Roasted Cabbage: Mon Petit Chou

Can I tell you a little secret?  I love cabbage.  I know, I know.  Poor cabbage has an image problem.  People think cabbage is stinky, bland, boring, cheap.  It's the working-class, hardy, reliable veg that gets overshadowed by its fancy, ritzy neighbors in the produce section.  The leeks, the beets, the fennel, the white asparagus -- they all seem so much more glamorous than the sturdy cabbage. 

But cabbage has so much to offer!  A small, fresh cabbage is surprisingly sweet.  And they keep for days on end in the crisper drawer, which means they are like a little gift near the end of the week, when you've already burned through those frou-frou veggies that couldn't take another day in the fridge.  (Cabbage will wait for you.)  And as long as you don't boil cabbage to death, it is a real pleasure to eat.  And if all that didn't convince you, consider this:  "mon petit chou" is a French term of endearment.  It means "my little cabbage."  And we can all agree that the French know a thing or two about food, love, and life, can we not?  I rest my case.

I love green cabbage braised in cream, red cabbage shredded and tossed in a lemon-pepper dressing, and even a homemade coleslaw with curried mayo, nuts, and dried cranberries.  But all those cabbage preparations have been overshadowed by my new favorite recipe:  Roasted Cabbage with Lemon.  You may already know of my intense love of all roasted veggies.  And yet I had never thought of roasting cabbage until I saw it in the January issue of Martha Stewart Living.  I tried it immediately and we've had it once a week ever since.  I even ate about 3/4s of a small, roasted cabbage as my entire dinner the other night.  (Although, to be fair, that was because the French Vegetable Stew I made to go with the cabbage was completely awful.  So while the French may know a thing or two about food, perhaps I do not.)

This recipe takes advantage of cabbage's natural sweetness, as some of the sugar carmelizes as it roasts and browns.  Then the lemon squeezed over it complements the sweetness perfectly.  Even better, this recipe is as easy as it comes.  Perfect even for the beginners out there. 

So pick yourself up a petit chou this week and get ready to fall in love.

ROASTED CABBAGE WITH LEMON

Source:  adapted from Martha Stewart Living, Jan. 2010 issue

• 1 small, green cabbage
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 lemon

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
2. Remove any loose, dirty or bruised outer leaves from your cabbage.  Trim the stem and then cut the cabbage in half.  Then cut each half into four wedges, trying to preserve a bit of core on each wedge, to help hold them together. 
3. Arrange wedges on a rimmed baking sheet.  Brush the wedges generously with olive oil on all sides.  (Martha called for just 1/2 tsp. of oil, but I easily use a full tablespoon or so.  Also, if you don't have a brush, just lightly pat them with oil -- I even let my 2 yr. old do that recently and they turned out fine.)  Sprinkle generously with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Roast for about 10-15 mins. and then carefully flip.  Roast for another 10-15 mins.  (I like mine to get some good color, so I go pretty long.  But do check every now and again!)
5. Squeeze the lemon over the cabbage and serve. 

Enjoy!
M

Super Bowl Chili: To Soup or Not to Soup

In general, I avoid recipes that rely on canned soups. I try to adhere to the Michael Pollan rule of only eating "real food," not "edible foodlike substances."  And canned soups fall squarely into the "foodlike substances" category.  They have lots of salt, high fructose corn syrup, and other unpronounceable ingredients that I don't like eating or serving. Oh, I have one or two old, food-splattered recipes in my collection that call for canned soups, and I do cherish those recipes because of the history associated with them. But they are definitely the exception, not the rule.

I bring this up because my husband has a favorite canned-soup meal from childhood: his mom's Super Bowl Chili. It relies on canned tomato soup to give the chili body. I've made the chili many times, from my mother-in-law's recipe. And it rocks. Lots of chili flavor, but still mild enough for my kids to love. With a few tweaks (I altered the beef-to-bean ratio in favor of beans, e.g.), it quickly became our house chili. This is the stuff football gamewatches are made of.

But still, I hated cranking open those cans of processed soup and feeding it to my kids. So when winter weather finally hit San Diego last month, I decided to make Super Bowl Chili -- but with organic, canned tomato sauce standing in for the soups.  Guess what?  Still awesome.  And now served without the side of guilt.  I'll leave it to you to decide which route to go: to soup or not to soup.  But you know where I stand.

By the way . . . I just hosted a potluck party for a large group of friends.  I made this Super Bowl Chili and a batch of "Kicked-Up Chili" from Emeril Lagasse's Potluck cookbook.  I had been itching to try Emeril's chili for a while, as it included a long list of fun ingredients such as two bottles of dark beer, cinnamon, and a square of unsweetened chocolate.  I was envisioning a chili with mole-like flavors.  Guess what?  It was fine.  Certainly nothing wrong with it.  But just . . . meh.  And the good, old, ultra-easy Super Bowl Chili?  Rave reviews, as always.  This is definitely a case where simpler was more satisfying. 

SUPER BOWL CHILI

Serves:  8-10

Time:  10 mins. prep., 1 hour mostly unattended cooking time

• 2 lb. ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 TBSP chili powder
• 2 x 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
• 2 x 4 oz. cans chopped green chiles
• 1 x 16 oz. jar salsa (mild to hot, your choice)
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 2 cans pinto beans
• Toppings of choice:  chopped onion, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cilantro

1. Brown the beef with the onion and some of the chili powder.  Drain off some of the fat. 
2. Stir in the rest of the chili powder.  Add all other ingredients including liquid in cans of beans.  Simmer at least one hour, stirring with some regularity, to make sure chili doesn't start to stick to the bottom and burn. 

Serving notes:  Chili is always awesome with baked potatoes on the side.  And by the way, no, a microwaved potato doesn't really cut it. To get that steakhouse-quality crispy skin, you need to bake it at high heat, directly on the oven rack.  Try 450 degrees for about an hour.

When we don't have Russet potatoes in the house, we serve Super Bowl Chili with tortilla chips, corn bread, French bread, saltines, roasted new potatoes, etc.  Lots of folks like to serve chili on a bed of rice, too.  (And, apparently, if you're from Cincinnati, you like it over spaghetti.)
 
If you've got leftovers, try filling baked potato skins, topping with lots of cheddar, and broiling.  Serve with sour cream for dunking.  Also, chili freezes beautifully.  And, once, my pizza-obsessed, pizza-making husband put together a cornmeal crust and spread the leftover chili on top, smothered in cheddar.  So yum!

Enjoy!

M

Veggies: Roast 'em if You Got 'em!

I don't think I've told you, yet, about my deep and abiding love for roasted vegetables. I love them. Adore, worship, glorify, treasure, cherish them. That may sound a little over the top, to you, but really, I'm mad about roasted veggies. Roasting turns a vegetable into a more perfect version of itself -- a little sweeter, a little nuttier, a little more like a celebration, rather than the portion of your dinner you choke down for health purposes.

And I never get tired of roasted vegetables, since there are so many veggies and so many preparations. In the summer, I roast eggplant to use in ratatouille and turn pounds and pounds of tomatoes into edible rubies thanks to Molly Wizenburg's recipe for Slow-Roasted Tomatoes. When fall hits, there are trays upon trays of roasted veggies: fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, green beans, turnips, and winter squashes of all kinds. And on nights when we're having the emergency dinner of choice in our house -- quesadillas -- I can make an effortless, cheap, side dish out of a bag of frozen, organic corn.

So here are just a few of my favorite roasted veggie recipes for fall. Despite the fact that I'm posting recipes, there is not a "wrong" way to roast your veggies. As long as you get them onto a pan with some oil (or at least some Pam) and get them in the oven, they will probably turn out yummy. So, e.g., if my recipe below calls for a 425 degree oven, but you're cooking a main dish at 375, no sweat! Just pop the veggies in with your main dish, at the lower temp. Just roast 'em if you got 'em.

ROASTED BEETS

Sources: adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters, and William-Sonoma Vegetable, Marlena Spieler

Serves: about 6

Time: 5 mins. prep, 45 mins. unattended baking, another 5 mins. assembling

If you think you aren't a fan of beets because you've mostly had the canned variety that turns up on salad bars, then it's time to think again. Try this method and you'll end up like me: thinking about beets in the middle of the night, wondering whether your husband ate the leftover beet salad or whether you will get it for lunch tomorrow . . . Roasting beets, rather than boiling them, preserves the sugar in the beet -- it isn't lost into the boiling liquid. If you buy your beets with the greens still on and don't plan on preparing them for a few days, then cut the greens off a little above the root. The beet root will keep a week or so, without their tops, loosely wrapped in the fridge. (P.S. You can eat the greens, too!)

• Beets
• vinegar (Balsamic, red wine, white wine, sherry)
• salt & pepper
• sugar
• olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the beet greens off, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem. Wash the beets well and put them in a baking dish with a big splash of water (about 1/2 inch of water). Cover tightly (either with a lid or foil) and bake for about 40 mins (for small beets) to 1 1/2 hrs. (for large beets) -- until a sharp knife easily pierces through the center of the biggest beet.
2. After the beets have cooled a bit, peel them. I just slide the skins right off, using a small knife in any spots where it sticks. Cut them into quarters and place in a bowl.
3. Sprinkle the beets with vinegar, salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Let them sit for as long as you can -- at least 15 mins. (The beets need a chance to absorb the vinegar to be truly, truly delicious!)
4. Add a little olive oil -- not too much!

The beets are delicious just plain like this, but here are my favorite ways to finish them:

1. Add some crumbled goat cheese and dill.

2. Prep some baby greens with salt, pepper, juice from half a lemon, and olive oil. Put the beets on top. Bonus points: add goat cheese and toasted walnuts. (And grilled chicken is yummy, too!)
3. Toss some sections of blood oranges (or whatever oranges you have on hand) with the beets. Also good over the greens described above.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER

Source: adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Serves: about 4
Time: about 7 mins. prep, 20 mins. mostly unattended cooking time, and 5 more mins. assembling

This is my kids' favorite vegetable. We call it "Popcorn Cauliflower" in our house, as the little florets resemble popcorn -- and are coated with butter and crunchy salt.

• 1 head cauliflower
• cooking spray (or olive oil)
• coarse salt
• about 1-3 tsp. butter

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Prep the cauliflower: cut out the stem and separate the florets into small, bite-size pieces. Spray a baking sheet (jelly-roll pan) with Pam and spread the cauliflower onto it. Roast the cauliflower for about 20 mins, until it is nicely browned. Stir the florets once or twice while roasting.
2. Meanwhile, put a bit of butter in a small frying pan and let it brown. (If you're rushed for time, use high heat and it will brown fast.)
3. When the cauliflower is done, put it in a serving bowl and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle the browned butter on and toss.

Note: My neighbor adds mushrooms to the roasting pan, which sounds delicious, but I haven't tried it, yet!

ROASTED WINTER SQUASH

Source: Adapted, barely, from Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters

Serves: 4-6

Time: 15 mins. prep, 40 mins. mostly unattended roasting time

• 1 winter squash of your choice (butternut, acorn, kabocha, pumpkin, etc.)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• a few cloves of garlic
• parsley or thyme

1. Preheat your oven to 375.
2. Peel your squash with a sharp vegetable peeler (and a knife, if necessary). Scoop out any seeds/strings. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Toss with a few whole cloves of garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet (jelly-roll pan) and roast for about 40 mins., until tender and nicely browned. Stir every now and again to prevent burning.
3. Toss roasted squash with some freshly chopped parsley or thyme.

ROASTED CARROTS

Source: Adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters

Serves: 4 (or just me, alone)

Time: 7 mins. prep and about 20-30 mins. mostly unattended roasting time

I'm not much of a carrot fan, in general. I don't mind those ubiquitous baby carrots, but I don't exactly crave them. But find me a gorgeous bunch of carrots at the farmer's market and roast them up, and suddenly I'm sneaking the little gems off the baking sheet so fast that there are barely any left at the dinner table . . .

• carrots
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Peel and trim the carrots and then cut them on the diagonal into thin slices. Toss the slices with a lot of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread the carrots into a single layer on a baking sheet (jelly-roll pan) and roast for about 20-30 mins. Definitely stir and toss them a few times, especially near the end. I like them pretty browned, but it's up to you.

Note: Alice Waters' recipe adds turnips to this, which sounds awesome. I've added wedges of onion and enjoyed that, too.

ROASTED CORN

Source: Barely adapted from Cheap. Fast. Good., Beverly Mills & Alicia Ross

Serves: 4-6 (or just me, alone . . . again)

Time: 2 mins. prep and 10-15 mins. unattended cooking time

You won't believe how roasting can turn that bag of corn you always have stashed in your freezer into an exciting, craveable side dish. We make this any time we're having a Mexican main dish.

• 1 lb. bag frozen corn (organic and extra-sweet recommended!)
• 1 TBSP canola oil
• Coarse salt

1. Preheat the oven to 450.
2. Dump the corn into a colander and rinse with cool water, to defrost somewhat. Drain well. (I pat it with paper towels, too.)
3. Spread the corn on a baking sheet (jelly-roll pan). Drizzle with the oil. Stir to coat and then redistribute in a single layer. Roast until the kernels start to brown -- the original recipe calls for 10 mins, but I like them pretty browned, so I go closer to 15-20 mins. I stir at 10 mins., though. (If I can remember!)
4. Season with coarse salt to taste.

Roast 'em if you got 'em! And let me know if you have a favorite roasted veggie I should try!

Enjoy!

M

Quickie Sheperd's Pie: Now With Ghosts!

I love Halloween. It's always been one of my favorite holidays -- dressing up in something that makes you feel fabulous, staying out "late," eating too many sweet things, feeling that little jolt of adrenaline when you get spooked . . . What's not to like here, folks?

On Halloween night, I always try to feed my kids an early and hearty dinner, aiming to stuff them full of something healthy before the candy binge starts. In the past, I've made a big pot of meatball minestrone, but my stash of frozen homemade meatballs was depleted this year. I wasn't sure what to make until I saw a picture of a mashed potato ghost sitting atop a bed of Sheperd's Pie in Better Homes & Gardens' special Halloween issue. Since I have a "quickie" (30-min) version of Sheperd's Pie in my repetoire, I had to try it with the ghosts on top!

It turned out really cute and both kids were delighted with their plates. (I added some "ghost toast" and "bat bread" to extend the spooky theme -- just buttered toast cut with a cookie cutter.) Ruby ate her mashed potato ghost immediately (and happily!), but Billy is still sticking to his anti-potato position. He ended up eating three pieces of "bat bread." Oh, well. Win some, lose some.

Here is my recipe for "Quickie" Sheperd's Pie, based on one I found years ago in my trusty Desperation Dinners cookbook. My main adaptation has been to use my own leftover mashed potatoes and to hide some extra veggies in the meat. (My kids are not great veggie-lovers, so I run a carrot and a red pepper in the food processor and add them.) This is a great post-Thanksgiving meal, as it uses up extra mashed potatoes!

QUICKIE SHEPERD'S PIE

Source: Adapted from Desperation Dinners, Beverly Mills & Alicia Ross
Serves: 4-6

Time: less than 30 mins

• 1 lb ground beef


• 2 tsp canola oil


• 1 onion, chopped


• 2 TBSP ketchup


• 1 TBSP Worchestershire sauce


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 c frozen peas


• 1 c frozen corn


• other veggies as desired (canned, frozen, steamed & pureed, or just fresh veggies chopped finely in the food processor)


• 1 tsp beef "Better Than Bouillon" (or 1 beef bouillon cube)


• 1/2 c water


• 1 TBSP cornstarch (might need more if you use a lot of pureed or minced veggies)


• leftover mashed potatoes OR 20 oz. package of refrigerated mashed potatoes OR large container of mashed potatoes from deli section of your grocery store


• 1/2 c sour cream


• 1 c shredded sharp Cheddar

1. Turn on your broiler.


2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Peel and chop the onion and add it to the skillet. Add the beef and raise the heat to high. Cook, breaking up the beef, about 5 mins. or until the beef is browned.


3. Stir in the ketchup, Worchestershire, and garlic. Then stir in any veggies you are using (frozen peas, corn, purees, whatever you've got). Reduce the heat and let simmer.


4. Meanwhile, combine the "Better Than Bouillon" with the 1/2 c water and heat in a microwave. Stir to fully dissolve. Next, make a slurry to thicken the beef mixture: stir the cornstarch into the bouillon to dissolve. Pour the slurry over the skillet and stir well. Continue to simmer, letting it thicken. If it doesn't thicken enough, make another little slurry (1 TBSP cornstarch in 2-3 TBSP water) and add.


5. Meanwhile, heat up your potatoes (either according to package directions or just in the microwave for a minute or so).


6. Add the sour cream to the beef mixture once it is thickened. Then pour the mixture into a casserole dish (11x9 works well, but it's up to you). Plop the potatoes all over the top of the beef mixture and spread them out with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the cheddar over the top and pop it under the broiler until the cheese in melted and brown in spots.

TO MAKE GHOSTS: Save some of your mashed potatoes. Spoon them into a plastic baggie and snip off one corner. Squeeze the potatoes out of the open corner into a ghost shape. I did one blob for the body and another, smaller one for the head, with a little tail on top. Add eyes. (I used two black, disc-shaped sprinkles we happened to have around, but chocolate sprinkles or raisins would work. Better Homes & Gardens suggested capers, but my kids would freak out over that.)

Hope you all had a wonderful, fun Halloween!

Megan

And So It Begins

I've been toying with the idea of a blog for about a year, now. It all started when I stumbled upon Alice Q. Foodie during an internet search for good food in San Diego. I loved reading her posts, trying her recipes, and following her recommendations for good eats around SD. Alice, in turn, led me to other foodie blogs, fashion blogs, mom blogs, friends' blogs . . . And I got to thinking how fun it would be to have a blog. After all, I missed writing. But what do I have to say that anyone in their right mind would want to read about??


Meanwhile, in my daily life as mom, I continued to cook for my family and for many of my friends. And my friends continued to ask me for recipes. I love to cook and am passionate about food and feeding my family, and my friends know that. And so, they ask: how did you prepare that cauliflower? How did you manage to make risotto with two kids in the kitchen? What did you do with all that eggplant from the market? Where did you find that sausage? And I love to answer.


Suddenly, it was obvious what my blog should be about: what I feed my family, and why. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas about what to feed your family. And I hope you'll share your ideas with me, too!


Oh, and the blog's name, "Cooking With Gries?" That's my husband's contribution. He always wanted to have a cooking show with that title -- a play on our last name, Griesbach. Of course, my husband only cooks a few things, so it would be a short -- albeit delicious! -- show.


So, let the show begin! On this pilot episode of Cooking With Gries, let's talk about my new go-to, everyone-is-happy dinner: Spicy Beans with Sausage.

My kids are bean freaks. If dinner has beans in it, they will eat, without complaining. Obviously, this means I cook a lot of bean-based dinners: jambalaya, black bean burritos, red beans and rice, chili . . . the list goes on and on. This little casserole is our latest favorite. It's also been a great meal for taking to neighbors -- many of my friends have recently had babies, and this is a comforting, filling, nourishing, homey dinner to bring to new parents. The dinner equivalent of sitting on the couch, under a blanket, by a roaring fire and a Christmas tree.

I found the original recipe in Picnic, by DeeDee Stovel, and tweaked it so that it worked for me. It's a flexible, forgiving recipe. I've used lots of different combinations of beans, but I do recommend having at least one can of white beans. Also, I've used various types of smoked sausages and just use whatever I've got on hand. If you are serving a large crowd, go for the 2 lbs. of sausage. Otherwise -- or if you're also serving a hearty soup or side dish -- 1 lb. will do fine. I've tried adding small cubes of carrots and potaotes and enjoyed both. Finally, I think this would be divine with some buttered breadcrumbs sprinkled on top near the end of the cooking time, but haven't tried it yet. (Let me know if you do!)

Enjoy!
M

PS This freezes beautifully, too!

SPICY BEANS WITH SAUSAGE

Source: Adapted from Picnic, DeeDee Stovel
Serves: 8-10
Time: about 20 mins. of work and 90 mins. of unattended cooking

• 3 cans of beans -- white, kidney, pinto, etc.
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 TBSP oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 x 10 oz pkg frozen corn
• 5 slices already-cooked bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
• 1 medium green bell pepper
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 1 TBSP white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 1-2 lbs. kielbasa, cut into chunks
• 1/2 c grated cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Put the beans, with their liquid, into a Dutch oven or other large, lidded casserole. Add the bay leaf and bake, covered tightly, for at least an hour -- but longer is fine, too, if you forget about them. Just check every now and again to make sure they aren't drying out -- and if they are, add a splash of water.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion and garlic until softened, about 2 mins. Set them aside and put the kielbasa chunks in the skillet until browned, about 15 mins.
4. Remove the beans from the oven and add all other ingredients. Stir very gently, so as not to break up the beans too much. Return to the oven and bake, covered, another 30-40 mins., or until bubbly. Just before serving, sprinkle with some cheese.