Cabbage-roll Stuffing Casserole

Here is an easy, tasty way to use up lots of vegetables such as cabbage, kale, zucchini, chard, onions, peppers, turnips, or any combination thereof: Make a casserole using your favorite stuffing for cabbage rolls. Just shred or chop the vegetables and layer them in a slow cooker with whatever stuffing you choose; if using uncooked rice, be sure to add enough water, tomatoes or sauce (keeping in mind that the vegetables will release moisture). We usually make enough to last two meals.

Here is our recipe for Lebanese-style stuffing:
~1 pound local ground beef or lamb
~2-3 cups of long grain rice (depending on your family’s preference)
~1 Tbsp ground cumin
~1 tsp ground allspice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the meat, spices and rice. Layer with vegetables and diced canned (or fresh in-season) tomatoes. You may add extra salt between the layers if you like. Slow cook on low all day; serve with plain yogurt. (You can also pressure cook it if you’re in a hurry.)

Dinner Last Night

Cauliflower Cheese Soup with special ingredients from Sweet Land:  potatoes, garlic, onion, carrots and kale…and a little homemade herb bread on the side.  Yum!  Yum!

Dinner Last Night

BORSCHT — a Russian root-vegetable soup.
I make a vegetarian version using miso paste instead of beef stock. Serves 4.

Chop fine:
1/2 c. carrots, 1 c. onions; 2 c. peeled beets.
Barely cover with water, bring to boil, cover; simmer for 20 min.
Add: 1 Tbs. butter, 1 Tbs vinegar, 1 c. finely chopped cabbage, 1 c. water.
Simmer 15 more min. Meanwhile, stir 2 Tbs miso paste into 1 c water. Turn off heat and add this to soup. (Cooking destroys the B-vitamins in miso).
Garnish with minced parsley and a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. Serve with warm, hearty dark bread and cheese.

Dinner Last Night

So our CSA inspired dinner last night was spicy soba noodle soup with steamed carrots, onions, cabbage, radishes, greens and some slices of braised pork. Oh and a little kimchi and pickled daikon someone gave us. Was delish!

Dinner Last Night

Butternut Squash Pierogies

Feeds four

Can be made vegan

Prep Time: About 1 hour, 15 minutes

Cook Time: About 30 minutes

Dough

INGREDIENTS

– 1 cup whole wheat flour

– 1 cup all-purpose flour

– 1/3 cup water (plus more, as needed)

– 1/2 tsp salt

– 1/2 tsp baking soda

– 1 tbsp white vinegar

Filling

– One medium Sweetland butternut squash, baked, peeled, and pureed

– 1 large clove Sweetland garlic, minced and sauteed

– 1/4 tsp salt

– 1 teaspoon dried basil

– 1 teaspoon dried oregano

– 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sautee with

– Butter or olive oil

– Lots of carmelized onions or pickled peppers (we used banana peppers we’d canned over the summer)

– Fresh Sweetland thyme

Serve with

– Sauerkraut (optional)

– Sour Cream (optional)

Directions

1. Ahead of time, bake, peel, and puree the butternut squash and mince and sautee the garlic. Our garlic had been preserved pre-chopped in olive oil in the fridge.

2. Put flour in a medium bowl and make a well in the center. Dissolve salt into the water and pour into the well. Put baking soda into the vinegar and let fizz. When done, add to well.

3. Mix liquid into flour until it comes into a dough. Add more water if needed. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins until smooth.

4. Wrap dough in a damp towel and let rest for at least 30 mins.

5. Roll out dough to about 1/8″ thickness. Using a round glass, cut out dough circles, fill with cooled filling, and seal sides with a fork. Place on a dish towel and cover with another towel until ready to cook.

6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle rolling boil. Drop in pierogies in batches and cook for 3-5 mins. The cooked pierogies will be slightly larger than they were uncooked.

7. Drain cooked pierogies. Saute them in butter/oil with onions, peppers and thyme over medium heat, about 3-4 minutes per side, until a nice golden brown.

8. Serve with sprinklings of fresh thyme, sauerkraut and sour cream.

Butternut Squash Pierogies

Feeds four

Can be made vegan

Prep Time: About 1 hour, 15 minutes

Cook Time: About 30 minutes

Dough

INGREDIENTS

– 1 cup whole wheat flour

– 1 cup all-purpose flour

– 1/3 cup water (plus more, as needed)

– 1/2 tsp salt

– 1/2 tsp baking soda

– 1 tbsp white vinegar

Filling

– One medium Sweetland butternut squash, baked, peeled, and pureed

– 1 large clove Sweetland garlic, minced and sauteed

– 1/4 tsp salt

– 1 teaspoon dried basil

– 1 teaspoon dried oregano

– 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sautee with

– Butter or olive oil

– Lots of carmelized onions or pickled peppers (we used banana peppers we’d canned over the summer)

– Fresh Sweetland thyme

Serve with

– Sauerkraut (optional)

– Sour Cream (optional)

Directions

1. Ahead of time, bake, peel, and puree the butternut squash and mince and sautee the garlic. Our garlic had been preserved pre-chopped in olive oil in the fridge.

2. Put flour in a medium bowl and make a well in the center. Dissolve salt into the water and pour into the well. Put baking soda into the vinegar and let fizz. When done, add to well.

3. Mix liquid into flour until it comes into a dough. Add more water if needed. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins until smooth.

4. Wrap dough in a damp towel and let rest for at least 30 mins.

5. Roll out dough to about 1/8″ thickness. Using a round glass, cut out dough circles, fill with cooled filling, and seal sides with a fork. Place on a dish towel and cover with another towel until ready to cook.

6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle rolling boil. Drop in pierogies in batches and cook for 3-5 mins. The cooked pierogies will be slightly larger than they were uncooked.

7. Drain cooked pierogies. Saute them in butter/oil with onions, peppers and thyme over medium heat, about 3-4 minutes per side, until a nice golden brown.

8. Serve with sprinklings of fresh thyme, sauerkraut and sour cream.

eggplant parmesan

Grandma Pepitone’s Eggplant Parm
(serves 4; serves 6 if also serving spaghetti)

1 lg eggplant
2 cans crushed tomotoes
2 med cloves garlic
peccorino-romano cheese (to taste)
1/2 med yellow onion
salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
2 bay leaves (dried)
2 eggs
breadcrumbs (unseasoned)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil

Prepare eggs in a shallow bowl by lightly whisking them, adding pinch
of salt. Add breadcrumbs to a second shallow bowl, shaving in some
peccorino cheese. Wash eggplant. Cut off ends/stems. Cut eggplant into
1/2″ thick pieces (could be wide strips, or rounds, or both – you have
to fry it all, so the larger the pieces, the easier it will be to fry
everything.) Dunk each piece in the egg, turning over to cover both
sides, and then drench with breadcrumbs. Prepare all eggplant at once.
Set aside. Heat frying pan (I usually have more than one going) on
med-high heat. Once pan is hot (making sure the oil is hot enough
before adding the eggplant will make them crispy instead of soggy),
add vegetable oil and olive oil at 1:1 ratio. Although the oil
shouldn’t cover the eggplant, there should be more than a thin layer
of oil at the bottom of the pan. Once the oil is very hot, begin
frying the eggplant. This doesn’t take very long (less time than
chicken). Don’t leave the kitchen or try to get any major vacuuming
done. Prepare the sauce (marinara):

Mince two medium sized cloves of garlic. Set aside. Dice 1/3rd to 1/2
medium sized yellow onion. (Check the eggplant. If it’s nice and
brown,  then turn over and very lightly salt. If not brown, let fry
for another minute or so.) Heat up 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil in dutch oven
at medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes  -being
careful not to burn the garlic – until the onions are clear. Once the
onions are clear, add 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, and an extra 3/4 can
of water per can of toms. Add the bay leaves, pinch or two of salt,
tsp of sugar. Simmer to taste, stirring regularly, about an hour
uncovered.

By now the eggplant is brown on both sides. Remove from pan, placing
eggplant in a single layer on plates covered in paper towels to absorb
any excess oil. Set aside.

Once sauce is done to taste, ladle marinara into a deep corning wear
dish (for one eggplant, a 7″ round works). Add a layer of eggplant
onto the sauce, then shave peccorino onto the eggplant. Repeat until
dish is full or you are almost out of eggplant. Add final layer of
eggplant and cheese (leave top dry). Set aside until ready to eat.
Bake at 275 for about 25 minutes. Serve alone with bread and salad, or
with pasta.

***NOTE: If done correctly, the fried eggplant will be crispy, brown
and lightly salted – perfect for snacking or for a sandwich with mayo.
So maybe make more than you think you’ll need, or make it while no one
else is home.***

Red Cabbage with Apples (Rotkohl mit Apfeln)

• 2 to 2 1/2 pound red cabbage
• 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons lard or bacon fat (or olive oil/butter)
• 2 medium sized cooking apples, peeled and cored and cut into 1/8 inch wedges
• 1 onion, peeled and pierced with 2 whole cloves
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 tablespoons dry red wine

Wash cabbage, remove tough outer leaves and cut cabbage into quarters.  To shred the cabbage, cut out the core and slice the quarters crosswise into 1/8 inch strips.  Drop the cabbage into a large mixing bowl, sprinkle it with the vinegar, salt and sugar, then toss the shreds about with a spoon to coat them evenly with the mixture.  In a 4 to 5 quart casserole dish, melt the lard, bacon fat or olive oil over moderate heat.  Add the apples, and chopped onions and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.  Add the cabbage, the whole onion and cloves, and the bay leaf.  Stir thoroughly and then pour in the boiling water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, and reduce heat to lowest possible point.  Cover and simmer for  1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until cabbage is tender.  Check from time to time to make sure it is moist.  Add water, tbsp at a time if it seems dry.  When the cabbage is done there should be almost no liquid in the dish.  Remove the onion and bay leaf before serving.

– submitted by Diana Bradham

Rouladen (German braised stuffed meat rolls)

• 3 pounds top round steak, sliced 1/2 inch thick, pounded to 1/4 inch thick
• 6 tsp Dusseldorf-style prepared mustard, or other hot mustard
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
• 6 slices bacon, each about 8 inches long
• 3 dill pickles, rinsed in cold water and cut lengthwise into halves
• 3 tablespoons butter or shortening
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup coarsely chopped celery
• 1/4 cup sliced leeks, white part only
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsnip
• 3 parsley sprigs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons flour

Cut the steak into 6 rectangular pieces about 4 inches wide and 8 inches long.  Spread each with a tsp of mustard, 2 tsp of onion, and place a slice of bacon down the center.  Lay of strip of pickle across the narrow end of each piece and roll the meat around it, jelly roll fashion into a cylinder.  Tie the rolls at each end with kitchen string.

Melt butter over moderate heat and add the rolls, browning on all sides so they color quickly without burning.  Transfer to a platter, pour the water into the skillet and bring to a boil, meanwhile scraping in any brown particles clinging to the bottom and sides of the pan.  Add the celery, leeks, parsnip, parsley and salt and return the beef rolls to the skillet.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour, or until the meat shows no resistance when pierced with a fork.  Turn once or twice during cooking.  Transfer to a platter and keep warm while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce, strain the cooking liquid.  Measure the liquid and return to the skillet.  Boil until reduced to 2 cups.  Remove from heat.  Melt butter in a small pan over moderate heat and sprinkle in the flour.  Lower the heat and cook until the flour turns golden brown, stirring constantly.  Gradually add the reduced liquid, beating vigorously until the sauce is thick and smooth.  Add the Rouladen to the skillet and simmer over low heat long enough to heat the rolls through.  Eat with red cabbage and dumplings or boiled potatoes.

–submitted by Diana Bradham