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SCOTT GRADEN / NEW SCENIC CAFÉ
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JuliKellner
Juli Kellner
You probably don’t dream of beets, but I do. More specifically, I dream of Beet Leaf Holipsi with Smetana Sauce.
I’m not entirely certain what that means, or exactly how to pronounce it (though I love trying to say it), but some nights I dream of the airy hunks of bread wrapped in individual beet leaves and smothered in buttery creamy dill sauce.
Robert Waselovich shared his beloved family recipe on our cooking show “‘F’ is for Fall Harvest” and now it’s become one of my beloved recipes. Robert, who’s a physician assistant, demonstrated how to carefully scald stacks of beet leaves, stems removed, to make them more flexible for wrapping around hunks of sweet, yeasty dough. After you allow the dough to rise, you bake it then you smother the whole dish in a dill-and-cream concoction that sends it over the edge of deliciousness right into taste-bud nirvana. And what does Robert do with his beets? You know … the ones attached to those luscious beet leaves? He makes beet borscht.
I have my own family memories of beets, boiled, sliced and served all ruby-red hot and delicious. Boiled beets, of course, never outshone my grandmother’s prized beet pickles.
Her secret to bright red beet pickles was boiling well-scrubbed beets in their skins, which slip off easily when cool. (But do use gloves, or your blood-red hands will look like crime-scene evidence. I know from a barehanded experience with beets that your skin and nails will be temporarily stained a suspicious shade of red.) Every year now I devote a few rows of my garden to beets, enough for Robert’s Beet Leaf Holipsi with Smatana Sauce, a few canned batches of Grandma’s beet pickles plus a few roasted beets to boot.
The beet has made it big this year in Duluth. It has been named “Vegetable of the Year” by Duluth Community Garden’s One Vegetable One Community steering committee. The garden’s website – www.duluthcommunitygardens.org – shares recipes and tips. Scott Graden, chef and owner at the New Scenic Café has done his part to promote beets this year, including mounting a few cooking classes that serve beet dishes from appetizers through to desserts (a beet sherbet). “Historically, beets are overshadowed by potatoes, but potatoes don’t have the breadth of beets,” says Scott. “They’re great, from desserts to savories, raw, cooked, pickled.” They also visually appealing, he adds.
That’s so true. I will never forget being invited to tape a cooking show segment in the airy kitchen of Bea Ojakangas, our Duluth food celebrity. She made a traditional Finnish Beet-Herring Salad, but laid out each element in a line, like a classic chopped salad, so guests could take as much or as little as they desired of each ingredient. The salad combines diced apples, dill pickles, onion and pickled herring with cooked diced potatoes, carrots and, of course, beets. Topped with a whipped cream or sour cream dressing it is a delicious, familiar, childhood favorite.
Juli Kellner hosts the “WDSE Cooks” series.
Scott Graden’s Roasted Baby Beet Salad
12 baby beets
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 Tbsp. browned butter
2 Tbsp. cider gastrique
2 Tbsp. water
1 c. haricot verts
2 Tbsp. browned butter
1/2 c. chevre
4 c. frisee greens, shaved
4 ea. hazelnuts
Serves 4. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Toss beets in oil, salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Roast, turning occasionally, until fork tender. Remove beets from oven and plunge into ice water. Rub skins off immediately.
Cut each beet into approximately 4 bite-size pieces. In a saute pan, combine the beets with the browned butter, cider gastrique, and water. Heat gently over low to medium heat, stirring frequently until the liquid reduces to a glaze.
In a small pot, gently heat the haricot verts with the browned butter until just warm.
On 4 plates, evenly divide the warm beets and top with the warm haricot verts. Crumble the chevre over each plate. Lightly dress the frisee greens with a bit of cider gastrique and browned butter or any desired vinaigrette. Place 1 cup of greens on each salad. Using a microplane or other grater, shave 1 whole hazelnut over the top of each salad.
Borscht
1 medium-sized head of cabbage, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped dill
1 to 1-1/2 qt. water
3- 5 carrots, chopped
1 medium rhubarb stalk or 1 to 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
5-6 medium beets peeled
1 to 2 c. peas
1 Tbsp. salt (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Sweet or sour cream
In a large soup pot, sauté the cabbage and onion over low heat, reducing to half. Add dill. Sauté until the dill is wilted and aromatic. Add water, carrots and rhubarb or vinegar. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Shred peeled beets directly into soup. Add peas salt and pepper. Simmer (but do not boil) until the beets are al dente. To serve borsht, place in serving bowls and top with sweet or sour cream. Sprinkle with dill or dillweed (optional).
Beet Leaf Holipsi with Smetana Sauce
Bread dough:
2 c. warm water
1 pkg. yeast
1 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Flour (about 4 c.)
Beet leaves, scalded, stems removed
Smetana sauce:
2 Tbsp. butter
1 bunch green onions or 1 small onion, chopped fine
3 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped fine
1 pt. heavy cream
In a large bowl, mix the first 5 bread ingredients together and let the yeast activate. Once the yeast has started, begin adding flour. Knead the dough and add enough flour until you get a soft, elastic dough.
Lay scalded beet leaf in the palm of your hand, pinch off a walnut size piece of dough and place it on the stem end of the leaf. Roll leaf loosely and place it into a well buttered rectangular pan. Continue until all of the leaves are used. If there is extra dough, make a small loaf and bake it.
Place the pan in a warm spot and let dough rise until it has doubled in size. Cover with foil. Bake at 350° F for 30-35 minutes. While the holipsi are baking prepare the Smetana sauce. In a pan over low heat, melt the butter and add the onions; sauté until the onion is soft. Add dill and continue to sauté until the dill has wilted. Add the cream and simmer until it begins to thicken. After the holipsi has baked for 30-35 minutes, remove the pan from oven and remove the foil. Pour the Smetana sauce over the beet leaves and return pan to the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.
Both the borscht and holipsi recipes come from Robert Waselovich.