Sunday's experiments

Tonight I made a couple of dishes I haven't done before that I picked out to use up some of the contents of the fridge. I started with a batch of kapusniak (sauerkraut, apple, and winter vegetable stew) using the recipe from BittmanWorld. This was quite different, but very good. It would have been even better if we had had the called-for quantity of dried porcinis.

I followed the kapusniak with a lentil and beet dish from the Le Menu archives: Start by softening a minced onion (should be a shallot) in butter. Add 2 small beets (250-300g), peeled and diced small (.5 cm) and a couple pinches of salt and continue to cook until the beets start to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add two cloves of minced garlic, mix well and then 400ml stock; cover, and simmer another 5 minutes. Add 250g pre-soaked lentils and enough water to cover them. Cover the pot and simmer until the lentils are soft (15-20 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in a sauce made from 180g yogurt, a Tbs of freshly grated horseradish, and 1/2 bunch finely chopped chives. Adjust seasonings and serve topped with a bit of smoked trout.

Here the earthiness of the lentils played very nicely with that of the beets and it was all offset well by the sharpness of the horseradish and the richness of the yogurt and smoked fish. It's excellent to find another good beet recipe.