Asha's beef-potato-cabbage-sausage casserole

beef-potato-cabbage-sausage casserole

When the cold season strikes, these days, I somehow look to warm comfort foods with an Eastern European slant. This casserole is based on the cabbage-sausage-potato recipes that originate from that part of our world. The sausage that I used is one of the uncooked kinds, my favorite, the brat. You may reduce the amount of garlic and red pepper according to your preference, of course. By the way, this is not a healthy version, just plain delicious. :)

Ground beef - 1 lb.
Johnsonville original bratwurst -3

1 Savoy cabbage - shredded
6-8 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes - sliced thin
Onion, diced small- 1 large
Garlic, crushed - 1 large  bulb
Vegeta seasoning (optional) - 1/2- 1 tsp
garlic powder - a good sprinkling in the meat and the veggies later
dried sage- 1tsp
dried marjoram - 1 tsp
crushed red pepper flakes - 4 tsp
ground black pepper- 1- 2 tsp
white vinegar - 2 tsp
salt
Olive oil, and/or butter - 2 or 3 tbsp

Draw a sharp knife down the middle of the sausage, lengthwise. Peel off the skin so as to remove the meat.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or other large vessel. Saute half of the onion and garlic till almost brown.
Add the spices - 1 tsp of the black pepper, or more, if you like-  and herbs.Stir for a minute. Add the beef and the sausage meat. Brown the meat for a few minutes, Add the vinegar. Stir. Remove from heat.

Now add a little more olive oil or a little piece of butter to the same skillet or pot, and saute the rest of the onion and garlic till almost brown.  Add 1 tsp of black pepper. Or crushed red pepper if you like. Or both. No set rules. Fry for a minute. Add the potatoes and cabbage. Stir well so that the veggies are coated well with the spicy oil. Add enough salt to taste, Remove from heat. You do not need to cook the veggies.

Butter a large baking pan or Dutch oven. Place a layer of the cabbage-potato mixture in the pan.

beef-potato-cabbage-sausage casserole

Next add  layer of the browned beef-sausage mixture. Repeat layers ending with potato-cabbage mix at the top. Cover pan with aluminum foil.

 Bake at 375° for 40 minutes to an hour, till the top is browned a little.

PS: Browning the meat before baking is optional. Alternately, you can saute all of the onion-garlic at once. Divide into two. Mix one half with the meat, and the other with the veggies. Then do the layering, cover, and bake.

For the meat part, make it with just beef or just sausage, or more sausage, cooked or otherwise.

Serve warm with  rolls, and a salad, for health, and for color. :).

buttery rolls

easy spicy tomato- mozzarella bake

6 medium-sized roma tomatoes
1 package fresh mozzarella
1 medium onion, diced small
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh or dried basil
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

preheat oven to 400° F.

Grease a baking pan with a little olive oil

Cut the tomatoes in half, . Scoop out some of the pulp and seeds. Set it aside. Place the tomato cups in the baking pan.

Cut the mozzarella into cubes. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic to this. Saute till the onions are wilted, and the garlic sends out its aroma. Now add the red pepper flakes. Add the scooped out stuff here. Stir well. Add enough salt, pepper. Remove from heat. Add the basil. Stir well.

Spoon the cooked filling into each tomato cups. Top with the cubed cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes.

That's all, folks!

asha's seafood stew

a hearty stew, me hearties! a reminder of my pirate days. ya, right!

asha's seafood stew

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. shrimp
1/4 lb. scallops
1 skinless fillet of salmon, diced
1 small can crabmeat
1 med. onion, chopped
3 stalks of green onion, chopped, keep aside a tbsp or so for garnish.
3 celery stalks, chopped
6 green chilies, slit (according to your taste - this here will be hot)
6-7 cloves of garlic, crushed ( again, acc. to your taste)
1 small piece of ginger, crushed
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
3 leek stems, chopped
3 roma tomatoes, chopped
3 small Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1-2 tbsp clam juice
1 tbsp vinegar
1 can coconut milk
Olive oil
Salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes

Method:

Pan sear all the seafood (except the crabmeat),  sprinkled with some salt and black pepper, a pinch of turmeric,  in a little olive oil, for three minutes.  Set aside. Drain the crabmeat. Set aside.

Heat 2-3 tbsps of olive oil. Saute the onion and garlic in it, till they wilt. Add the ginger, leek,  the green chilies, and green onion.  Stir well, cook for a couple of minutes. Add the crushed red pepper. Saute for a minute. Add the tomatoes. Stir for two or three minutes. Add the clam juice. Add the wine. When it boils, add the coconut milk . If it is too thick, add about half a cup of water. Let it come to a boil. Add  the vinegar now. Add  the carrots and potatoes. Cook till tender. Add the seared seafood, and the crabmeat. When the stew comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with green onions.

To make it easier,  microwave the potatoes and carrots separately.

Serve on its own. Or with rice. Or roti.

seafood stew with rice

seafood stew with rice and spinach mezhukkupuratti

roast turkey aftermath

Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without the roast turkey. But then there are the leftovers. And so naturally, to soups, and paté.

turkey paté with rye bread

Easy paté

Sauté 2 cups of the cooked turkey meat with a half cup of chopped onion, and 2 tsp of chopped garlic, in 2 tbsp of olive oil. At this point, I add either chopped green chili peppers or crushed red pepper flakes. That is optional. Grind this spiced meat in the food processor along with a cup (or more -- to your taste) of cream cheese or sour cream. A tbsp or two of coarse- grained mustard may be added too, if you like. Add a 1/4 cup of chopped tomatoes, any color bell peppers, a tbsp of chives or spring onion, and fried bacon bits, if you happen to have some,  to this and mix well. You may add cheese too, if you like.

Now serve as a dip, spread, in rolls etc.

turkey paté pinwheels

Above is the same paté rolled in grilled and buttered tortillas, and garnished with jalapenos.

For info on the bread, please go to "my gallery".

panzanella

I like this Italian salad for the obvious reason that it is addictively delicious. And that we can use up leftover breads. Especially when there is a little more than usual, after a frenzied bread-baking period.
And I can pretend that I am eating healthy as there are  some vegetables in here --( compare it to bread pudding! another item that I like ). The other day we had to do a lot of work in the yard, including some big time tree pruning. By the time it was done, we really appreciated the crunch and chewiness of this salad. Along with a glass of wine, it tasted like heaven!

I am not going to do the ingredients list for this one. hehe

Let's  go straight to the making. This is what  I did -- dont know if it's the right way, but it worked fr me.

400° F oven. Halve a baguette lengthwise or cut long thick strips of a boule on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile heat two or three tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Medium heat. Add a few crushed - 4 or 5 - cloves of garlic. Let'em sweat in there. (serves them right! ). Now is the time to prepare the veggies you want to add. I had some yellow cherry tomatoes -- about 2 cups, an orange bell pepper, a few diced  red tomatoes, and some arugula. Of course, a sliced red onion should be there. And chopped fresh basil. . Put all these except the arugula in a large mixing bowl. Add a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Check the garlic. Add crushed red pepper flakes to the oil, if you like. I did. You may take out the garlic chunks now, if you prefer. Pour in the hot  garlic oil into the mixing bowl with the veggies. . Toss well. Get the toasted bread out of the oven, and tear  to bite sized pieces. Add that to the bowl. Toss . Add the arugula. Toss. A round of olive oil, if you like. Sprinkle goat cheese on top. Garnish with more basil. Enjoy with a glass of wine. :)

PS: You may add other veggies to this salad, grilled or pan-seared for a minute or two. Zucchini, butternut squash, green beans, mushrooms and asparagus -- all will add spice and substance to the experience. and what if we added various meats or fish? wow.

Kerala yellow split pea & snake gourd stirfry---parippu-padavalanga thoran

A simple Kerala meal has three main dishes to accompany rice. One dish with a sauce that can be mixed with the rice, called chaarukoottan. This could be a lentil-based vegetable stew-like dish, a yogurt-based dish with sauce, a broth-like vegetable dish, a coconut milk based dish, or a fish or meat or egg dish with sauce. The second accompaniment to rice is a dry or semi-dry dish -- this could be a vegetable stirfry called thoran or a mezhukkupuratti, or meat stirfry, or a lentil, or egg. The third side would be a varavu -- a fried something. Again, this could be a fried fresh or dried, salted fish, a fried vegetable or fried meat. Salads like pachadi, kichadi are other sides. Pappadams, pickles, relishes and kondaattams and yogurt are always there, as sides that enhance the whole meal.

This recipe here is a tasty accompaniment to rice and sambar or rasam, or rice and any meat or fish stews. Basically, it is a lentil-vegetable stirfry. It is a "thoran" because it has coconut in it. A really simple meal would be if we had this with rice and yogurt and a hot or tangy pickle.

Ingredients:

yellow split pea - 1/2 cup
snake gourd, cut in small pieces- 2 cups approx.
onion, cut in half and sliced, - 1/2 cup
garlic, crushed - 4 cloves
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
crushed red pepper - 1-2 tsp
coconut, grated - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
mustard - 1/2 tsp
dried red chili, broken into 2 pieces- 2
curry leaves
salt
oil - 3 tbsp

Soak the yellow split pea in water for a few hours. Cook with a pinch of turmeric till tender, not mushy.

Prepare the snake gourds. Cut into pieces, and cook in a little water, till tender but firm.










Heat oil in a wok or skillet. Pop the mustard seeds. Add onion and garlic and curry leaves.Add the dried red chili peppers, and the crushed red pepper. Saute for a few minutes till onion is wilted and garlic is a light brown. Add the grated coconut. Stir well. Medium heat. Saute for a few minutes. Add the cooked lentil and snake gourd. Stir well. Add enough salt. Mix well till everything is incorporated.

Serve with rice along with a chaarukoottaan., or by itself, with yogurt, and a pickle, if you like.


A note about the rice -- all the above dishes go best with Kerala matta rice.

matta

However, the parboiled rice that we use here does the job all right too.

Shortbread thumbprint cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
11/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

raspberry jam for filling

350°F oven.

Whip butter till fluffy. Stir in sugar + cornstarch + flour.
Beat well -- 3-4 minutes on high.
Make 1" inch balls out of dough. Place each ball 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Make small indentation with thumb in the center of each dough ball. Chill for 20 minutes at this point -- optional.
Fill each indentation with a scant 1/4 tsp jam.
Bake for 10 -12 minutes, till the edges begin to turn a very light golden brown.

Transfer cookies to cooling rack.

adapted from allrecipes.com