Housemate Recipes

My lovely new housemate, who writes over at Using the Buffalo, made a delicious summer dinner last week and was kind enough to share her recipes! I went to the farmers market and brought home sweet corn, blueberries, cabbage, cucumbers, cilantro, and beets (among other things). This is what she made:

Braised Red Cabbage:

1/2 onion

1/2 head red cabbage

Good splashing of both red wine and balsamic vinegars. (She likes to use more red wine vinegar than balsamic because it tends to taste less sweet.)

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan for a minute or two then add chopped onion. when the onion starts to get a little translucent (about 4 minutes), add the red cabbage. Saute about five minutes on high, stirring often. Turn the heat to low, and add the vinegars. cover and let simmer for about half an hour or until the cabbage has the amount of crunch that you like. add salt and pepper to taste.

Corn & Blueberry Salad:
This recipe is good with leftover corn that you don't feel like reheating and gets even better if you let it sit overnight.

3-4 ears of sweet corn

1 cucumber

Some blueberries

1 jalapeno

Cilantro

Cumin

Lime or lemon juice

Honey

Cut the corn off the ears into a bowl. Chop up the cucumber however you like, dump some blueberries in, chop up some cilantro, add chopped jalapeno, then sprinkle cumin over all of it - probably about a teaspoon. Add about two tbsp of lime juice and one tbsp of honey. Mix all together and let sit for a bit.

Beets with Yogurt and Mint:

2 cups plain yogurt

a bunch of mint

3-4 small or medium beets

3 cloves of garlic

Olive oil

Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Cook the beets however you like. I boiled them (cut off the stems leaving about 1/2 inch and throw into some water, bring to a boil, then turn it down a little and let cook for about an hour). When the beets are done, let cool or run under cold water for a few minutes. . Peel them then shred them into the yogurt. Chop the mint finely and fold in along with the spices. Heat some olive oil in a pan with three cloves of garlic--I chopped it up finely, but you can do big chunks. Keep the garlic in the oil until it turns brown, then fold it into the yogurt.

Pickled Beets

I've gotten a bunch of beets, two weeks in a row, in my CSA share. I'm not a huge fan of beets, but I do like them pickled (feel the same way about cucumbers), so here's a seasonal recipe for pickled beets:

2 bunches of beets (5-8 in each bunch), sliced into thin strips
1 head of new garlic, roughly slice each clove
1 quart white or cider vinegar
1/2 quart sugar
1 heaping tsp. salt
1 tbsp. pickling spices
Small handful of chopped dill, if you like it

Fill 2 sterilized (read: just out of a HOT dishwasher) quart-sized mason jars with sliced beets and garlic. Bring vinegar, salt, spices, and dill to a boil in a pan. Remove from heat and add sugar. Then, pour it through a cheese cloth (read: a thin dish towel if you're not Martha freaking Stewart) into the jars of beets. Now, at this point, you can just throw a lid on the jars and keep them in your fridge if you'll eat them within a few weeks (but wait 24 hours before cracking them open).

OR you could seal them:
-Get some NEW lids and rings--you can reuse lids for fridge pickles, but new is essential for making a seal.
-Boil a giant pot of water, dunk the lids and rings in it for a minute or so, then put them on your full pickle jars.
-Then submerge the jars in the boiling water for 10 full minutes.
-Take them out with canning tongs (or regular tongs, carefully), and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours. You might hear them pop as they form seals. You should NOT be able to get the lids off by hand, without a can opener.
Now, you can eat them immediately or store them in your pantry for up to a year. I would recommend doubling or tripling the recipe if you plan to seal the jars. It's not really worth the trouble unless you make a decent sized batch.

(Hopefully my lazy ass will upload some pictures of these beautiful pickles soon).