherry or white wine
4 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (or sprinkle with dried chilli flakes to taste at the end
2 tbps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
4 layers of medium egg noodles, alternatively you could serve over steamed rice or stir fry rice instead

Chinese stir frying is quick, quick, quick, so prepare all your ingredients in advance and have them within reach of the wok/frying pan.  Cook the noodles according to the packet’s instructions.  Drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, and leave in a pan of cold water until ready for them.  Chop your ‘solid’ ingredients, leaving the garlic and ginger to last.  Pile meat in one of the bowls you are going to eat out of, veg in another, and mix liquid ingredients in another.

Heat a wok or large frying pan until it starts smoking.  Add the oil, swirl it around, turn the extractor fan on and stir fry the onion and garlic for a minute or so.  Tip in the vegetables and continue to stir fry for another couple of minutes.  Add the meat and the sauce ingredients.  Turn down the heat and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are slightly less raw.  Bring the pan of noodles and water over to the cooker and add the dripping noodles in handfuls (a little bit of extra water in the wok is no bad thing).  At this stage I often chop the noodles with scissors or a fork and sharp knife.  This makes it easier to mix and helps the kids get it up to their mouth.  Stir the vegetables through the noodles and leave on a low heat with a lid on for a few minutes to heat through.  If you hear a sizzling noise, this is your cue to stir it and try to turn the noodles over so the top layer is as hot as the bottom.  I like a sloppy chow mein so I add a little of the noodle cooking water to give the dish a little more sauce.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Spicy Korean Roast Leftovers Rice Salad

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We had quite a lot of lamb left over from our Moroccan Butterflied Leg of Lamb last weekend, so after seeing Korean Stir-Fried Rice on Jamie’s Money Saving Meals I thought I’d try to recreate the distant memory of a spicy Korean rice salad we enjoyed several times in a New Zealand shopping mall over 15 years ago.  And it makes a pleasant change to having simple cold meat, veg, & potatoes midweek.

Based on what we had in the cupboards, this is what I put together

Serves 1

1/4 mug brown or white rice
Large handful of swiss chard or other leafy greens
Handful of leftover roast (lamb, beef, pork, chicken)
1 large clove of garlic
1/2 medium sized onion
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
2tbsp white wine vinegar
1 heaped tsp redcurrant jelly (I used bramble jelly)
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Cook the rice according to the packet’s instructions.  Finely shred the chard and wilt in the pan with pan with the rice for the last couple of minutes of cooking.  Drain and leave to one side.

Finely chop the meat, garlic, and onion and mix with the remaining ingredients.  Mix together with the warm rice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and either eat immediately or leave for the flavours to develop.