Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

This surely seems like a winter dish, but we've had such cool and rainy weather, and I've been processing cabbage anyway, so this was a natural for late August too. I found many versions of recipes for stuffed cabbage, so like most of my other recipes, I encourage you to suit your own taste and use what you have on hand in your refrigerator to make these your own creation.

Ingredients

* 1 large head cabbage

Filling:
* 1 lb. ground beef, or a combination of beef and pork
* 1 cup cooked brown rice
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 carrots, finely chopped or grated
* 1 small green pepper, finely chopped
* 1/2 C celery, finely chopped
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 2 Tbs. steak sauce, catsup, or Worcestershire
* 1 T paprika
* 2 tsp. ground pepper
* 2 tsp. salt
* 1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
* 1 tsp. dried thyme

Sauce
* 2 cups tomato sauce ( I used a combination of leftover tomato gravy from Swiss steak and a chopped fresh tomato)
* 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
* 1 Tbs. sugar
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Carefully remove the larger outer leaves from a large head of cabbage, save the rest of the head for coleslaw or another recipe. I used 8 leaves for this recipe.
2. Drop leaves into boiling water to soften them enough to be rolled around the filling. It should take about 1-2 minutes of cooking, being careful not to overcook. See picture of softened leaf here.
3. Drain and cool cabbage leaves.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
5. Combine all sauce ingredients, and ladle about half of the sauce into the bottom of the dish.
6. Combine meat with all other filling ingredients.
7. Spoon stuffing into cabbage leaves and roll to enclose filling.
8. Arrange seam side down in a baking dish.
9. Cover cabbage rolls with remaining tomato sauce.
10. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the cabbage rolls, to keep them moist, and you may want to baste them once or twice during the cooking time.
11. Bake uncovered, for about 1 hour, or until the cabbage has softened and the filling is completely cooked - I always use a meat thermometer to be sure.

Note: I've seen recipes that are a layered casserole version of stuffed cabbage, in which you shred the cabbage and then layer first the rice, a pre-cooked meat mixture, cabbage, and top with tomato sauce (or a large can of diced tomatoes with juice). It's baked at 350 for 30-40 minutes. This sounds good to me, and I'll bet there's a crock-pot version as well. So many recipes to try!

Rhubarb Crisp

This is a "once in a while" treat since it's so sugary, but adding some whole grain helps keep the balance a little doesn't it??!! The kind of rhubarb we grow doesn't have much of that traditional red color, and I don't like to add food coloring, so it looks a little green in this photo! It's nice and tart though, just the way it should be!

Whole Grain Rhubarb Crisp

Topping:

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup softened butter

Filling:

5-6 cups rhubarb,chopped
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375. Spray an 8-inch baking dish or a 1.5 quart casserole with non-stick spray.

Combine nuts, flour , rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

In large bowl, toss rhubarb with sugar. Place rhubarb in baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over rhubarb . Bake, uncovered, 35 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender and topping is deep golden brown. Place foil loosely over the crisp if it gets too brown during the cooking time. Of course this is traditionally served with ice cream, and if you can find it, cinnamon ice cream is amazing with rhubarb crisp!

Garden Stuffed Peppers

These were truly stuffed with the garden! These are peppers from the garden with onion, carrot, garlic, and tomato from the garden as well. There are so many, many versions of stuffed peppers out there, but this one was different, and a little more work because I used our fresh tomatoes rather than opening jars of diced tomatoes and sauce. It was well worth the effort - one of those "food of love" dishes. Make it because you love the people who are eating it!

Ingredients - all very flexible:

5-6 bell peppers, halved and seeded
I chose to precook these by placing them in a sprayed baking dish (9x13), and microwaving them for 3 minutes. Some people par-boil them instead, and some don't precook at all.

For the filling:
1 lb. lean ground beef, thoroughly cooked in a skillet along with one chopped onion and two chopped garlic cloves
3 C cooked rice - I used "sweet" brown rice, which is stickier than normal rice
2 shredded carrots
2-3 peeled, chopped tomatoes
2/3 C shredded cheese - I used sharp cheddar
Seasoning of your choice - I used 1 Tbs. parsley, 1 Tbs. paprika, 2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. celery seed, salt, pepper
Mix all of this together in a bowl. It's a good idea to taste this now, to see if it needs any tweaking. If it seems like it's not holding together very well, some recipes suggested adding an egg - like you would with meatloaf. Just do your tasting before the egg goes in!

For the sauce:
3-4 peeled tomatoes, chopped or torn into the same pan in which you browned your beef. Cook the sauce down until some of the liquid has evaporated. Then add a strange ingredient - about 1/4 C of catsup. I know! But it adds just the right punch to the sauce. Skip it if it turns you off!

Assembly:
Fill the precooked peppers with the beef and rice mixture; using your hands is the best way to do this. Set them back in the baking dish and then carefully ladle the tomato sauce down around the peppers, using a little bit of the sauce on top of each pepper as well. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the peppers are tender.

Fresh Pasta Sauce

One of the nicest ways to use up a flood of garden tomatoes, is to make a splendid fresh pasta sauce! Above are pictured the main ingredients, all of them from the garden except for the sausage of course, which is Archer Farms chicken mushroom, organic sausage. I used somewhere between 6 and 8 pounds of our tomatoes, peeled, cored, and mostly seeded. I never kill myself getting every last speck of seed and pulp from them. Then the tomatoes - 3 different varieties - were torn into small pieces. Our onion and newly harvested garlic were chopped and sauteed in olive oil first, then the fresh tomatoes, chopped sausage, and the chopped basil were added to the pot. Next come seasonings that you like. I used about 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar, 1 Tbs. succanat for sweetener, 1 Tbs. dried oregano, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.

Let this simmer for a while to develop flavor. Depending on your preference and the amount of time you have before you serve the sauce, you can thicken it up in a few different ways. One is to let it cook down until it thickens (this could take a while), the next is to add a little cornstarch dissolved in a small amount of water (this is what is in a packet of spaghetti seasoning), or you can add a can (or less) of tomato paste. For this batch of sauce I did a combination. I added a can of paste since I like the contrast of that to the fresh tomatoes, and I simmered it for about 30 minutes while waiting for DH to finish the Friday night mowing - fun, fun job! It came out just great and what a difference a fresh tomato makes!

Grilled Salmon all Wrapped Up!

MMM...this is such a great way to make salmon on the grill in the summer. And obviously this could be done in the oven as well, but then you wouldn't get the carmelization of the shallots that happened on the grill - MMM again!

I make these packets for potatoes and veggies a lot, and the method is just the same. I placed the salmon on parchment paper, drizzled on a little olive oil, then place the sliced shallots and the herb stalks (thyme and rosemary) on top. I seasoned with a little salt and pepper and then carefully wrapped up the paper around the fish. Then I placed the bundle on a piece of foil large enough to seal tightly. Make tight seams as you close the foil around the parchment bundle, then place it on a medium hot grill. We actually cooked ours a wee bit too long, so watch it carefully since the time needed will vary tremendously, depending on the thickness of your piece of salmon.

Obviously the possibilities of ingredient and seasoning combinations is limitless. One note is that if you use potatoes in these packets, it's best to partially pre-cook them by either popping them in the microwave or parboiling them. Here's another "foil packet" recipe on this blog. Experiment and enjoy!

Bruschetta the Julia Child Way

...or at least it's the version of Julia Child's bruschetta that was made in the wonderful movie, "Julie and Julia". This is so very, very adaptable. Add or subtract any number of ingredients. Our daughter made this with pesto, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and pieces of mozzarella cheese added to the tomatoes, and she and her friends loved it! This is another recipe in which the quantities are very hard to list. You should be able to eyeball the amount of tomatoes you need to cover the number of bread slices you choose to make.

Ingredients:

a loaf of quality rustic bread, sliced into one inch slices
one clove garlic
olive oil to coat your frying pan, or as much oil as you like!

an assortment of ripe tomatoes, cut into smallish chunks
fresh basil leaves, torn or cut into pieces
olive oil to dress the tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

finely grated Parmesan cheese - optional

Method:

Mix the tomatoes and basil. Drizzle on olive oil and toss gently; then salt and pepper the tomatoes. The more salt you use, the most juice will be released. Let this marinate while you prepare the bread.

In a skillet, brown the bread slices in the olive oil on both sides, until it's a nice golden color. Remove the bread from the pan. Cut off one end of the garlic clove, and rub carefully over the hot bread slices. The garlic "melts" into the bread by using this method. If you prefer, you could saute the garlic in the oil before browning the bread, but you need to be careful to remove the garlic before adding the bread, or the garlic will burn and become very bitter.

Now pile on the tomatoes, Parmesan if you wish, and enjoy the juice running down your chin!

Confetti Salad

This salad is so ridiculously simple that I hesitated to post it! However, it's such a great way to use up lots of produce at the height of garden season, and it's also something that I don't always think about making. So here goes!

Ingredients: any assortment of fresh, chopped vegetables - in this pictured version I used red and yellow tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell pepper, and spring onions. The dressing is as simple as cottage cheese and seasoning of your choice. Toss them all together, using enough cottage cheese to moisten the vegetables, but the amount of cottage cheese you use is completely a matter of personal preference. Let the flavors blend in the refrigerator for a few hours if possible. I served this alongside a spicy meal - very refreshing!

I used a grill-type seasoning this time, and fresh herbs, like basil leaves, are especially nice. BTW, I highly recommend an organic brand of cottage cheese called "Nancy's". It's quite different from run of the mill cottage cheese, and it has a distinct tangy flavor. I'm hooked!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

We've been getting some wonderful organic peaches from a "local" grocery store - I put local in quotes since we have to travel about 30 minutes to get organic produce that we don't grow ourselves. Anyway...the peaches have been delicious and we turned some of them into this summer evening, company dessert. I served it with vanilla frozen yogurt and it was well appreciated!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups fresh peaches - peeled,and sliced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter, or butter-flavored shortening
1/2 cup milk
raw or decorative sugar for the top (optional)

Spray a 1 1/2 quart baking dish , or an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan. Add peaches, stir well, and heat filling until the peaches reach a boil, stirring often. Gently boil for about one minute, or until the mixture begins to thicken a little. Keep hot until the biscuit topping is ready.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together. With a pastry blender or two forks, work the butter or shortening into the flour mixture, until it's a crumbly texture. Add the milk and fold together just until the flour is all moistened. Drop the biscuit mixture on top of the hot filling - about six equal mounds of dough. Sprinkle the raw sugar on top of the biscuits (to give extra sheen and taste), then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned and the filling is bubbling. Makes 6 servings, unless you're greedy!

Waldorf Coleslaw Salad

We have all kinds of cabbage coming out of the garden right now, so here's another coleslaw recipe to help you get creative with your crop too! This one tastes like a classic Waldorf apple salad, but no apples.

Dressing:
3/4 cup sour cream, or plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnuts,chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salad:
1 medium cabbage, sliced or chopped
1/2 medium red cabbage,sliced or chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Make dressing by combining first 8 ingredients. Toss together the green and red cabbage with the raisins. Pour dressing over the cabbage and fold in gently. Sprinkle on additional walnuts and/or raisins for garnish. Salad should be refrigerated for about 2 hours for the flavors to combine.
**This salad can be made ahead by preparing the dressing and cabbage separately, then adding the dressing 2 hours before serving time.