Cabbage Gratin

It was a dreary and rainy Halloween. But I really didn't mind. I had the oven on with this gratin in it. Dinner was pork chops, tomato-apple chutney and this crispy topped goodness. There was apple cider (will it be hot, spiced or with rum? see below to find out what we did!*) and a lot of candy. This year we trick-or-treated in our own home. My son, who is now in kindergarten, was given the choice to go out to our friend's house to trick or treat like we've done for the past few years, or stay home. He picked home, and home it was.

It's funny how it takes you a while to really know who your kids is. I mean, you've always known, of course, but at this age they can talk and make choices, and they might even know themselves a bit more. I always find that my son knows himself so much better than I do. So I try to listen. After a few years of taking him out for trick or treating (and I'm not hugely into Halloween, but I thought that's just what you do, right?) he can finally tell me, "No, I'd rather stay home." So, we stayed in: put on the Monster Mash, carved another pumpkin, lit some candles, and yes, ate some candy! I got a huge bowl of all different kinds of candies, and we had our own trick or treating fun knocking on the porch door and then going to the front door for more. We had so much fun!!

This gratin was real winter time fare. So hearty! I used this recipe from the NY Times as a guideline. While I was searching for a recipe, I found this one that looks promising, as well, which had cornmeal and dijon mustard in it.

Cabbage Gratin
adapted from this recipe from the NY Times

1 head of cabbage, sliced
1/2 cup water
olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, smashed
salt

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup brown rice
1 cup buttermilk
handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
3/4 cup (or .25 pound) shredded gruyere cheese
grated parmesan cheese
nutritional yeast flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 3 quart glass dish. (It will fit in a 2-quart dish if you squish it in like I did, but I will now be shopping for a 3-quart dish.)

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add cabbage and slowly wilt, adding the water as needed so there's just wilting and no browning.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs with the rice, buttermilk, parsely and 1/2 cup of the gruyere. When the cabbage is looking good (to me this means a mix of really wilt, almost yellow-y cabbage, and some still crisp, bright chartreuse) add it to the egg mixture and toss gently. Put the mix in your prepared pan, and sprinkle with the rest of the gruyere, a liberal amount of parmesan, and the nutritional yeast flakes.

Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes, until browned and bubbly.

NOTE: This makes a large amount of gratin. It's great for a group, but it also works well in leftovers. We had it the next night fried up in the cast iron skillet, for a crispy hash that was served with some bratwurst and mustard. Then I used to riff on this recipe for Italian Cabbage Bread Soup. Instead of the veg and cheese, I layered this gratin on the bread. It came out really very good!

I hope you had a Happy Halloween!



*Note: We ended up having hot toddies. They were SO good. Heat two cups of apple cider with a cinnamon stick (a little orange zest would be good, but I forgot it!) When it's just simmering, turn off the heat and add 3 ounces of applejack and one ounce of the King's Ginger. Throw in some crystallized ginger, pour in a Liberty mason jar mug and cheers!

Casserole and Cake

I'm not sure if it's necessary to mention what kind of casserole this is. And honestly, it's more shepard's pie than casserole, but I just like to call it that. Chopped up aromatic veggies, turkey, the rest of the gravy, some bread crumbs, an egg, and herbs comprise the bottom layer. The top is mashed potatoes with paprika and turmeric. Baked for thirty minutes at 375.

Today is what we refer to as "Clean Out the Fridge" day. We have these every so often to make sure we're not being lazy and using up some perfectly good food. The cake falls under this rubric because it's that awesome yogurt cake but made with sour cream that I wanted to finish up. I also used apricot brandy for the rum, and almond extract for the vanilla. We polished off the apricot brandy last night but not the boozy soaked fruit, so I used them to make a thick sauce for the cake. They weren't very pretty, so I pureed them and added powdered sugar. They had some kick! I made sure to leave the cake plain so the baby could indulge. Cleaning out the fridge (and liquor cabinet) never tasted so good!

P.S. On the cleaning out the fridge line, I also made a Potato, Sauerkraut and Turkey soup. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it ended up being really good. I just sauteed onions and garlic, then added my fresh sauerkraut, a few large potatoes cubed and added water to cover. A bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, three juniper berries, salt and five peppercorns. Fresh parsley at the end. Not a bad left over soup!

Spanish Casserole

Whatever that means. Casserole is a beleaguered word, isn't it? Being that I have a thirteen-month old child, I don't have a lot of time to cook, or eat, for that matter. One-pot dishes that are inexpensive, uncomplicated, quick and tasty are of the essence to my life. If I see too many ingredients in a recipe, I immediately balk. If I see too many steps, I get wary. With that in mind, here is a good, sturdy little recipe that I found in a book called The Reader's Digest Eat Better, Live Better: A Commonsense Guide to Nutrition and Good Health, published in 1982.

This book was one of those books that just somehow gets into your library. You know not from whence they came, and you are even a bit disdainful, until you really flip through the thing and realize, hey, this is actually a good book! It has great illustrations and encyclopedic information on vegetables and fruit, recipes, nutritional content, and so on. I've always loved books of classifications and definitions, ever since that Richard Scarry book that described in detail all the things that are in big boats and houses and stuff. Loved that book! There's even a section on wild, foraged foods. Did you know that Milkweed is edible? The flowers taste like broccoli, apparently. To digress further, we have lots of Milkweed, a beautiful and beneficial plant. At this time of year, its seed pods dry up and inside are silky strands attached to the nut brown seeds and they float away like parachutes, carrying the intended plant on the wind in preparation for next year's plant.

Okay, I will stop rambling. Here is the recipe:

2 whole chicken breasts, split and skinned

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1/4 roasted red pepper, diced

1 cup chicken broth

1 28 ounce can of plum tomatoes

1 cup brown rice

1 teaspoon thyme

olive oil, salt and pepper

Use a nice, heavy dutch oven with a lid. Preheat oven to 350. On stovetop, brown chicken in oil. Take them out and put them on a plate while you saute the diced veggies. Add the rice and cook a few minutes. Then slowly add the tomatoes and broth and return the chicken to the pot. Salt, pepper and thyme. Cover and bake in oven for forty or so minutes.

I served this with a spoonful of greek yogurt, which I'm starting to realize you could add to everything and anything. And I'm sure this will be better today when I have it for lunch.

Winter Squash, Rice and Chicken Casserole

I don't really like squash, but I really want to like it. So, I buy it and try to cook it in ways that are, to me, delicious. It's something about the texture, I think, although my mother thinks that I had an issue with all foods orange as a child. I disagree, because I drank orange juice all day and night. I always volunteered to make the orange juice because not only was it a fun science project, but I could sneak spoonfuls of the orange, sticky, sickly sweet stuff while no one was looking. But, yes, sweet potatoes, squash were not friends of mine in their chunk form. I love them pureed, though, so that's what I do.

This was brilliantly easy, and I happened to have everything on hand, which is how I roll when it comes to cooking. I thought it would come out dull, but it was just delicious. And, of course, it's good for baby, too. You could very easily leave the chicken out for a vegetarian option.

2 cups of cubed, roasted winter squash, roughly pureed (I used butternut)

2 cups of cooked white rice (I'm sure brown would be just as nice; I happened to use Jasmine)

Shredded cooked chicken--1 or 2 cups?

1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all together. Grease a lidded quart casserole and fill it with the mixture. Grate some nice sharp cheddar cheese (or whatever you have) on top. Cover with a thick layer of bread crumbs. Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Pop in preheated 350 oven. Bake for about thirty minutes, or until bubbling and looking good enough to eat.