Cozy Cabbage Rolls

Here we are in the heart of fall; this time of year I always crave comfort food and what is more comforting then a warm meal that comes out of the oven? Mmmmm.... Cabbage Rolls. The epitomy of Ukrainian comfort food.


Often I find that people use too much ground meat and make them very large. So I went about an experiment. I made two different kinds of Cabbage Rolls, 1 that was made of ground meat and the other that was made of sauteed mushrooms. The both have the same ingredients other then the meat/ mushroom can you tell which is which:


They look very similar and oddly enough they didn't taste all that different either. I suggest mixing them up in a casserole dish if you are trying to cut down on red meat. I had to make both because of my meat eating partner. I enjoy meat too, but often opt to not partake and am always looking for ways to reduce meat with out having to substitute with a freaky soy product. These were both really good, even my meat eating partner had a hard time figuring out which was which! Here is the recipe:

1 large heat of cabbage
1/4 lb ground beef (the small package) or 1 lb mushrooms finely chopped and sauteed
1 carrot finely chopped
2 stalks of celery finely chopped
2 onions finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic
3 cups of cooked rice (whatever floats your boat)
2 eggs
medium pinch of rosemary
large pinch of salt & pep

1 jumbo or 2 - 3 regular cans of whole tomatoes

First pop a whole head of cabbage into a huge pot of boiling water. Martha says not to use an aluminum pot... I think that my pot is aluminum and they worked, but it could be something else. Feel free to take the risk if you must. Other people remove each leaf first and then boiled them separately. I just threw the whole thing in, accidentally forgot about it and them took it out. It was cooked through and the outer leaves weren't very pretty but the rest was great. Let it cool and then remove each leaf and set aside.

Then begin making rice. Just follow the package directions. Then move on to chopping the mushrooms (actually I ran them through a food pro until they were fairly finely chopped - you do need a little texture) and begin sauteing them with some Olive Oil and pepper (leave the salt out). In the meantime finely chop the celery, carrots, garlic and onions, again I used the food pro, if you choose to do this make sure that you do it in small batches, or else you will get a puree and you want more like pieces that are the size of rice grains, or a little bigger. Divide the chopped veggies into two bowls. Make sure the mushrooms are sauteed to the point that they have given up most of the water, then add them to one bowl and add the beef to another. Add one egg to each bowl and 1 cup of rice, mix it in and then decide if you want to add more rice. I went for it, but you might not want to and in the end you will be eating it so go ahead and do what you must!
This is how each looks, bad light I know but you get the idea!


Now you will want to empty your cans of tomatoes into a juice jug or bowl and whiz with a hand blender. I added a small handful of salt pepper, and a little less rosemary. Whiz until it is a smooth sauce.

Now assemble! Pour a little sauce into a casserole dish, take one cabbage leaf. If it is a big leaf, remove the bottom v shape of the stem, just the hard part so you end up with a small v out of your leaf. You can leave it in but it is trickier to roll. Just do whatever works for you. Add some filling to one side of the leaf and roll it up. Add to the dish and repeat until you are done. Top with a bit more of the sauce, cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour.
I serve mine with sour cream. Yum!!

The Main Event: Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is something that I look forward to every year. It has become one of my favorite holidays because it is so simple. All you have to do is prepare a delicious meal for your friends and family and enjoy it! You don't have to find a costume or the perfect gift. Just cook, eat and enjoy the company of loved ones.

Yes it is easier said then done, but with a little prep the day before and the instructions that someone else bring dessert it can achieved fairly easily. This year I made as much ahead of time as possible. I spent the whole Saturday making stuffing, brining turkey, making cranberry sauce, chopping Brussels sprouts, chopping veggies and prepping appies. Lets start with my favourite thanksgiving side.

Cheesy Brussel Sprouts

The real secret to making these Brussels sprouts delicious and what has made my friend Jamie say 'I don't even like Brussels Sprouts, but I went back for seconds!' One of my best compliments. is simple onions, caramelized before roasting. For six cups of trimmed and halved Brussels sprouts I used one and 1/2 large soft ball sized yellow onion. I caramelized it in a pan with a little butter and then tossed with the Brussels spouts in a casserole dish. Top off with a few handfuls of shredded aged cheddar cheese and bake until the sprouts are golden brown. In a 350 degree oven this will take about 45 minutes. I like to make sure to give them plenty of time, even if I have to wrap them in foil and let them sit because I put them in early. If you do a bigger batch they can take up to an hour and a half and it is critical that they get to that golden brown stage or they will be bitter not melt in your mouth delicious!

I also prep the stuffing the day before, then when it comes to getting the turkey in the oven I can just stuff it and get it in!

My stuffing is basic and goes as follows:

8 cups of toasted bread chunks
8 links of maple breakfast sausages
3 heads of roasted garlic
2 stalks of celery
1 large onion
2 tbsp each parsley & sage
1 tbsp each rosemary & thyme
1 tsp salt & pepper
1 - 2 cups chicken stock

Normally I would used just a basic sausage but this year I brined my Turkey with an apple cider brine so I decided to go with the maple breakfast sausage, just to create some interest and to really showcase some autumn flavors. I begin by toasting bread. I used a basic whole wheat, mostly because I don't really eat white bread and I didn't want to complicate it with grains or seeds. This is stuffing for us humans, not chipmunks! I chop the celery and onion in a small dice, chop the herbs and add the seasonings and then add a splash of stock. I work the stuffing with my hands until the sausage is evenly distributed and add stock as is necessary until it all combines into one big for lack of a better word glop. I always make enough so that I can stuff the turkey and bake some in an extra dish for a friend of mine who doesn't like it in the bird. Also lets be honest: There just isn't enough room in the bird for as much stuffing as you need to feed hungry stuffing lovers.

This is how it looks before it is cooked aka glop stage:

Of course you must have mashed potatoes on any decent thanksgiving table and since I love garlic I always add roasted garlic. Lots of it. I like to add 1 head of garlic per 2 large potatoes. Feel free to use this ratio for making your current favourite mashed potato recipe. Its always hard to know how much butter and cream you will need to add to get the right consistency but the garlic will make them even dreamier - it will blow the regular garlic mashed potatoes that most people make right out of the water. I don't know how someone could add garlic powder to potatoes and still sleep at night!


And of course the turkey. I used a brine this year and it was amazing!! Since I haven't used one before I used a recipe for Apple Cider Brine that I found on Tasty Kitchen. It made the meat so juicy that it blew me away. The breast meat was by far the most flavorful, tender and succulent that I have ever tasted. And let me tell you when all 30 people had walked away there wasn't even enough turkey left to make soup! I seasoned the turkey inside and out with salt and pepper, stuffed it with the recipe above, rubbed it with butter above and underneath the skin, wrapped it in thick cut double smoked bacon and rested in on top of a 'rack' that I made with some carrots, celery, onions garlic, added a little chicken stock for moisture and then let them all get acquainted in a 350 degree oven until the skin is crispy and brown and the juices run clear. Oh yeah, put a lid on all of that! Since I was so busy enjoying the meal I didn't take a picture of it but I did make a smaller breast for blogging purposes and here it is:


Other recipes that I served were:

Honey and Lime Glazed Yams and Beets
Brussels Slaw
Orange Glazed Carrots
(Steam with some orange juice, then thicken like gravy with four, add salt, pepper and fresh thyme)
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
(I'll have to share another time)
Gravy - thicken the pan juices with flour and season as necessary.
And Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos as an appy.

Happy Cooking!!

Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

Yum!

What am amazing day! BBQ season is definitely here on the island so I decided to do something that I have never done before... make a rub! and I did it! and it was a lot easier then I thought.
Honestly I'm not a huge pork fan, and while I'm sharing secrets I ran out of propane and cooked these in a frying pan. Don't tell anyone, and seriously try it on the BBQ because these babies are good but on the BBQ everything is better.

So lets get on with it then:

Funky Pork Rub

2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
1/8 cup dry mustard
1/8 cup onion powder
1/8 cup paprika
2 tbsp dry rosemary
1 clove of fresh garlic

That's all I used!

I combined it, but only added the garlic to the amount of rub that I needed, you can keep the rest of the rub for later, but not with the garlic, I guess you could use the dry stuff... but I personally just think that's plain old wrong, but I always encourage others to take a recipe and make it how they like it so feel free, I won't send the garlic police.... not this time anyway!

So I rubbed down 4 pork pork loin chops and let them hang out for a while, the trick here is to really rub it in, get to know your meat and give it some love, so it loves you back!

Now onto the side, which in my opinion is equally as important, and was equally delicious.

1 huge or 2 medium onions sliced
3 mackintosh apples sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp rosemary
salt and pepper

Start with the onions, slice them up and add them to a pan with 1 tbsp of butter and about 1/4 cup of water, the water helps to soften the onions and allows them to be insulated so that they cook evenly, it also encourages the sugars to come out so they get nice and caramelized, cook it over medium to medium high heat until the water dissolves and the onions begin to get golden, then add another tbsp of butter, the apples and the brown sugar, stir and let the apples begin to soften, add the rosemary and season with salt and pepper, this is where the tasting begins, I like to add just a hint of vanilla, for me it was around 1/8 of a tbsp but add a few drops at a time and taste until it has a little something that makes them say hmm... but not enough to make it seem sweet, like pie, the real trick to these apples and onions is that they are still savoury.

Once the onions and apples were seasoned and are getting to know each other you can put the pork chops on, I would have loved to BBQ them but as I sadly admitted before I cooked them in a medium hot skillet with a bit of olive oil for only a few minutes a side, it is very important not to let the pork dry out, use a hot enough pan that it will get nice and brown fairly quickly. I also brushed them with a little Cattleman BBQ sauce that I thinned out with a little bit of orange juice. After all of that, they should look this delicious:



And laid on top of a bed of savoury apples and onions it looks even more delicious: Hello BBQ season!

A Burgasm... yup I said it!

Purists look away!

My idea of an amazing burger has toppings. I do not come from the school of purists when it comes to meat and bun goodness, I always overdo it with the toppings and this was no exception.
A whole wheat kaiser bun toasted and topped with a roasted portobello mushroom, topped with a juicy roasted garlic burger, topped with Swiss cheese, topped with vine ripened tomatoes, topped with creamy avocado, topped with my version of a special sauce. This sucker is not for the faint hearted - Rachael Ray move over! This beef burger is sheer burgasmic!


The toppings were easy, slice the tomatoes, avocado, pop some portobello mushroom caps in the oven that have been drizzled in Extra Virgin and sprinkled with Salt and Pepper until roasted to golden delicious. The secret sauce is as follows:

1/4 c mayo
1/8 c Dijon mustard
2 tbsp ketchup
1/8 c diced onion
s&p

Once again I will tell you that I am not very precise on the measurements, I often mix it up, taste it and add what I want, and honestly for a burger sauce that's what you need to do, I think that for this burger though the Dijon is important because it cuts through all of the richness of the avocado, the mushroom well the whole damn thing is rich!

The Burger:

1 lb of ground beef
1 egg
1 clove of roasted garlic
2 tbsp minced red pepper
1/4 cup minced onion
salt and pepper
Swiss Cheese

Go on get your hands messy and mix all of that up, divy it up into 4 equal sections and cook as you like, on the BBQ or in a pan, melt some Swiss on top and assemble as follows:

Bun

Sauce
Avocado
Tomato
Burger topped with cheese
Mushroom
Sauce
Bun

Burger making tip: Seasoning you burger can be tricky, I don't like to advise on an exact amount because everyone likes it differently, a good way to test is to make a tiny little burger, a little taste tester, fry it up and give it a taste to see if you need more.

Serve with just a couple oven fries, trust me you won't have very much room left after you eat this sucker!

Coconut Marinated Chicken Skewers

Mmmmm.. Coconut Milk!

What could make chicken better then coconut milk, lime and cilantro?

Just look at it, so tender and juicy! Here goes-
Marinade:

2 Chicken breasts cut into think strips
1/2 Can Coconut Milk
Zest of 2 Limes
Big Handful of Cilantro
Pepper

Put all of this into a baggy and let it chill out in the fridge for a few hours. I did it the night before so it was nearly 24 this is why I didn't add the lime juice or the salt as these can change the texture of meat if they get friendly for 2 long in a marinade.


I let the whole breasts marinade but it would have been easier to slice them before hand. Honestly I have never thought that raw chicken was very appealing but this carcass is delicious looking!

When I was ready for dinner I just put the chicken on skewers and bar-b-qued them. While that was on the grill, I roasted some broccoli with a little sesame oil, salt and pepper. The Bar B Q actually took a little longer then expected because it was - 10 and snowing outside, very strange for Vancouver Island!

I topped the Broccoli with sesame seeds and added more cilantro, chopped peanuts and a few squeezes of lime juice to the chicken. It was ridiculously tender- I made sure to cook it just through so it was still juicy- Seriously make this chicken as soon as you can. You will love it!