Russian recipes: turnips in wine sauce, and orange rice pudding
 

Hi all,

I recently picked up a fascinating cookbook, "The Vegetarian Hearth:
Recipes and Reflections for the Cold Season", by Darra Goldstein. I
have really been enjoying this book, as much for her evocative essays
as the recipes and ideas.

After a fascinating piece on vegetarianism in Russia, from Tolstoy's
asceticism, to Natalia Nordman-Severova's women's liberation, she
provides some mouthwatering Russian vegetarian standbys (which do not,
I should note, including Nordman's hay soups).

Here are a couple that have livened up my winter table.


Turnips in wine sauce

This is Goldstein's rendition of one of Elena Molokhovets's recipe
from "A Gift to Young Housewives". The original calls for malaga
rather than sherry, but that's harder to get these days.

1 lb small turnips, peeled, halved and sliced into half-inch slices
1 Tbsp butter (unsalted)
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup veg. broth (Goldstein suggests a roasted vegetable broth)
1/2 cup sweet (cream style) sherry
white pepper to taste, freshly ground
1 Tbsp parsley, minced

Blanch the turnips in a large pot of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain.

In a medium saucepan, make a light roux (melt the butter, whisk in the
flour and stir for a minute).

Slowly add the broth, stirring, then stir in the sherry.

Add the turnip pieces, cover the saucepan, and let it come to a boil.

Cook over med. low heat till the turnips are tender (10-15 minutes).

Dust with white pepper, and transfer the turnips and sauce to a
serving dish. Garnish with the parsley, and serve immediately.

Variation: to use rutabaga (swedes) instead of turnips, peel and dice
a 1 lb rutabaga, and parboil it for 15 minutes. Drain, and use as
the turnips above.


And a dessert:

Orange rice pudding

A 19th century rice pudding, finished with an orange syrup, and
oranges.

Syrup:
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
3 cloves, whole
rind of 2 navel oranges, grated
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau)
2 navel oranges, peeled, pith removed, separated into sections

Stir together the water, sugar, cloves and orange rind in a small
saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer till syrupy (~ 10 min).
Remove the cloves, and stir in the OJ and liqueur. Keep warm.

1/2 cup raw rice
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla bean
1/4 cup sugar

Place the rice, water, milk and salt in the top of a double boiler
over gently boiling water. Split the vanilla bean. Scrape the seeds
into the mixture, and add the bean. Cover the pot and let the mixture
cook till the liquid has been absorbed (~ 75 min), stirring
occassionally.

When the rice is done, remove the vanilla bean and mix in the sugar.
Mound the rice in the center of a serving dish, and place the orange
sections decoratively around it. Pour about 2/3 of the syrup over the
orange sections, and the rest over the rice, making sure that some of
the rind garnishes it on top. Serve immediately.


Enjoy!
N.