Sausage Mushroom Zucchini Tian (kinda like a risotto but easier)

Date Published: Feb 28th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 28th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: easy, healthy, low-cal, mains, vegetarian
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 40 mins

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‘Tian de Courgettes au Riz’ is a recipe from the great Julia Child. I came across this recipe randomly through my search for healthier meals in this new year and found many adaptations of it. From those adaptations, I played around with the recipe, added in mushrooms and sausage (because why not) to make it a more rounded and hearty meal, and out came yet another adaptation of her recipe 😛. According to the internet, a “tian” is a French word used to describe a shallow baking dish but also the name of a baked vegetable dish (Martha Stewart compares the wordplay to a casserole and a casserole dish).

In its essence, this dish is pretty much rice cooked in zucchini liquid mixed with mushroom, meat, and cheese. It’s kind of like a risotto, except much easier to achieve. This recipe seems long, but I promise it’s just wordy and not difficult at all. Once you get into it, you’ll realize that it’s quite easy and not at all intimidating unlike other Julia Child recipes.

This recipe is a fantastic way to use up an overflow of zucchinis in the summer season. For 6 portions, it uses up about 6 large zucchinis. I wish I discovered this recipe sooner when Toby and I were staying on the farm. His dad grew sooooo many zucchinis that we were gifting them to everyone we see (he was seriously harvesting at least 6-8 a day at peak season!).

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

*You will need an oven-proof pot or dutch oven with a lid – I used a 5 1/4 quart dutch oven.

1.5kg zucchinis (roughly 6 large ones)
500g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Roughly 1/2 a cup of milk (amount will vary depending on how much liquid is released from your zucchini and mushrooms)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium brown onions, diced
3 Tbsps all purpose flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated + extra for sprinkling
Salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup medium grain rice (I use arborio/risotto rice, but any medium grain will do)
300-400g kielbasa (Polish sausage), diced
- You can use any protein you like (ie. sausage, ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken…etc.), but make sure your protein is cooked, dry, and doesn’t add any extra liquid or else it’ll throw off the liquid ratio to cook the rice.

Directions:

Cut the fibrous ends off the zucchinis and grate each one using a large hole grater (this is a whole lot quicker if you have a food processor with a grating function). Place a colander over a bowl and put the grated zucchini into the colander with 3 tsps of salt. Use your hands and massage the salt through the zucchini, making sure its mixed well. Set aside for 1 hour, allowing the liquid from the zucchini to release and collect in the bowl below.

After 1 hour, squeeze out as much zucchini liquid as you can and save this liquid. Rinse the grated zucchini under cold water to remove any excess salt and squeeze until dry and set aside (do not save this liquid).

While you’re waiting for the zucchini to release its liquid, cook the mushrooms: in a large pan on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the mushrooms until cooked (4-5 minutes). Place the cooked mushrooms in a strainer and reserve any liquid.

Measure out the amount of collected zucchini liquid from step 2 and add in the released liquid from the mushrooms in step 3 until it makes 3.75 cups. If the combined liquid is not enough to make up 3.75 cups, then add enough milk to make up the rest of the amount. Pour the liquid into a saucepan and heat it up on the stove until warmed. Do NOT let it come to a boil, otherwise it may split. Only heat it up until warmed. Keep on LOW heat until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F.

In an oven-safe pot or dutch oven (make sure there’s a lid, I used a 5 1/4 quart size dutch oven) on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the garlic and onion together for 3-4 minutes until the onion turns translucent. Then add in the grated zucchini and continue to sauté for another 5-6 minutes.

Add in the cooked mushrooms and 3 Tbsps of flour to the pan and continue mixing for 2 more minutes until everything is well combined then turn off the heat.

Mix in the Parmesan cheese, rice, and kielbasa (or your choice of cooked protein).

Pour in the warmed zucchini/mushroom/milk liquid over top. Mix it all together then cover with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Add Parmesan and bake uncovered for another 20-25 mins

After 20 minutes, remove the lid and add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese over top and continue baking without the lid for another 20-25 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is slightly golden brown. Once it’s done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes for any remaining liquid to absorb before serving. When dishing it out, add another sprinkle of Parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Sausage Mushroom Zucchini Tian (kinda like a risotto but easier)

Ingredients:

*You will need an oven-proof pot or dutch oven with a lid – I used a 5 1/4 quart dutch oven.

1.5kg zucchinis (roughly 6 large ones)
500g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Roughly 1/2 a cup of milk (amount will vary depending on how much liquid is released from your zucchini and mushrooms)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium brown onions, diced
3 Tbsps all purpose flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated + extra for sprinkling
Salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup medium grain rice (I use arborio/risotto rice, but any medium grain will do)
300-400g kielbasa (Polish sausage), diced
- You can use any protein you like (ie. sausage, ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken…etc.), but make sure your protein is cooked, dry, and doesn’t add any extra liquid or else it’ll throw off the liquid ratio to cook the rice.

Directions:

Prepare the zucchini: Cut the fibrous ends off the zucchinis and grate each one using a large hole grater (this is a whole lot quicker if you have a food processor with a grating function). Place a colander over a bowl and put the grated zucchini into the colander with 3 tsps of salt. Use your hands and massage the salt through the zucchini, making sure its mixed well. Set aside for 1 hour, allowing the liquid from the zucchini to release and collect in the bowl below. After 1 hour, squeeze out as much zucchini liquid as you can and save this liquid. Rinse the grated zucchini under cold water to remove any excess salt and squeeze until dry and set aside (do not save this liquid).
Cook the mushrooms: While you’re waiting for the zucchini to release its liquid, cook the mushrooms: in a large pan on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the mushrooms until cooked (4-5 minutes). Place the cooked mushrooms in a strainer and reserve any liquid.
Prepare the liquid: Measure out the amount of collected zucchini liquid from step 2 and add in the released liquid from the mushrooms in step 3 until it makes 3.75 cups. If the combined liquid is not enough to make up 3.75 cups, then add enough milk to make up the rest of the amount. Pour the liquid into a saucepan and heat it up on the stove until warmed. Do NOT let it come to a boil, otherwise it may split. Only heat it up until warmed. Keep on LOW heat until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F.
In an oven-safe pot or dutch oven (make sure there’s a lid) on MED-HIGH heat, add a drizzle of oil and sauté the garlic and onion together for 3-4 minutes until the onion turns translucent. Then add in the grated zucchini and continue to sauté for another 5-6 minutes.
Add in the cooked mushrooms and 3 Tbsps of flour to the pan and continue mixing for 2 more minutes until everything is well combined then turn off the heat.
Mix in the Parmesan cheese, rice, and kielbasa (or your choice of cooked protein).
Pour in the warmed zucchini/mushroom/milk liquid over top. Mix it all together then cover with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove the lid and add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese over top and continue baking without the lid for another 20-25 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is slightly golden brown. Once it’s done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes for any remaining liquid to absorb before serving. When dishing it out, add another sprinkle of Parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!

February 28, 2024February 28, 2024

AbbyLeave a comment

Damn Good Short Rib Ragu (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Feb 27th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 27th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

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After making my first ever short ribs dish through this insanely good recipe, I’ve become hooked! Short ribs was never a cut of meat I’ve worked with before and it often requires extremely long cooking times to break down the connective tissue, but praise the Instant Pot! It cuts down cooking times from 3 hours to just 1 hour and it produced extremely soft fall-off-the-bone results. If you’re unfamiliar with short ribs, you can check out my other short rib recipe for a bit of background information, including the differences between the cuts of short ribs.

This recipe is originally from Giada. I’ve altered it for Instant Pot cooking methods to cut down on cooking times and still produce identical results.

Unlike the classic braised short rib with red wine sauce, this meat is shredded then served in a slightly more subtle tomato-base sauce with a touch of Dijon mustard and a cup of red wine (rather than half the bottle). The rich meaty sauce is tossed through your choice of any style of pasta and served with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. The deliciously flavourful sauce with the soft shredded meats is balanced out by the pasta, making this the perfect pasta dish to make to impress. You’ll be amazed by how much flavour you can get from so few ingredients!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1.8kg (4 lbs) beef short ribs, English cut (Cross cut/Korean cut is fine too but it will take longer to sear and it’ll be annoying to remove all the little round bones at the end)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
1 cup red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon
3 Tbsps Dijon mustard
2 cups beef broth
4-6 portions of pasta – any kind you like
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling when serving

Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.

Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.

Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.

Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).

Add in the tomatoes, red wine, Dijon mustard, and beef stock. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.

Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.

When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the meat and bones into a separate bowl. Discard all the bones and use two forks to shred the meat. Cover the meat to keep warm and set aside.

Liquid left over after the meat and bones have been removed

Make the sauce: Once all the meat and bones have been removed, you should only have vegetables left in the liquid. Skim off any excess oil that may be floating on top. Use a stick blender to blend the liquid until smooth (you can also pour it into a blender if you don’t have a stick blender) then pour it into a saucepan or wide based pan. Turn the heat to MED and simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce the sauce until you get a thickened syrupy consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Once the sauce has thickened, add the shredded meat (from step 6) into the sauce and stir through until warmed. Turn off the heat.

Make the pasta: While the sauce is reducing, make the pasta according to instructions. Strain when finished and set aside.

To serve: Divide the pasta into serving bowls and spoon the sauce with meat over top. Add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese overtop before serving. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

Damn Good Short Rib Ragu (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Feb 27th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 27th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients:

1.8kg (4 lbs) beef short ribs, English cut (Cross cut/Korean cut is fine too but it will take longer to sear and it’ll be annoying to remove all the little round bones at the end)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
1 cup red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon
3 Tbsps Dijon mustard
2 cups beef broth
4-6 portions of pasta – any kind you like
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling when serving

Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.
Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.
- Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.
Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).
Add in the tomatoes, red wine, Dijon mustard, and beef stock. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.
Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.
When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the meat and bones into a separate bowl. Discard all the bones and use two forks to shred the meat. Cover the meat to keep warm and set aside.
Make the sauce: Once all the meat and bones have been removed, you should only have vegetables left in the liquid. Skim off any excess oil that may be floating on top. Use a stick blender to blend the liquid until smooth (you can also pour it into a blender if you don’t have a stick blender) then pour it into a saucepan or wide based pan. Turn the heat to MED and simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce the sauce until you get a thickened syrupy consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Once the sauce has thickened, add the shredded meat (from step 6) into the sauce and stir through until warmed. Turn off the heat.
Make the pasta: While the sauce is reducing, make the pasta according to instructions. Strain when finished and set aside.
To serve: Divide the pasta into serving bowls and spoon the sauce with meat over top. Add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese overtop before serving. Done!

February 27, 2024

AbbyLeave a comment

Luxurious Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Feb 26th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 26th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-5 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 2 hours

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Bookmark this, it’s time to impress everyone. These beef short ribs are fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your mouth soft and it’s paired with a luxurious rich syrupy red wine sauce that is to die for. Try it yourself, you won’t regret it!

I came across this recipe through a Reddit cooking thread that asked people what their go-to dish was when they want to impress dinner guests and this one from RecipeTinEats was one of the top responses. I couldn’t wait to make it but due to our busy work schedule and sourcing the ingredients (mainly the short rib), it wasn’t until a week later that I finally got to try out the recipe. This dish was definitely worth it wait – it came out DELICIOUS! I actually had a lot of leftovers due to the giant Costco size package of short ribs I got so I shared it with our coworkers and they all unanimously agreed that it was damn good. This is a dish worth showing off – seriously.

What are beef short ribs?

Image source: https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/the-serratus-ventralis-muscle/

I had never cooked with beef short rib before and didn’t even really know what it was. Is it different than a regular beef rib? Why is it ‘short’? Did they just trim down a regular rib? Why is it more expensive? What’s so special about it?

Being a veterinarian, I had to look up anatomical images of a cow just to figure out where the short ribs even came from to have it all make sense in my head. According to Wikipedia, the serratus ventralis muscle defines the area from where the short ribs come from. This muscle is thickest between the 2nd to 5th rib and is the preferred area to cut because the muscle here is much thicker. Outside of this area the serratus ventralis becomes too thin to create a true ‘short rib’. So a beef short rib is from specific area of the ribs that is meatier – which probably explains why its more expensive (if there are any butchers reading this, please correct me if I’m wrong!). I highlighted an anatomical diagram and included it in this post in case anyone else was as interested as me – ignore the fact that it’s an equine model 🤫.

English Cut vs. Cross-cut/Korean Cut?

There are two main ways a short rib is cut:

English cut – where the meat is cut along the bone and you end up with long pieces of rib bone and chunks of meat.
Cross cut or Korean-style cut where the ribs are cut across the bone and you end up with small circular bones and thin cuts of meat. This is popular in Korean short rib dishes – in fact, I couldn’t even find any non-Korean style dishes that used short ribs in this style of cut.

(Here is a helpful video from a butcher to help you visualize it better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA4FwE7QbrE)

In this recipe, we want the English cut so we can get big chunks of meat when serving. Living in South Brooklyn, we have a severe deficiency of a good butcher around our area and we had to go to THREE bodega grocery stores just to find English cut short ribs. Side story: the first time I made this recipe I found a huge pack of short ribs at Costco for a decent price and was so excited to make it. Nowhere on the package did it list what style it was cut and the way that it was packaged made it impossible to tell, so I just assumed it was the English cut since there is also a severe deficiency in Asian-style grocers in the area – what are the chances that this “Kansas City Steak Company” meat would be a Korean cut? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I woke up at 7am that morning to start prepping and cooking so everything would be cooked and ready by lunch time (the original recipe has a 3 hour cook time with a dutch oven – more on that below). I opened the big hefty bag of meat that I had been staring at for the past 3 days and I was so disheartened to find that it was the wrong cut of short ribs 😭. I triple checked the packaging in the garbage to see if I was the one that made the mistake, but indeed there was no label at all to identify the cut of meat, other than “sliced”. I had a mini temper tantrum not knowing whether I should abort mission after literally dreaming about short ribs for so many days or to continue on and hope for the best. All this at 7am while Toby happily slept in – he doesn’t know how close I was to waking him up to rage. Not wanting to waste $40 of meat and also definitely not wanting to venture out this early in the morning in the middle of winter to find more short ribs, I continued on. The flavours turned out just fine, but the steps involved were a lot lengthier and it was definitely super annoying to pick out every single cross-cut bone. I have included a photo of the offending meat package so no one else makes the same mistake that I did at Costco. /rant

What if I can’t find English cut and only Cross cut/Korean-style cut?

If you cannot find English cut short ribs and you can only find the Korean-style cut, you can still proceed with this recipe as written and the flavours will still be the same, but there will be some adjustments:

If your rib slices are long, you may have to use scissors to cut them in half before you sear them so it fits in the pot better.
It will take much longer to sear all the meat because you’ll be dealing with more pieces rather than bigger chunks of meat, so plan accordingly.
When you have an English cut, you have the option of serving the dish with or without the bone based on preference of presentation. If you use a Korean cut, you must remove all of the bone prior to serving or else there will be small round bones throughout your dish which is unpleasant. Removing every piece of bone is time-consuming and a bit annoying, so be prepared for this.
After you remove all the bone, the beef will look a bit ugly and stringy from the extra connective tissue around each bone so I’d recommend you break it all up and shred the meat before serving. Although the flavour of the dish will be the same, you won’t get big chunks of meat but rather shredded meat – it’s still delicious nonetheless, but the texture is a little different.

Instant Pot (pressure cooker) vs Dutch Oven – not much difference other than time!

The original recipe (and most short rib recipes on the internet) calls for a dutch oven that slowly cooks the short ribs in the oven for 3 HOURS. I did this. I even bought a dutch oven just for this recipe – well, I was eventually going to get one anyway, but this recipe pulled the trigger for me to get it now 😛. When I first made this recipe, I had a large amount of short rib from Costco (albeit in the wrong cut – see rant above) so I decided to double the recipe. However, when it came time to cook it all, I realized that not all of it fit into my 5 1/4qt dutch oven and there was no way I was going to make it in two batches and commit another 3 hours to making this (totalling 6 hours of cooking time), so I decided to put half of it in my Instant Pot and cook it at the same time.

The original recipe from RecipeTinEats raves about the dutch oven method as her preferred way of making this due to the flavour from the extra caramelization of the sauce and beef. Since I was doing half dutch oven and half Instant Pot, I figured that even if the Instant Pot version wasn’t as good at least I wouldn’t be cooking until late into the evening and I’d still have the oven ribs to enjoy. The Instant Pot version only took 1 hour cook time and was the first to finish. Because it was pressure cooked with the lid on, all the liquid had remained and I ended up having to reduce the sauce down a LOT to get the right consistency – it took about 15-20 minutes, whereas it should usually take 5-10mins. The resulting sauce and meat was REALLY GOOD (and even with the wrong cut of meat!). I couldn’t believe how rich the flavours were and how tender the meat was! It was incredible. The timer went off again and this time the dutch oven method was ready – I was excited. There was a lot less liquid so the sauce came together much faster but the texture and colour of the meat was the same (see the comparison photos below).

I did a blind taste test with Toby of the Instant Pot meat and sauce vs the dutch oven meat and sauce. He couldn’t tell the difference (and neither could I) – he actually thought maybe the Instant Pot version was a little better by a hair, which made me really happy because although I love my beautiful new dutch oven, I would much prefer waiting 1 hour for something to cook rather than 3 hours for the same results. Although you have a longer sauce reduction time with the Instant Pot, the overall time commitment is still less. Instant Pot wins!

*Note: when I did this cooking trial, I did it with the wrong cut of meat – Korean style cut rather than the English cut. In this trial, the flavours of the meat turned out exactly the same and the sauces were also similar as well which is why my Instant Pot is my go-to for this dish. I haven’t tried the dutch oven method with the English cut so I can’t speak for any differences in meat that it may have. To me, the sauce is the focus and the small differences in textures of the meat is secondary, so if you’ve done it both ways with the English cut, I’d love to know if you find a big difference!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1.5 – 2kg beef short ribs, English cut (~ roughly 4-5 large pieces, try to get ones with more meat on them)
Kosher salt & pepper
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium carrots, diced
4 sticks of celery, diced
2 Tbsps tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
2 cups (500ml) red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon.
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp of dried thyme)
2 bay leaves
Your choice of side to serve with the short ribs: ie. mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, salad…etc.

Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.

Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.

Make sure you scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom!

Add in the carrots and celery. Continue to cook until the carrots have softened (7-9 minutes).

Add in the tomato paste and stir through, then the beef stock, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.

While the instant pot is cooking, you can prepare any sides to go with the short ribs. I’d recommend a carb like mashed potatoes to pair with the rich short ribs sauce and an easy veg like green beans or a salad.

When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the ribs into a separate bowl, trying to keep the meat and bones intact for serving. Cover the ribs to keep warm and set aside.

You want a slightly thickened syrupy consistency

Make the sauce: Place a strainer over a bowl and strain out the vegetables from the liquid. Use a spoon or ladle to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the vegetables. Discard the vegetables. Pour the strained liquid into a saucepan or wide based pan and simmer on MED heat for 15-20 mins until you get a thickened syrupy-consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Drizzle the sauce over the short rib to serve.

To serve: Place 1-2 pieces of short rib (depending on how large your pieces are) on a plate with or without the bone and add a drizzle of the sauce overtop. Serve with your desired side dishes. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Luxurious Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce (in an Instant Pot)

Date Published: Feb 26th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 26th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4-5 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

1.5 – 2kg beef short ribs, English cut (~ roughly 4-5 large pieces, try to get ones with more meat on them)
Kosher salt & pepper
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium carrots, diced
4 sticks of celery, diced
2 Tbsps tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
2 cups (500ml) red wine – any will do, even the cheap stuff! I use cabernet sauvignon
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp of dried thyme)
2 bay leaves
Your choice of side to serve with the short ribs: ie. mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, salad…etc.

Directions:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.
Turn your instant pot on to the SAUTÉ setting on HIGH heat. Add a drizzle of oil and sear the short ribs in batches, making sure you brown every side. Set aside the seared ribs.
- Tip: Watch out for the oil splattering! A splatter guard will work wonders here and extra long tongs or extra long chopsticks will be even better to avoid getting hot oil on your hands when you turn the ribs to sear each side.
Turn the heat down to MED and add in the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant, making sure you scrape up any browned bits from the beef on the bottom and sides of the pot (the precious brown bits give us extra flavour and the moisture from the onions will help soften it from the bottom of the pot).
Add in the carrots and celery. Continue to cook until the carrots have softened (7-9 minutes).
Add in the tomato paste and stir through, then the beef stock, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves. Mix everything together and simmer for 3 minutes for the alcohol to cook out.
Add back in the seared ribs (from step 2) and submerge them in the liquid. Cancel the instant pot sauté setting and put on the lid. Set the instant pot to PRESSURE COOK and HIGH for 1:00 hour with 10 minutes of natural release.
While the instant pot is cooking, you can prepare any sides to go with the short ribs. I’d recommend a carb like mashed potatoes to pair with the rich short ribs sauce and an easy veg like green beans.
When the timer has finished, turn off the instant pot and open it. You should have a very tender fall-off-the-bone short rib! Very carefully, remove all of the ribs into a separate bowl, trying to keep the meat and bones intact for serving. Cover the ribs to keep warm and set aside.
Make the sauce: Place a strainer over a bowl and strain out the vegetables from the liquid. Use a spoon or ladle to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the vegetables. Discard the vegetables. Pour the strained liquid into a saucepan or wide based pan and simmer on MED heat for 15-20 mins until you get a thickened syrupy-consistency. This will take a while because there will be a decent amount of liquid to cook down since the instant pot does not evaporate any liquid as it cooks. Drizzle the sauce over the short rib to serve.
To serve: Place 1-2 pieces of short rib (depending on how large your pieces are) on a plate with or without the bone and add a drizzle of the sauce overtop. Serve with your desired side dishes. Enjoy!

February 26, 2024February 28, 2024

Abby1 Comment

Tomato Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Date Published: Feb 23rd, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 23rd, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: easy, <30 mins, vegetarian, healthy, snacks, low cal
Serves: 6 as a side | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

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Spanakorizo is a traditional Greek spinach rice dish. I had never heard of it until I came upon it through my weekly foodie email subscriptions that I use for inspiration in things to cook for the week. The version that I saw was a lemony version with dill, mint, and crumbled feta (check out the recipe here), but upon further research I found a tomato version of it as well that looked just as good. Both dishes are called ‘Spanakorizo’ = spinach rice and when you google recipes for spanakorizo, you’ll get a mix of some with tomato and some without. After lots of recipe comparisons, I went with the saucy tomato version by Mia Kouppa and it was DELICIOUS and so easy! This recipe is a direct adaptation from hers (it’s perfect, I didn’t change much other than added some extra measurements of ingredients and rewrote some directions to suit my brain) – I’d recommend checking out her website with more photos and explanations to the history of the dish.

Tomato Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Lemon Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Both versions of spanakorizo are great, so if you’ve got the time you should definitely try making both. The lemon version is more dry like a regular rice pilaf and pairs nicely as a side dish, but this version is saucy and more flavourful which is great when eaten with toasted bread.

This recipe uses a LOT of spinach, which is perfect if you find yourself in abundance over the growing season. You can use regular mature spinach or baby spinach. It’s currently winter time in NYC and fresh mature spinach is hard to come by, so I bought the big box of baby spinach from Costco for this recipe – it’s actually the perfect amount!

This recipe does make quite a bit, so if you’re only cooking for 2-3 people, I’d recommend halving the recipe.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1/2 cup olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped
450g (1 lb) of fresh spinach, chopped coarsely – I used the big box of baby spinach leaves from Costco, but if you’re using mature spinach, make sure to chop it into smaller pieces so you don’t get stringy cooked spinach in the end)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 cup (180g) medium grain rice, uncooked and rinsed
2 cups (500ml) tomato passata
2 cups (500ml) chicken stock
1/2 tsp kosher/cooking salt + more to taste
Optional to serve: crumbled feta cheese, toasted bread

Directions:

In a medium sized pot on MED heat, heat a 1/2 cup olive oil then add in the spring onions. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Next, add in the spinach, parsley, and rice. If the pot is overflowing with the spinach, stir the spinach into the olive oil in small batches and let it wilt before adding more.

Pour in the tomato passata, chicken stock, and salt. Let it come to a boil then turn the heat down to LOW and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes with the lid on until the rice is cooked.

Done! Serve as a side dish or on its own family-style with toasted bread. Optional to sprinkle some crumbled feta cheese over.

Summarized Recipe:

Tomato Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped
450g (1 lb) of fresh spinach, chopped coarsely – I used the big box of baby spinach leaves from Costco, but if you’re using mature spinach, make sure to chop it into smaller pieces so you don’t get stringy cooked spinach in the end)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 cup (180g) medium grain rice, uncooked and rinsed
2 cups tomato passata
2 cups (500ml) chicken stock
1/2 tsp kosher/cooking salt + more to taste
Optional to serve: crumbled feta cheese, toasted bread

Directions:

In a medium sized pot on MED heat, heat a 1/2 cup olive oil then add in the spring onions. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Next, add in the spinach, parsley, and rice. If the pot is overflowing with the spinach, stir the spinach into the olive oil in small batches and let it wilt before adding more.
Pour in the tomato passata, chicken stock, and salt. Let it come to a boil then turn the heat down to LOW and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes with the lid on until the rice is cooked. Done! Serve as a side dish or on its own family-style with toasted bread. Optional to sprinkle some crumbled feta cheese over.

February 23, 2024February 23, 2024

Abby1 Comment

Lemon Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Date Published: Feb 23rd, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 23rd, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: sides, easy, healthy, low cal, vegetarian
Serves: 6 as a side | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

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Spanakorizo is a traditional Greek spinach rice dish that is lemony and savoury with hints of salt from the feta crumbled on top. It’s flavourful enough on its own, but would pair well with a fish or pork roast. Alternatively, you can mix in some shredded rotisserie chicken and make it a complete meal!

I discovered this dish through my weekly email subscriptions of a foodie website and as soon I saw it, I knew I had to make it. I researched a few different recipes and most of them were very similar with a few differing factors, so I combined a couple of different recipes based on their reader reviews and came up with this one! (Through my research I also learned of a tomato version of a spanakorizo that looked just as good – you can check out the recipe here).

Tomato Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Lemon Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

This recipe does make quite a bit, so if you’re only cooking for 2-3 people, I’d recommend halving the recipe.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced small
1.5 cups (290g) medium-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup packed (23g) fresh dill leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup packed (20g) fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
450g (1 lb) of fresh spinach, chopped coarsely – I used the big box of baby spinach leaves from Costco, but if you’re using mature spinach, make sure to chop it into smaller pieces so you don’t get stringy cooked spinach in the end
2.25 cups (560ml) chicken or vegetable stock, or more as needed
1/3 cup feta cheese, or more for sprinkling

Directions:

Remove lemon zest in large wide strips using a peeler or paring knife. Set aside.

In a large pot on MED heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the garlic and onion together until the onions are soft.

Next, add in the rice, lemon zest (from step 1), dill, mint, salt and pepper. Sauté for 30 seconds, then add in the spinach and chicken broth. It will seem like a LOT of spinach at this stage, but continue to stir it through and the spinach will wilt down. Once the spinach has all wilted, let the liquid come to a boil them simmer on LOW heat for 25 minutes with the lid on.

After 25 minutes, take off the lid and stir it around. Taste and if the rice is a bit under, add a splash of chicken broth and cook a little longer with the lid on until cooked. When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and use a fork to fluff up the rice. Remove the pieces of lemon zest and let the rice sit without the lid for 5 mins to absorb any remaining liquids. Drizzle a bit of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of feta cheese over before serving. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Lemon Spanakorizo – Greek Spinach Rice

Ingredients:

1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced small
1.5 cups (290g) medium-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup packed (23g) fresh dill leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup packed (20g) fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
450g (1 lb) of fresh spinach, chopped coarsely – I used the big box of baby spinach leaves from Costco, but if you’re using mature spinach, make sure to chop it into smaller pieces so you don’t get stringy cooked spinach in the end
2.25 cups (560ml) chicken or vegetable stock, or more as needed
1/3 cup feta cheese, or more for sprinkling

Directions:

Remove lemon zest in large wide strips using a peeler or paring knife. Set aside.
In a large pot on MED heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the garlic and onion together until the onions are soft.
Next, add in the rice, lemon zest (from step 1), dill, mint, salt and pepper. Sauté for 30 seconds, then add in the spinach and chicken broth. It will seem like a LOT of spinach at this stage, but continue to stir it through and the spinach will wilt down. Once the spinach has all wilted, let the liquid come to a boil them simmer on LOW heat for 25 minutes with the lid on. After 25 minutes, take off the lid and stir it around. Taste and if the rice is a bit under, add a splash of chicken broth and cook a little longer with the lid on until cooked.
When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and use a fork to fluff up the rice. Remove the pieces of lemon zest and let the rice sit without the lid for 5 mins to absorb any remaining liquids. Drizzle a bit of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of feta cheese over before serving. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Enjoy!

February 23, 2024February 23, 2024

Abby1 Comment

Segedínský Guláš – Czech Pork Sauerkraut Goulash

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Czech, easy, mains, soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 1.5 hours

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This is one of Toby’s favourite Czech dishes (next to svičkova), so of course I made it a personal challenge to try and make the best segedinsky goulash I could. After 3 tries, I think I did it. Not to toot my own horn, but this is pretty fucking good and Toby would agree. It’s a hearty goulash with pork as its main protein and it’s slowly simmered in bacon, paprika, and sauerkraut, then topped off with a little sour cream. I’m not usually a fan of sauerkraut (unless it’s a sweet braised version), but when it’s cooked into a savoury stew like this, it adds a nice texture and just a hint of tartness that balances it out nicely.

Toby has no idea why it’s called “segedinsky” since it doesn’t translate to anything in Czech. After a little googling, I learned that this dish has a few possible origins but the most popular two explanations are: 1) a Hungarian dish from the city of Szeged in Hungary that is known for their paprika, or 2) from a Hungarian writer Jozsef Székély who came to a restaurant that ran out of food at closing and requested the leftover goulash and sauerkraut to be mixed together to make a meal. Whatever the true origin, there’s no doubt it has Hungarian roots and has been widely popular in surrounding countries including Czech and Germany!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

200g (roughly 6 slices) smoked thick-cut bacon, sliced small
900g (2 lbs) pork shoulder, cut into 2.5cm pieces
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
3 medium (~1.2kg) onions, diced
1 Tbsp sweet ground paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups (720ml) beef broth
300g sauerkraut, without the liquid
1/2 cup (100g) sour cream
Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large pot on MED heat, add a light drizzle of oil and the bacon. Cook for 5-8 minutes to let the bacon fat render and release its oils. It’ll be done when the bacon is lightly browned and starting to get crispy. Make sure to regularly scrape the bottom of the pot so the brown bits don’t stick. Once done, remove just the bacon from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot – you’re going to use this to cook the rest of the dish).

In the same pot, turn the heat up to MED-HIGH and add in the pork shoulder pieces and sear each side for 1-2 minutes until it’s browned on the outside (you do not want to cook the pork through at this stage, just sear the outside). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot).

Still in the same pot, turn the heat down to MED and add in the caraway seeds and onions. Sauté for 5-8 minutes until the onions soften and start to brown.

Add back in the bacon (from step 1), seared pork (from step 2), paprika and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant, then add in the flour. Continue to sauté together for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until all the flour is mixed well. Pour the beef broth into the pot and stir everything around, making sure to scrape up anything that stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to HIGH to bring it to a boil, then simmer on LOW covered with a lid for 30 minutes.

While you’re waiting, put your sauerkraut into a strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop the sauerkraut into smaller pieces and set aside.

Once the broth has finished boiling, add the chopped sauerkraut into the pot, stir it around, then let it continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked, with the lid on. Try not to overcook your goulash or else the sauerkraut starts to lose its texture.

Once the soup has finished, turn the heat off, add in the sour cream and taste to adjust salt to preference. Serve hot with bread or potato dumplings!

*Note: If you’re going to double the recipe for a batch-cook, you’ll have to simmer the soup longer. This is because when you double the ingredients, you’ll end up with more moisture overall so your soup will be more dilute and simmering it longer will reduce the amount of liquid and concentrating the flavours. I’d recommend simmering it longer before you add in the sauerkraut so you don’t overcook the sauerkraut.

Summarized Recipe:

Segedínský Guláš – Czech Pork Sauerkraut Goulash

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Czech, easy, mains, soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:

200g (roughly 6 slices) smoked thick-cut bacon, sliced small
900g (2 lbs) pork shoulder, cut into 2.5cm pieces
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
3 medium (~1.2kg) onions, diced
300g sauerkraut, without the liquid
1 Tbsp sweet ground paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups (720ml) beef broth
1/2 cup (100g) sour cream
Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large pot on MED heat, add a light drizzle of oil and the bacon. Cook for 5-8 minutes to let the bacon fat render and release its oils. It’ll be done when the bacon is lightly browned and starting to get crispy. Make sure to regularly scrape the bottom of the pot so the brown bits don’t stick. Once done, remove just the bacon from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot – you’re going to use this to cook the rest of the dish).
In the same pot, turn the heat up to MED-HIGH and add in the pork shoulder pieces and sear each side for 1-2 minutes until it’s browned on the outside (you do not want to cook the pork through at this stage, just sear the outside). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside (leave the oil in the pot).
Still in the same pot, turn the heat down to MED and add in the caraway seeds and onions. Sauté for 5-8 minutes until the onions soften and start to brown.
Add back in the bacon (from step 1), seared pork (from step 2), paprika and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant, then add in the flour. Continue to sauté together for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until all the flour is mixed well.
Pour the beef broth into the pot and stir everything around, making sure to scrape up anything that stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to HIGH to bring it to a boil, then simmer on LOW covered with a lid for 30 minutes.
While you’re waiting, put your sauerkraut into a strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop the sauerkraut into smaller pieces and set aside.
Once the broth has finished boiling, add the chopped sauerkraut into the pot, stir it around, then let it continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked, with the lid on. Try not to overcook your goulash or else the sauerkraut starts to lose its texture.
Once the soup has finished, turn the heat off, add in the sour cream and taste to adjust salt to preference. Serve hot with bread or potato dumplings!

February 14, 2024February 14, 2024

Abby1 Comment

Vepřo knedlo zelo (pork, dumpling, sauerkraut) – a Czech national dish

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 3 hours (mainly to wait until the potatoes cool) | Cook time: 3 hours

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Vepřo knedlo zelo is Czech’s national dish (or at least one of them – I couldn’t find an official source to state what the official national Czech dish is, but most sources have pointed to this one (another source claims it to be svičkova)). Regardless of whether or not it’s the true national dish, it’s definitely very popular and found in most Czech restaurants.

The name of the dish directly translates to the 3 components that make up the dish: vepřo = pork, knedlo = dumpling, zelo = sauerkraut. Disclaimer: this page is not a recipe page of all 3 components, but rather a guide to making all 3 components in order with links to each of their dedicated recipes. I’ve chosen to split it up this way to make it easier for the reader to navigate rather than writing it all in one monstrously long recipe post with a million photos. Each component is also delicious on their own that you can pair it with other dishes instead of just in a vepřo knedlo zelo.

1. Vepřo = pork

The pork portion is usually a pork shoulder, which can be roasted or smoked. The first time I had this dish was at babička’s place and she served it with a smoked pork shoulder. She was cooking away with it for hours that the whole apartment smelled like smoked ham – I’m pretty sure my jacket still has a hint of it 4 weeks later 😅. When I set out to recreate this dish, we visited the lovely little Polish butcher a block away from us and found that they sell beautiful already-cooked smoked pork shoulder! We couldn’t resist and bought a few hundred grams (it was delicious). We still go back there when we’re feeling too lazy to cook and heat it up with sauerkraut and dumplings.

Instead of a smoked pork, a roast pork is the other version of this dish. When I first made it from scratch, I didn’t expect much since the steps were so simple and straightforward. I also don’t usually cook with pork much so my experience with making pork roasts is very limited, but I’ve gotta say, it came out really fucking good – even Toby approves! Although the smoked pork is good and easy, the roasted version is a lot juicier in my opinion. The recipe for the roasted pork shoulder is below.

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast

2. Knedlo = dumpling

Knedlíky are Czech dumplings. There are a few different kinds of Czech dumplings, but in this particular dish, it’s commonly served with either the bread version (houskové knedlíky) or the potato version (bramborové knedlíky) (you can find out more about the difference here). I personally prefer it with a heavier dense potato dumpling, but it can be served with the lighter fluffier bread dumpling version too. In this guide, I will reference the potato dumpling version (which happens to be easier too!). Here are links to both types of dumplings:

Czech Potato Dumplings – Bramborové Knedlíky

Czech Bread Dumplings – Houskové Knedlíky

3. Zelo = sauerkraut

You can serve this dish with whatever style of sauerkraut you like, but I prefer it with a sweet smokey version like this one here. Since this is my favourite sauerkraut, I will also be writing this guide in accordance to that recipe. Fun fact: I actually liked this version of sauerkraut so much that I needed to find a meat dish to go with it which is how I got onto making a vepřo knedlo zelo in the first place. I never would’ve made this dish if I hadn’t succeeded in making the sauerkraut 🙃.

Braised Bacon & Mushroom Sweet Sauerkraut

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the guide! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Directions:

1. Make the pork roast first. This is the most time-consuming and will take 2.5-3 hours to cook. Although lengthy, all this time is literally waiting. There’s nothing else that needs to be done with the pork once you pop it in the oven which makes it the perfect time to prepare everything else. When it’s done, measure it with a meat thermometer to ensure that it’s cooked and slice it. Easy. If you’re not ready to serve it yet while you finish the other components, leave it drenched in the drippings/oils from the pan to keep it moist and soaking up flavour.

2. While the pork is roasting in the oven, start making the potato dumplings. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to put the dough together and once the loaves are formed, it takes about half an hour to cook each batch. If you have extra stove space and extra pots, you can get two pots going at the same time so you can cook them all at once to save time rather than waiting for back to back 30 minutes. Make sure you set timers so you don’t forget about them.

3. When the dumplings are boiling, start making the sauerkraut. It takes about 30-40 minutes in total including two 15 minute braising times during the process, so while you’re waiting you can intermittently check on the dumplings.

4. Once everything is done, plate it up and serve. Enjoy!

Recipes used:

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast

Czech Potato Dumplings – Bramborové Knedlíky

Braised Bacon & Mushroom Sweet Sauerkraut

February 14, 2024February 14, 2024

Abby3 Comments

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains, easy
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 3 hours

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Pork is one of the more common proteins seen in Czech cuisine – in fact, it’s part of their national dish: Vepřo knedlo zelo (= pork + dumplings + sauerkraut). This recipe is for a Czech-style roast pork (vepřová pečeně = “pork roast”) and is the star component of the Czech national dish. You can follow the links below if you’d like to make a full vepřo knedlo zelo.

I originally started researching making a Czech roast pork when I discovered a new found love for sweet sauerkraut that Toby’s babička made. When I perfected the recipe for the braised sweet sauerkraut, I needed a protein to go with it so I looked into making the roast pork that commonly accompanies it. I found a simple recipe at first, and after some tweaking, a beautiful caramelized glistening juicy hunk of meat was born. This pork is so good that it is worth making on its own. It’s flavourful enough to have it by itself or you can pair it with sauerkraut, a rajská sauce, mashed potatoes…anything you want! The best part is that this dish is SO easy to make with minimal ingredients. The ONLY downfall is that it takes about 3 hours, HOWEVER, it’s 3 hours of waiting and you literally do not have to do anything other than wait for the timer to go off and double check that it has cooked through with a meat thermometer. To make it even easier, you can marinate the meat in the rub the night before and the next morning, just pop it in the oven a few hours before lunch time and when it’s ready, just slice and serve. 😊

If you want to make the full vepřo knedlo zelo dish, the recipe for the potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky) can be found here and the sauerkraut can be any sauerkraut, but I prefer to have it with a sweet sauerkraut like this one. You can also find a guide on how to put it all together here.

Vepřo knedlo zelo = roast pork + potato dumplings + sauerkraut

Czech Potato Dumplings – Bramborové Knedlíky

Braised Bacon & Mushroom Sweet Sauerkraut

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsps caraway seeds, crushed
2.5 Tbsps kosher salt
2 x 900g (2 x 2 lbs) pieces of pork shoulder, get ones with marbling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F) on “roast” setting if you’ve got the option, or otherwise ‘bake’ will be fine.

In a small bowl, make the seasoning rub by mixing together: olive oil, garlic, crushed caraway seeds, and salt. Tip: to easily crush caraway seeds without the mess, you can put it in between a sheet of baking paper and use a rolling pin to crush it by rolling over it a few times. Crushing the caraway seeds releases its flavour.

Use the rub and massage it evenly around the entire pork shoulder. Tip: To save time, you can do this the night before and let the pork marinate in the rub in the fridge overnight in a sealed container. When ready to cook, take it out of the fridge half an hour beforehand to let it come to room temp.

Place the pork in the middle of a lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 2.5 – 3 hours (or until the middle of the pork measures 62˚C and the juices are no longer pink).

Now is a good time to make any sides that you want to serve with the roast pork. The most common is with a sauerkraut and Czech potato dumpling/knedliky like in a vepřo knedlo zelo.

When the pork has finished, take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 mins before slicing. After slicing, drench each slice in the drippings/ oils from the baking tray before serving. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Vepřová Pečeně – Czech-style Pork Roast

Date Published: Feb 14th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 14th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: czech, mains, easy
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsps caraway seeds, crushed
2.5 Tbsps kosher salt
2 x 900g (2 x 2 lbs) pieces of pork shoulder, get ones with marbling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F) on “roast” setting if you’ve got the option, or otherwise ‘bake’ will be fine.
In a small bowl, make the seasoning rub by mixing together: olive oil, garlic, caraway seeds, and salt.
Use the rub and massage it evenly around the entire pork shoulder.
- Tip: To save time, you can do this the night before and let the pork marinate in the rub in the fridge overnight in a sealed container. When ready to cook, take it out of the fridge half an hour beforehand to let it come to room temp.
Place the pork in the middle of a lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 2.5 – 3 hours (or until the middle of the pork measures 62˚C and the juices are no longer pink).
- Now is a good time to make any sides that you want to serve with the roast pork. The most common is with a sauerkraut and Czech potato dumpling/knedliky like in a vepřo knedlo zelo.
When the pork has finished, take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 mins before slicing. After slicing, drench each slice in the drippings/ oils from the baking tray before serving. Enjoy!

February 14, 2024February 14, 2024

Abby1 Comment

Braised Bacon & Mushroom Sweet Sauerkraut

Date Published: Feb 13th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 13th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: sides, Czech, easy
Serves: 4-6 (large bowl) | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 40 mins

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I’m not a fan of sour foods in general (unless it’s sour patch kids 😜) so its no surprise that sauerkraut has never been something I’ve wanted to try and make…until now!

Toby likes his sauerkraut so I usually give him my portion, but during our last trip to Czech to visit his grandparents, babička made a sweet and creamy version with caraway seeds and the sourness of the sauerkraut was minimal. Needless to say, it was DELICIOUS paired with the smoked pork shoulder that she made – we nearly ate the whole pot! Before we left, she gave me verbal recipe instructions with ‘guestimated’ ingredient amounts (you’re not an OG if you measure when you cook) and when we got home to Brooklyn, I was determined to recreate it ASAP while the flavours were still fresh in my mind. Sadly, the guestimated measurements did not yield the same beautiful sweet sauerkraut she made 💔. Mine somehow came out too sour and yet too sweet at the same time lol, no idea how I achieved that. Although disappointed, I was still determined to learn how to make a sweet sauerkraut and in my search of other Czech-style sauerkrauts that might be close to babička’s, I found a sweet braised version from Cook Like Czechs that was intriguing. When I made it for the first time, it was actually – dare I say it – better than babička’s 🤐 ! The sweetness level was exactly the same but this new version had bacon in it! I made it a second time with some minor tweaks and added in some leftover mushrooms I had in the fridge and it was somehow even more AMAZING. This is now my favourite sauerkraut hands down, and I’m going to show it off – to you 😛.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

450g sauerkraut, without the liquid
350g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 Tbsp of pork lard, or olive oil
2 large (~1.1kg) onions, diced small
130g smoked thick-cut bacon, sliced into small pieces
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
1.75 Tbsps (25g) granulated sugar
2 Tbsps (25g) all-purpose flour
Salt to taste

Directions:

Place the sauerkraut in a strainer over a bowl and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. If you prefer your sauerkraut on the more sour side, save this liquid for later (I prefer mine on the sweeter side, so I just discard this liquid). Set aside.

In a pan on MED heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms with a pinch of salt for 3-4 minutes or until cooked. Put the mushrooms into a bowl and set aside until the end.

In the same pan on MED heat, melt the pork lard and add in the onions. Sauté until the onions soften and become lightly browned (5-8 minutes).

Add in the caraway seeds, bacon, and sauerkraut. Continue to sauté for another 5 minutes.

Add in half cup of water (or the sauerkraut liquid from step 1 if using) then turn the heat down to LOW and cover with a lid. Let the sauerkraut braise for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add in the sugar and flour. Mix together thoroughly then let it braise on LOW heat with the lid on for another 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add in the cooked mushrooms from step 1 (do NOT add in any mushroom liquid that may have accumulated during this time, just the mushrooms). Stir until heated through then turn off the heat. Taste and adjust salt and sugar to your preference. It’s meant to be a sweet, smokey, and slightly sour sauerkraut with a kind of creamy texture. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Braised Bacon & Mushroom Sweet Sauerkraut

Date Published: Feb 13th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 13th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: sides, Czech, easy
Serves: 4-6 (large bowl) | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

450g sauerkraut, without the liquid
350g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 Tbsp of pork lard, or olive oil
2 large (~1.1kg) onions, diced small
130g smoked thick-cut bacon, sliced into small pieces
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
1.75 Tbsps (25g) granulated sugar
2 Tbsps (25g) all-purpose flour
Salt to taste

Directions:

Place the sauerkraut in a strainer over a bowl and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. If you prefer your sauerkraut on the more sour side, save this liquid for later (I prefer mine on the sweeter side, so I just discard this liquid). Set aside.
In a medium pot or pan (make sure you have a lid) on MED heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms with a pinch of salt for 3-4 minutes or until cooked. Put the mushrooms into a bowl and set aside until the end.
In the same pan on MED heat, melt the pork lard and add in the onions. Sauté until the onions soften and become lightly browned (5-8 minutes).
Add in the caraway seeds, bacon, and sauerkraut. Continue to sauté for another 5 minutes, then add in half cup of water (or the sauerkraut liquid from step 1 if using) then turn the heat down to LOW and cover with a lid. Let the sauerkraut braise for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, add in the sugar and flour. Mix together thoroughly then let it braise on LOW heat with the lid on for another 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, add in the cooked mushrooms from step 1 (do NOT add in any mushroom liquid that may have accumulated during this time, just the mushrooms). Stir until heated through then turn off the heat. Taste and adjust salt and sugar to your preference. It’s meant to be a sweet, smokey, and slightly sour sauerkraut with a kind of creamy texture. Serve warm. Enjoy!

February 13, 2024February 14, 2024

Abby4 Comments

Czech Potato Dumplings – Bramborové Knedlíky

Date Published: Feb 13th, 2024 | Last Updated: Feb 13th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Czech, sides, breads, vegetarian
Serves: 8-10 | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 1.5 hours total (20-30mins per dumpling)

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What are Czech Dumplings or Knedlíky?

Knedlíky or dumplings are a staple side dish in Czech food. I see it as THE carb in a Czech meal. Similar to noodles in Asian food or pasta in Italian food, if there’s something rich, saucy, or soupy, you bet it’ll be served with a knedlíky.

There are a few different kinds of dumplings, but the two most common ones I’ve seen in Czech are the fluffy bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky) and the denser potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky). The lighter bread dumplings are made with a yeast dough so it’s fluffy but still with a bit of structure and chew and best served with a saucy dish such as svičkova to soak up all the flavours whereas the potato dumplings are much more dense and is like eating a side dish of potatoes that can balance the richness of a dish such as something served with sauerkraut like a vepřo knedlo zelo. Of the two, the bread dumplings are more commonly seen and you can very easily buy them at the supermarket in Czech instead of making them fresh, but I don’t think anyone will be angry if you use them interchangeably. This recipe is for the potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky). If you want to make the bread dumplings, you can find the recipe here.

Bread Dumpling / Houskové Knedlíky – lighter, fluffier

Do I need to use a special type of flour?

These dumplings are traditionally made with ‘sharp flour’ or ‘continental flour’ which is a coarser flour made from hard wheat that is common in Europe, but actually super difficult to find in regular grocery stores. As a result, this recipe uses a 3:2 ratio mix of all-purpose flour and farina/cream of wheat to achieve the same texture.

Although these dumplings are pretty easy to make, please allow enough time to cook them all. If you don’t have a big pot, you may have to cook them one or two at a time (which is what I always end up doing) and it takes 20-30 mins each time (allow 1.5 hours to cook all 4). If you’ve got extra pots and the stove space, boil them all at once in separate pots so they’re all ready at the same time! I don’t know why it took me so long to think of this.

How do I freeze leftover knedlíky?

Every recipe for knedlíky I’ve seen always makes WAY more than what you need. My guess is that since you’re going through all the effort of making them, you might as well make a bigger batch and freeze them to have on hand. This recipe is no different. If you follow the instructions, you’ll have enough knedlíky for 8 – 10 people. I had thought about halving the recipe when I was writing it, but then remembered how well they keep in the freezer and how easy it is to have dumplings in a pinch when you’re short on time or too lazy to put in the effort, so I left the proportions alone.

I find it best to freeze leftover dumplings in slices rather than a log so it defrosts quickly. You can either freeze them in single portions or altogether in a bag, but make sure you separate the slices a little so it’ll be easier to separate when you only want to defrost a few slices. I freeze them in a ziploc bag or you can wrap it up in cling wrap individually.

To defrost and reheat: The best way to get the best texture is to steam them, especially if you are reheating from frozen. However, I’m lazy and I take out my desired portion and leave it in the fridge the night before then microwave them with a sprinkle of water before serving.

*Note: This recipe and its instructions have been adapted from Cook Like Czechs (who’s got way more beautiful-looking dumplings than I could ever achieve – check it out).

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

900g yellow/Yukon gold potatoes
260g (1.5 cups) all-purpose flour
160g (just under 1 cup) cream of wheat/farina
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch or potato starch
1 tsp kosher/cooking salt
1 egg, whisked

Directions:

Prepare the potatoes (make ahead of time): Boil the potatoes with the skin on until soft and easily pierced with a fork (20-30mins). Drain the potatoes and let it cool down completely (1-2 hours, or overnight). Once cooled, peel and discard the potato skin and use a hand grater to finely grate (use the small grating hole) the peeled potatoes into a bowl and set aside.

To save time, boil the potatoes the day before and let it cool overnight then peel and grate it the next day. Don’t peel or grate it too early or else the potato will start drying out.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, cream of wheat, corn starch, and salt. Add in 1 whisked egg and the grated cooked potatoes. Use your hands or a stand mixer and work the dough until you get a smooth, soft, homogenous dough ball. Add a little extra flour if the dough is too sticky.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (roughly 330g each), each formed into fat logs (see photo). Make sure the length of your log does not exceed the diameter of your pot. Don’t worry if they’re not perfect logs. You’ll hardly notice when you serve them as slices.

Lightly boil a pot of water. Gently lower 2 logs into the water (if you have a small pot, you may want to cook just one at a time to not overcrowd them). Let them boil for 25 – 30 minutes. Occasionally move them around in the water to ensure they are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. They will start to float when they’re roughly halfway cooked. To check if they’re cooked, you can slice off a piece and try it – you should get a dense bread-y texture with a little bounce.

Tip: To save time and if you’ve got extra pots and the stove space, boil them all at once in separate pots so they’re all ready at the same time!

Once cooked, remove each log from the water onto a cutting board or drying rack and stab it a couple times with a chopstick or a fork to release the steam. Let it sit for a few minutes to slightly cool down, then slice into 1.5cm slices and serve!

Some examples of knedliky served in traditional Czech dishes:

Summarized Recipe:

Czech Potato Dumplings – Bramborové Knedlíky

Ingredients:

900g yellow/Yukon gold potatoes
260g (1.5 cups) all-purpose flour
160g (just under 1 cup) cream of wheat/farina
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch or potato starch
1 tsp kosher/cooking salt
1 egg, whisked

Directions:

Prepare the potatoes (make ahead of time): Boil the potatoes with the skin on until soft and easily pierced with a fork (20-30mins). Drain the potatoes and let it cool down completely (1-2 hours, or overnight). Once cooled, peel and discard the potato skin and use a hand grater to finely grate the peeled potatoes into a bowl and set aside.
- To save time, boil the potatoes the day before and let it cool overnight then peel and grate it the next day. Don’t peel or grate it too early or else the potato will start drying out.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, cream of wheat, corn starch, and salt. Add in 1 whisked egg and the grated cooked potatoes. Use your hands or a stand mixer and work the dough until you get a smooth, soft, homogenous dough ball. Add a little extra flour if the dough is too sticky. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (roughly 330g each), each formed into fat logs (see photo). Make sure the length of your log does not exceed the diameter of your pot.
- Don’t worry if they’re not perfect logs. You’ll hardly notice when you serve them as slices.
Lightly boil a pot of water. Gently lower 2 logs into the water (if you have a small pot, you may want to cook just one at a time to not overcrowd them). Let them boil for 25 – 30 minutes. Occasionally move them around in the water to ensure they are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. They will start to float when they’re roughly halfway cooked. To check if they’re cooked, you can slice off a piece and try it – you should get a dense bread-y texture with a little bounce.
- Tip: To save time and if you’ve got extra pots and the stove space, boil them all at once in separate pots so they’re all ready at the same time!
Once cooked, remove each log from the water onto a cutting board or drying rack and stab it a couple times with a chopstick or a fork to release the steam. Let it sit for a few minutes to slightly cool down, then slice into 1.5cm slices and serve!

February 13, 2024February 11, 2025

Abby6 Comments