Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Some people cringe at cabbage, but it is so good for you and if you cook it the right way it really is delicious.  I know there are skeptics right now having flash backs to grandma boiling the crap out of cabbage and stinking up the whole house or your mom forcing you to eat it along side your corned beef for St. Paddy's Day.  Anyway, this recipe is nothing like that at all.  I love my cabbage usually crisp and tossed as a salad but this is probably, besides certain style soups and stir fry, the only way I eat cooked cabbage.  You can always change what is stuffed inside too.  First time I ever made this was with ground chicken for a healthier option.  The cauliflower makes a great addition with no carbs.  Honestly, you don't even really taste it as cauliflower but it helps create a nice texture for the stuffing, as well as also being good for you.

I also prepared this the night before and just refrigerated it overnight.  Then next day I just had my fiance pop in the oven and it was ready to eat when I got home from work.

Cabbage is a low calorie food that is packed with nutrition. Did I mention it's also super cheap! One cup of cabbage has only about 15 calories! It might be low cal, but it's high in Vitamins A, B, C and E, along with fiber and iron. This helps with digestion, skin, eyes, metabolism, and your immune system.

Ingredients

• One large head of cabbage.  I used Savoy this time, but I have also used just regular plain green cabbage.
• about 2-3 pounds of your choice of ground meat- I used beef
• 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped small
• about one loose cup of Parmesan cheese (or two big handfuls)
• 1 (28oz) can of tomatoes (I used crushed, but use whatever you use for tomato sauce)
• 1-2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp of red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper for the "stuffing" and the sauce

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2. Combine the meat, cauliflower, cheese and fresh black pepper in a bowl, set aside.

3. Get a large pot of water hot- it doesn't have to boil, we are just using it to soften the leaves of the cabbage so they come off easily and we don't rip them.

4. When the water is hot, cut the core out of the cabbage and put the whole head of cabbage in the pot.  As the leaves soften, either carefully using your hands or gently with tongs, peel the leaves off and set aside to drain and cool before we stuff and roll.
5. In a casserole dish or large pan (I had to use two pans to hold all my rolls) pour in and combine the tomatoes, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Salt and pepper to taste.  I also mix it up with a splash of water if it looks too thick.  The sauce is just to help it cook without drying it out.  I reserve a bit to put up on top before I cook.
6. When the leaves are cool enough to handle we just stuff and roll the filling like a burrito.  I usually like to cut the large vein part out of the leaf so it is easier to roll but that is optional.

7. Just roll and stuff (as you get down to the center of the cabbage obviously the leaves become smaller so you will use a smaller amount of stuffing.


8. To roll: Place the meat on the rounded uncut end of the leaf, firmly but gently roll once, tuck in sides and roll again.  Place seam side down in the pan.  Just like a wrap or burrito.




9. When all your rolls are rolled, top with a bit of reserved tomato sauce and cover with tinfoil.

10. Bake covered for about 1- 1 1/2 hours.
11. I served along side some jasmine rice mixed with bulgar wheat.  You could also have stuffed the rice inside- just precook a cup to a cup and a half of rice and swap it with the cauliflower in the stuffing.

Pollo alla Cacciatora (Chicken Cacciatore)

Chicken Cacciatore aka Hunter's Chicken.  (Just a heads up this isn't a super quick meal) The name comes from when hunters would come home with freshly hunted game and the wife would cook it up with some tomatoes/veggies, wine and aromatics.  The mushrooms in the dish compliment it's earthy, home cooked aura.  I have seen countless versions of this recipe and this is a dish where each family has their own, but traditionally it will consist of a whole chicken (cut into 8 pieces), tomatoes, wine and mushrooms.  We are essentially braising (cooking low and slow) the chicken to make the tough cuts of meat fall off the bone tender and delicious.  This dish is basically impossible to overcook and definitely calls for red wine and a loaf of crusty bread to be its accompaniment.  Oh, and did I mention it's is easy to make- it's just really cutting up veggies.

One side note is that I used bacon.  Traditionally this dish uses pancetta (which is an Italian version of bacon- it is just not smoked).  You can use either or none.  I can never find pancetta so I just used bacon.  I mean who doesn’t love bacon?

Oh and regarding the chicken- I have made this dish many times with different pieces of chicken, from boneless skinless breasts to thighs and drumsticks only.  It is totally up to you, what's on sale, what you have lying around etc.  Thighs and drumstick family pack with skin and bones were on sale, so I picked up a pack and used 6 thighs and 2 legs.  When it was cooked I pulled them out of the sauce and removed the bones and skin as you can see from the picture above. Whatever you do is totally up to you though, I just wouldn't forget the bread to mop up all that delicious sauce. Buon appetito!

Ingredients

• About 2-3 pounds of chicken, whatever cuts you like.  It would be about 4 chicken breasts, 6 thighs and 2 drumsticks, 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces, or any combination of chicken you like that fits in the pan you're using.
• Flour for dredging
• 1/4 pound of pancetta (or bacon), chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 10 oz mushrooms, sliced or chopped into chunks (I used baby portabellos, but use whatever you like.  10 oz is usually the standard package at the store)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of white wine
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1 (28oz) can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp of each the following spices: rosemary, thyme, oregano & red pepper flakes (feel free to add more or less of any of these)
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper (of course)

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.      In a large deep sided skillet or dutch oven heat some oil over high heat

3.      Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and then dredge them in flour.  Make sure to shake off excessive flour.  If you are using skin-on sear the skin side first.  (Also- if you are using skin on you can choose to skip the flour dredging)

4.      When chicken is seared remove from the pan and reserve.  If there is a lot of oil is the pan, dump it out and add just a splash of new oil.  (The point here is to not have a lot of oil in the pan, just enough to help the bacon/pancetta start rendering.  The bacon will provide a bit more fat for the veggies later)

5.      Add bacon or pancetta.  Cook for a couple minutes until it starts to get crispy, you can lower the heat a bit here- like to medium high.

6.      When that is done add your onion, pepper, garlic and mushrooms.  Season with salt and pepper and the rest of the spices (except bay leaves).

7.      Let those cook until the mushrooms are brown and the rest of the veggies soft. About 10 minutes I would say.

8.      Add the wine and deglaze the pan.  Cook the wine for about a minute then add the chicken stock and tomatoes.  Taste it and see if it needs more salt and pepper- it most likely will.

9.      Snuggle the chicken pieces back into the pan and add the bay leaves.  Bring this up to a boil, then cover and put into the oven.  You can cook this on the stove top but I find it easier in the oven.

10.  I cooked the chicken covered at 350 for 30 mins, then stirred it, uncovered it and then raised the heat to 400 degrees and cooked it uncovered for another 30 minutes.  (Basically it should just be bubbling gently in the oven).

11.  I served over cavatappi pasta and topped with pecorino cheese.  Don't forget the bread!

Braised Pork w Gemolata

Ah, now this is a meal Nonna would be proud of.  So simple, yet so delicious and heartfelt.  The only hard part about this dish is waiting for it to be done.  It will take about 2 to 3 hours of cooking time.  The best part about this dish (besides the taste of course) is that you can use this method on any type of meat.  I adapted this version from Chef Anne Burrell’s Braised Lamb Shanks.  Instead of lamb shanks I used the skinny end of the huge pork loin I buy and section myself (the two “pork tenderloin” pieces as I described them in an early post).  Originally I was going to serve this dish with polenta (I think Anne paired the lamb with polenta too) but when it was cooking the smell of the house just screamed “Italian Sunday” so I paired it with some medium shells.  I plan on using this recipe next time I have guests over.

Ingredients

·         About 2 pounds of pork loin

·         1 big onion

·         3 carrots

·         3 celery ribs

·         4 garlic cloves

·         2 (6oz) cans of tomato paste

·         2 cups of chicken stock

·         2 tsp each of dry rosemary, thyme, red pepper flakes and salt

·         3 to 4 cups of water

·         3-4 bay leaves

·         Gremolata (optional and recipe follows)

Directions

1.       Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

2.       Using a pan that will be able to go into the oven later (I used a high sided skillet, but a dutch oven will work great too), coat the bottom of the pan with oil and put over high heat.

3.       Season the meat with salt and pepper generously and brown on all sides.  Be careful the oil is very hot and might spit at you.

4.       As that browns, cut all your veggies into big chunks and process in a food processor or blender until it is like a veggie paste. 

5.       When the meat is done browning, remove from the pan and set aside for now.  Add the veggie paste and season with salt and pepper.

6.       You are going to cook the veggies until it forms a brown crust on the bottom of the pan.  This will take about 20 mins.  When it’s ready it should look like this:

7.       Add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.

8.       Then add the stock (or you can use red or white wine too here) and spices

9.       Cook this until reduced by about half.

10.   Add the meat back into the pan.  Add the bay leaves as well.  Add the water until the meat is fully submerged (or almost fully submerged, mine stuck out a little). Cover the pan with foil.

11.   Cooking time will vary depending on your meat choice, but this is what I did:

a.       First 45 mins, then flip

b.      Second 45 mins, flip again and take off foil

c.       30 more minutes and then done

Boil pasta of your choice and serve topped with pork and gremolata.

 Some good tips from Anne Burrell’s recipe,were that if the water reduces too much, just add more.  Also, if you have a fatty meat you might have to skim the fat as you go.  I chose a lean meat so there was no fat to skim.

 Gremolata

So what is gremolata anyway?  It is a traditional topper (condiment) for long cooked meals to help brighten up the dishes flavors.  It’s almost like a pop of fresh flavor to accompany the long slow savory tastes of the main dish.  Traditional gremolata consists of parsley, lemon zest and garlic.  That’s it!

 I used the zest of one lemon, 2 garlic cloves, and handful of parsley.  Chop them all up together and mill together so it becomes a homogenous mixture.