Braised Cabbage & Kale with Smoked Ham Hock

I won’t say much about this dish, I will let you cook it and find out for yourself. This is a perfect winter dish and a great way to get a rich, meaty main dish without actually using much meat. Most of all, it’s just plain delicious. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Braised Cabbage & Kale with Smoked Ham Hock
Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 medium Onion, sliced
1 Head Green Cabbage, roughly chopped
1 Bunch Kale, roughly chopped
1 Smoked Ham Hock
4-6 Cups Water or Stock (I used 2 cups Beef Broth and 4 cups Water)
Approx. 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Heat a dutch oven or other heavy, oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften. (Be careful with the salt at this point, because the ham will be quite salty itself and the saltiness will concentrate as the braising liquid reduces.) Add the ham hock to the pot (make sure to remove any string from the hock). Cook for another couple minutes, until the hock starts to brown, then turn the hock over (I used a pair of tongs) to brown on the other side. Keep cooking, and stirring the onions occasionally. When the onions are soft and translucent but not brown, add the chopped cabbage and kale. Stir (as much as you can – the pot may be quite full) to combine the greens and onions, and allow the greens to cook down a little. Add the liquid (stock/broth, water, or a combination) so that it comes up most of the way to the top of the greens and the hock, but does not completely cover them. The greens will release more liquid when they cook; but we want to make sure there is enough liquid in there to braise everything. Add the apple cider vinegar (you can use more or less depending on your personal preference, but don’t leave it out; it really ties the flavors together and brightens the dish). Stir to combine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover your pot and bring the liquid to a boil. Then transfer the pot to your preheated oven and let it braise in the oven for about an hour. The greens will become tender and infused with the flavor of the smoked ham, and the hock will get nice and succulent and start to break apart when nudged with a spoon. Feel free to leave it in the oven to braise longer if it is not done after an hour! Time is your friend here – the dish will only get better the longer you cook it.

When ready, remove your pot from the oven and transfer it back onto the stove onto a burner on low heat. Remove the lid, and gently break up the ham hock away from the bones into bite size chunks with a wooden spoon. Stir everything to combine the chunks of meaty goodness with the meltingly tender greens. There will probably be a lot of liquid in the pot, so leave it on the burner for maybe ten more minutes so everything can reduce down a bit and the flavors can concentrate even more. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if needed. It won’t need much seasoning – let the natural flavors of the ham, cabbage and kale really sing!

I served this as a main dish with a side of delicious, cheesy homemade mac & cheese seasoned with a dash of English mustard powder and Tabasco to give it a little kick to complement the greens (I used whole wheat pasta to make it a bit more nutritious and healthy… shh, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

There was a lot of braising liquid left after we had eaten all of the greens and the ham, so I froze it and used it the next week when making a hearty soup. Yum!

Luxurious Herbed Scrambled Eggs for a Special Occasion

Wow, it’s been a while! Somehow, despite all the cooking and baking I did around the holidays, I could not bring myself to write about it. I think I go through rather a seasonal pattern, and tend to retreat into myself like a bear in hibernation in the late Fall and the Winter. I want this blog to come naturally and be a fun thing for me, and hopefully therefore more fun to read for you, so I allowed myself that hiatus and did not try to force out any posts. Thanks for being patient.

But I’m back now, with a renewed energy to write and some delicious recipes to share with you!

These scrambled eggs are a tasty and rather luxurious way to use up any spare partial bunches of herbs that you have hanging around. Maybe you bought some rosemary for a roast beef or chicken, but only used a few stems. Perhaps you have some parsley left over from a pasta dish, or some sage or thyme or whatever! Basil would go nicely too, but I stuck with more wintery herbs in keeping with the season. Go ahead and use any (preferably seasonal) fresh herbs that you have in the fridge, and perhaps one or two dried herbs, too, that you enjoy together.

I had this for brunch on New Year’s Eve with a couple of pieces of whole wheat toast. Delicious and celebratory for the special occasion, and it held me over until our big dinner that evening! I didn’t think of this until it was too late, but a glass of champagne would go fabulously…. You can serve this for dinner, too!

Luxurious Herbed Scrambled Eggs
Serves 2

Ingredients:

5 Large Eggs, good quality (free range, organic if you can)
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
Assorted Herbs, approx. 1/4-1/2 Cup, chopped finely (I used 1/2 bunch Italian Parsley, 3 leaves Sage, 2 stalks Rosemary, and a good couple of dashes of dried Dill – I love Dill in my eggs!)
Handful of grated Cheese (I used English Cheddar, but Parmesan, Gruyere, etc etc would go really nicely)
Sea Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp Butter
A bit of Canola Oil

Method:

Crack the eggs into a medium mixing bowl or large (2-cup or greater) measuring cup. Add the milk and cream. You may be tempted to skip the cream and just use milk, but for a special treat and to make this really luxurious, I encourage you to go for it and use the cream! You won’t regret it. Don’t season them yet. (I wait until the end to add salt, because if you add it earlier, it can turn the eggs grey and/or watery.)

Whisk the eggs, milk and cream until they are combined but you can still see some streaks of yellow yolk. I try not to overwhip my eggs – I know I learned this tip somewhere, but I don’t remember exactly what it does to be honest – but I think it’s tastier when there’s a little variation.

Melt the butter and oil in a medium non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. (The reason that we need to add some oil to the butter is that the butter will burn on its own.) The butter should be bubbling slightly.

Pour the eggs into the pan – they should sizzle. Allow them to set for about a minute without stirring them. Then lower the heat to medium-low and stir the eggs very gently. Continue to cook the eggs, stirring occasionally, until they are about halfway done to your liking. Then add the chopped herbs, and stir to combine.

Let them cook a little longer until almost done, then add the cheese and stir gently again. Continue cooking them, with one or two more stirs, until they are cooked to your liking and the cheese has melted. Then take the eggs off the heat and at the very end, stir in some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve with your favorite toast – these eggs don’t need much else.

Bon appetit, and Happy New Year!

Calvados-Caramelized Pears

This is a very simple, yet decadent recipe that is perfect for celebrating Fall with your breakfast, dessert, or a sweet snack. Choose firm to slightly ripe pears for this. Any more than a little bit soft and the pear will turn to mush when you cook it (although that would be nice, too, as a sauce!). I used a D’Anjou pear.

If you’ve never had Calvados, it’s a lovely apple or pear brandy from France. It’s nice to drink by itself or in cocktails, slightly sweet and fragrant of apples. I love cooking and baking with it, as it adds a nice warm appley-ness.

I spiced these with a little cardamom, which I find goes very well with pears. You can use spice(s) of your choice or leave them out for a pure pear experience.

You can enjoy these caramelized pears on ice cream, custard, yogurt, on pancakes or waffles, or even with pork chops or mild sausages such as bratwurst, for a nice sweet-savory contrast. I had mine on a nice warm bowl of oatmeal with a drizzle of cream for a breakfast treat, with a couple of breakfast sausages.

CALVADOS-CARAMELIZED PEARS

Ingredients

1 Pear, such as D’Anjou

2 Tbsp Butter

1-2 Tbsp Sugar

Approx. 1/4 Cup Calvados (I didn’t measure)

Optional – 1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon and/or 1/2 tsp ground Cardamom, or spice(s) of your choice

Method

1. Slice pear into medium-thick slices, length-wise. Melt butter over medium heat until starting to sizzle. Add pear slices and sugar, and saute, stirring occasionally, until the pear slices start to soften.

2. Add Calvados (carefully) and stir, deglazing the bottom of the pan, and then allow the alcohol to simmer, soaking into the pears, until it is burned off. If you choose to add spice(s), stir them in towards the end.

3. Enjoy them warm right away, or cool if you can wait that long! (I think they are best warm, like the filling of a pie…)

In Honor of American Cheese Month – I Made Goat Milk Ricotta!

Did you know that October is American Cheese Month? These days “American Cheese” means a lot more than the processed rubbery orange stuff in little plastic wrappers. There’s some truly great American cheese out there! To celebrate, I made my own cheese – and it was delicious! I almost couldn’t believe how easy it was and how well it turned out. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of the making process, because I made it in a hurry before heading out for a dance/fitness class. But the cool thing about that is I was able to complete the process in under 20 minutes! Amazing.

I’m not posting the full recipe here because I followed a recipe from I Make Cheese. Check out the recipe on that site as well as some other great homemade cheese recipes and tips! I made 1/2 the recipe amount and it worked out fine. Basically, you warm your goat milk to 195F, and then add a bit of something acidic (I used Apple Cider Vinegar as in the recipe) and stir slowly, until curds start to form. Once you have some good curds going, you drain the mixture through a cheesecloth lined strainer. Once you’ve drained off the liquid, put the curds in a bowl and add a little bit of melted butter for richness & smoothness, a tad of baking soda for… well I’m not sure what the baking soda is for actually… and some salt to enhance the flavor. And you’re done! It’s really that easy.

The first spoonful while the ricotta was still warm was heavenly. It was smooth and creamy with just enough salt to enhance the delicate flavor. I didn’t really do much with the ricotta, just kept eating it out of the bowl with a spoon over the next day or so. It was irresistible! I did also spread it on some toast with a drizzle of some really nice honey. Yum.

I chose to make a goat milk ricotta because I like the complex flavor of goat cheese and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different – I haven’t seen much goat milk ricotta! In the end you couldn’t really taste the goat milk flavor very much, so don’t be put off even if you don’t normally enjoy goat cheese. The ricotta was very mild and creamy with just a vague hint of the grassiness and tang of goat cheese. A note – don’t try to substitute other types of milk in this recipe – it was specifically made for goat milk and different milks have different fat contents and composition, so I’m not sure this exact recipe would work with cow’s milk or sheep’s milk. I’m sure that it is just as easy to make cow milk ricotta and there are lots of great recipes out there!

Have you ever made cheese before? What is your favorite American cheese?

Whisky Peach Bread Pudding

Now that the weather has turned cooler and it’s starting to feel like fall, especially with the rain recently, I’ve been bitten hard by the baking bug. I baked this last week on a rainy day, and it’s another cozy drizzly day today, so I thought I’d share this today. This is a really nice way to enjoy the last of the peach season in a dessert that’s perfect for fall.

You can substitute Irish whiskey or Bourbon or even brandy or rum for the Scotch, or even leave it out entirely. I like that it adds a little hint of something sweet and slightly smoky that adds to yummy warmness of the dish.

It’s delicious warm right out of the oven, and actually even better warmed up the next day, when the flavors have had a chance to really meld. Either way, take it over the top by serving it with a scoop of ice cream or a (not so) little drizzle of cream.

Ingredients

1/2 Day-Old Baguette, cut in chunks (or any slightly stale bread – about 2- 3 cups depending how you want the bread-to-custard ratio to be)

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp Whisk[e]y (I used Scotch)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Salt

1 lb Peach, roughly chopped (1 large or 2 medium peaches)

2 Tbsp Butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Butter an 11 x 7 inch baking dish (or 9 x 9).

2. Whisk together the eggs and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in the milk, cream, whisky, vanilla, and cinnamon, then add the bread chunks. Squish the bread a little bit with your fingers or with a fork to make sure the mixture soaks in. Allow the bread to soak luxuriously in the custard mixture for about 20 minutes.

3. While the bread is soaking, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the peach chunks and saute gently for a minute or so, stirring once or twice until peaches start to soften. Add 1 Tbsp whisky and stir. Cook peaches about 4 more minutes until lightly browned.

4. Add peaches to the bread mixture, and stir to combine. Pour into the buttered baking dish, making sure the bread and peaches are evenly distributed in the custard. Sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar on top for a bit of extra crunch.

5. Bake for 1 hour, until nice and golden brown, slightly puffy, and slightly squidgy but firm when poked in the middle. Allow to cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before diving in!

Gooey Deliciousness… Double Chocolate Caramel Chunk Cookies

Today I was craving something chocolatey and decadent. I had some caramels left over from a test batch for Tamsin’s Sweet Shop and wanted to do something with them, too (other than just eat them, which I’ve done a lot of…). So I thought, I’ll make some chocolate chunk cookies and add some caramel bits as well!

I found this delicious recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Inspired by Levain Bakery on this fun blog I just discovered, Love from the Oven (what a great name!).

I won’t reproduce the recipe here since I followed it pretty much exactly. Go check it out at the link above!

The only modifications I made were, I used half brown sugar and half white sugar (instead of just white sugar). I used part milk chocolate and part semi-sweet chocolate buttons from Guittard, which I chopped roughly. And of course, the caramel chunks. Since I was using the caramel, I only used 2 cups of chopped chocolate, and it was plenty. Oh, and I also used salted butter, since that was what I had on hand and I actually like a little extra hit of salt in my desserts.

My cookies were underdone at 16 minutes, so I baked them for the full 20 minutes, by which point I think they were a little bit over done because they are now a little crumbly and a lighter brown than in the original recipe’s pictures. I think 18 minutes would have been perfect. The caramel chunks melted nicely….

These will definitely become a staple. Chewy, gooey, chocolatey, decadent and just rich enough, and with just a hint of salty caramel, they hit the spot perfectly.

Make a batch of these right away… You won’t regret it! Make sure to eat one while it’s still nice and warm… maybe with a glass of milk….

Quinoa & Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers

I put this dish together to use various tidbits that I had in the fridge. It turned out delicious, and beautiful too! The colors really popped and the flavors married together to create a savory, hearty dinner.

You can use any color bell pepper for this dish. It will of course affect the look of the dish, but the different colored peppers have different flavors, too, so it will affect the taste as well. Red bell peppers are the sweetest. Yellow and orange ones are slightly sweet. Green ones have a little more crunch and “green” peppery zing. Go with whatever looks and sounds best to you! (Or whatever you have in your fridge!) My pepper was Enormous, so I used just one and it was more than enough for the 2 of us. If you’re really hungry and you have smaller peppers, or to serve 4 people, use two medium/large peppers.

I served some garlicky sauteed greens on the side. I used some of the chard stems in my stuffing. If you serve chard on the side, feel free to do the same. If not, you’re welcome to leave it out. I’ve marked it as optional in the recipe.

Another note… I used two colors of Quinoa since I happened to have them both on hand. I measured out 1/2 cup of each black and white Quinoa cooked them together. It gave the stuffing kind of a confetti look which was really fun! Don’t feel you have to go out and buy two kinds of Quinoa though – go with what you like or what you have!

You’ll probably have some extra stuffing mixture left after filling the peppers. That’s a good thing! You can use it for lunch the next day, or just eat some of it straight from the pan like I may or may not have done… Shh!

Serves 2-4

For the Peppers:

1 very large or 2 medium Bell Peppers

Olive Oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Stuffing:

Cooked Quinoa (1 cup dry, prepared per directions on the package)

2 Chorizo sausages (the crumbly kind, not the hard, cured Spanish kind)

3-4 Scallions, thinly sliced – separate the white parts from the green parts

Stems from 1 bunch Chard, thinly sliced (optional)

1 medium Tomato (a nice juicy, ripe Heirloom one is tastiest) – roughly chopped (don’t discard any juices that come out while chopping – you can use them in the dish!)

1/3-1/2 Cup Salsa

1-2 Tbsp Chevre (Fresh Goat Cheese), crumbled

Sea Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Preheat your broiler. To prepare the pepper(s), cut them in half vertically (from top to bottom), then rinse them and remove the seeds. You can leave the stem on or take it off – it’s not edible so it’s a purely aesthetic choice. (I took mine out.) Drizzle the peppers with olive oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Broil the peppers, turning half way through, until the skins are slightly blackened in spots, and the peppers are just firmer than al dente – about 10 minutes. (To be honest I didn’t write down how long I had them under the broiler, so this is pretty approximate. Just keep an eye one them after about 5 minutes on each side.)

2. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. You don’t need to add any oil because the sausage will release its own oils/fats as it cooks (yummy!). Slit the chorizo sausage casings and crumble the inside of the sausages into the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a couple minutes until the oils start to render out and the sausage starts to brown. Add the white parts of the sliced scallions, and the thinly sliced chard stems if using. Cook for a few more minutes, stirring a couple times, until the scallions and chard stems start to soften. Next add the chopped tomato (plus any collected tomato juice!) and the cooked quinoa, stirring to combine. Add the salsa a bit at a time, until the quinoa sausage mixture is completely coated, but not swimming in sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 more minutes, until everything is combined, tomatoes have melted, and sausage is cooked through.

3. Fill the partly cooked pepper halves with the stuffing mixture. Top with crumbled chevre. Place stuffed peppers back under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is slightly browned.

4. Sprinkle the green parts of the sliced scallions over top, and Serve! If you have some of the stuffing mixture left, you can spoon a bit of it around the pepper halves on the plate. This goes really well with simple, garlicky sauteed greens, or a nice crisp salad.