Magenta Sauerkraut

It amazes me sometimes how someone looked at this and called it a purple (or red) cabbage. What were they thinking? Couldn’t they come up with something better than that? Maybe I should give vegetable “namers” the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to an unusually “blah” day. The creativity had gone out the window after a long week of giving names to star fruit, passion fruit, papaya, mango, radicchio, endive, and courgette. But then, what’s the excuse for the brilliantly colored eggplant, the blackberry that isn’t black and the pawpaw? Perhaps “blah” days weren’t so uncommon after all. Oh well, I digress.

I don’t know about you, but I love sauerkraut. I think it’s the Czechoslovakian blood in me. My great grandmother used to make us Bolshevik onion dumplings with sauerkraut on the side. Oh my, I loved it. She taught me how to make the dumplings before she died. Do you know how incredibly special that is? Someday, I’ll do a post on that, but today I made sauerkraut.

I shredded one magenta cabbage and another quarter of a leftover green cabbage that we had in the refrigerator. This can be done with a knife, a cheese grater or a food processor. Be prepared to make a mess! Cabbage is one of the messiest things to work with ever!

One tablespoon of salt goes into that.

Just in case you’re wondering, I use REAL salt. That’s the brand, I’m not just being stuck up here. REAL salt doesn’t process the living daylights out of their sea salt. That’s why you see specks of color. It looks like dirt, but it’s really several different minerals that are natural to salt. I think it tastes better too, but that might be physiological. :)

Most of the time I put caraway seeds in my kraut, because that’s what my Great-grandma did. And that’s what makes it sauerkraut in my mind. But today I went out on a limb and put chiles and garlic in it instead.

Just like that. Well, I pulled the stems off the dried chiles.

The next part takes time. I should say it used to take time because I found a nifty short cut. I used to pound it all down with my french rolling pin.

Then I had a brilliant thought, The Kitchen Aid could do this! And it did.  I happily wandered around and did other things. Electronics are amazing! Well, some of them. Sometimes.

The cabbage will end up half the bulk that it was before and will take on a rather wilted look. (I would too if I were beat up in a Kitchen Aid.) You’ll be able to easily squeeze juices from it.

Next, pack it into quart jars. this recipe fills about 1 and 1/2 quarts. Fill it almost to the top and pack it down hard. Then weigh it down with a glass bottle, or a tin can protected with plastic wrap. (Pictures do not show plastic wrap.)

You can already see the juices rising up to cover the cabbage.

Amazing color!

Put it on a plate to catch any overflow that might happen and let it sit there for about 7 days to ferment. And….well, it hasn’t been 7 days yet, so I’ll be back with the rest of the story.

Mystery Guest in the Kitchen

He said his pen name is Alfonso Debonair.

I presume he hails from… Italy? No, France (the first name makes it confusing). Yes, he’s French…at least he intends to be French… for the purposes of this blog post.

Truly, his name, at least his last name, fits him well – “courteous, gracious, and having a sophisticated charm; sprightly.”

 

The way he wrote his recipe was especially charming -

How many men do you know who use flower to make crepes? :)

 

Yes, I said crepes. How many men do you know who will make crepes? And let someone blog about it! Alfonso will.

What is there not to love?

 

A minute before 5:00 he enters the kitchen. I can’t exactly say he dresses the part of a French (or Italian) “debonair gentleman”…bare feet, shorts and a cut off t-shirt. Sounds like American flair to me. But that’s okay. He’s here to cook, not to give a lecture on style. (Thank goodness! Although, I have to say, he’s got style when he wants it.)

 

After deciding on 3 times the recipe for 8 people, he whips out the ingredients on his list and mixes them up in a bowl. Dry ingredients first, add the water. Then the eggs.

My favorite whisk comes in handy for breaking up the lumps.

It’s fun to take action shots when others are doing the cooking!

Alfonso oils the griddle over a hot flame…

Then spoons the batter on, swirling the pan as he goes to get a thin, even layer.

After the first couple experimental ones, they come out beautifully.

(My apologies for the lighting. It was getting dark outside, and without natural lighting it’s very hard to get good pictures.)

 

In the meantime, I’m making the filling for the crepes.  Cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, honey, orange zest, vanilla and a bit of cream.

And, of course, strawberries. I actually found some from the US that looked good. Spring is just around the corner.

Slices of these with a little honey… yum!

We are actually supposed to be making dinner, so Chicken Caesar Salad becomes the entrée and crepes the highlight.

Most unfortunately, Monsieur Debonair had to leave just before dinner was served. His parting words were, “Make sure they fold their crepes right, Mademoiselle!”, only he said it all in French of course.

 

And, of course, I understood because I know everything about French-ness. Doesn’t everyone who has been to France for 48 hours?

 
 

So how do you fold a crepe, anyway?

 
 

Birthday…

So, we celebrated a birthday this month. It’s hard for even me to believe, but I turned 30!

photo by Jeremy - Clear Angle Photography

We had such a great time! My birthday also happened to be the 30th Anniversary of the Norman Chocolate Festival, so a bunch of us headed down there to indulge in way too much chocolatey stuff. There were tables and tables of samples. Chocolate Chili, custard, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, truffles, cake, cookies…oh my!

I’m not a huge cupcake fan, but I thought Gigi’s Cupcakes had the best sample there. A moist dark chocolate cake piled high with salted caramel frosting and sprinkled with a pinch of salt. Yum! Maybe I’ll try making those some day.

Anyway, after that we went home and started making dinner. I had the hardest time deciding on a menu for my Birthday dinner. I finally went with inspiration from an Italian restaurant nearby.

Tortellini with Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Sauce

A fresh salad with my “House” Caesar dressing.

Marinated and Grilled Chicken Tenders made by Dad – which I utterly failed to get a picture of! They were so good too!

Parmesan Puff Rolls made by Tera…

And served with a herbed olive oil dipping sauce.

And, last, but most definitely not least…

Dessert

I thought something chocolate might be a bit too much after our mid-morning spree, so I created a trifle using strawberries and a strawberry wine that a friend gave us.

Fresh strawberries aren’t at all in season and they are from Mexico this time of year, so I used frozen for this dessert.

After cutting into quarters and macerating in wine and a little sugar for several hours, they transformed into this…

The pound cake…

And the vanilla bean custard…

Along with whipped cream, made up the rest of the trifle.

The pound cake recipe is one of the best ever, and so easy I know you’ll want the recipe. I made it twice while I was in Idaho for different trifles.  And the custard, well, it’s pretty good too. I adapted it from the custard that I used for the Cherry Almond Trifle I made a year or so ago. You’ll find that recipe right here. Just add the scrapings from one vanilla bean.

Pound cake

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2  t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.  Alternate the flour and cream while continuing to beat. Pour into buttered loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 30 minutes.

This recipe is perfect for one trifle. But the cake freezes exceptionally well, so you might want to double it and save one for another dessert down the road.

I like to use different extracts in place of the vanilla depending on what dessert I’m making. Orange or almond extract give it a whole new dimension. Someday, I’ll post my Orange Chocolate Tiramisu…

Nacho Poppers

Everyone loves jalapeno poppers right? I mean, who wouldn’t??? However, I have never in my life wanted to go through the trouble to make and fry my own.

So when I happened upon this easy treat I was thrilled. Jalapeno Poppers at home, healthier, faster, maybe even yummier. (Yes, that’s a word, of course.) These are too easy not to try for yourself.

First, a layer of chips…

Then a smear of cream cheese and a slice of pickled jalapeno on top of that…

A sprinkle of shredded cheddar…

Then pop them under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Simple as that!

And oh so yummy!

Did I say they were yummy yet?

Last one…

Eggs Florentine

So, I’ve been doing some research. I always seem to be doing research on something, but this is different. This is the difference between Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine. Do you know? (Actually, I’m thinking everyone on the planet knows but me…so much for my research efforts.)

Here’s the story… You remember Benedict Arnold right? He was that American general turned British general back in the 1700s (aka, traitor!). Well, we never read this in our limited history books in grade school, but while he was still on our side he had a cooking duel with a guy named Eglen Florentine. 

Just kidding…

Well, I always think of Benedict Arnold when I make Eggs Benedict! Don’t you?

Really, I haven’t a clue how these breakfasts got their names, but I do know the difference now.

Eggs Florentine – Poached eggs over spinach, traditionally made with Mornay sauce, which is a bechamel sauce with cheese added to it.

Eggs Arnol…I mean Benedict – Poached eggs over ham,  smoked salmon or other kinds of meat, served with Hollandaise sauce.

Technically, this recipe isn’t either, but typically,  Florentine is occasionally made with Hollandaise sauce, so that’s the name I went with. Besides,  I like the name Florentine better – it doesn’t come with all those bad connotations.

Anyhow, this recipe takes about 15 minutes to make – if you use all my short cuts. If you don’t,  try doubling the time.

Start by making the hollandaise sauce -

You will need a small sauce pan that is 3 to 4 inches high and a bowl that fits about an inch down into the sauce pan. Place about 2 inches of water in the sauce pan (you don’t want the water to touch the bottom of the bowl.) and bring to a boil.

Separate 2 eggs, placing the yolks in the bowl. Squeeze the juice of a 1/4 to a 1/2 of a lemon into the bowl with the yolks and whisk until combined.

By the way, I love, love, LOVE, this whisk! And wouldn’t you know, I’ve never found another like it. If you ever see one just like this, let me know, won’t you?

I’ll love you forever. (Depending on who you are of course!)

Place the bowl over the pot of boiling water and whisk constantly until the mixture starts to thicken. It won’t take long at all, I promise. Drizzle in 1/8 of a cup of olive oil and remove bowl from heat. Most hollandaise sauces call for melted butter, but that requires another pot and more time. Hence, short cut #1.

Sprinkle in about a pinch or two of salt and one of cayenne pepper.

And if it gets too thick simply pour a little bit of the boiling hot water in and whisk. Short cut #2.

Now, set the sauce aside and focus on the skillet of peppers that you should have started already. I used frozen assorted peppers because that’s what we had, but my choice would be jarred roasted red peppers and you could omit this step all together- bonus short cut. Sauté until slightly charred, stirring frequently.

 I started the frozen peppers in a dry skillet to keep them from steaming. When they are to your liking, add some butter, then some spinach and cook just until wilted.

While you are doing that an english muffin should be toasting in the toaster. Pop it out, toasted to perfection, and place on a plate. (I used Bays Original English Muffins, but I have a great recipe if you’re feeling industrious and want to make your own.) Top with spinach and peppers.

Did you keep that water boiling? I hope so,  ’cause we need it now for short cut #3. Sprinkle some salt in. Then crack an egg and slowly let the contents slide into the boiling water.

It will only take a few minutes for it to soft cook. Using the back of a slotted spoon you can tell how firm it is and cook to your liking. When done, scoop it out with the said slotted spoon and let drain a moment before placing on the spinach and peppers. Repeat with another egg if you so desire.

Back to the hollandaise sauce… give it a good whisk, and if it has thicken too much add a bit more of the boiling water (making sure not to get any bits of boiled egg white in there.). Spoon over eggs and serve.

I like my eggs soft. I like this picture too. The color yellow is just cheery,  don’t you think?

Yum! I love breakfasts and I love eggs. They are so good and good for you too. So have a happy, healthy breakfast to start off your day!