Filed under Vegetables + Salads · Print This Post
There was half a cabbage head in the fridge that I didn’t want to go to waste. I remembered the Dr. making us bubble and squeak throughout our stay in Iceland, making use of the expensive cabbage and potatoes available in the grocery stores we drove by. Locked up indoors because of a nasty bug, I made my version and tucked in with a bowl of it in front of The Millionaire Matchmaker. Vegetarians can make this without the pancetta, and vegans can skip the heavy cream if they roast the cabbage and the potatoes longer towards the end.
Bubble and squeak is an English dish traditionally made with leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. I’m being traditional here because, hey, that cabbage was from the corned beef I made. Funny how cabbages last forever! I’m not quite sure where the name comes from. I think the bubble is from when the dish is bubbling hot. And the squeak? Well, we all know what a lot of cabbage does to you!
Ingredients:
half a head of cabbage, sliced in ribbons
4 medium potatoes, halved
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 chunk of pancetta, chopped
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt, pepper, oil
1. Boil the potatoes in a pan filled with salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Remove potatoes from the water. When cool enough to handle, slice the potatoes thinly.
2. Preheat oven to 350º. Using an oven-safe skillet, heat some oil and render the pancetta. Sauté the garlic and onions. Add the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and cook everything together until cabbage is soft. Spread the potatoes on top, covering the cabbage. Pour in heavy cream.
3. Roast in the oven for about 10 minutes or until bubbling hot. Remove from the oven, toss and serve with gherkins.
Related post/s:
Homemade corned beef with cabbage and potatoes
Relive my Iceland trip
Filed under Soups, Stocks + Sauces · Print This Post
In Michael Pollan’s latest book, In Defense of Food, he summarizes his lecture on the first page: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly greens.
I love greens, but I also love all kinds of meat. And you know how I feel about bacon, right? But there are days when I do crave vegetable-only dishes. I run to Joe’s Shanghai for their baby bok choy flash-fried in garlic and hot oil. I go to Snack for their artichoke salad sans the chicken. Sometimes, I even go to my local deli’s make-your-own-salad counter and pick from the available ingredients just to get my fix. And when I eat my meat, there’s always a side that involves a vegetable.
You can use almost any kind of greens here. I used Chinese spinach because that’s what I had in the fridge. Regular spinach, watercress or bok choy will do, too. They key is to simmer everything for a long time, so that the broth thickens with all the carrot and celery goodness. You’ll get more of the lentils’ earthy taste in the end. If you can deal with the extra work, use a hand blender and purée the entire batch before serving.
When they’ve cooled down, transfer leftovers in quart containers and store in your freezer for up to two weeks. You can just thaw and heat one up when you want another serving of hearty lentil soup.
2 1/2 cups of lentils, rinsed
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 bag of baby carrots, halved
1 bunch of greens
vegetable broth
1 tomato, quartered
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of coriander, toasted, grounded
1 tbsp of cumin, toasted, grounded
1 tbsp of cardamom, toasted, grounded
salt, pepper, oil
1. In a large Dutch oven, heat some olive oil. Sauté garlic and onions. Add the carrots and celery and cook until glistening, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils, tomato and the spices to combine. Add enough broth to cover.
2. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until lentils are tender, about 40 minutes to an hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving.
Related post/s:
Buy Michael Pollan’s latest book, In Defense of Food
A very easy tomato bread soup
