Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we had a graduation party and there were several things worthy of posting. First, I have been on a thirty-year search for the Best Salmon Dip (Spread or Pate) and after sampling a lot I think I have found it. Second, my tried and true Chocolate Truffles recipe was a hit and it is included here.

It has been raining and so dark in Portland that I could only think of soup and the beets at the market looked good, so yesterday we had Ukrainian Beef Borscht and Ratatouile. And because I am in the eggplant mood I am including a great recipe for Caponata, also known as: And the Priest Fainted, a great dip or topping for brushetta.
The secret to the Borscht, Ratatouile and the Caponata is the oven roasting, it makes a huge difference in taste.


SALMON DIP

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream room temperature
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS dill
1 tsp horseradish
½ tsp salt (depending on how the salmon is cured)
¼ tsp pepper
¼ lb smoked salmon, shredded and bone checked
(Optional – 1 tsp minced red onion, 1 tsp minced capers)

Cream the cream cheese and sour cream with a hand blender or small food processor. Add ingredients one at a time and blend. Add the salmon last and blend until smooth. Serve with Fresh dill.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Ingredients:
12 oz semisweet chocolate (Trader Joe’s works well but any good chocolate will do)
½ cup + 2 TBS whipping cream
2 TBS liquor (brandy, Kalua, Amaretto, or very strong espresso)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ cup powdered sugar

Instructions:
Melt the chocolate in double boiler. Boil cream in separate heavy pan for one minute and then cool for about 5 minutes. Blend the melted chocolate into the cream with a whisk until smooth. Add liquor. Cool over night (in the winter I cover the bowl of chocolate and put it in the garage or outside on cement) or until you are able to mold the chocolate into walnut size pieces or pieces the size of one or two bites. Drop onto waxed paper and continue cooling. Do not chill in refrigerator, as the chocolate will bloom. Mix the cocoa and sugar in a bowl and when the chocolate is hard enough, roll each in the cocoa mixture and set into mini paper or foil muffin cups.

BEEF BORSCHT
Makes about 3 quarts

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 + TBS extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 more TBS
2 pounds beef – chuck cut into small cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp garlic powder
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp garlic powder

5 garlic cloves, quartered
1 cup of small celery sticks
2 medium carrots or a small bag of processed mini carrots
2 pounds beets
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 medium tomatoes cut into ½ inch pieces

2 cups Napa cabbage finely julienned
1 cup kale finely julienned

½ cup stewed tomatoes
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS red-wine vinegar
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 TBS chopped parsley

1+ TBS dried dill
sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat 1/4 cup oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Dredge the meat in the herbs and brown. Add 1 onion, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the wine and broth; simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
Meanwhile, cut up vegetables, toss with the oil and place in Pyrex baking dishes or heavy non-stick lipped baking sheets. Place in oven and cook for about an hour or until the vegetables start to soften but are not close to being mushy. Cool the vegetable until they are cool enough to handle. You can either process them in a food processor or shred them on a medium grater.

Strain stock through a sieve, and remove the meat.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add all the vegetables including the raw cabbage and kale. Add the meat, the stewed tomatoes, lemon juice, vinegars. Parsley and 1 TBS dill. Cook until just heated. Add enough stock to make it the consistency of a chili or unthickened stew. Cook for 20 minutes.
Serve with sour cream and fresh or dried dill.
To make it really special and meaty, add 1 cup fried bacon cut into small strips.


RATATOILLE
Makes about 2 quarts

Ingredients:
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, drained( saving the juice) and cut into ¾ inch pieces or what I just did 2 fresh tomatoes, cubed, ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, and 1/2 can stewed tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, quartered
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large eggplant (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large yellow onions, diced large
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced large
2 large zucchini, diced large
8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
Sea salt and ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 TBS oregano
2 TBS red-wine vinegar
1 TBS balsamic vinegar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatoes and garlic on a rimmed non-stick baking sheet or in Pyrex baking dishes. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and bake until thickened, 30 minutes, stirring regularly.

Meanwhile, toss the cut up eggplant, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms in remaining olive oil and cook for an hour or until the vegetables are softening, browning around the edges but not mushy. Add the cooked tomatoes and vegetable to a large heavy bottomed stock pan. Add saved tomato juice and spices and vinegars and cook for about 15-20 minutes until flavors blend but the vegetables do not fall apart. Correct seasoning to taste and remove bay leaf before serving.


CAPONATA

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped fine
1 medium firm eggplant, peeled and diced

1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup black kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1 3-ounce jar capers, drained
1/2 cup golden raisins (a couple of handfuls)
Salt
1 32-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste

1 T balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped (a handful)

Preparation:
This recipe also benefits from roasting the raw vegetables in oil in a 350 oven for an hour and then adding them to a heavy bottom pot and cooking them with the remaining ingredients but you can follow the more traditional frying method, it is just a flatter, less sweet taste, still good.

Place cutting board near the stovetop. Preheat a deep pot over medium heat. Add oil, garlic and crushed pepper. As you chop vegetables (peppers, onion, celery and eggplant), add them to the pot. Once vegetables are all in, increase heat a bit.

Stir in olives, capers and raisins. Add tomatoes and paste and stir well to combine. Cover pot and cook caponata 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Correct seasoning with salt. Stir in vinegar, parsley and pine nuts and remove pan from heat.