Bigos #1

NAME: _Bigos #1

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1 cup prunes
20gm dried porcini or (wild forest) mushrooms (See NOTES)
2 cups stock, beef preferred, or chicken or vegetable
1 tbsp pork lard
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion
half head cabbage
half a kilo of sauerkraut  (See NOTES)
1kg Polish sausage (See NOTES)
1kg kabanossa (See NOTES)
1kg leftover boneless meat (See NOTES)
150g bacon cubes, around a cupful (See NOTES)
1 tin chopped tomatoes (See NOTES)
1 cup red wine
1 tsp heaped of caraway seeds
Salt and black pepper to taste

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METHOD:
Prepare:
If necessary, pit the prunes. Put prunes and mushrooms into enough boiled water to soak them, set aside.

Rinse the sauerkraut and drain well. Cut sausages into 2cm - 3cm slices, meats slightly larger.

Slice the cabbage thin, place in a large heavy saucepan along with the fats. Peel the onion, quarter lengthways, add to saucepan. If using uncooked meats, add them now as well. Add caraway seeds, and saute until cabbage is reduced to about half.

Add remaining ingredients sauerkraut, tomato, stock, the soaked prunes and mushrooms and the clear liquid they were soaked in, preferably leaving the cloudy sediment out, and red wine, bring to a simmer.

Simmer for one and a half hours. Add water if needed to prevent burning, stir often.

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SERVING:
Serve in bowls with smallish boiled peeled potatoes.
Bigos is even tastier if kept in a cool place for 24 hours and re-heated.

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NOTES:
"Bigos" is almost a Polish national dish, it's also known as "Hunter's Stew" and was often made to use up leftover meats and smallgoods and the last of the season's sauerkraut.  It's delicious served fresh, reheated, or even frozen and reheated.

• There are mixes of dried mushrooms available that are every bit as good as porcini in this recipe. I've used home-dried portobello, dried field mushrooms, and whatever comes to hand.
• Use salt-pickled sauerkraut, either home-made or store bought.
• Sausage/bacon - smoked Polish sausage can be used in place of Kabanossa, just omit the bacon or the smoked flavour becomes quite strong.
• Meats - can use fresh beef, fresh pork, leftover roast, leftover ham - pretty much whatever. Mutton is not recommended.
• If using bacon, 1cm cubes is about right, but again, whatever is to hand.
• Use 2 cups of fresh chopped tomatoes instead of the tinned tomatoes, if you prefer. 

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ENJOY!

Borscht Soup #2

NAME: _Borscht Soup #2

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
3 - 4 beetroots
1 turnip
1 large potato
2 medium carrots
1 kg beef, cubed around 2cm
1 large brown onion, cut into 1/8ths
2 ltrs beef stock
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups fine chopped fresh cabbage
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup sour cream

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METHOD:
Place the beef and onions in a large saucepan along with about 1/2 the stock. Set to simmering, for around an hour and a half.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the root vegetables to around 1.5cm cubes, place in remaining stock, add the dill and vinegar, set aside.

Allow the cooked broth to cool, skim off any froth and excess fat. Add the remaining stock with vegetables in, return to heat for around 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Add the shredded cabbage, boil for another ten minutes or so. Add the cream and serve.

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SERVING:
Serving - can be done immediately, when the soup is hot, or served cold later, or (best by far) kept cool for a day or two, gently re-heated, and served.

In any case, serve with rustic bread.

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NOTES:
Variations include adding pork meat and sausages, cubed potato, parsnip, etc. I made the recipe above with cabbage that had been shredded and slow-cooked in butter days before as part of another meal, and was rewarded with a beautiful flavour. Don't be afraid to experiment a little. Add red wine as well as red wine vinegar, use caraway and fennel seeds when boiling the meat. All these variations work.

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ENJOY!

My Fried Green Tomatoes

NAME: _My Fried Green Tomatoes

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
green tomatoes
1 cup flour
1 cup fine corn meal
2 raw eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp fine ground cumin
1 tsp fine salt
pinch of fine salt
1 - 2 cup oil. (EVOO, rice bran, grapeseed mix is good)

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METHOD:
(See notes) Prepare tomatoes as per the Notes. Place plain flour in a small bowl, corn meal in another small bowl mixed with cumin and salt, Beat eggs, milk, and pinch of salt in a third small bowl.

Put oil into a heavy frypan and heat just under smoking heat, maintain this temperature.

Dip tomato pieces into egg, dredge in flour, dip in egg, and finally dredge in corn meal, then place in frypan and fry, turning often, until golden to lightly browned, drain on a slice of bread or some paper towel.

Prepare in small batches, as if you leave coated pieces laying around for five minutes, the salt will draw moisture, and the coating may try to drip off the pieces.

If you turn them gently, and only turn them once the underneath side has browned, you should be able to keep all the coating on the tomato rather than crumbling all into the frypan.

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SERVING:
As a side dish, best served hot.

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NOTES:
I was lucky enough to have a crop of cherry tomatoes late in the season that were not going to ripen, and they are too small to slice, so I just cut them in half. That meant a large surface of smooth skin, which the initial flour would not have stuck well to. Hence the double dipping procedure.

If you have larger green tomatoes that can be sliced about 7mm thick, do so, if you have cherry tomatoes, halves should be no thicker than 7mm, if they are larger (grape tomatoes) perhaps quarter them. The idea is that the thickness should be such that the inside of the slice/half/quarter cooks just soft in the time it takes for the crumbing to brown.

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ENJOY!

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!