Beet It with a (Carrot) Stick Soup (Borscht)

(or roasted beet soup with carrots and onions)

Everyone was making borscht this week, and it made me envious.  I have a whole bunch of roasted beets that were frozen from the 2014  harvest, and I had hardly made a dent into this treasure trove.  So, armed with my 1 lb of frozen and roasted red bull's blood beets, I embarked on this odyssey.  Carrots are the surprise partner in this satisfying soup that I expect will be just as good cold the next day.

1 lb roasted beets (peeled and rough chopped)
1 gigantic carrot, peeled and rough chopped (about 1 C)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 T rough chopped garlic (Hmm this is a pretty rough dish!)
4 C chicken broth
1/2 C water (if needed)
2 T lemon juice
1 t fresh chopped thyme (plus more to garnish)
salt and pepper
1/4 C creamy blue cheese dressing


Beets roast in their skins in oven for 40 minutes at 375 or so.  Test to see if tender by poking with a fork.  If done, cool.  Then slip off skins and chop into quarters or so.  Set aside.

Put carrot, onion and garlic into saucepan with butter and olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Saute for 5-10 minutes until onions begin to cook.  Add chicken broth and simmer until carrots are completely done (about 10 minutes).  Add beets and simmer until all veggies are fork tender and warmed through.

Put in blender or use immersion blender to blend all ingredients together.  If the mixture is too thick, add a bit of water.  Add lemon juice and thyme.  Taste and re-season with S&P if needed.

Serve in a bowl with a teaspoon of blue cheese dressing on top (stir it with a chopstick or toothpick or knife to make a cool, swirly design).

Serves 4

(I know, I know:  the picture doesn't have the cool, swirly blue cheese dressing.  I originally took the picture to enter into a vegan contest--using vegetable broth in place of chicken broth, and using miso instead of butter.. . . and, of course, dairy is not vegan, so I left out that great swirly stuff.  But trust me, you want that swirly blue cheese dressing.  It makes the soup  burst with flavor.)

A ha-ha postscript.  Mr. Artifact thought this little pear deserved some attention, so he offered him some soup.  In case you did not know, pears do not eat beet soup--failed experiment.

I8% Italian Biscotti

(1985 from Mom)

My mother makes the best biscotti.  She started making this in the 80’s, so this is not an historic family recipe handed down for years.  (For that, you’ll need to see her great grandmother’s lebkuchen.)  

At some point (1985 to be precise), I got the recipe from her.  With no recipe card handy, she wrote it on the back of a Christmas postcard.  I have been making biscotti from this fading card for decades now. It is almost too blurred to read.  So, I decided that this recipe deserved to be documented on the Butternut Place Blog.  And, here it is!

My mom just received her DNA results.  We had all assumed that she was 100% German.  Imagine our surprise to find that she is 18% Italian.  No wonder these biscotti are so good.

2 C sugar

1 C melted butter

4 T anise seed

4 T anisette (or 3 t anise extract)

3 T whiskey

2 C walnuts

6 eggs

5 ½ C flour

1 T baking powder

Mix all in the order given and chill for 2-3 hours (important).

Preheat oven to 375.  

first baked loaves, resting

On a greased baking sheet, shape dough with hands to form flat loaves that are 1 ½ inches thick  and 2-3 inches wide and as long as fit on your sheet.  This makes 2-4 loaves depending upon your sheets.  Place no more than 2 loaves on each sheet.   

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  Then cut into diagonal slices that are ½ to ¾ inch thick and place on greased sheet cut side down, close together.  Return to 375 oven and bake for 15 

minutes or until lightly toasted.

Store in airtight container.  Makes between 3 to 6 dozen depending upon how big your loaves are/how small or large your slices are.

cut and ready to dunk into a glass of red wine or coffee

Kit's Jambalaya

 (serves 4, or 2 voracious fishermen)

2 T butter

Shrimp and sausage ready to go!

2 T olive oil

1 T special BA spice (or Emeril’s)

1 C long grain rice (uncooked)

½ C chopped onion

1 T minced garlic

2 cans Rotel

2 C chicken broth

1 C V8 (2 small cans)

½ to 1 C frozen, sliced okra (no okra?  use peas or zucchini or just do without--it will be fine)

8 oz wild caught shrimp (raw or cooked—peeled—about  10 big ones)

8 oz Polska kielbasa or andouille, sliced in bite size pieces—(these are already cooked) (about 2 sausages)

Salt and pepper if needed

Melt butter and oil in saucepan.  Add onion and garlic.  Sauté until cooked through.  Add rice.  Stir to coat and let sauté a bit (1 min or so to let it absorb flavors).  Add special spice, broth, V8, Rotel, and okra.  Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.  Toss, then add shrimp and sausage. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.

onions and garlic in butter and oil.

bubbling broth!

Cooking til done!