Darra Goldstein

Darra Goldstein is an author and food scholar. She has published 17 books and is a frequent speaker at organizations and events around the world. Books include "Fire + Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking," "A Taste of Russia," and "The Georgian Feast," among others.

Appetizer or Side Dish

Beet Tartare

There’s no typo here! …This ruby beet tartare is a vegetarian take on the classic råbiff introduced to Sweden from France in the nineteenth century. Like many salads, it’s most dazzling in summer, when beets are sweet and garden fresh. Winter beets will yield a darker garnet dish, not quite so brilliant, and you may want to add a little sugar to perk it up. Spread these beets on bread or crackers, plate them with cured fish or meat, or scoop them onto a bed of lettuce. Th…e flavor is beautiful at any time of year.

Recipe from: Fire + Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking

Photograph of Beet Tartare by Stefan Wettainen
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Beet Tartare

Yield 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 11⁄2 pounds beets
  • 1 by 1⁄2-inch piece horseradish,
  • peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1 small shallot, coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped
  • dill pickle
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the beets and cook until tender, 30 to 45 minutes, depending on their size and age. Drain, peel, and chop coarsely.
  2. In a mini food processor or spice grinder, whir the horseradish with the cider vinegar until it is grated.
  3. Place the beets in the bowl of a food processor. Add the grated horseradish mixture along with the shallot and pickle and process until finely chopped. Be careful not to make a puree— the tartare should be minced, with some texture.
  4. Transfer the beets to a bowl and stir in the mayonnaise, dill, and salt. Season with pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Salt and Ash-Baked Celery Root

Rather than succumb to the doldrums of winter, I try to be Nordic and embrace the bitter cold and the dark. And that sometimes means playing with fire!

We have a wood-fired oven in our kitchen, where we bake bread and pizza and like to roast meat and vegetables near the coals. Recently we began looking for culinary ways to use some of the ash, and this New Nordic technique for coating root vegetables has become a favorite.

When you smear celery root with a paste of salt and ash, the interior turns out wonderfully creamy and perfectly seasoned. Lacking a wood-fired oven, you can use ash from a regular fireplace or from a grill, as long as it comes from hardwood.

Recipe from: Fire + Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking

Photograph of Salt and Ash Baked Celery Root by Stefan Wettainen
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Salt and Ash-Baked Celery Root

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 small celery root (about
  • 14 ounces)
  • 21⁄2 cups salt
  • 1⁄2 cup fireplace ash
  • 1⁄2 cup water, or as needed
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh
  • parsley

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Scrub the celery root. In a small bowl, stir together the salt, ash, and water to make a paste that holds together when you squeeze it with your hand (the amount of water will depend on how dense the ash is).
  2. Spread the paste all over the celery root, pressing down so that it adheres, and place the celery root in an ovenproof dish. Bake until you can easily insert a small knife, about 2 hours.
  3. Just before the celery root comes out of the oven, melt the butter in a small pan over low heat, then stir in the parsley. Set aside.
  4. Remove the celery root from the oven and crack the crust open with a meat mallet. With a small paring knife, peel the charred celery root, then slice it lengthwise and arrange on a platter.
  5. Drizzle the parsleyed butter over the top and serve immediately.

Adjika

This lively, salsa-like condiment has it all: heat, spice, and the zing of fresh herbs. Adjika originates from the western regions of Georgia—the country in the Caucasus, not the American state—where it was traditionally, and laboriously, made in a mortar and pestle. But today a food processor makes quick work of the task. Adjika remains such an iconic Georgian seasoning that it has been designated part of the country’s “intangible cultural heritage.”

Recipe from: Preserved: Condiments 

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Adjika

Ingredients

  • 8 large garlic cloves (about 1½ ounces/44g), peeled
  • ¼ pound fresh hot red peppers, stemmed and seeded
  • 1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded
  • 1 large celery stalk, including leaves (2 ounces/54g)
  • 2 cups (1 1/8 ounces/33g) coarsely chopped fresh dill
  • 1½ cups (1¼ ounces/34g) coarsely chopped cilantro
  • 1/3 cup (1/8 ounce/6g) coarsely chopped basil
  • ¾ teaspoon ground coriander seed
  • ½ teaspoon ground dried blue fenugreek
  • ½ teaspoon ground dried summer savory
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar

Instructions

  1. Using the pulse control of a food processor, grind the garlic slightly. Coarsely chop the hot peppers, red bell pepper, and celery and add them to the garlic. Pulse again. Add the chopped and dried herbs and the salt and pulse to a medium-fine consistency.
  2. Transfer the mixture along with any liquid to a bowl and stir in the vinegar and salt. Cover and let stand overnight before packing into jars. Either store in the refrigerator forup to 6 months or process in a water bath for longer storage.

Makes about 1 pint.

 

Twenty-Minute Pickles (Малосольные огурцы за 20 минут)

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These pickles couldn’t be simpler. The recipe comes from Katya Bruyaka in Murmansk, whose small kitchen is a wonderland of homemade distillations and preserves that allow her to throw together fabulous meals on the spur of the moment. When Katya served me these pickles, I worried that she might be using up the last of her precious summer preserves before winter had come to an end. But she just laughed and happily shared her secret with me. Now I make these pickles whenever I crave a quick Russian fix.

Ingredients

  • 3 mini cucumbers, unpeeled, ends trimmed, sliced lengthwise into quarters (about 8 ounces)
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill (about 3 sprigs, coarse stems removed)
  • 1 tablespoon vodka

Instructions

Place all the ingredients in a small ziploc sandwich bag and gently massage to distribute the seasonings evenly. Leave the bag on the counter for 20 minutes, turning it occasionally to bathe the cucumbers in the liquid that forms. The pickles will be ready after 20 minutes. They will hold well in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Serves 4.

Recipe from Beyond The North Wind.

Brined Watermelon

If the only preserved watermelon you’ve ever tasted is pickled watermelon rind, these wedges of brined watermelon flesh will be a revelation. Where southern-style pickled rind is heavy on sugar and vinegar, these colorful slices are lacto-fermented in a mild salt solution that is only slightly sweetened with honey, and they’re aromatic with herbs and spices. Brined watermelon is a favorite summertime treat in Russia, where whole watermelons are often brined in barrels for long keeping, sometimes with apples added to the brine. The method we use here is much quicker, taking only a few days for the melon to ferment.

Baby watermelons are ideal for ease of preparation, but you can also slice large melons into similarly small wedges. Just be sure to choose a melon that’s slightly underripe to ensure that it doesn’t turn mushy. Although this vivid pickle makes a great accompaniment to meat, we like it best as an appetizer, especially with a shot of ice-cold vodka.

Recipe from: Preserved: Fruit 

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Brined Watermelon

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds baby watermelon
  • 8 cups/2 liters water, divided
  • ¼ cup/38g kosher salt
  • ¼ cup/60 ml honey
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon allspice berries
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ bunch/1 ounce/28g fresh dill, including crowns, if possible
  • 2 ribs of celery with leaves, cut into 3-inch/7.5 cm lengths
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

Instructions

  1. Sterilize a 1-gallon/4-liter jar. Rinse the watermelon well and slice it into 1-inch/2.5cm thick slices, then cut each slice into triangle-shaped wedges. Place some dill in the bottom of the jar, then layer the watermelon with the remaining dill, celery, and garlic cloves. Don’t press down on the watermelon. 
  2. Next, make the brine. In a medium bowl, mix 2 cups/500 ml of the water with the salt and honey, stirring until the salt dissolves. Then stir in the remaining 6 cups/1.5 liters of water, mixing well. Pour the spiced brine over the melon; it should just cover it. Place a weight on top of the melon to keep it submerged (a plastic zip-top bag will do the trick).Cover the jar with cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band. Let the watermelon sit at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours, checking the jar every 12 hours for signs of fermentation. As soon as the brine smells pleasantly sour and small bubbles appear on the surface, it’s time to transfer the jar to the refrigerator.
  3. The watermelon will have absorbed a lot of brine and diminished in volume, so at this point, if desired, you can transfer it to a 3-quart/3-liter container. Close tightly with a lid.
  4. The watermelon will be ready to eat as soon as it is well chilled. It will continue to ferment very slowly in the refrigerator, so keep tasting the melon until you find the perfect degree of sourness and effervescence for your taste. The brined watermelon will keep for up to one month, though it becomes progressively less crisp.
  5. Makes 3 quarts/3 liters
  6. Serving Suggestions: Serve with grilled meats. Chop and toss with fresh watermelon, feta, mint, and onion fora refreshing summer salad. Purée into vinaigrettes to add some tang

Russian Pancakes (Blini)

Now an international favorite, blini are one of the oldest Slavic foods, dating back to the heathen tribes that worshipped the sun and created pancakes in its image. These earliest pancakes were called mliny, from the verb molot’ (“to grind”), and the word is still preserved in the Ukrainian, Serbian and Croatian tongues. Light and porous, blini are designed to soak up lots of butter.

Traditionally, one is expected to gorge on blini. Literary and actual precedents are numerous in Russian life: Gogol’s Chichikov of Dead Souls finishes off nine of the pancakes while visiting the widow Korobochka, dipping them repeatedly in melted butter and gobbling them down three at a time, while the downfall of the nineteenth–century gourmand Lyapin was in the two dozen blini he once consumed before dinner.

To ensure perfect blini, Russian cooks use a special pan. Once seasoned, this pan is never washed, just wiped out with salt. The old-fashioned blini pan was clever indeed: four to six small indented pans were joined by a long central body with a handle, so that mounds of blini could be turned out very quickly. But a good cast-iron frying pan will work just as well. Simply be sure to add more butter to the pan after each blin so that the next one won’t stick. (Russian cooks use an onion half or a raw potato or a stale crust of bread to daub on the butter.)

If, however, the first blin you make turns out badly, don’t despair. The Russians have a saying for this (as for every) eventuality: “Pervyi blin komom” — “The first blin’s a lump.” In other words, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. I myself like to consider this first blin the cook’s prerogative and pop it right into my mouth.

Recipe from: A Taste of Russia

Blini (Russian Pancakes)
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Russian Pancakes (Blini)

Yield 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¾ cup buckwheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

Step 1

Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup of the milk, heated to lukewarm. Then stir in the sugar and 1¼ cups more of the milk. Add the buckwheat flour and stir briskly to mix. There should not be any lumps. Cover the sponge mixture and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Step 2

Melt the butter and mix it with the egg yolks and the sour cream. Add this mixture to the sponge, along with the remaining ½ cup of milk, the salt, and the all-purpose flour. Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours. (Make sure you have beaten the flour in well; there should not be any lumps.)

Step 3

Beat the cream until stiff. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold them into the cream. Fold this mixture into the batter. Then let the batter rest for 30 minutes more (if the batter seems too thick at this point, a little warmed milk may be carefully added).

Step 4

Heat one or several cast-iron pans. Brush with butter (and a little vegetable oil, if desired); when the butter is hot, the pans are ready.

Use 2 tablespoons of the batter for each blin, taking it from the top of the batter each time so that the rest doesn’t fall. Pour it onto the prepared pan and swirl the pan to make a pancake about 5 inches in diameter.

Cook the blin for just a few minutes, until bubbles appear on the surface, then turn and cook the other side until faintly browned. The blini are best served hot from the pan, but if they must be held, pile them in a deep dish, brushing each one with butter, and cover the top of the dish with a linen towel.

 

Cheddar Jalapeño Biscuits

Of all the biscuits we made in Baking Boot Camp, these were my favorite. They literally melt in your mouth. If you don’t want to take the time to cut out individual biscuits, you can quickly cut the dough into triangles, like scones.

Recipe from: Baking Boot Camp 

Cheddar Jalapeno Biscuits
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Cheddar Jalapeño Biscuits

Yield 12 biscuits

Ingredients

  • 1½ cups bread flour
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon jalapeño, minced
  • Egg wash of 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. In a medium bowl combine the bread flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a pastry blender, fork, or two knives, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal; set aside.

Step 2

In a small bowl, combine the cheese, milk, 1 egg, and jalapeño. Add this cheese mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Do not overmix.

Step 3

Scrape the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 8 to 12 times, gently pressing the dough together as you knead. Roll out or use your fingertips to press down the dough to a 1-inch thickness; using a 2-inch round cutter, cut the dough into biscuits. Gather scraps together, re-roll, and cut additional biscuits.

Step 4

Place the biscuits on an un-greased baking sheet approximately 1 inch apart and lightly brush the tops with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.