Sausage with Cabbage and Apples

It is a chilly rainy day. I don't think the sun poked through at all. Temperatures have dropped into the 40s. This of course is because my garden is planted. And so it begins. From now until probably early September, I will anxiously watch the weather channel. I will watch overnight lows like a hawk. I will suddenly become very interested in where low pressure systems move as well as likelihoods of rain or severe weather. I will worry about heat waves and droughts and floods. I will actively pray for the harvest when they mention it in church. Yes, we pray heartily for farmers here. I had to drive down to the middle of the next county for a meeting today and I swear there was very little but farmland between here and there.

I know I'm not a farmer. I have a small plot of a garden that I tend to overplant. It's actually, I think, a geometric work of art that I fit so many varieties of vegetables in such a tiny space. I don't have acreage. I have a 22x16 foot rectangle. But I love it. And I nurture it. And I get ridiculous pleasure from weeding and harvesting. Blame it on my parents. I was born in a city. I lived in other big cities. Chicago. Kansas City. Indianapolis. These are difficult places to have a garden. And now I find myself singing, "Give me land, lots of land, and the starry skies above. Don't fence me in!" At the top of my lungs. While driving by farms. I really am a dork.

But I was a chilly dork today. And hungry. So I sliced up an apple and half a cabbage and a package of smoked sausage and made myself a delicious, and filling dinner. Now the Brain and I are going to settle in to watch the Cav's game. I think I might close the windows first though.

Sausage with Cabbage and Apples

1 1lb package of smoked sausage

1 half of a small head of cabbage shredded

1 Granny Smith apple thinly sliced

1/4 cup apple juice

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

Cut the smoked sausage into 2 inch pieces and cook them for about 4 minutes in a nonstick skillet to brown. Add cabbage, apple and juice to skillet and toss. Cook until cabbage is tender, but not mushy and sausage is heated through. Add vinegar to skillet and cook for 1 minute. Serve immediately.

Cabbage and Potato Bundles

Just to mess with your heads, today's recipe features no alcohol. Yep, that's right. No beer, no whiskey, no wine. None. And it's still tasty. Really really tasty. Even though I resisted the urge to alter the recipe by throwing in some bacon. So to sum up... No booze, no bacon and still damass good.

It's Cabbage and Potato Bundles! I have been eyeing this recipe for several years. It's mashed potatoes that I had a hard time resisting licking right off the spoon, mixed with buttermilk, cheddar and horseradish. And there's cabbage that has been sauteed with onions and garlic that are all yummy and caramelized, which I have to admit I was snitching while waiting for the potatoes to be done. And those mashed potatoes and cabbage are layered in a dish lined with a cabbage leaf. Then there are these really good garlic breadcrumbs sprinkled on top and it's stuck in the oven to warm up and get the outer cabbage leaf all roasty in it's goodness. The only problem was that I think I used a remarkable amount of dishes. Note, I am remarking.

It's a far cry from the humble boiled corned beef and cabbage that I've had pretty much every year for about as long as I can remember. I happen to love boiled corned beef and cabbage, or as my mom calls it a "boiled dinner". And I came surprising close to having it again tonight. The only problem was I couldn't find a corned beef brisket that was less than 3 pounds. 3 pounds of corned beef is a LOT for 2 people. And although I really like a boiled dinner, it's not one of those dinners that I like enough to eat day after day after day. Although that would have been only one pot.

Fortunately they are also pretty filling. Otherwise I could eat them all. And color me happy, Dancing with the Stars is back on!

I should also point out that the lamb on the dish with the bundle was not raw. It actually was medium and it tasted great. Thank you Trader Joe's and your pre-marinated lamb leg.

Potato and Cabbage Bundles

from Gourmet

1 medium onion, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise (1 cup)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large head cabbage

1 clove garlic crushed

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2/3 cup water

2 lb large boiling potatoes

1 cup well shaken buttermilk

3 oz extra sharp Cheddar (grated)

2 Tbsp bottled horseradish

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp crushed garlic

Cook onion in oil in a 10 inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. (6 to 8 minutes).

Bring a 6 to 8 quart pot of salted water to a boil. Core the cabbage and remove any damaged outer leaves. Carefully lower the cabbage into the boiling water.

Boil the cabbage and gently remove 4 leaves being careful not to tear them. Continue to boil the head of cabbage and the loose leaves for 5 minutes. Then remove them to a colander and let sit under running icy cold water. Drain and coarsely chop half of the head of cabbage (save the rest for a future use). Pat the loose leaves dry. Butter 4 dishes that are approximately 1 cup in size. (Giant muffin tins work well for this). I don't have any of those, so I use small Pyrex dishes. Then place a strip of parchment in each dish to help remove the bundle when it's done cooking. Once the dishes are prepared, line each dish with a cabbage leaf.

Add the chopped cabbage to the onions in the skillet with the crushed garlic clove, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, and water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until cabbage is tender and browned, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes, then cover with cold salted water by 1inch in a 2 to 3 quart saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cook potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander, then set potatoes in colander over saucepan to steam0dry, uncovered, 5 minutes. Mash potatoes in a large bowl, then stir in buttermilk, cheese, horseradish, 1/2 stick butter, and remaining 1.2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper until combined well.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a 10 inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook bread crumbs and garlic, stirring frequently until golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

Fill each cabbage leaf with 1/8 potato mixture, then with 1/4 cabbage mixture. Top with remaining potato mixture and then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Finally fold edges of cabbage leaves in over filling, but do not cover completely.

Bake until heated through and edges of cabbage are well browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

Transfer stuffed leaves to plates using parchment overhangs.

Unstuffed Cabbage

Remember that I had half a head of green cabbage to use up? Well I made this pretty easy and delicious Unstuffed Cabbage from my Healthy Cooking For Two (or Just You!) cookbook. There was no parboiling of the cabbage. No fiddling with rolling it up. It's nowhere near as pretty as regular stuffed cabbage, but it really captures the taste. Of course my Hungarian aunt makes them a thousand times better. The best part was that I had it in the oven in about 15 or 20 minutes. Then I could go do what I wanted for an hour.

So far I'm really liking this cookbook. I can tell you though that the portions are definitely generous.

Unstuffed Cabbage

from Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You!)

serves 4

1 pound extra-lean ground beef

1/4 cup long grain white rice

1 whole egg

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2/3 cup chopped onions

1/2 medium head shredded cabbage

1 Tbsp brown sugar

16 oz canned tomatoes (with juice)

1 1/2 beef broth or water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium mixing bowl, lightly but thoroughly mix the beef, rice, egg, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and half the onions. Shape mixture into 8 meatballs.

Spread half the cabbage in a heavy, 3 quart dutch oven. Top with the remaining onions, then the meatballs. Finish with the remaining cabbage.

Sprinkle with the brown sugar and pour in the tomatoes (with juice) and broth or water. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.

Cover the casserole, move it to the oven and bake for 1 hour, or until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Per serving: 420 calories, 21.5g total fat, 8.3g saturated fat, 130mg cholesterol, 568mg sodium, 27.7g protein, 30.1g carbohydrates, 5.1g dietary fiber

If Only the BBQ wasn't buried in snow...

After yesterday's oh so decadent chocolate sandwiches that left me sitting around bloated and overstuffed with a happy smile on my face, today is the triumphant return of vegetables! I return to vegetables with perhaps one of the healthiest. Cabbage. Both red and white cabbage too. Double whammy!

Cabbage is a great source of Vitamin C. It's also high in manganese, dietary fiber, folate and vitamin B6. Cabbage is one of those worldwide vegetables. It can be found all over Europe, it's used in cuisines from India and the Orient. It can be eaten boiled, fermented, sauteed, or even raw. Like I did.

I wanted to make a red and green cabbage coleslaw. I guess I just thought it would be pretty. That and Val over at More Than Burnt Toast keeps posting recipes to BBQ. Our BBQ keeps getting snowed in. How weird is it that we have more snow in February than in January? Very odd if you ask me. All this BBQ posting has me in a picnic sort of mood. So I hunted around and found this recipe on Epicurious that I sort of used as my inspiration.

Although I kept having to switch bowls to get one big enough to accommodate the entire salad, it was a fairly easy recipe to make. I personally found it easier to just cut up the cabbage by hand than to use the food processor and spend so much time cleaning it. But I'm sure the food processor would work for this too. The result was this lavish and colorful salad that is super super tasty. It would go great with a burger. Or if you're a vegetable nut like me, a heaping helping is a satisfying lunch!

And since it only used half a head of red cabbage and half a head of green cabbage, expect more cabbage recipes in the very near future. Cabbage starts to lose its vitamin C quickly after being cut.

Multicolored Cabbage Slaw

inspired by Bon Appetit

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp minced ginger

1/2 medium head of red cabbage thinly sliced

1/2 small head of green cabbage thinly sliced

1/2 yellow bell pepper cut into thin strips

1/2 red bell pepper cut into thin strips

1 cup precut matchstick carrots strips

4 green onions thinly sliced (green and white parts)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

In a small bowl mix together vinegar, oils, peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic until combined.

Combine cabbages, peppers, carrots, onions, cilantro and sesame seeds in a very large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Red Cabbage Salad

So I turned to my trusty Vegetables Every Day cookbook tonight. Man, I am so easily persuaded yesterday it was my "new" cookbook, and today it's my old and trusty one. OK so I turned to my new favorite (does that sound better?) cookbook for tonight's lovely side dish. I didn't mean to pick another salad, there are tons of actual hot vegetable dishes, but this one caught my eye and just wouldn't let it go.

Although it's hard to get more American than my family which started showing up here in 1640 and wreaked all kinds of havoc including starting the Salem Witch Trial problem (bad bad girls run in the family), we somehow managed throughout the years to marry other people of mostly German descent. SO we say things like "were you snitching the bacon"? "Don't shputt!" (which means something like don't act like something bad can't happen to you.) and "Throw away your schnippels." Schnippels is a great word, I have no idea how its spelled, but it basically means your cutting scraps. The other thing that comes from being mainly of German descent is that foods like red cabbage and sauerkraut and spatzle become comfort foods. Don't worry, I will get to posting about spatzle, but right now we're concentrating on vegetables.

Red cabbages are really good for you. They are higher than green cabbage in vitamin C. They are loaded full of folate and potassium. And there's a bunch of fiber to help with... ahem... a, shall we call it, sluggish digestive system. With this final point in mind, I didn't eat all of tonight's salad in one sitting. That doesn't mean I didn't want to.

This salad is crazy good. It has the crunchy sweetness of the red cabbage mixed with the creamy tang of the goat cheese and then chewy little bursts of salty bacon. Oh how I love those chewy little salty bursts of bacon! I was crunching along thinking, Hey this is a pretty good salad. Then I got a piece of bacon and it evolved into "Holy Jesus, thank you for this delicious salad." I don't even think my salad got all the bacon it's supposed to have, as I have a nasty nasty habit of munching on available cooked bacon even if I know it goes someplace special. So it might be even better than mine tastes right now!

The only slight problem is that this is supposed to be a warm salad and frankly it is darn chilly in our house and my salad is only lukewarm. Still tastes good though. Definitely better than pie.

Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese

adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

1 small head Red Cabbage

6 slices bacon, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 small onion, minced*

3 Tbsp cider vinegar**

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 oz. goat cheese crumbled

Remove outer leaves of cabbage. Quarter the cabbage through the stem end. Cut out and discard the core. Slice the cabbage into thin strips. Place the cabbage in a large bowl and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until very crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towl. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat.

Add the oil to the bacon fat left in the pan and heat briefly. Add the shallots and saute over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste***. Simmer for 30 seconds to let flavors combine.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage and toss to combine. Add the bacon and goat cheese and toss several times. Serve immediately.****

*Mr. Bishop calls for 2 medium shallots, minced, but frankly I don't keep shallots on hand.

**Sherry vinegar as the recipe requests is nowhere to be found in my little town and I wasn't driving to the next county for it. The cider vinegar compliments the cabbage nicely in my opinion.

***You can stick your finger in the bubbling pot of dressing if you want, but I just eyeballed it. Actually, I giggled when I read this one.

****Yeah, my digestive system would go into overdrive if I ate the whole thing myself, so over here we're trying to chill it in the fridge and finish eating it tomorrow.