Smothered cabbage

 

Marcella has this "smothered cabbage" recipe, that has garlic, olive oil, onion and vinegar in it. 

You have to (well, I had to) watch it catching. 

It was just OK for me, which usually means I've not worked something out. 

I will keep braising cabbage till I do as I like the idea of it. 

Smothered cabbage, Venetian style

I love Marcella's chicken fricassee with red cabbage. The cabbage cooks for a long time with some red wine on a garlic and onion base and becomes as Marcella describes it "a dense clinging sauce".

This cabbage is similar but different. There is no red wine (but there is red wine vinegar), and the garlic is chopped rather than left whole.

The dish grew on me. I had just eaten a tasty meat dish and the cabbage flavour was more subtle. It is not a dish to eat in a bowl with a spoon. It would go well with other meat, such as sausage. In my case I put it on some crusty bread, and I did consider it very tasty indeed in the end. Two of us knocked off the whole dish.

I think next time I will cook the dish a little longer. I cooked it almost two hours this time and it was tasty, but I would like to see if it improves.

Beet salad

Being Australia, beetroot from a can is eaten on a lot of things, such as burgers. However it is nothing to write home about. One of the places I eat in the city has a gorgeous beet, feta and greens salad that Victoria fell for and so she decided to have a crack recreating it.

Victoria peeled and chopped the beets before baking them in olive oil and mint. We then turned to Marcella for guidance and she suggested dressing it with olive oil, vinegar and salt. This we did, also adding feta and mixed greens.

Beautiful! First time either of us has baked beets. It certainly will not be the last.

(And not a soup can in sight)

Gratineed cauliflower with butter and parmesan

I've been trying to eat more veges. I like the idea of basing every meal I have around one. To me, that is what mediterranean cooking is all about. This week I have been having a fair crack and have cooked 2 eggplants, a head of broccoli, a sweet potato, and, tonight, a head of cauliflower.

You have to boil the bugger for 20 minutes to make it soft. Modern home cooks, in Australia at least, do not boil their vegetables like this for perceived health reasons. But I really like boiled broccoli tossed with salt, pepper and olive oil (about 5 minutes). And Marcella does the same with boiled cauliflower, although I think she tosses hers with red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt.

This is a gratineed dish. My favourite gratineed dish is that of potatoes from Alice Waters Art of Simple Food. It is absolutely delicious. I have been dreaming of cauliflower all day, so it seemed like a good choice.

I wasn't really sure how much cheese to put on, as I didn't weigh my head. I just grated an amount I thought was generous. Similarly with the butter, although I did not want to go overboard with that.

So how did it taste? Not as obviously delicious as my potato gratin, and I initially thought it was a bit dry. But it drew me in, and the parts that had cheese or butter contributing to it were less dry. In all, it was an enjoyable way to eat a cauliflower head, and I'm going to be making it again to improve how I put it together. None remained, which I think is the ultimate test of a vegetable dish of this size.

We ate it with pan fried steak chopped and tossed with garlic and parsley, which is something from Giuliano Hazan's blog. It was ok although I would cut down on the garlic next time.

Zucchini Sauteed with Fresh Mint

I went to the West End markets today, over the new Go Between Bridge. They have much more character than the other crappy markets around. I went to pick up some lovely lamb shoulder for Marcella's Lamb and Green Bean dish tomorrow. While I was there I bought some of Farmer Dave's lamb sausages, as well as some veges (including for meat broth for tomorrow's risotto).

The choice we faced for a vege dish to go with the lamb sausages was beetroot salad (which I have never made), and Zucchini and Mint, which I have made before but was reinspired by Giuliano's recent blog post on the same dish. It is from his Every Night Italian book. Zucchini won.

The main change from the last time I made it was that I chopped the zucchinis a little larger, as he did in his photo (photos make it easier...). I also didn't have any basil, except for some greek basil from my garden, which I am always a bit scared of as it is so strong.

I upped the quantities a bit as I had more zucchini. I basically cooked as many bits as could fit in my pan in the one layer.

I was a little concerned about the garlic browning. Perhaps I used too much. I need not have worried - it was absolutely delicious, and I'll be making it more often.

I also cooked an eggplant in the oven, so it was a vege friendly lunch, and well received by my two guests. Another winner from Giuliano.

Oven browned tomatoes

This is a dish that Marcella admits in a future book (I can't remember which one) that she cooks all the time.

You can see why. It's so easy and a good way to use up tomatoes that don't have a whole lot of life left in them.

I served mine with a lamb sausage I found at the Chandler markets. They were both delicious. Strangely the sausages were so good - pretty well no fat came out of them. I have never had anything like it.

Anyway, back to the tomato. It was superb. The flavour was intense, as Marcella foreshadowed. Cooking it in the oven brings out the essence of tomato (as the liquid disappears). The tomatoes were not burnt, but they were shriveled and brown.

I've put the left overs in a container and will munch them during the week, perhaps on a sandwich.

I might use a little less garlic next time I cook these. There will be a next time - I think this is something I could make every week, as it would seem Marcella does or at least did at one stage.

Although it is not Italian, for those with an interest I also found some turnips at the market, and bought them, a potato, a leek and some onions to make a soup, which I did. I used my frozen chicken stock and also a little cream and made a french style vege soup with my market spoils. Beautiful I must say, and I was pleased as I had not cooked turnips in a soup before.

So tell me, how would an Italian make a soup with the following: 1 potato, 1 leek, garlic, 3 turnips, assuming staples in the kitchen? Would it be the same as the simple french technique but with meat broth and not pureeing it at the end and no little bit of cream?

We finished with the most beautiful strawberries you have ever tasted (in season in winter in Brisbane), bought from the farmer who grew them, as well as a winter pineapple, which apparently is different from a summer one. The pineapple only cost $1. The turnips, potato and onions only cost $5.

Who said you can't eat well for 10 bucks.

Swiss Chard, Cannellini Bean and Barley Soup

I was determined to make another soup after the success of the Giuliano Hazan minestrone last week, which I might say was used for no less than 3 meals during the week. Every skerrick was eaten.

Plus we have the weather for it at the moment.

This soup is unusual in that uses two pots. It is also unusual, for me, in that one of the pots contains barley. I've drunk some beer in my time, but I've never cooked with barley.

The third reason this soup is unusual is that it is not cooked in water, or broth. Water that is used to cook the barley is added in the end, but the main vegetables just cook by themselves for almost an hour (I added a little water following the barley water - I think next time I will add more as it is quite delicious and you do look for it each spoonful).

You can see the first base of onion, carrot and celery on the bottom left. The barley is cooking on the top right (broth and stew are also cooking).

The barley broth was really intriguing. I'd never tasted anything like it. That is what this soup is about, to me. That barley broth.

I don't have any scales, so I used a big bunch of chard. When the soup was done there was fear that it would be "fat camp food". But it didn't taste like fat camp food. It was intriguing. That barley water saw to that.

To me it wasn't as obviously delicious as the minestrone, but we enjoyed it, and were intrigued by it. It was immensely filling. I gave each of us 2 ladles of it, but I think we could have done with less.

I'm going to cook this one again, to make up my mind whether or not it is a keeper. I like the fact it is different. And you don't need broth to make it, if you have run out.

This is from Marcella Cucina.

Mid week feast

I left work early today to see a doc about a cough. While waiting for my prescription I picked up a kilo of chopped lamb pieces as well as some extra rosemary and parsley. Home a little early I was able to whip up a mid-week feast, which pleased my dining companion no end when she arrived home at 7.

The feast was:

- Bruschetta with basil and tomato;

- Giuliano Hazan's Lamb Stew with Olives and Parsley from his How to Cook Italian: I know I keep cooking this dish but that's because it is so good and so easy. I cook it with red wine as I never seem to have white around.

- Marcella's Potato Salad from Marcella's Italian Kitchen, with olives and parsley (WARNING: olive overload but come to think of it they aren't even in the recipe);

- Boiled Broccoli with Salt, Olive Oil and Pepper (Neil Perry);

- Baked eggplant slices (Alice Waters)

Well I can tell you I am as full as a fart now. The stew was delicious; the potato salad was a little full on (simpler would have been better); the eggplant was a touch underdone and the slices could have been bigger.

The broccoli was the star. So creamy and delicious.

One thing I noticed was that I did seem to be suffering from salt overdose by the end of it. Everything had a lot of salt and olive oil on it. Brings out flavour, says Marcella, and makes food taste of itself. No need to hide behind trickery like the Thais for example.

I get that, and can see how it all works, but here there was just a bit too much salt in all my dishes. I'm not sure what could have broken that up. Dump the potato salad perhaps, or had a real salad instead of a vege dish.

Anyway, all good. I'm stuffed as I said, mainly on veges. Can't complain about that. And lots left over for tucker during the week.

Spaghettini with Eggplant

I'm fond of eggplant. You can barbeque it, fry it, bake it or pretty well do anything with it. All you need is a little salt and olive oil. It is a very cool vegetable to eat.

I've made eggplant pasta a bit before. Patricia Wells has a recipe in her Italian book. When I've pulled that off it's been delicious. It involves frying eggplant chunks in a little oil (not a lot) and then adding them to the tomato sauce.

Sometimes it has been a bit of a dud, but when it came off it came off.

Anyway, tonight I was back in my favourite pasta book, Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta.

I was intrigued by Giuliano's approach of simmering the eggplant rather than frying it. He also adds basil and uses fresh tomatoes. That sounded delicious. I didn't like the fact he peeled the eggplant, but I dutifully followed the recipe, as I should the first time.

It didn't work for me. I think I missed the fried chunks of eggplant. It just tasted too light and dare I say healthy, but not in a way I found satisfying. It was edible but not amazing.

To recap the pasta that has really worked for me from this book so far:

- tomato and basil;

- butternut pumpkin;

- tomato and olives.

I didn't go for this one or the Puttanesca, which is a damn shame as I want to find a Puttanesca that works for me. And a reliable Eggplant Pasta. There are heaps of others I want to try in this book (pretty well all of them) so all in good time.

Sauteed Broccoli with Olive Oil and Garlic

Found myself with a head of broccoli for lunch. Marcella suggests boiling and sauteeing it with garlic and parsley.

I was a little confused by Marcella's instructions. Did she mean that the head should be cut into parts in the stem, or should I have just cut into the stem? Common sense dictated the head should be cut up so that's what I did.

I boiled it for about 5 minutes. Health gurus would say steam rather than boil, but history shows they don't have a clue about things so I ignored that.

Neil Perry just takes the boiled vegetable and puts salt, pepper and olive on it.

I was concerned about the amount of garlic called for. This is uncharacteristic. Perhaps I let it sautee for two long, but I don't think so. It was just too much garlic, for me.

I enjoyed it for lunch. However, I am quite content with the Neil Perry approach. I don't think it needs the extra sauteeing. And the garlic is a bit heavy.