Vegetable of the Week: Cabbage

A new low on Four Seasons Kitchen; the chicken fingers on this sandwich are from a box

Sometimes people think I'm all fancy and such. I know this because they'll say "Amy, you're so fancy and such", generally after I talk about making ricotta or caramel or something. Sure, I also like to wear (fake) pearls, I've been to France, and I try to emulate Martha Stewart in my decor, but here's the thing- I also like chicken finger sandwiches. And potato chips on my burgers. That coleslaw in the photo above? Made with bottled Thousand Island dressing. Who's fancy now? Not I.

Cabbage is the ultimate cheap healthy food. I have had a head of cabbage in the fridge for probably almost a month and it's still good. Seriously. This thing was the size of a basketball and it only cost a dollar. A dollar! I've just been slicing some off, wrapping it up in plastic wrap, and sticking it back in the fridge. Amazing. Here are some recipes from the Four Seasons Kitchen archives and others that I have bookmarked to try.

One Year Ago: Three Corn Cornbread + Waffle Fail 

Two Years Ago: Nada 

APPLE AND CABBAGE COLESLAW

Grate 1 apple and 1/4 head of cabbage. Mix in bottled dressing (Ranch would be good, Thousand Island wasn't the best choice as it turns out), a splash of apple cider vinegar, and season with a little salt and lots of pepper. Stir to combine.

CABBAGE RECIPES:
Sweet and Sour Cabbage (Four Seasons Kitchen)
Fried Udon Noodles (Four Seasons Kitchen)
Potato, Cabbage, and Leek Soup with Lemon Creme Fraiche (Bon Appetit)
Cabbage and Kale Soup with Farro (Food and Wine)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cabbage and Pine Nuts (Food and Wine)
Cottage Pie with Irish Cabbage and Peas (Chef Anthony Seklak via Steven and Chris Show)

Vegetable of the Week: Tomatoes

Is your garden exploding with tomatoes? Mine is. I picked all the tomatoes pictured here in one go. I can't grow flowers for the life of me, but if there's food involved I'm all over it. What to do with all these tomatoes? Here are some ideas from my list of recipes to try.

Tomato Basil Tartlets
Fried Green Tomato BLT
Jarred Tomatoes
Spaghetti with Cheesy Broiled Tomatoes
Summer Fettucine
Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Herb Pan Sauce
Tomato and Cheddar Pie
Corn, Tomato, Feta, and Basil Salad
Tomato Tian
Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes
Tomato Tart

And from the Four Seasons Kitchen Archives:
Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta
Tomato Bruschetta with Feta


"No one is going to improve upon the tomato sandwich. No one- not Alice Waters, not that Danish guy whose place was noted Best Restaurant in the World, maybe not even God. Put a few slices of the juiciest tomato you can find on your favorite toasted bread with mayo, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a couple of grinds of pepper. Eat open-face."

-Bon Appetit June 2011

Also, I made a PESTO AND TOMATO FLATBREAD that was so good that I forgot to take a picture. Bonus: it used up four tomatoes in one go. It's easy-peasy:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with oven rack on bottom position. Roll out pizza dough, spread with pesto, cover with sliced tomatoes (I squeeze them a bit to remove the seeds which will make it watery), sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until crust is golden and tomatoes are softened.

One Year Ago: Vanilla Iced Coffee  

Ham, Swiss and Asparagus Crepes

Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine with Spinach

I am just starting to like mushrooms. I've always wanted to like them; I really did, but I found them slimy and weird. I mean, they are fungi. They are grown in poo. I know this because one winter day my dad took me and my brother to a mushroom farm to see the 15 foot pile of steaming manure because he thought it was funny (it totally was). I have persevered, adding mushrooms to lots of different dishes, and now I can proudly say that I like mushrooms. We're not in love yet, but they are growing on me [insert joke about me being full of shit here]. Even if you think you don't like mushrooms, please try this recipe. Perhaps it will be your gateway recipe to harder mushroom dishes.

Other mushroom recipes I have bookmarked that you may want to try:
Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Squash, and Chestnut Cream (see my previous gnocchi post)
Mushroom Cheese Log with Pecans
Flank Steak Spirals with Porcini and Red Wine Sauce
Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole
Mushroom, Butternut Squash, and Gruyere Tart

CREAMY MUSHROOM FETTUCCINE WITH SPINACH

Serves 2

• 175 g (1/2 package) fettuccine- white or whole wheat
• 1 tbsp butter
• 227 g sliced mushrooms, roughly chopped if desired
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped, or 1/2 tsp dried
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 big handfuls baby spinach
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 2 tsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, saute until pan is dry and mushrooms are golden brown. Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and green onions, cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle over flour, cook for 1 minute. Add milk, cream cheese and thyme. Bring to a boil while gently whisking. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thickened. Add sauce to drained pasta in the same pot the pasta was cooked in. Add spinach, Parmesan, lemon juice. Stir over low heat until pasta is coated with sauce and spinach is wilted. Serve with additional Parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

I have had a bag of frozen cranberries in the freezer since the first appeared in season in the grocery store. In October. These cranberries even held up a line at the store and called the manager over (the bar code wasn't in the system and they didn't know the price, so eventually they made up a price. $1. Score!). Why did I let these hard won cranberries languish for so long in the icy depths of the freezer? I was daunted by the amount of butter in the recipe I had intended to use them in, since I would be the only one eating it as Tyler doesn't like cranberries.

Then I saw this recipe on The Hungry Housewife for Cranberry Crumb Cake from Tate's Bakery Cookbook and immediately got to work as I had all the ingredients on hand. This cake is delicious and I am now putting cranberries in everything. Remember these bran muffins? They've even better with cranberries.

The cake is amazing as is, but next time I make it I will half the crumb topping. I found there was too much of it and it overpowered the cake.

LINK TO RECIPE:

Tate's Bakery Cranberry Crumb Cake

Here are some other cranberry recipes that I have saved in my favorites to try:

Cranberry Curd Bars with Walnut Shortbread Crust
Spiced Cranberry Spice Cake
Cranberry Crumb Bars (the recipe I was originally going to make with the cranberries)
Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Vegetable of the Week: Cauliflower

I love cauliflower. I think it's underrated in the vegetable world. Sure, butternut squash and mushrooms and tomatoes are sexier, but I am here to contend that the humble cauliflower is just as delicious and nutritious. You wouldn't think that cauliflower is very nutritionally dense being that it's white, like potatoes (which are very good for you as well), but it is high in fiber, folate, vitamin C, and according to Wikipedia, sulforaphane- an anti-cancer compound.

My favorite way to eat cauliflower is to roast it. I first had this at Thanksgiving a few years ago at my Grannie's, and I make it all the time now. All it needs is a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a hot oven and the little white trees get crispy, browned, and nutty tasting. The soup that I am sharing with you today is super easy and delicious too. Bonus- the cauliflower makes it creamy without any cream! So, if I haven't convinced you to give cauliflower another try, below are some more recipes from my bookmarks that I want to make featuring our friend the cauliflower.

Oh, and it all that wasn't enough, it also makes a good Halloween costume in a pinch.

Penne and Cauliflower with Mustard Breadcrumbs
Oriccheitte with Cauliflower, Anchovies, and Fried Croutons
Sausage-Cauliflower Spaghetti
Roasted Cauliflower with Panko and Pecorino
Potato and Cauliflower Curry
Cauliflower Risotto
Curried Cauliflower Fritters (which I will probably never make- as you may recall I don't deep fry at home. Or anywhere else for that matter)

CAULIFLOWER AND LEEK SOUP

Serves 3-4

• olive oil
• 1 small head cauliflower, trimmed of leaves and cut into large chunks
• 1 leek, white and light green parts only, washed well and sliced into half moons
• chicken stock
• milk
• salt
• ground white pepper*
• croutons to garnish, if desired

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add leeks, cook until just softened but not browned. Add cauliflower. Pour in enough chicken stock to halfway cover vegetables, add milk until vegetables are just covered. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer until cauliflower is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender, or in a regular blender (careful- it's hot!) until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper. Top with croutons and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.

*Black pepper can be used but you will have black flecks in your soup. White pepper makes it look nicer.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER

• cauliflower, separated into bite sized florets
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• pepper

Toss cauliflower with a drizzle of olive oil, a big pinch of salt, and freshly ground pepper. Roast at 400 degrees F until browned and crispy, about 20 minutes, stirring to ensure even cooking partway through cooking.

** I have now written "cauliflower" so many times that it doesn't even look like a real word anymore

Kale Chips

I just opened a savings account for Parker. My 6 week old son now has more money than I do. This is a sad state of affairs... maybe I shouldn't have bought that Martha Stewart Living magazine today. Especially considering I have a pile of 5 magazines waiting to be read because I am a magazine junkie and currently have five subscriptions. But c'mon, it's Martha Stewart!

Moving on, I made kale chips today. I didn't think I'd like them. But I do. In fact, I almost ate them all before I took a photo even though I was typing this post as the kale chips were baking. They taste nutty and salty and are super crispy. They kind of taste like roasted cauliflower, which on a side note, if you haven't made before make it tonight- trust me. This would be a good time to use the sea salt you never use because you think it should be used on special dishes. Or maybe that's just me.

Here are some more kale recipes too.

One Year Ago: Local Food, Minestrone Soup

KALE CHIPS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Wash and dry as much or as little kale as you like. Chop or tear kale into bite sized pieces, discarding the stem.

Place kale on a foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil. Toss kale with oil and lay out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake 10 minutes or until crispy. Do not let the kale brown.

Breaded Shrimp and Vegetable of the Week

One day last week there was nothing in the fridge to cook and Tyler didn't feel like having any of the pre- made meals I have stashed in the fridge (not even chili with the promise of fresh biscuits!), so I had to put my thinking cap on. Shrimp is easy to defrost quickly so I started there. But then I was stuck. I didn't have lemon juice to make a lot of the recipes I was finding and there was no feta cheese to make my favorite shrimp dish. I knew I wanted have this rice as a side dish (I don't recommend it), so I came up with this breaded shrimp. It's easy and quick and perfect for dipping- Ranch dressing for Tyler as always and PC Memories of Bengal Curried Mango sauce for me. It's all about the dipping.

So, to the Vegetable of the Week. Following the theme of my previous post, each week I want to use one vegetable in a few ways to bump up the nutrition in our meals. Last week was kale*. I usually use kale in soup and that's about it. I also found that I like it in other dishes as well. I chopped it up, steamed it in a pan with salt and pepper and added it to the rice as you can see in the above photo. I also added some to pasta. Just put chopped kale into the pasta pot for the last 5 minutes of the pasta cooking. I still have a few leaves left, so I'm going to try kale chips today. I'll report back.

*With leafy or thin-skinned vegetables I try to buy organic as these vegetables can absorb more pesticides. Also, I just saw that peaches have the highest pesticide concentrations of any fruit- another one to buy organic I would say.

One Year Ago: Deep Dish Pizza, the best Granola, Chaussons Aux Pommes 

OVEN BAKED SHRIMP

Serves 4

• 1 lb large (31-40 count) shrimp, cleaned and peeled
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• water
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Dry shrimp on paper towels. Mix flour, salt, pepper, cayenne in a Ziploc bag. In a shallow bowl or baking dish, mix egg, Dijon, and a splash of water. Place bread crumbs in another shallow bowl or baking dish. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Put shrimp in bag with flour, seal, and shake to coat the shrimp in flour. Working with a few shrimp at a time, remove from bag, shaking off excess flour, coat in egg mixture, then in bread crumbs and place on baking sheet.

Bake shrimp 11 to 13 minutes or until just pink all over (you'll be able to see the color a bit through the bread crumbs) and they are curled up. Ensure to flip them over half way through cooking.