Stuffed Kale Rolls

NAME: _Stuffed Kale Rolls

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
24 large Black Kale (Kavolo Nero) leaves
12 smaller Black Kale leaves
250gm beef mince
4 small brown onions
8 cloves of garlic
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
Bunch of fresh oregano leaves
Bunch of fresh mint leaves
100g Crumbly Fetta cheese
100g Drained salt pickled sauerkraut
1 cup Basmati rice
Salt
Water
Olive Oil

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METHOD:
This dish is prepared in several stages. The mince can be prepared a day in advance, and in fact I generally make about 3 times the amount of mince and freeze the rest for other dishes. I'll deal with each stage separately to make it easier.

Mince:
Finely chop 2 small onions and two peeled cloves of garlic, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and add the chopped onions and garlic, fry until onion goes slightly glassy, and add the mince. Chop oregano and mint leaves until you have about quarter of a cupful of each, add that to the mince, stir through and allow the flavour to permeate, then add three quarters of a tin of chopped tomatoes and the tablespoon of tomato paste, plus a cup of water. Add two more cloves of garlic, minced. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for around 45 minutes, adding water if it becomes too dry. (But you do want it relatively dry.) Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Chop about a quarter of a cup of mint leaves, and in a bowl stir together the mince, the mint leaves, the sauerkraut, an extra teaspoon of salt, and the cupful of uncooked Basmati rice. Cube or crumble the fetta and fold into the mixture. Set aside

Sauce:
Finely chop the remaining two onions and peel and finely slice the other four garlic cloves. Fry in a saucepan (perhaps the same one as the mince was cooked in) in about a tablespoonful of olive oil, until the onion becomes golden with occasional brown bits. Add the remaining tin and a quarter of tomatoes, about three cups of water, salt, and about a quarter cupful of chopped oregano leaves. Simmer for around 30 minutes.

FINALLY, The Rolls:
Take the 24 large kale leaves and shave the thick spine down to the same level as the leaf. Boil a large saucepan of well salted water, and put the leaves in stalk end first, then slowly press down into the water. Leaves should turn bright green when blanched, and be softened but not so soft as to tear. At this point, empty the boiling water and flood the leaves in cold water to stop the cooking process.

With the stem end towards you and spine side down, place a tablespoonful of the filling mixture in the centre of each leaf, fold the sides in, the bottom up, and then roll to the tip, forming a parcel with the filling inside.

Roughly tear the remaining kale leaves and put about half on the bottom of a large saucepan, probably the same one as was used to blanch the larger leaves, then arrange the rolls in a layer so that they wedge each other so they will stay closed, then add the sauce. lay the remaining kale leaves on top, and if the liquid from the sauce hasn't covered the rolls, add a bit more water until the rolls are covered to a depth of about a centimetre.

Put a lid on the saucepan, bring contents to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

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SERVING:
Discard the covering leaves when done, remove the rolls from the sauce, arrange on a plate, and spoon some sauce over. Serve hot or cold.

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NOTES:
This was an experiment, because I like dolmade and cabbage rolls, and I LOVE kale and especially Black Kale. You could leave out the sauerkraut and perhaps use very finely shredded cabbage, but I liked it the way it was.

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ENJOY!

Savoury Mince (Sloppy Joes)

NAME: _Savoury Mince (Sloppy Joes)

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
500g minced beef
1/2 brown onion
1 - 2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp raw sugar
1 tsp powdered garlic or fresh minced
1/2 tsp curry powder or cayenne pepper (see Notes)
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 tsp beef dripping
salt and pepper to taste

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METHOD:
chop onion finely, fry in pan in beef dripping with the minced beef until browned. Drain off liquid and add other ingredients, adjusting consistency with the tomato sauce. Cook at medium heat until carrot is cooked soft, about 15 - 25 minutes.

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SERVING:
Serve on toast with a side of salad or baked beans. Or go the whole sloppy joe route, slice open a bread roll, butter lightly, spoon in some mince and if desired top with baked beans and/or grated cheese and a side salad.

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NOTES:
The Sloppy Joes recipe would probably not use curry powder, feel free to use cayenne pepper and/or a mix of Worcestershire Sauce and tomato sauce, and feel free to toast the rolls if serving like a traditional sloppy joe.

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ENJOY!

"Lassaka Mousagne"

NAME: _Lassaka Mousagne

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
Vegetables:
3 - 4 baby eggplants
3 - 4 courgettes
2 brown onions
4 cloves garlic
fresh oregano leaves, chopped (enough to make about 1/3 cup)
fresh mint leaves, chopped (enough to make the above to 1/2 cup total)
bunch of silver beet
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
fresh lasagne pasta sheets
1 cup blended EVOO and RBO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Rice Bran Oil)
2 cups water, or chicken stock, or one of each.

Bechamel:
100g butter
1 cup milk
2 tbsp plain flour
200g grated cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

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METHOD:
Peel the eggplants and courgettes (as you fry off each lot, preferably, to avoid the eggplant turning brown) and cut into 7mm or so slices. (Thicker than 1/2cm, thinner than 1cm.) As you peel each eggplant, fry the slices to a crisp brown on each side using the oil as necessary. Place on absorbent paper or slices of stale bread to drain, set aside.

Slice the onion to a similar thickness, add two cloves garlic sliced thin, and fry until onions are light brown, transfer to pot. Deglaze the pan with about 1/2 cup water or chicken stock, set aside. Add chopped oregano and mint to the pot, turn over medium heat until fragrant, then add the deglazing liquid from the pan and the remaining stock, the tinned tomatoes and the tomato paste, season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining two cloves of garlic, crushed to paste. Simmer for an hour, until reduced.

Wash the silver beet and trim out the stems. Assemble the lasagne by lining the bottom of the pan with silver beet leaves, placing a few fried eggplant and courgette slices, and the first sheets of lasagne pasta to line from edge to edge.

Spread a few spoonfuls of the reduced tomato sauce over the pasta sheets, add slices of eggplant and courgette, spread more sauce, then some more silver beet leaves, spread more tomato sauce. Continue these layers until dish is close to full. (Don't put the top layer of pasta on until ready to cover with bechamel, otherwise it will curl.)

Make the bechamel by melting butter over medium heat, adding the flour, then the liquids, then the grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Adjust to a quite thick consistency. Place last layer of pasta over the silver beet, spread the bechamel over the top.

Bake in 170 degree oven for an hour. Allow to stand for 10 - 15 minutes once cooked.

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SERVING:
With a green side salad, can serve up to 8 people.

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NOTES:
I started off with ingredients for a moussaka, then decided to make a vegetable lasagne instead. The secret is to use HEAPS more herbs than you'd think comfortable, because the flavour consolidates over the hour of simmering. Also, because of using fresh pasta sheets, the tomato sauce and bechamel need to be less moist than normal.

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ENJOY!

Panzanella Style Vegetables

NAME: _Panzanella Style Vegetables

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
Around 12 Roma tomatoes (depends on your baking dish)
1 - 2 beetroot, uncooked
1 - 2 large red onions
1 red capsicum
1 - 2 tbsp salted capers
1 - 2 tbsp fine chopped oregano
1 - 2 tbsp fine chopped basil
4 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp salt flakes
1/2 tbsp fresh ground pepper.
About 1/2 cup haloumi cheese cut into small pieces (see recipe)

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METHOD:
Brush the inside of your roasting dish with olive oil, Cut the tomatoes in half, lay in baking dish cut sides up. Peel the beetroot, slice around 1cm - 1.5cm thick, and cut each slice into wedges, arrange between tomatoes. Peel the onion, slice 0.5cm - 1cm thick, cut into quarters, arrange between the vegetables in the dish. Open and seed the capsicum, cut into 1cm by around 3cm strips, and arrange between the other vegetables in the dish.

The ideal roasting dish for this is a glass one. Make sure it is small enough to well and truly crowd the vegetables together, but large enough that you can keep everything level with the tomatoes. If the level of the vegetables comes about halfway up the sides of the baking dish, that's about the perfect depth. Enamel or ceramic might work as well, a metal one would have to be quite heavy to work properly.

Wash salt from capers, sprinkle over vegetables. Sprinkle over the oregano and basil, gently crush the salt flakes and sprinkle about half over. Sprinkle about half the pepper (more or less according to taste) over.

Peel and mash the garlic, mix with about half the olive oil and drizzle over the vegetables. Place pan in an oven set to 140C and leave for around an hour to an hour and a half. (Depends - when the beetroot is somewhat softened, that's the time.)

Add haloumi cheese sliced into 0.3cm slices and cut into roughly 2cm squares. Sprinkle the cheese over. Drizzle remaining olive oil over, and return to oven at 200C for a further half hour, or until the cheese browns slightly.

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SERVING:
Use remaining flake salt and ground pepper to season to taste. Serve as a main with crusty bread, or as a side to a hearty dish.

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NOTES:
Slow gentle heating is the key, with a nice burst of heat at the end to brown the cheese and tops of the vegetables. It's called "panzanella style" because it's cribbed from a panzanella recipe, but the vegetables, herbs, and cheese used are my favourite variation.

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ENJOY!

Improper Passata

NAME: _Improper Passata

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
Several kilos of firm fleshed tomatoes. I used romas for this one.
A teaspoon or so of salt.

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METHOD:
Cut the romas into quarters and scoop out the seeds. (If you want - I tend to scoop because I want mainly the red flesh and skins.) Roughly chop the quarters and put in a large pot. Sprinkle the salt over the top to start the tomato "weeping" and start over low heat. As the tomato breaks down and liquefies, turn up the heat slightly. Keep it on a low simmer for around an hour or a bit more. You want the tomato somewhat liguefying, with soft whole bits still in.

Allow to cool, and blitz in a food processor with the plastic knife until it's the consistency you want. Do this in batches that suit your food processor, mix all the batches back together and then pour into freezable containers. (I used plastic take-away containers that were washed in very hot sudsy water.) Only fill to 2/3 to 3/4 to allow freezing expansion. Freeze.

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SERVING:
I use this as a pasta sauce by itself, or make meals using the passata as a base.

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NOTES:
You can additionally return the tomato to the simmer after blitzing and reduce it even more, but I find it's almost perfect as it is at the stage required above.

If you leave the liquid and seeds in, you may need to simmer the passata for longer to reduce it sufficiently.

Passata can also be canned into two-part lid canning jars, but I have plenty of room in the freezer - and I'll make a canning batch later in the season... (And post the recipe here of course!)

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ENJOY!

Egg Cornmeal Pasta

NAME: _Egg Cornmeal Pasta

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
200g plain flour
50g maize corn flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
5 eggs

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METHOD:
Sift the corn flour and plain flour together into a mixing bowl, add the salt. Separate the yolks from three eggs, put in the bowl, and add the whites and yolks of two more eggs. Add the olive oil and knead to incorporate.

Keep kneading until it forms a stiff dough, then turn out onto a floured board and keep kneading down hard. You want to make this dough develop some gluten, so fold and press down hard, until it becomes somewhat stretchy. Roll it out into a noodle, simultaneously rolling and stretching, until you have a noodle about 1.5cm - 2cm thick and about 45cm long.

Cut into four sections, and roll out to the second-last setting on the pasta roller, then cut as required into strips, and hang for drying in a warm spot. See notes for more info.

When firmed up, boil in salted water for around 6 - 10 minutes depending on your cut and texture desired.

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SERVING:
Serve as for any pasta with the sauce of your choice.

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NOTES:
Cornflour doesn't develop gluten as well as plain flour or OO grade flour do, so this needs to be WELL kneaded and rolled, and the drying time is necessary.

The idea of the kneading is to start the glutens joining hands and making the dough stretchy and firm. Since there's not a lot of liquid to begin with, you really have to force the moisture into the flours. Adjust the consistency to a very stiff dry dough by adding plain flour if too wet, or a few drops of water at a time if too dry.

Knead by folding in half, then merging the layers together by pressing and sliding with the heel of the hand. Do this for a few minutes, folding and pressing, until you feel the texture change. At this stage, roll the dough into a ball and then roll and stretch the ball into the noodle shape and roll/stretch as described above.

Cooking the pasta - if you cooked it right away, the surface of the pasta would dissolve, followed by the rest of the pasta... By "drying" it off, the dough toughens up and will hold shape in the boiling water.

Cut the pasta into strips either with a knife or with the strip cutting attachment of the pasta roller. It's suggested to use the fettucine width (wider strips) because as mentioned this pasta has a lot of corn flour which weakens it. (Or use a sharp knife to cut strips around 5mm wide.)

Dry the pasta strips by draping them over chopsticks or thick skewers and balancing them between anything that gives enough height to stop the pasta dragging on the counter.

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ENJOY!