Another fantastic recipe from the excellent Russian cookbook, "Please to the Table."
Vegetarian Borscht (Вегетарианский борщ)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/4" dice
3 1/2 C shredded green cabbage
1 medium beet, peeled and grated
1 small rib celery, cut into 1/4" dice
1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into 1" dice
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2" cubes
6 oz tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 C chicken broth
Bouquet garni (1 bay leaf and 8 peppercorns tied in a cheesecloth bag)
1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
Fresh dill, chopped for garnish
Sour cream
Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and bell pepper and saute until the onion and bell pepper are slightly softened, 5 minutes.
Stir in the cabbage, beet and celery and continue to saute, stirring and tossing occasionally, 10-15 minutes.
Stir in the apple, potatoes, tomato paste and garlic, then add the broth and bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
Add the paprika, salt and pepper, sugar and lemon juice to taste. Let stand at least 2-3 hours, or overnight. Remove the bouquet garni before serving. Serve garnished with parsley and dill, and under no circumstances should you EVER leave out the sour cream!
In addition, I'll favor you with a few of the last couple day's happenings =)
Dan has officially started both biochemistry and anatomy at UT Southwestern. Yesterday was the first day for anatomy dissections. Dan came home smelling like ... well ... dead, preserved bodies. Figures, right?
Back a little further in time, we went swimming on Saturday and as usual, Peyton had a blast! He love love LOVES to swim. He tries to swim in the bath too. Oh, and a new thing he likes to try: drinking the water. He's such a goof. He ducks his head in, mouth wide open, and tries to slurp up pool water ... bath water ... you name the yucky liquid -- he tries to slurp it.
Go back another day, and you get my angel food cake masterpiece -- homemade and completely from scratch. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself. It was soooooo good. Once I get around to updating the recipe blog, I'll put it up. Yummy!!
And now, a couple random pictures of my incredibly handsome and adorable little boy! Oh, I forgot to mention: Peyton caught his first cold this week. So sad. Boogies everywhere!
DISCLAIMER: I will not be held responsible for any brain hemorrhaging as a direct result of viewing the following material. I also will not be blamed for the incessant repetition of either song in your head for as little as one hour or as long as three weeks. Symptoms may vary. Viewer discretion advised. CLICK PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Currently, Peyton has two favorite songs:
-and-
Great taste in music? I think so!
Don't say I didn't warn you. It's in the fine-print up top! ^^ =) You may be tempted to think I am kidding ... tricking you into hearing/viewing horrible music with equally horrible music videos while I sit on my couch, maniacally laughing about my deceptive ways. I'm not. You wanna see my seven-month-old's face light up with a huge smile and start giggling? Sing one of these songs to him.
I really need to stop letting so much time elapse between posts. I'll give you the rundown as quickly as possible!
First things first, Peyton has four teeth. FOUR teeth. When did this happen? Well, all in one very short week. Yep, you read that right ... 3/4 teeth showed up while we were in El Paso.
Oh, did I forget to mention we were in El Paso from August 5-11? Yeah, well ... I forgot my camera, so what you missed you can't see and what you can't see you probably won't miss.
I do, however, have pictures of the bottom two teeth. You have to be super stealthy to catch a glimpse of those babies. It's pretty much impossible to get Peyton to show you the top two. Stick your finger in his mouth, though, and you'll know they're there.
In other news, Peyton is now an expert at pulling himself up to standing. And cruising around everywhere. Here's an older video of him standing up. He's about a bagillion times better at it now. He's speedy, sneaky and VERY curious. Deadly combination.
Peyton is also a pro walker now. Of course, he needs the assistance of a walker, but we won't hold that against him ... let's be fair now, he's only (almost) 7 months old.
Continuing on with the news, I woke up on the morning of July 31st to the delicious smell of pancakes. But these weren't just any old pancakes ... take a look:
Yes, that is a blueberry pancake and yes, it is shaped like a heart. Can you say, "Best husband EVER?!"
I sure can.
Moving right along. Do you remember those pictures early on in Peyton's life? The one's where he'd only scowl at the camera? (Refresh your memory HERE). Well, now he's a total ham. He's sees that camera and he starts smiling and performing and being his cute little self. Here are some pictures of me and him. Please ignore my sweaty, shiny, just-woke-up/just-finished-exercising face.
Oh, and he loves to eat. Especially with his daddy.
Okay, sorry for the overload. I just love this kid.
And I'm not that sorry, because there's still more ...
Dan, Peyton and I went to the Irving Arts Center. We walked around and looked at some of the art they have there. It was a pretty cool place!
They call this, "Cookie Monster Meets Lawn Mower." Well, they don't call it that, but I do.
Man, this kid is handsome!
Can you see the squirrel?
There he is! Or she ... I guess we didn't get close enough to tell.
Okay, last batch of pictures and text, I swear! Daniel and I were about to take Peyton on his usual morning walk (he loves bird watching and being out-of-doors), when a tragedy occurred. Peyton rubbed sunscreen in his eyes. We rinsed his eyes and hands with water, but the poor little guy was too red-eyed and uncomfortable to continue our excursion.
So to make up for it, we let him crawl around in the buff for a little while. I mean, is there anything better than crawling around free from the horrid restraints of clothing? He always wants us to let him crawl around nekkers, but I'm too afraid of accidents. We made an exception this time and got some cute pictures to blackmail him with later =)
Poor little red eyes!
The cheeks on his face aren't the only ones with dimples ...
Nothing like reading a book in the buff!
Daddy! Let me pull myself up using your leg hairs!
Crawling around.
Okay, so I lied. You knew I was gonna! I just think Peyton's various sleep positions are too funny!
All in all, we had a great time in El Paso (no camera = no pics) and a great time at Dan's med school retreat (no camera = no pics). Dan has now officially started medical school! That's about it.
I'll be honest, I was VERY surprised by how GREAT this was! It was so easy, so quick and so delicious. I had a leftover half-head of cabbage and this was the perfect way to use it. I got the recipe from HERE, but I made a few changes, which I'll share below.
Cajun Cabbage with Rice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 C long grain rice, uncooked
1 tsp fresh basil
1 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown together the beans, green pepper, onion and garlic until the vegetables have softened, about 8 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, rice, salt, basil, oregano and the cayenne and black pepper (adding more pepper to taste, if desired). Spread mixture into an ungreased 9x9-inch baking pan. Stir in cabbage and top with cheese.
Cover and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
This naan went great with the Vegetarian Korma. Made for a fun meal with friends! HERE is the original recipe.
Naan
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 C warm water
1/4 C white sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 C bread flour
2 tsp minced garlic (optional)
1/4 C butter, melted
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
Punch down dough and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls and place on a tray. Cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.
This spicy curry was so good! We served it over rice with Naan on the side. HERE is where we got the recipe.
Vegetarian Korma
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger root (1/4 tsp ground)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, cubed
4 carrots, cubed
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced
3 Tbsp ground unsalted cashews
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
1 C frozen green peas
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
13.6 oz can coconut milk
1 bunch fresh cilantro for garnish
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and curry powder, cook until tender. Mix in ginger and garlic, continue cooking 1 minute. Mix potatoes, carrots, jalapeno, cashews and tomato sauce. Cook and stir 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Stir peas, green bell pepper, red bell pepper and cream into the skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.
