Category Archives: Entree

Stuffed Cabbage

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.

the one cabbage from my garden

First, I cored the cabbage. Not a major operation, but just some of the inner stem.

kind of hard to see, but some of the core removed

kind of hard to see, but I removed some of the core

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.

peelaway1

peelaway

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.

palmfull

Then, roll away!

roll1

roll2

roll3

rolled

manyrolls

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.

simmering

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. 🙂 ]

Chicken Breast With Eggplant, Shallots and Ginger

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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 tomato-based thing, or even cheese, but did want a “one pot meal” with some kind of animal protein. I found this nifty Chicken Breast With Eggplant, Shallots and Ginger recipe by Matt Bittman via Bitten, Recipe of the Day, in the New York Times. Click the title to see the original post.

Chicken Breast With Eggplant, Shallots and Ginger

Here is the original recipe with my adaptations added in brackets.

Ingredients

8 ounces shallots (about 6 large) [I started with 8 oz but one was partially rotted, so 6 ounces is more like it.]
1/4 cup neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed [I used grapeseed]
1 to 1 1/4 pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons dried ginger [I used fresh ginger]
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts (4 half breasts) [I used Bell & Evans]
1/4 cup or more minced fresh cilantro [I used mostly flat parsley and some chocolate mint because I could not get any cilantro that day from Farmland and I found a suggestion online calling for a bit of mint added to parsley as a substitute for cilantro.]
everything but the chicken

It is hard to see here, but the mint leaves in with the parsley have a purplish hue that went nicely with the eggplant in this picture.

Method

1. Peel shallots. If they are small, leave them whole. Otherwise, cut them in half the long way. (Most large shallots have two lobes and will naturally divide in half as you peel them.) Heat the broiler or a gas or charcoal grill. [I used the gas broiler in my oven]
peeled shallots

Half of one my big shallots had rot. Plus, you lose a lot when peeling. Here is what was left to use, which was quite enough to do the trick. Don’t they look lovely? I just love shallots.

into the frying pan

2. Place oil in a large nonstick skillet, and turn heat to medium high. Add shallots, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. Add eggplant, salt and pepper, and lower heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant softens, about 15 minutes.

next, add the eggplant

3. When eggplant begins to brown, add half the ginger, and cook 3 minutes or so more, until eggplant is very tender and the mixture fragrant.
[In lieu of steps 2 and 3, I did not use a nonstick pan. I used my 12″ stainless steel All Clad pan. I covered the pan after 5 minutes, and added 1/2 cup water after 12 minutes, and then cooked for 10 minutes more with the water, adding the ginger for the last 5 or so minutes. I did this because I didn’t peel the eggplant and I didn’t think the called-for cooking time and method would soften the skin enough.]

This was one "leg" of the ginger and made one Tbsp minced

Here is a trick for mincing ginger: slice it one way, then turn 90 degrees and slice again. to get the results in this picture. Next, slice crosswise in tiny increments. Finish up mincing to desired size.

the eggplant "relish" all cooked and ready to go

4. Meanwhile, rub chicken breasts with salt, pepper and remaining ginger. Grill about 4 inches from the heat source for 3 minutes a side or until done. [All our broilers vary – preheated the broiler as called for and cooked the chicken breast halves about 4 inches from the heat source, but it was more like 4 minutes, each side, then another 4 minutes each side, with a quick finish of a minute or so on each side. I think I have a really lame broiler…Just cook until nicely browned, turning every few minutes, and check with an instant-read thermometer to confirm that it is done enough if you are not sure. 160 degrees or so.]

chicken ready for broiler

chicken done

5. Stir half the cilantro into eggplant mixture. Serve chicken breasts on a bed of eggplant. Garnish with remaining cilantro. [As noted in the ingredient list, I used 9/10th flat parsley and 1/10th chocolate mint that I have growing on my deck.]

ready to eat!

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was so excited to serve and eat the meal that I forgot to take a photo of it plated the night I first made it. But, I had leftovers and took the above picture before creating the meal for the next evening. But, it looks about the same. <grin>

I am really glad I took a chance on this recipe. While I like just about anything, even I was not sure about the flavor mix, whether or not I would use cilantro or when I had to find a substitute and decided upon the parsley/mint mix. And, I had no idea what Steve would think. Steve actually had a little trouble with the mint the first night, although he admits it was because it was such an unfamiliar flavor to him in a main course. But he really enjoyed it the second evening. I, on the other hand, was not at all sure about the cilantro and obviously have yet to find out how that works in this recipe. However, I was very comfortable with the mint, being used to Middle Eastern food and having used chocolate mint in my hummus in the past. [Note to self: now that I have a chocolate mint plant, it is time to revive that hummus recipe – and the tabbouleh!]

Pan Seared Shrimp, Roasted Red Potato Slices, and Mixed Greens

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Globe Fish Co had Gulf shrimp at the Farmer’s Market. Pricy, but I could not resist. And it was delicious! I found an easy recipe on recipezarr.com that is basically the same as the one I found on the Cook’s Illustrated site. Here it is:

The complete meal

3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoo lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined (21/25 count)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar

Beat butter with a fork in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in garlic, lemon juice, parsley and 1/8 tsp salt until combined. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbs oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until smoking. Meanwhile toss shrimp, salt, pepper and sugar in a medium bowl. Add half of shrimp to pan in a single layer and cook until spotty brown and edges turn pink, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; using tongs, flip each shrimp and let stand until all but very center is opaque, about 30 seconds. Transfer shrimp to a large plate.
Repeat with remaining oil and shrimp; after second batch has stood off heat, return first batch to skillet along with flavored butter and toss to combine. Cover skillet and let stand until shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Here is a close-up of the meal:

plated shrimp

The combination worked well – even with the bits of ham flavoring the collard greens. I will post that recipe separately and date it so it appears below this post, after the mozzarella post. And, you’ll find the potato recipe in the 7/19/09 Halibut post.

This meal was easy to create. I started the collard greens first. Once there were allin the pot and simmering, they needed no more attention. And, once they simmered for 45 minutes to and hour, I put them on low and could have left them for hours. Very handy recipe for when you are trying out a new entree! The potatoes are also easy and forgiving as to timing. I prepared and roasted them for 15 miutes at 350 and then left them until giving them a final 5 minute blast at 400 when it was time to serve. Of course, you need a toaster oven or a quick heating convection oven to do it this way. You can always roast them and then turn the oven to warm until serving time.

I then peeled and deveined the shrimp. Very easy to do. I just used my kitchen scissors to ship the shell and my finger to get the vein out, patted them dry, and put them in the fridge until I was ready to cook them. I also made the garlic butter ahead of time. Note on that: it says to “beat” the butter. the word “mashed up” better describes the process I used. I wonder if they recipe meant to instruct us to melt, rather than soften the butter? In any case, mashing worked just fine. <grin>

Then the time came to fire up the frying pan. The process went by so quickly that I forgot to take pictures! All the shrimp (14 of them to one pound) fit at one time, so I could skip transfer any to another plate. I reduced amounts of ingredients a bit, to, since the recipe calls for 1 and 1/2 pounds of shrimp.

I’ll certainly make shrimp this way again! I bet good quality shimp from the grocery store would be fine in the recipe, too. I’ve heard that Trader Joes has great shrimp. Not sure of the environmental and/or health safety of their source, but then again, I am not sure of that of these Gulf Shrimp, either. If anyone knows, let me know!

Pan-fried halibut, sauteed pea tendrils, and roasted red potatoes from the Farmer’s Market

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First, go check out the Wakefield Farmer’s Market Web site if you have not done so before! If you live in or near Wakefield MA or plan to visit before the middle of October, be sure to check out the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. See the Web site for directions, etc.

Globe Fish Co. had Gulf shrimp last week, and I was planning to purchase some this week. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any this time around, so I got halibut instead and, at my husband’s request, agreed to prepare it fried. I also bought a variety of produce from Farmer Dave and Flats Mentor Farm, which specializes in Asian produce, and decided on potatoes and pea tendrils to accompany.

The Ingredients: red potatoes, halibut, and pea tendrils

I do not having a lot of experience preparing fish. I am now pretty comfortable baking it, and was successful my recent and first try at blackened salmon, but this would be my first time frying it. And, I was up against some stiff competition: Fried fish was apparently one of Steve’s Mom’s specialties and I was hoping to create at least a satisfying, if not perfect match to his memories. I am pleased to report that I was successful! Here is the recipe I followed:

PAN-FRIED FISH FILLETS
Source: https://teriskitchen.com/seafood/fried-a.html

This is basic and can be used with any firm, white-fleshed fish, as well as shrimp, scallops and oysters. After trying many different types of coatings and methods, this is my preference. The resulting crust is always crispy and not too thick. In a pinch, you could use finely crushed low-salt saltines in place of the homemade breadcrumbs. I think that is a better choice than store-bought breadcrumbs which, in my experience, never yield a crispy crust and taste a little like cardboard.

* 2 pounds firm, white-fleshed fish fillets, such as flounder or catfish
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 2 eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
* 1-1/2 cups homemade dried breadcrumbs
* Oil for frying, such as vegetable or canola
* Lemon wedges
* Tartar sauce (see recipe)

1. Place flour on plate or wax paper. Season with salt and pepper; mix well. Place breadcrumbs on large plate or wax paper. Coat fish lightly with flour, shaking off excess. Dip into egg wash and let excess drip off. Coat thoroughly with breadcrumbs, again shaking off excess. Place on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to help ensure that the coating will adhere to the fish when frying.

2. Meanwhile, heat large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil, about 1/2-inch thick, or thick enough to come about half-way up the sides of the fish. Heat oil until hot. Remove fish from refrigerator and fry, in batches as needed, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side depending on thickness. Remove to a clean wire rack to drain. Season with additional salt, if desired. Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce.

Servings: 4

Ready to dip the fish.

fish with coating and ready for a 30 minute chill in the fridge

[Note: I purchase two packs of the fish totaling just about 1.5 pounds, WAY more than needed for a meal for two. I actually held back a few pieces to freeze after breading and a few pieces to freeze after frying, just to see if this could be a viable “cook ahead/meal from the freezer” recipe. I’ll let you know later!]

Next, I made some tartar sauce – just a mix of sweet relish and mayo, with just enough prepared horseradish to add a bite, and put it in the fridge until dinner time.

While the coated fish was in the fridge chilling, as per the recipe, I sliced up the potatoes – a bit under 1/2 ” thick – seasoned them with a salt and a liberal amount of freshly ground black pepper, added a light coating of olive oil, and spread them out on a pan that I had sprayed with canola oil.

prepped potatoes

I put them in my toaster oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes to start – or, at least, I thought to start because recipes usually call for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. However, these were done in the 15 minutes – probable because they were freshly dug (higher water content is my guess) and also sliced thinly (about 1/2 inch or less.) Since I would be wanting things to be done at the same time, this worked out great. I left them in the oven and finished them off for 5 minutes at 400 degrees as I was frying the fish.

I also prepped for the pea trendrils while I was waiting for the coated fish to chill. First I flavored some olive oil by sauteing garlic slices then, once they were a bit browned, let them sit in the oil until I was ready to saute the pea tendrils. That way, I was all ready to quickly saute the pea tendrils once the fish was done and draining on a rack before serving.

Flavoring the oil with garlic

I then went through the pea tendrils and removed the thicker parts of the stems and also the little twisty tendril strings because I read that they could be tough and “stringy” when cooked.

After the fish was chilled and all was prepped (or, in the case of the potatoes, pre-cooked) I took the fish from the fridge and put between a 1/4 and 1/2 an inch of canola oil in my 12 inch frying pan, turning on the burner to medium high. At this time, I put the toaster oven on to finish off the potatoes for 5 minutes at 400 – or was it 450?? degrees. Enough to crisp.

Once the oil in the frying pan was giving off an aroma and there was some movement, I tossed in a little bit of the fish batter until it sizzled very vigorously. Then I added the fish – carefully! That oil gets hot! I let it fry on one side for about 3 minutes and the other for about the same, until each side was a golden brown. Then I removed the fish to a rack to drain before serving. I also blotted with paper towel immediately before plating.

Once the fish was done, I quickly heated up the oil in the wok and added the pea tendrils for just a minute or two, until wilted. Then, dinner was served:

Dinner for two

With homemade tartar sauce and lemon wedges

The verdict: The fish was a total success! REALLY good. According to Steve, as good as his Mom’s and, seemingly ironically, since I cooked the fish in more oil than he remembers his Mom using, less greasy. I think that using more oil enabled the fish to form a crust more quickly and sealed out the fat more efficiently. Something like that.

The potatoes were also delicious. I used a VERY liberal amount of black pepper and they had a nice punch to them, and the final roasting brown them nicely – just the right amount of crispness on the outside.

The pea tendrils, alas, were not as big a success. The flavor is lovely, but, as I suspected might happen, the stems were stringy while the tender leaves were cooked almost too much. I have this problem when sauteeing arugula and spinich, also. Now I am wishing I used the following recipe because, although I feared using the chicken broth would cook the leaves too much, it would have most likely have softened the stems. I will try it next time I cook this sort of green.

Sauteed Pea Tendrils with Garlic
Bon Appétit – March 2006

1 Tbs canola oil
2 small garlic cloves, smashed
12 oz fresh pea tendrils
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
preparation

1. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and sauté until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Remove garlic. Add tendrils; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and sauté until greens are slightly wilted and heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

By the way, the pea tendrils are quite tasty with a delicate crunch to them when raw. I highly recommend them in a salad. Also, the woman selling them said that she often uses them in soup. I held some back and will see how they do in soup when I next experiment in the kitchen.

I still have corn, carrots, summer squash, and baby white turnips from my trip to the market, but I probably won’t do anything very fancy with them – I am sure they will taste super just as is or lightly cooked!

That’s it for now. Do let me know if you have any surefire tricks for sauteing greens without the stems getting stringy!

Grilled marinated flatiron steak, fresh green beans, and potatoes…