Dinner on 19 October 2009

Tonight for my dinner group I cooked an assortment of dishes:

1. Greek-inspired beef. I bought several pounds of roast for something like 5 dollars, sliced it into long strips, and cooked it along with fresh parsley, tomatoes, fresh spinach, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, tomato paste, a little bit of hot hungarian paprika (which I got from David a long time ago — thanks, Dave!) and — added last to prevent melting and dissolving — crumbled feta cheese.

2. Pilaf. I simmered 3 cups of rice in about 1/4 cup of butter until many grains of rice turned clear and some had been browned. Then I cooked the rice in 6 cups of water, just like I normally cook rice except with added chicken bouillon powder. Because I didn’t put a lid on it I had to add a bit more water later to let the rice get soft enough. Then I added a bit of turmeric and some little bits of carrot (which this photo from Wikipedia reminded me David used to put in his plov, which is the Russian analog to pilaf) and some leftover bits of parsley.

3. Beets and beet greens. I washed three whole beets and chopped the greens off. In one little pot I boiled the actual beets, and in another little pot I boiled the greens. The beets took a little while to soften up — maybe 60 to 90 minutes (I wasn’t really paying attention.)  I thought the beets and greens were all fabulous as they were, but those who didn’t grow up on such delights might like the beets better with butter and the greens better with salt.