Showing posts sorted by relevance for query cabbage. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query cabbage. Sort by date Show all posts
New Potato Colcannon. This is a delicious colcannon recipe I wanted to share with you before Saint Patricks' Day on the 17th of March. There is something pretty wonderful that happens when you combine cabbage and potatoes and Ireland.
Its called Colcannon! And its very Irish. This is a slightly healthier version of the original. Created to be low GI and very diabetic friendly.
During the 17th and 18th century in Europe and Ireland, cabbages, potatoes and leeks were considered to be the basic foods of the common serf, man. In other words, most people. Only the very wealthy could afford to eat fancier foods.
Colcannon is the inevitable result of mankind's ability to make lemonade out of lemons. And it is a most delicious way to present these three simple ingredients. This dish however uses milder spring onions rather than the much stronger flavored leek.
A first reference to Colcannon in Irish History was found in the 1735 diary entry of William Bulkely, a traveler from Wales who was introduced to the dish on a Halloween night in Dublin:
“Dined at Cos. Wm. Parry, and also supped there upon a shoulder of mutton roasted and what they call there Coel Callen, which is cabbage boiled, potatoes and parsnips, all this mixed together. They eat well enough, and is a Dish always had in this Kingdom on this night.”
The word colcannon is derived from the Gaelic term “cal ceannann” which means white-headed cabbage. Although generally speaking these days the dish is made from either Kale or the darker green savoy cabbage!
Humble ingredients put together in a most delicious way, this is considered haute cuisine in many multiple Michelin star restaurants. In short this is a beautiful side dish well deserving to be served on any table!
This version I am sharing today boasts the addition of some smoky and salty pancetta. Oh, I just adore bacon and pancetta. Both go so very well with cabbages and potatoes of any kind, hence the addition of pancetta to this dish only makes sense.
New potatoes are considered to be low GI. In order to be considered low GI, a food must have a glucose index score of less than 55. These carbohydrates take longer to break down than their higher GI counterparts, which means that they cause a persons sugar levels to raise much more slowly, which is good news when it comes to controlling your diet as a diabetic.
I love it when the side dish becomes the star of the meal. I am a vegetable lover after all, and could be quite happy if I never ate meat again.
Well, I tell, a bit of a lie there because I would miss a good steak every now and again, and I do kind of like roast chicken and turkey. And a really well done Prime Rib Roast is a magnificent thing to behold and to eat!
Okay . . . I guess it's settled. I just like to eat. But I do have my favorite things and vegetables are one of them!
This Crushed New Potato Colcannon is a delightful side dish! Chock full of lovely savoy cabbage and new potatoes. It is also a perfect side dish to enjoy on Saint Patrick's Day.
I have also used spring onions, which have a nice mild onion flavor, not too harsh. It goes really well with the cabbage.
Savoy cabbage is quite a mild flavored cabbage. If you were to use leeks, or even regular onions, you run the risk of them overpowering the dish.
This is a case where you want to be able to taste the cabbage. Another reason I chose savoy is because it is has such a pretty green color and Saint Patrick's Day is all about the green!
This is a side dish that goes together really quickly once you have the individual elements of it ready to go. I sautéed the prosciutto first in a skillet, reserving the drippings for the finish.
The cabbage itself, was lightly steamed, so as to help preserve that rich green color. The potatoes were boiled in lightly salted water, just until they were fork tender.
You could actually do all of these things earlier in the day or the night before so that when the time came, you could quickly and easily just throw the dish together.
Spring onions/scallions are cooked in the pan drippings, just long enough to wilt them without browning. Once you've done that you quickly add the potatoes to the pan, heating them through and crushing them a bit in the process.
Then you add the cabbage and prosciutto, gently tossing everything together and heating both as well. A knob of butter is optionally thrown in at the end to add a bit of richness, but I can tell you, this beautiful side dish is every bit as delicious without it. ''
This was served simply with some grilled bangers/sausages, steamed carrots and a spoonful of grainy Dijon mustard. It would also go well with grilled pork or lamb chops, or even grilled chicken.
In fact, this is pretty tasty all on its own. Not to confess or anything, but I could be quite happy with just a plate of this and nothing else!!
Crushed New Potato Colcannon
Yield: 4
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 35 Min
A healthier version of an old Irish favorite. Its delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds (600g) new potatoes, unpeeled, washed well and cut in half
- 3/4 pound (400g) savoy cabbage, washed, trimmed and coarsely shredded
- 2 tsp sunflower oil
- 4 rashers prosciutto, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 6 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced (scallions)
- 2 TBS (25g) butter, cubed (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the prosciutto into a large skillet, along with the oil. Cook, until crisp. Scoop out and drain on paper towels.
- Set the skillet aside for now and reserve the pan drippings.
- Put the potatoes into a saucepan of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 18 to 20 minutes until tender. Drain well.
- Cook the cabbage in boiling water for about 3 minutes, until just tender. Drain well, run under cold water and drain again.
- Reheat the drippings in the skillet. Add the spring onions to the skillet and soften without coloring.
- Add the cabbage and heat through. Drop in the potatoes and lightly crush.
- Stir through the prosciutto and season to taste. If you are using butter, stir it in now.
- Serve hot.
Thank you for visiting! Do come again!
I recently purchased a new cookery book. I know . . . I didn't really need a new cookerybook, but it was my birthday and cookbooks are what bring me the most pleasure. I read them like novels and always have a stack next to the bed which I am flipping through. Call it what you will. Obsession? Guilty as charged! This one is really special however. It's called The Country Cooking of Ireland, by Coleman Andrews and it's a real winner. I have always felt that if you want to get a real sense of what a country is like, you will embrace the food of that country . . . and to do that you really need to get into the thick of the countryside. Let me tell you . . . the Irish countryside is a very delicious place! Especially if this recipe is a fair representation of that, and I believe it is.
When I was a child I was not really fond of sausages. I am not sure why. Perhaps it was the kind of sausages my mother bought, or the way that she cooked them.
I did come to love them very much as an adult. I like them the way my father always used to enjoy them. Pan fried with a dollop of mayonnaise on the side.
Great Britain has some of the loveliest sausages in the world, so long as you are buying quality ones. The cheap and nasty ones are not so good, but cheap and nasty is not so good no matter where you are living!!
I was especially fond of their Cumberland Sausage. Nice and spicy. I have a goal this winter to try to make my own from scratch. I really miss them!
We had a local butcher where I lived that made fabulous sausages. His apple, sage and onion ones were especially tasty. You can tell a good butcher by the quality of his sausage.
My butcher was a very good butcher because he produced very good sausages, or Bangers as they are loving called in the UK.
The term bangers supposedly originated during World War I, when meat shortages resulted in sausages being made with a number of fillers, notably water, that caused them to explode when cooked. (Wikipedia)
I am not sure how true this is, but I am going with it. They do say that if you prick them the skins won't burst in cooking. I confess I don't mind if the skins burst a bit because you end up with nice crispy bits and I love those crispy bits.
Here in Canada, President's Choice make some very excellent Bangers. Free From Bangers, so called because they are created from pork which has been raised by Canadian Farmers without antibiotics.
They are also raised without the use of hormones from grain fed animals and are always fresh and never frozen. All plus's in my books.
Most important of all they taste really good. And no I have not been paid or given free product to say any of this. It is quite simply my opinion.
Now that I am back in Canada, and there is only one to feed on most days, I still wanted to be able to enjoy my favorite Bangers. But I didn't necessarily want to cook a whole package of them.
I tend to freeze my sausage after I buy them now. I package them into two sausage units, ready to take out and cook as and when I want a sausage for supper. On this day there happened to be three sausage in the package, so I cooked three.
I am also all for shortcuts when it comes to cooking for just me. I don't want to have to do a lot of dishes afterwards. Yes, I can be that lazy. Sorry about that!
Meals where I can cook everything in one pan are my favorite kinds of meals! This one pan Sausage and Vegetable Skillet Dinner is something I threw together the other day that turned out to be really delicious!
Not only did I end up with some perfectly cooked sausages, but I also had potatoes and two vegetables to enjoy on the side!
Everything was perfectly cooked as well, and it was all ready in not much more than half an hour, which was perfect for me!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO COOK SAUSAGE & VEGETABLE SKILLET DINNER
Not a lot really and you could probably vary the vegetables you choose to cook a bit. Just make sure they are vegetables that cook in roughly the same amount of time.
- thick pork sausages (bangers)
- a large baking potato
- a large carrot
- half of a small cabbage
- sweet apple cider (like cloudy apple juice in the uk)
- dried thyme, salt and black pepper
- a tiny bit of oil
Not a lot of ingredients really but what an amazing result!
HOW TO COOK SAUSAGE & VEGETABLE SKILLET DINNER
This was a really simple supper. I love meals that cook all in one pan. Less to clean up when done. No fuss, no muss works for me!
Cooked properly you will end up with tender golden brown sausages. Perfectly cooked vegetables, and potatoes which are nice and crispy edged.
If you prep all of your vegetables before you begin, things go together really quickly. I peeled both the carrot and the potato. I cut the potato into thick flat slices and I cut the carrot in half lengthwise and then into thirds.
The cabbage was cored and then cut into thick slices. I used only half a small cabbage which was plenty for two people.
I began by browning the sausage all over in a tiny bit of oil in a medium sized deep skillet (with a lid). You only need to brown them, not cook them through. Its best to do this on a moderate heat.
I also added the potato slices to the skillet when I was browning the sausage. This was also to brown the edges of the potato, not cook them through. As you can see I got some really nice golden edges.
I then added the cabbage and the carrots. I tossed the cabbage a bit to coat it in the pan juices, and nestled the carrots down into the cabbage.
Once I had done that I added some sweet apple cider and seasoning everything with some salt, black pepper and a bit of dried thyme. I also sprinkled some paprika on the potatoes.
Covered tightly, this cooked over medium low heat for about 20 to 25 minutes, at which time everything was perfectly cooked. I uncovered and turned the heat up to help evaporate any pan juices and crisp up the potatoes.
It also gilded the cabbage a bit. I love cabbage which has been fried and gilded with pan juices, don't you???
If you wanted to you could make a gravy to go with this, but I didn't. I enjoyed it just as is.
Perfectly cooked meaty sausages. Crispy edged potatoes. Perfectly crispy tender cabbage and carrots.
This was one very excellent meal. I enjoyed it with a dollop of grainy mustard on the side and today I am going to make a tasty hash of the leftovers for me to enjoy. I do so love a good hash made with tasty leftovers, don't you?
Sausage and Vegetable Skillet Dinner
Yield: 2
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 30 Min
This wonderfully hearty meal for two cooks all in one skillet. No fuss, no muss and delicious! Only one pan to clean up as well. Bonus!
Ingredients
- 1/2 TBS canola oil
- two large banger sausages (I use the free from Bangers by PC)
- 1/2 small cabbage
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large baking potato
- 1/4 cup sweet apple cider (cloudy apple juice)
- sweet paprika
- salt and black pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- grainy mustard to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Core your cabbage and cut into thick slices. Peel the carrot and potato. Cut the carrot in half and then into thirds. Cut the potato into flat chunks.
- Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet over medium high. Add the sausage and potato. Brown on all sides. Add the cabbage and carrot. Season all with a sprinkle of salt and black pepper and a dash of paprika for color. Pour in the apple cider.
- Cover tightly and simmer on medium low for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables have softened and the sausage is cooked through.
- Remove the cover and continue to cook until any liquid in the pan has evaporated and the potatoes are nicely browned.
- Divide the mixture between two heated plates and serve with some grainy mustard if desired.
Salt Beef with Vegetables and a Parsley Sauce, and how to cure your own salt beef
Monday, 17 March 2014
My sister has been curing her own sauerkraut and practicing fermenting quite a bit over the past year or so. I have long wanted to try to cure something myself. I had in mind to do some pickled pork or beef, like they make back home in Nova Scotia.
I had been searching for a while to get some Salt Petre to do this, or Potassium Nitrate as it is called. My sister and mother sent me some over in a care package just recently and I have just been waiting for the right to use it.
Well . . . there is no better time to corn/preserve/salt a piece of beef than for Saint Patrick's Day and so a few weeks back I set out to do just that.
I admit to being a tad bit nervous about it. I was worried about spoilage and such. Having had food poisoning a few times in my lifetime, it's not an experience I am eager to replicate.
I admit to being a tad bit nervous about it. I was worried about spoilage and such. Having had food poisoning a few times in my lifetime, it's not an experience I am eager to replicate.
However, having found a really decent article on making your own Salt Beef in the March Issue of Delicious magazine by John Torrode (of Master Chef) I felt secure enough to give it a go. He's a meat master and so I trusted it and went ahead with it.
I only wish I had the photos to show you of the process. I started this a couple of weeks ago and they got lost in the mire which is my photo sludge. (If I don't use them right away, I often lose them.)
In any case all I have to show you is the end result, which was a delicious recipe for Salt Beef with Vegetables and a Parsley Sauce, adapted from the same article, with a few changes.
He did not use cabbage in his recipe. I did. We love cabbage in this house and it's Saint Patrick's Day.
He did not use cabbage in his recipe. I did. We love cabbage in this house and it's Saint Patrick's Day.
You just have to eat cabbage in one form or another. If you are not fond of cabbage, then I suggest you leave it out.
Or maybe you just are not fond of boiled cabbage. If so, then just use a savoy cabbage, shred it coarsely and then steam it for about 10 minutes over boiling water.
Or maybe you just are not fond of boiled cabbage. If so, then just use a savoy cabbage, shred it coarsely and then steam it for about 10 minutes over boiling water.
Drained well, with a bit of seasoning and Bob's your Uncle. It's delicious.
The real star here is the home cured meat . . . and that lovely sauce. Just perfect with both the meat and the vegetables.
The real star here is the home cured meat . . . and that lovely sauce. Just perfect with both the meat and the vegetables.
You use a portion of the cooking liquor in the sauce. It calls for whole milk. I confess, I didn't have any whole milk and so I used 2/3 semi skimmed milk and 1/3 cream.
It was just fabulous . . . all of it and for a home curing virgin, I think I did a pretty darned good job and I will do it again, as soon as I can get my hands on some more salt petre.
It was just fabulous . . . all of it and for a home curing virgin, I think I did a pretty darned good job and I will do it again, as soon as I can get my hands on some more salt petre.
Having done it once I am not as afraid of it as I was before . . . who knows, making my own sauerkraut might be next!
Salt
Beef is essentially corned beef. This long slow cooking ensures a
tender piece of meat and well flavoured vegetables. You will need to
use some of the cooking liquid for the sauce. Old fashioned and
delicious.
2 kg piece of salt beef, rolled up and tied
(About 5 pounds)
4 large carrots, peeled and cut in half crosswise
4 onions, peeled, stem end intact as much as possible
1 small head of white cabbage, trimmed and cut into thick wedges, kept intact as much as possible
1 stick of celery
3 fresh sage sprigs
4 black peppercorns
For the sauce:
50g butter (3 1/2 TBS)
plan on one to two weeks curing in the brine
Salt
Petre, or potassium nitrate, is one of the ingredients used to preserve
the meat in a salt brine. You can possibly get it via a sausage making
site. I got mine from my sister who sent it to me from Canada. It not
only helps to preserve the meat, but also to give it that nice red
colour.
500g of salt mixed with 100g of salt petre (generous 2 cups of salt, I could not find the equivalent of cup measures
for the salt petre. I suspect it is about 1/2 cup. If you can't get the salt petre, use 600g of sea salt, or 2 1/2 cups)
300g soft dark brown sugar (1 1/2 cups packed)
2.25 lires of freshly boiled water and 750ml ice cold water
(9 1/2 cups boiled water and a generous 3 cups ice cold water)
25g whole coriander seeds (2 TBS)
6 black peppercorns
6 allspice berries
2 whole cloves
1 cardamom pod
3 bay leaves
2 kg of BONELESS beef topside or brisket
(Do NOT use bone in meat or your meat will rot rather than cure. Cut off any large chunks of fat and discard)
Put
the salt and salt petre into a large pan with the hot water and brown
sugar. Bring to the boil. While you are waiting for the water to
boil, place all of the spices, with the exception of the bay leaves,
into a very hot large skillet. Take the skillet off the heat and
shake the pan to toast the spices Get a piece of muslin and tie the
spices up in it and drop it into the boiling water along with the bay
leaves. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in
the ice cold water. Leave until completely cold. Once it is completely
cold, put the meat in, making sure it is completely submerged. If it
trys to float, weight it down with a few tins, and cover the pan with a
tight fitting lid. Place in the refrigerator and leave for 10 to 14
days. The thicker your piece of meat the longer you will want to leave
it. Longer is better and up to 14 days will ensure a proper cure. It
is important that the meat stay completely submerged. Once cured, it
will keep for about a week in the refrigerator, or a bit longer if you
have used salt petre. It will last up to 3 months, properly wrapped,
in the freezer.
I just have to tell you about this new Smokin' Hot Dog Sauce from Newman's Own. I was sent a bottle of it last week and we have fallen in love with it. It's absolutely gorgeous and went really well with the salt beef also.
From this spring, Smokin' Hot Dog Sauce from all-profits-to-charity brand Newman's Own will be available from Morrisons stores here in the UK. Available later this month, the sauce will launch in time for the summer BBQ season and will form part of a new American Condiments range to be rolled out throughout the year. This is only the first thing of what will be a few products.
I have to say it's the most delicious hotdog sauce I have ever eaten. We had it with some of our salt beef of course, but we've also enjoyed it on a few hot dogs, and in truth I could eat the stuff with a spoon. It's sweet, and smoky and has some sassy spice going on! I could eat it with a spoon! It will be rolled out in the Morrison's chain of supermarkets later this month retailing at £1.89 per bottle and is worth every finger licking penny. What's nice about the Newman's Own products as well is that all of the profits are given over to a variety of charities. Win/win!
*Salt Beef with Vegetables and a Parsley Sauce*
Serves 6 to 8
50g plain flour (scant 1/3 cup)
200ml of whole milk (7 1/2 fluid ounces)
1 TBS English Mustard Powder
a handful of fresh parsley
a handful of fresh parsley
salt and black pepper to taste
(chances are you won't need any salt)
To serve:
boiled potatoes
mustard
Buttered brown bread
Put
the beef into a pot along with the carrots, and onions. Cover with
cold water and add the celery, sage and peppercorns. Bring to the boil,
then reduce to a slow simmer and cook, tighty covered for about an
hour, skimming off any scum which rises to the top from time to time.
Add the wedges of cabbage and cook, tightly covered, for a further 30 to
40 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender. At the end of that time
remove the meat to a large platter and tent to keep warm. Strain off
300ml (1 1/4 cups) of the cooking liquid and reserve. Leave the
vegetables in the cooking liquor to keep warm.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and mustard powder. Cook for about 1 minute, then slowly whisk in the reserved cooking liquor and the milk. Cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and boils. Cook for a minute. Remove from the heat. Bang in the parsley and blitz with a stick blender or in the food processor until you have a greenish sauch with bits of parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Slice
the meat if you can, or tear into large chunks. Serve a portion of
meat on heated plates along with a portion of the cooked vegetables and
some boiled potatoes. Pass the sauce and or mustard if desired, and
buttered brown bread.Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and mustard powder. Cook for about 1 minute, then slowly whisk in the reserved cooking liquor and the milk. Cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and boils. Cook for a minute. Remove from the heat. Bang in the parsley and blitz with a stick blender or in the food processor until you have a greenish sauch with bits of parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
*How to Make Your Own Salt Beef*
Serves 6 to 8for the salt petre. I suspect it is about 1/2 cup. If you can't get the salt petre, use 600g of sea salt, or 2 1/2 cups)
I just have to tell you about this new Smokin' Hot Dog Sauce from Newman's Own. I was sent a bottle of it last week and we have fallen in love with it. It's absolutely gorgeous and went really well with the salt beef also.
From this spring, Smokin' Hot Dog Sauce from all-profits-to-charity brand Newman's Own will be available from Morrisons stores here in the UK. Available later this month, the sauce will launch in time for the summer BBQ season and will form part of a new American Condiments range to be rolled out throughout the year. This is only the first thing of what will be a few products.
I have to say it's the most delicious hotdog sauce I have ever eaten. We had it with some of our salt beef of course, but we've also enjoyed it on a few hot dogs, and in truth I could eat the stuff with a spoon. It's sweet, and smoky and has some sassy spice going on! I could eat it with a spoon! It will be rolled out in the Morrison's chain of supermarkets later this month retailing at £1.89 per bottle and is worth every finger licking penny. What's nice about the Newman's Own products as well is that all of the profits are given over to a variety of charities. Win/win!
Thankfully I was always a good cook and quite adept at creating something very delicious out of not a lot! Tasty dishes such as this stone soup I am showing you today . . .
There
was a method to my madness . . . while they might not have gotten
excited about a bowl of cabbage soup, calling it Stone Soup immediately
made them want to tuck in!
I
am sure you are familiar with the story of the beggar who went to a poor village looking for a place to sleep and a bite to eat. The villagers were very suspicious however and were not that eager to help, but being as canny and smart as he was, he inspired them into helping him create a delicious stone soup that the whole village shared together at the end of the story. You can find the story here.
Its a wonderful story with a great moral to it, teaching children that if we can work together on things, then amazing things will begin to happen!
Things like delicious pots of soup that started with not a lot more than half a cabbage, an onion, a tin of tomatoes, some water and a vegetable stock pot.
Of course there are a few seasonings involved as well, which are never a problem in my house because I always have a well stocked herb drawer.
With a bit of crusty bread on the side this soup goes down a real treat! We have always loved it. It takes the humble cabbage and lifts it up into something quite, quite magnificent!
*Stone Soup*
Serves 4 generously
There was another meal that my children used to gobble up that I called Monkey in the Middle, which was simply stewed meat in the middle of a plate, surrounded by a ring of corn and then a ring of rice. The children loved that. It was simple and delicious and made all the more so for its name. Funny how that goes! Bon Appetit!
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