Bacon, Savoy Cabbage and Barley Casserole

This humble looking and sounding cabbage dish is one of the nicest bits of comfort food I have cooked up in a while.  It started, as new recipes so often do, with a need to utilize raw ingredients in the refrigerator before their use-by date.  But this turned out so well that it’ll be on the menu many more times this winter, I’m sure.

What is it about bacon?  You add a little bit to an otherwise unexciting dish and Wham!  There you are with a flavor-packed forkful that can be highly addictive.  That’s how it was with this casserole.  We both started off with a couple of reasonable scoops.  And then took a little bit more…and a bit more…until we finally agreed that it was pointless to fight it, and divided the remainder between our two plates, scraping every crisp bit off the sides of the dish and nearly licking our plates clean.

Definitely try to find Savoy cabbage for this.  If you can’t use Brussels sprouts or Chinese cabbage sliced thinly.  Regular white cabbage may be a little too tough for this dish.

Bacon, Savoy Cabbage and Barley Casserole

Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F.  Butter or grease a 2 liter/2 quart casserole dish

1/2 cup/ 1.25 dl pearl barley
1 cup / 250 ml boiling water
4 strips of bacon, cut into 1/4″/ 1cm pieces
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cups / 9 dl thinly sliced Savoy cabbage
1/4 cup/ 1/2 dl cool water
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves / 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup/250 ml milk (oat milk or rice milk would make a good substitute)

Combine the barley and boiling water in a small bowl.  Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a frying pan over medium high heat, cook the bacon until it begins to crisp.  Add the onion and cook until the onion begins to soften; about 5 minutes.  Add the cabbage and 1/4 cup water.  Stir; then place a lid on the pot and allow it to cook for 5 minutes until the cabbage is steamed and softened.  Remove the lid, and allow it to cook until most of the water has steamed off.

Combine the eggs, milk, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  When the cabbage has finished cooking, pour in the barley and its water  over the cabbage and stir well to combine.  Pour the cabbage- barley mixture into  the casserole dish and spread it out evenly.  Pour the egg mixture over the top and smooth out the top.  Place it in the oven to bake for 40 minutes or until the barley is cooked to all dente.

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish.

Savory Roasted Asian Almonds

I’ve put off the thought for as long as possible, and now I can’t avoid it any longer.  The holiday season is here.  Its never too early to start planning what your going to cook or bake for all of those holiday parties, host/ess gifts, office snack table, or, most importantly, something to sustain you as you shop and wrap and make yourself merry and bright.

In Finland, where Halloween has, for better or worse, become a thing so October is filled with colorful squashes, harvest decorations and a few scare faces. Thanksgiving, however is only celebrated by those of us Americans and Canadians who have somehow found our way, via one road or another, to this distant shore.  This means that in Finland, the beginning of November, after a brief respite to honor All Saints Day, finds the entire retail sector taking a deep dive into all things Christmas.  And “everyone knows” that Santa Claus comes from Finland ;), with visitors from around the world making a visit to Santa Claus land in Rovaniemi every year, you can bet that the Jolly Old Fellow makes his appearance on every corner as well.

Just out of the oven

And of course during holiday season people gather together for parties and dinners and general good times, which means there is will be a great need for good food.  Since I’m happy to be in the kitchen strumming up new ideas anyway, this time of year is perfect for me.  I can make a batch of something, taste it, and give the rest away with a “Happy Holidays!” or happy something, anyway. and not be stuck with more food than I/we can reasonably consume.  There is always a good excuse to show up on someone’s doorstep this time of year with a plate, box, jar full of something.  It’s a good problem.

So this weekend, someone is going to get a big jar of Savory Roasted Asian Almonds.  I was actually aiming for Wasabi almonds with the nasal clearing impact of Wasabi pea or a sushi roll topped with a good wad of Wasabi paste, but the amount of Wasabi required to pull that off was clearly beyond the limits of my pantry, so I opted instead to add soy sauce (Tamari), maple syrup and sesame seeds to the Wasabi mixture for a bold savory flavor and loud, satisfying crunch.

Don’t be tempted to speed up the oven time by increasing the oven temperature.  These need to cook long and slow so the almonds crack between your teeth when you bite into one.

Savory Roasted Asian Almonds

Savory Roasted Asian Almonds

Preheat oven to 150°C / 300°F

Ingredients:
500g / 1.25 lbs raw almonds, soaked 4 hours or overnight in water
4 teaspoons Wasabi powder (available at Asian food markets and in most large grocery stores)
3 teaspoons soy sauce (preferably Tamari)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons black or white sesame seeds

Drain the almonds.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth.  Add the almonds and stir well until all the almonds are coated.  Spread them out in a single layer on a parchment covered baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and stir the almond mixture really well so that any liquid pooled onto the pan will be redistributed to coat the almonds.  Return the pan to the oven and reduce the heat to 125°C / 250°F.  Bake for another 45 minutes, removing the pan every 15 minutes to stir the almonds and spread them back out into a single layer again.

After 60 minutes, remove the almonds from the oven and set them on the counter to cool completely.

Almonds will keep well in a tightly sealed container for 4 weeks.

Makes 4 cups / 1 liter / 500g

Braised Beef served with Walnut Cranberry Coleslaw, Cranberry Sauce and whole grain bread

I have had it in mind to experiment with the lesser cuts of meat – the ones that get rejected as we look for shoulder roast, and prime rib, and beef tenderloin.  These prime cuts are delicious and easy: You can toss a prime rib on a searing hot grill, grill it briefly on each side, and walk away with a beautiful piece of meat to enjoy in a very short period of time.  Off-cuts, or the sub primal groups of meat – the ones left over after the “choice cuts” have been taken, are a different story.  You won’t find these in all the pictures of a cow broken down into its edible parts.  Instead, these “left-behind” pieces of meat require a bit more patience. Try cooking the gelatinous oxtail the way you would a T-bone steak, and you’ll be gnawing and chewing and grumbling as you try to get your teeth down into the available meat.  But take the same gnarly cut of scrap beef and simmer it for several hours and you’ll discover that it completely transforms into a tender, flavorful morsel that can then be eaten as is, along with any vegetables you’ve chosen to cook it with, or used in other recipes later.

The first step in making beef this way is to pre-roast the vegetables and meat to create a richer flavor.  Some people recommend pan-frying the beef, but I find that pan frying creates a huge mess with oil splattering everywhere and multiple dirty dishes, and since the oven is already heating up so you can cook the food for several hours, you might as well take advantage of this.

Ready for the oven, meat cut into chunks by my butcher 30 minutes later…

Now I’m going to show you how to cook these meats to their mouth-watering edge, and then I’ll post a couple of recipes that you can make with the leftovers, if there are any.  It’s worth cooking as much as your oven-safe pot will hold, because believe me, you will be wanting leftovers to play with once you taste these.

All dressed up and ready to simmer for a nice, long while in the oven

Don’t feel limited to the ingredients I list in the recipe below.  I used rutabaga; you could use carrots instead, or use both.  I use celery leaves; you could use celery stalks or celeriac.  I used rosemary, thyme and sage, because that is what was left in my garden.  You can use dried versions of these herbs; only one of these herbs, or use oregano or marjoram or a ready made Italian spice/pizza spice mix.  You can use only onions, or add in a leek, if you wish.  You can use all oxtail, or add other cuts of meat as well, as I did here because the butcher didn’t have quite 2 kilos of oxtail the day I bought these. If you do this, the bone-in is better than just plan meat scraps as the marrow in the bones adds excellent flavor to the finished dish.  Don’t be scared off by the long detailed recipe below.  It’s really quite easy, and most of the time, you are sitting around smelling the delicious meat as it cooks. Let’s dig in.

Tender, succulent, and ready to serve

Braised Beef: Oxtail & Bone-in Meat Scraps

Step 1:  Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F.  Line a large oven pan with parchment paper.
Note:  have your butcher cut the meat into 2″/5 cm chunks.

Step 2:  Roast meat cuts and vegetables
2 kg/ 4.4 lbs oxtail or 1 kg/2.2lbs oxtail and 1 kg/2.2 kgs bone-on beef scraps (see note 1 below)
2 onions, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into sticks
1 head of garlic, cut in half
2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Combine the salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Sprinkle evenly over the meat and bones.  Spread the meat, bones and vegetables evenly onto the parchment-lined oven pan.  Roast for 30 minutes.

Note 1:  have your butcher cut the meat into 2″/5 cm chunks when you buy it.

Step 3:  Soak the mushrooms (if you don’t have mushrooms, you can still make this as the other ingredients add plenty of flavor.  I happen to have loads of dried porcini after a great mushroom season, but feel free to leave these out or substitute with other dried mushrooms.
1 oz / 30 g dried porcini (herkkutatti) 
1 cup boiling water

Place the porcini into a heat-proof bowl and pour the water over.  Allow to soak while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Step 4:  Prepare the oven-safe pot (dutch oven)
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 sprigs fresh parsley
1/4 cup celery leaves or one celery stalk cut into large chunks
2 bay leaves
12 whole black peppercorns
6 whole allspice
2 tablespoons tomato paste or 1/2 cup/1 dl oven roasted tomatoes
1 cup/2 dl hot water

In a large oven-safe pot with a lid (enameled cast iron is perfect for this), pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and spread it out across the bottom and up the sides of the pot (this makes it easier to clean later).  Add the parsley, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns and allspice.  Combine the tomato paste and water in a bowl.  Pour over the ingredients in the pot.

Step 5:  Combine and braise
Transfer the roasted meats and vegetables from the pan into the oven-safe pot/dutch oven.  Pour the porcini, if using, and its soaking water evenly over the meat and vegetables.  Pour water over enough fresh water to just to cover the meat and vegetables.  Add:
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh sage

Place the lid on the oven dish and place the dish into the hot oven.  Cook for 3 – 4 hours, testing after 3 hours to check if the meat is done.  You’ll know the meat is done when it is fork tender and falls apart easily away from the bone.

Step 6:  Serve
Remove the pan from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve big chunks of the meat alongside the vegetables, and add a nice Cranberry Walnut Coleslaw, Cranberry or Lingonberry sauce, and a nice whole grain bread to soak up all those lovely juices.

Serves 8.

Note 2:  If you have leftovers, save these. To do this, remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones.  Cut the meat and vegetables into small pieces, pouring over any remaining juice.  Measure this out into 2 cup quantities and freeze.  You can use these later to make Oxtail Stew or Oxtail Cabbage Rolls.