Julie Van Rosendaal's favourite Ukrainian recipes
Julie Van Rosendaal | CBC News | Posted: May 30, 2017 7:36 PM | Last Updated: May 30, 2017
CBC Calgary's food guide shares her take on Ukrainian cuisine
Canada is home to the world's third-largest Ukrainian population, behind Ukraine itself and Russia. Many of the staples of Ukrainian food — perogies, cabbage rolls, and borscht — are very familiar menu items to most Canadians.
But if you've ever been intimidated by the prospect of making your own Ukrainian food — and you're not sure if your cabbage rolls can beat your Baba's — help is on the way.
Julie Van Rosendaal stopped by the Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday morning to share her tips for making great Ukrainian food.
Dorata's White Borscht
Dorata makes her brine from scratch, but it can be purchased by the jar at most Eastern European grocery stores and delis. She uses fresh sausages, but you could swap cured sausage, such as garlic sausage or kielbasa — just slice it into the soup.
Rye flour brine:
- 1 cup rye flour
- 3 cups boiled, cooled water
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 3 bay leaves
- a few allspice berries
- 1/2 slice crusty rye bread
Soup ingredients:
- 4-5 potatoes, cubed
- 6 cups (1 1/2 L) stock (chicken, vegetable or ham)
- 2-3 fresh white Polish sausages
- 3/4 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2-3 tsp. marjoram (or to taste)
- hard boiled eggs, halved, for garnish
To make the brine, combine the ingredients in a very clean, wide jar, cover with cheesecloth and leave it on the counter for 3-5 days to ferment.
To make the soup, cook the potatoes in stock until they're just tender. Add the Polish sausage whole. When the sausage is cooked, take it out and slice to bite size.
Strain the brine into the stock, discarding the solids, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt, pepper and marjoram. Serve topped with hard boiled eggs. Serves 4-6.
Cabbage Rolls
There are so many ways to make cabbage rolls — the ratio of meat to rice varies greatly, and many make their cabbage rolls with just rice and veggies. Some cook their rice, others mix it into the meat mixture dry, or par-cook it so it's still slightly crunchy. Similarly, cabbage rolls are often simmered in tomato sauce, but they're just as often left plain. This is the version I made — feel free to tinker.
- 1 head green cabbage
- 1 lb ground beef or pork (I used half and half)
- a couple green onions, finely chopped, or sauteed yellow onion
- a handful of cooked rice
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill (optional)
- salt and pepper or Vegeta (a seasoning blend common in Eastern European cooking), to taste
- 2-3 cups tomato sauce, divided
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
Cut the core out of the cabbage and freeze it for at least a few hours; set in warm water to thaw and separate the leaves. (This tip came in during the show Tuesday!) Otherwise, simmer the head in a pot of boiling water, peeling off the layers of leaves as they become pliable, or remove them while the cabbage is raw and boil for a few minutes in a large pot of water, until they're pliable. Cut out the ribs with a sharp knife, making a long V.
In a medium bowl, combine the meat, onions, rice, dill, salt and pepper or Vegeta and about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce, mixing with your hands just until blended. Stir the sugar into the rest of the tomato sauce.
Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce over the bottom of a baking dish or enamel coated cast iron pot. To assemble the cabbage rolls, take a handful (about 1/4 cup) of filling and squeeze it into a sort of long oval in your fist. Place in a cabbage leaf, fold in the sides and roll up. Place seam side down in the dish or pot. Continue with the rest of the leaves and filling, fitting them snugly in the baking dish; you can start a second layer if you run out of room. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over top. Cover and bake at 350 ̊F for an hour, or simmer on the stovetop for half an hour, or until the cabbage rolls are firm and cooked through. (They can also be cooked in the slow cooker, set on low for 4-6 hours. Serves 6.
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With files from Julie Van Rosendaal and the Calgary Eyeopener