Candy Cane Beets and Beet Marinated Salmon

Beets are plentiful during the holidays & are packed with nutrition.  How could they be otherwise with that bold, colour-drenched palette.  While the red beets are traditional, golden, yellow and beautiful candy cane beets are really dramatic for presentation.

I am roasting off two bags of candy cane and golden beets to prepare for Christmas eve, where they will serve as the accompaniment to my beet-marinated salmon.

I scrubbed the skins and put them in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.  Roasting them will allow the sugars to carmelize and for the hard, raw texture to soften.

I'm going to take the skins off, and freeze them once roasted.  The day before dinner, I will thaw them and cut them into thin slices.

I have two huge salmon filets.  I am going to shred raw, red beets and surround the salmon with the very well salted shreds. The beets will impart a gorgeous red hue to the pale, orange salmon.

Pics to follow.

The 12 Days of Ukrainian Christmas

Today marks what we observe in our house to be the First day of Christmas.  For you traditionalists out there, I KNOW that the first day of Christmas is Christmas.  But because I love this season, I always start with a little something - a stocking stuffer kind of thing - for each of the 12 days before Christmas.

The next 12 days including today are going to be extraordinarily busy.  My shopping is done, but not wrapped, and the house looks gorgeously Christmas-y.

I have decided to simutaneously completely paint and redecorate my dining room, prepare for an extraordinary Family Christmas Eve Feast, and boost my own health by eating right again and exercising to survive the holidays.  Not to mention work all next week to achieve three weeks worth of fundraising in five days.

So?  I am fuelling this ambititon with smoothies, coffee, and music - while forgoing alcohol, most TV, and "vegging".

I hope what I am left with on December 26 is a camera full of gorgeous pictures of our Ukrainian Christmas Eve and two full dishwashers.

Here is my menu:

Kolach - One for the table and one wreathed loaf for dipping in a honey garlic sauce

Opening Course (1) Kutya - a wheat and poppyseed porridge with fruit and nuts

Amuse Bouche (2)  Crispy fish croquettes in a savory tomato and onion sauce

Appetizer (3)  Pickled Mushrooms on toasted Ukrainian bread with olive oil and garlic

Jellied Fish Course (4)   Poached whitefish in a lemon jelly with capers, peas and red pepper specks

Salad Course (5)  Raw beet and Granny Smith Apple slaw with orange honey vinaigrette with candied orange slivers

Soup Course (6) Borscht with mushroom vushka

Potato Course (7) Perogies with carmelized onions

Vegetable Course (8) Cabbage rolls stuffed with brown rice and lentils

Main Course (9)  Beet Marinated Salmon over Candy Cane Beets and Wilted Kale

Cake Course (10) Orange Honey Cake with Apricot Compote

Pampushky (11) Filled puffed doughnuts with white peach vanilla jelly

Pastry Course (12) Hrusty with powdered sugar


I want these to look absolutely spectacular.  Much of it will depend on having things done ahead of time, so I am off to Home Depot to get some paint and start filling the holes in our dining room and priming the walls!!!

Starbucks anyone?