Food good for body and soul
Finally I post again. I have quite a backlog of posts but I had to get this up right away – it is a great way to enjoy spinach, even if you don’t like it very much. And, for those of us who do like …
Get ready to die, as in “this is to die for!” A BIG thank you to Béatrice Peltre, the author of La Tartine Gourmande. I am not even going to post the recipe ingredients or procedure here, just the link to the details. If you …
A thank you to Emeril Lagasse for this one. I’ve never watched TV all that much, but my impression is that, beyond Julia, he is one of the first to have realized that a cooking show can be entertainment and thus helped get the whole Food Network thing going. Or, maybe I am wrong – but he does have some good recipes.
Anyway – I needed a vegetarian chili recipe to test for our church auction. I didn’t include the words “quick” and “easy” in my search terms, but I might as well had. Here is what I used as the basis: (My adjustments follow)
In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and serrano peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, corn, and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until soft and the vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges, about 6 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Add the beans, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, to taste.
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For the seranno peppers, I used what the tags says are “salsa chili” peppers that we have, still producing fruits in November after having brought them in before the first frost last month!
You’ll see them in this picture:
I also used only 1 Tbsp chili powder (for those around Wakefield, the dark kind from Farmland) and two teaspoons of the cumin powder. BUT, I used a trick that I learned from Lorna Sass and toasted a tablespoon of cumin seeds in the oil for about a minute before adding the first ingredients at the beginning of the process. I also added a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder when the other powered spices were added.
I made two batches. One with one 15 oz can of black beans and one 15 oz can of red beans (like pinto) and the other with same sized cans – one each pinto and garbanzo. I think I like the second combination better, but that is a matter of taste. I used three chili peppers in the first batch but only two in the second. I like my chili pretty spicy, but these batches are for the public so I didn’t want to blow anyone away! And, frankly, this chili is so flavorful, it doesn’t need to blow your socks off.
I will probably add some dried oregano to the final version, also.
I’ll end with pictures of the chili cooking process – great colors!
Anyway – that’s it. I still have three or four more recipes from the past month to post… One is for a cauliflower soup to die for! Soon, soon….
Easy Eggplant Parmesan (NO PHOTOS – Sorry! I am really starting to want to get the cooking show going. Hard to document when wanting to just cook.) I made eggplant parm a few other times and only in the past year or so, if memory …
Stuffed eggplant, corned beef, and a really great way to do a whole chicken! Check back soon!
The one other time I attempted making stuffed cabbage, I ended up with a bit of a mess because I didn’t know the trick to geting the cabbage leaves off the head intact and also pliable enough to roll and stay rolled. But, this time – success!
I started with this Stuffed Cabbage recipe from Allrecipe.com, but, I made some changes, as noted.
INGREDIENTS
* 1 medium head cabbage
* water to cover
* 1 pound ground beef [I used 2/3 beef to 1/3 pork. Farmland grinds them together for you if you ask, but you have to order at least 1.5 lbs, total. I got 2 lbs total and froze the other lb for a later date.]
* 1 cup cooked rice
* garlic powder to taste [1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh garlic and 1 tablspoon chopped fresh parsley]
* 1 egg
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can tomato juice [a 26 oz jar of pasta sauce in lieu of the rest of the ingredients, except for a bit of water to cover.]
* 1 tablespoon vinegar
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* water to cover
DIRECTIONS
1. Place the head of cabbage in a large pot over high heat and add water to cover. Boil cabbage for 15 minutes, or until it is pliable and soft. Drain and allow to cool completely. Remove the hard outer vein from the leaves.
2. In a separate large bowl, combine the beef, rice, garlic powder and the egg, mixing well. Place a small amount, about the size of your palm, into the center of a cabbage leaf and fold leaf over, tucking in the sides of the leaf to keep meat mixture inside.
3. Pile up the filled leaves in a large pot, putting the larger leaves on the bottom. Add the tomato juice, vinegar and sugar and enough water to cover. Simmer over medium low heat for about 60 minutes. (Note: Keep an eye on them, making sure the bottom of leaves do not burn.)
The instructions for getting the cabbage leaves off really works.
First, I cored the cabbage. Not a major operation, but just some of the inner stem.
Next, I brought a pot of water to boil and gently place the cabbage in the pot. Within a minute or two, the leaves started getting really loose.
I kept carefully peeling off the leaves as they loosend and, once I had about 14 leaves peeled off, I removed the rest of the cabbage and let the removed leaves simmer for another 5 minutes. Then I drained and rinsed them in cold water.
In the meantime, I had to cook some rice. I was disappointed that I had not thought to put the rice on sooner because I wanted to use brown rice and that takes longer than white rice. But, I then noticed that there were microwave instructions on the long-grain brown rice package. (Obviously not Lundberg brand – at least I can’t imagine they have microwave instrcutions on their rice. I’ll have to double check one of these days.)
Anyway, I decided to try microwaving the rice. Click HERE for the instructions I used.
Here is the deal. It was passable for use in stuffed cabbage and the stuffed eggplant I make a few days later, but it really didn’t cook much more quickly than if I had cooked it stovetop. And DO NOT microwave brown rice for use as a side dish!!!! YUCK! The texture is awful.
Okay, back to the stuffed cabbage. After cooling the cabbage and mixing up the meat with the other stuffing ingredients, I put it all together. As noted in the recipe, just a plam-full is enough for each roll.
Then, roll away!
And here they are, ready to go into the pot. By the way, that god-awful looking cookie tray and that scratched up red plastic thing is my “raw meat” cutting board. I really need to get a regular board to dedicate to raw meat! But, in the meantime, it works and contains any straying liquids. BOB, don’t read this! Bob is is friend of mine who is vegetarian. For a vegetarian option, tempeh, bulgar wheat, and/or ground/finely chopped seitan (wheat gluten) would be excellent in a stuffed cabbage.
The final step is to coat the bottom of a big pot (I used my 6 quart dutch oven) with a thin layer of sauce/juice, add the cabbage rolls, cover with sauce/juice, and add a bit of water if you need to have the liquid cover, or just about cover the cabbage rolls.
Then, simmer for an hour or so until tender.
I was pleased with the results, although both my husband and I noted that these were not like our Mom’s. I will try it with the tomato juice/vinegar/sugar next time – unless I borrow back my Mom’s recipe box from my sister-in-law Lorraine and try my Mom’s recipe first. (We take turns having the recipe box at each of our homes.) I am pretty sure her “Glopskies” had stewed tomatoes in them. Hey Lori – remember Glopskies? (Long story….BUT, that reminds me, I need to get the “girls” together to make what my Mom called Chris Chickies, a Polish version of bow pastries. )
ANYWAY – this is a great basic recipe for stuffed cabbage. And the possible variations are endless for all, whether you are omnivore or vegetarian. A winner, all around.
[Disclaimer – I am way too tired to proofread this. Please ignore typos unless they could cause an grievous error in the kitchen. 🙂 ]
This was really tasty! I was unsure when I first viewed the recipe, but I am really glad I tried it. I bought a Sicilian eggplant from Farmer Dave at the Wakefield Farmer’s Market and didn’t feel like doing the usual garlic, olive oil, and/or …
Here is another “wicked good” one! I served this with the recently posted Mashed Potato Casserole and it was just an amazing combination of flavors, both within each recipe and among the two. Talk about comfort food with a complex flair! And, just a reminder …
WOW. This was, to quote the native Wakefield MA person that I am, “wicked good!” (Should I add “Menga? I have no idea how to spell it, but the last time I heard it (other than from some long-lost and quickly again forgotten person I ran into last year) was at Lanie Island in the 1980s. Scary times. However, I digress. <grin>
It was time to use up things in the cupboard and fridge. I had lovely potatoes from Farmer Dave and exquisite carrots from Flats Mentor Farm, both via the Wakefield Farmer’s Market, and collard greens from the garden I help with by the lake. By the way, the best way to keep greens such as collard, kale, and chard, is to put them like cut flowers in water, cover loosely with a plastic bag, and store in the fridge.
So, I started by searching for “potatoes and collards” and found this:
Collard-cannon with ale-braised onions & raw milk cheddar
I pretty much followed the directions, although I added grated carrots and I didn’t happen to have a block of high-test cheese in the fridge. I actually did have a small amount of super cheddar from the Farmer’s Market, but not enough for the recipe and better savored with a cracker or two, anyway.
The original recipe didn’t have any set amounts of ingredients, but it was easy enough to wing it. Here is what I used for ingredients:
About 3 cups chopped collard greens, not tightly packed:
(See Simmered Greens – Collard, Mustard, and Arugula for tips for chopping collard greens)
The original recipe calls for steaming the greens, but I opted to blanch in boiling water for just under 3 minutes.
Not shown here, but I also grated a few small carrots – maybe 1 cup loosely packed after grating.
About 2 and a half pounds or so of potatoes with skin left on
1/2 cup or a bit more low-fat plain yogurt
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup or more hot water:
After cooking to fork tender, I mashed the potatoes with a few dollops of low-fat yogurt and some olive oil, along with a bit of hot water to get the right texture. Next, I caramelized the onions to be folded into the mashed potatoes.
Here are the results: about five cups of mashed potatoes.
As aside, here. I just love pyrex measuring cups. This is my quart – or 4-cup one. I have the 1, 2, and 8 cup versions, too. Really handy! And, of course, the knife my Mom gave me years ago. Just a treasure. And, my new handy-dandy heat-resistant up to 400 degrees “spoonula.” Okay, on to the onions.
Three medium to large onions, sliced
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup or so beer
First, I heated up two TBSP or so olive oil in my saute pan. (Yes, it’s All-Clad and I love it!) I sauted the onions on high, stirring frequently, until they started browning nicely, as shown above – up to 10 minutes. Then I cooked them for another 10 or so minutes on med-low until they got really brown:
The next step is to deglaze the onions with beer. I’ll just quote the original recipe: “When they were nicely browned, we deglazed the pan with a cup or so of brown ale — gathering up all those delicious browned bits that clung to the pan and granting the onions a bit of that delicious beer-y flavor.” I couldn’t say it better myself. 🙂
After scraping the pan to loosen all the tasty bits, I let the onions stay on a low simmer for a few minutes until just about all the liquid evaporated. Then, I folded them into the potatoes:
Next it is the layering game. Put 1/2 the taters in a greased baking dish and cover with all the collard and carrots. I used my 10 inch square corning ware pan.
The last ingredient is about 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese. I just used regular New York Sharp. I then sprinkled half the cheese on the veggie layer:
Next, I added the rest of the potatoes and topped it off with the rest of the cheese.
I used my toaster 0ven. I have the Cadillac of toaster ovens. It is a Krups 6-Slice Digital Convection Toaster Oven, as recommended by cooks Illustrated, and it rocks. I just used the regular oven setting versus convection for this dish. 1/2 an hour at 375 degrees did it. (Pre-heat first if using a regular oven.)
YUM:
Okay – here is the list of indgredients and the instructions all together so you can copy and paste to a file for printing:
I pretty much followed the directions, although I added grated carrots and I didn’t happen to have a block of high-test cheese in the fridge. I actually did have a small amount of super cheddar from the Farmer’s Market, but not enough for the recipe and better savored with a cracker or two, anyway.
The original recipe didn’t have any set amounts of ingredients, but it was easy enough to wing it. Here is what I used for ingredients:
About 3 cups chopped collard greens, not tightly packed
1 cup grated carrot
2 and a half pounds or so of potatoes, peeled or not
1/2 cup or a bit more low-fat plain yogurt (or sour cream)
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup or more hot water as needed for mashed texture
3 medium to large onions, sliced thin
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup or so beer
2 cups grated cheddar or other type of cheese
1) Chop up the potatoes and set to boiluntil soft.
2) Slice onions and saute in olive oil until caramelized.
3) While potatoes and onions cook, chop collard greens and grate carrots and cheese.
4) Add beer to deglaze the onions, and simmer for a few minutes until most liquid is gone.
5) Mash potatoes with yogurt, olive oil, and hot water as needed.
6) Fold onions into mashed potatoes
7) Lightly grease a shallow baking dish and spread with 1/2 the potatoes.
8) Cover with collards and carrot (and/or any other veggie) and top with 1/2 the grated cheese.
9) Spread on the rest of the potatoes and top with the rest of the grated cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees in a pre-heated oven.
To accompany, I also prepared a very interesting dish that I will blog about the next time I have a moment. My reason for this dish? I had fennel in my fridge. Why? I don’t remember why…well, last week I was going to try a recipe that used it but never got around to it. I don’t remember what the recipe was…BUT, the good news is that the dish I made was super. You can find it here:
Italian Sausage with Fennel, Peppers, and Onions Check back later for my post about it. Enjoy!
I just stumbled across the Noble Pig cooking blog. I have just barely glanced at it and am already looking forward to spend a few hours perusing it! Check it out if you have a few moments or more. Okay – I just read some …