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Cabbage in brine recipe : SBS Food
I love to receive emails from SBS Food. They are chock-full of helpful information, updates on SBS Food shows, Give-aways and Recipes.
This week they have a feature on Cabbage. Enjoy!

In Season: Cabbage

Cabbage, to be quite frank, is not one of the most loved vegetables. However, tastebuds grow up too and when cooked properly it is a delicious accompaniment to other foods. For a simple take, try this recipe for cabbage in brine or for something fancier impress family and friends with this recipe for roast duck with braised cabbage

Learn how to make Cabbage in Brine with Vasili's Mamma.

Ingredients

1/4 cabbage
1 litre water
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup salt
1 tsp sugar
1 lemon (squeezed)
Spices of your choice
Large jar with lid

View conversion table

Preparation

Thoroughly wash the cabbage. Chop the cabbage into chunks.

Place chopped cabbage in a large sterilised jar (do not put the lid on).

Heat water, vinegar, salt, sugar, spices and lemon in a pot until the mixture boils.
Pour the boiled ingredients (brine) in the jar of cabbage, filling up to the rim. Tighten the lid and leave to rest for 24-48 hours. It is then ready to eat.

Note:
Allow the brine to continue to boil in the jar until it cools down.
If you enjoyed this Cabbage in brine recipe then browse more greek recipes, vegetarian recipes and our most popular lamingtons recipe.

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Entice magazine

Entice magazine is the perfect 'how to' beef cookbook made especially for those looking for delicious meal ideas and cooking tips.

Our latest issue of Entice magazine contains tips for cooking the perfect slow simmered beef dish this winter, as well as information on which beef cuts to use and how long to cook them for. Learn how to cook a succulent beef bourguignon, a tasty beef goulash, a delicious beef casserole and more.

Download the latest issue of Entice magazine


Enjoy!

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I love shopping at Warilla Grove. It has everything you need in a small area.
Sure it could do with a wider variety of seafood but other than that, it's pretty much your one stop shop.

I often spend a lot of my time in front of the Bush's Meats specials window.We've been taking advantage of the fantastic bargains at Bush's including their $7.99 a kilo Beef Ribs, budget Rump Beef (serve as steaks or roasts)

Today I had a look on the Bush's Meats website and found some great recipes for cooking their
Riverina Blue - Australian Beef and Veal, "guaranteed to be tender every time."



* Growth Hormone Free
* Guaranteed Tender
* 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or YOUR MONEY BACK
* Exclusive to Bush’s Fresh Meats

For the perfect beef and veal, select to the suggested cooking methods
displayed on our ticketing.
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WHAT'S COOKIN' SHELLHARBOUR?

Generations of family secrets have been revealed in a new Shellharbour City Council cookbook featuring over one hundred of the area's favourite recipes.

The new book, What's Cookin' Shellharbour?,  features a diverse range of tried and true family favourite recipes allowing interested community members to learn a whole new series of easy to cook and wholesome dishes.

Residents were asked to provide Council with the recipe to their favourite family recipes with the end result seeing an innovative mix of entrees, mains and deserts.

"We have received an amazing amount of input from the general community in creating this cook book with local residents only too happy to provide recipes to their favourite family celebration dishes," said Shellharbour City Council Good Neighbour Coordinator, Craig Swaney.

"Each of the recipes featured in the book holds a special meaning to the person who provided it with many of the dishes having been handed down through the generations.

"All of the ingredients used in the dishes are purposely easily accessible, with the end result being an easy to cook, wholesome, family meal.

"The first cook book Council released in 2004 had the desired effect of bringing the community together and creating stronger neighbourhoods and we are looking forward to achieving the same positive outcomes through the release of What's Cookin' Shellharbour?"

A free copy of What's Cooking Shellharbour? is available at Council's Administration Building Ground Floor or by clicking here. Tweet This

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I was reading through the Sydney Food Markets guide to seasonal produce for July 2009 and spied the vegetable kohlrabi in the list. I have to admit I haven't had much exposure to this vegetable so I decided to do some research. I opened up the wonderful Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon and found a description of this strange looking vegetable.

(Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes) This is a showy vegetable if ever there was one: purple or green, and sometimes both. It is round with a tapering root end, sprouting leaves on stems from its surface. The flavour is somewhat like a turnip, makes a good flavour accent in vegetable soups and lends itself to being simmered in a light coconut milk sauce with spices. May also be used in Chinese stir-fries or braised dishes.

Other names include:

China: chou ching gom larn
Japan: loorabi
Philippines: kohlrabi
Sri Lanka: knol kohl
Thailand: kalam pom

A quick flickr search and I found some wonderful photos of kohlrabi and this one by Marco is accompanied by a recipe.

Kohlrabi 1, originally uploaded by Marco Veringa

Uploaded on April 19, 2009
by Marco Veringa [ FS FD INT FL ]

Kohlrabi in Creamy Dill Sauce

Ingredients

350 Gram Kohlrabi quartered
225 Gram Carrots shredded
25 Gram Butter
1 Cup Chicken Stock
1/2 Teaspoon Fresh Chopped Dill
150 Ml Cream
Salt and Pepper 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch Method: Thickly peel the kohlrabi to remove the woody outer layer. Slice thinly and cook with the carrots, butter and stock for about 10 minutes, until tender.Blend the Corn Starch with very little cold water and mix under the vegetable stew. Stir well.Return to the boil and stir in the Cream and Dill, adjust seasoning and serve hot with your main dish.

Photo and recipe by Marco Veringo from Cosmopolitan’s Food, Photography and Lifestyle Blog
url: http://cosmopolitanone.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/portrait-of-an-alien

And to show the variety of colours, here's another photographic gem

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George Calombaris from Australia's Masterchef cooks
Blini with Smoked beetroot and feta

Smoked beetroot

First make the smoke with hickory chips (from BBQ shop, soaked) and add sugar, rice, sea salt, earl grey tea and mix. Line a pot with foil and spread out mixture onto it. Add a lid and get it smoking which may take 15-20 minutes

NEXT Blini batter:

520ml full cream milk, bring it to luke warm check with finger
Add milk to a bowl and rain the 20g yeast into the milk. Add 2 egg yolks (keep egg whites for later) and 150g plain flour, 150g buckwheat flour (gives blini a beer flavour)
Cover with cling film and leave to rest until mix has risen, about half an hour

Back to smoking mix:

Smoking mix is ready for beetroot chop the stalk off the beetroot and drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. You don't need to take the skin off now, it will be easier to do so after it is cooked. Wrap in foil and
Place in oven for 160oC for an hour.
Take out of the oven, lay some greaseproof paper down, put some disposable gloves on and peel off the skin gently.

Take a slice off the top and bottom and press a small round cuter into the beetroot to make small rounds of beetroot (I've had little cubes of beetroot which are just as pretty). Place the beetroot shapes on a metal rack and lower over the smoking mix. Cover with a lid to trap in the smoke. Since you don't wish to further cook the vegetable turn off the heat from under the pan and it will 'cold smoke' it. Leave the beetroot until the pot goes cold, about half an hour.

Leftover beetroot can be roasted overnight at 60oC with salt and blended up in a coffee grounder to make beetroot powder. Dehydrating the beetroot times the flavour by five==

Back to Blini batter

3 egg whites, pinch of salt whisk to stiff peaks. Gently incorporate into batter which should have risen significantly. Use slow stirring mixture and pour into a tiny blini pan if possible or if not in a large frying pan but keep the size of the blinis small. Add in crumbled pieces of feta cheese.


Don't pre-heat the pan or your blini will colour too quickly. Looking for gold colour. To check to see if it is cooked use a spatula and pull the sides up a little bit and see if it is still a little opaque. While the blini is cooking on one side move to the smoked beetroot

Back to Beetroot

Take beetroot out of the smoker after 25 minutes and drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt.

Final step plate Blinis and beetroot

Flip the blini and plate it up onto a plate and arrange beetroot, garnish with cream and beetroot powder, basil leaves

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I've always wanted to visit Caveau, Wollongong's only hatted restaurant. It is also the Illawarra's only French restaurant and it offers cooking classes! I've looked at their upcoming classes and one falls on October 18th, 2009. That's the day after my birthday. Normally I am up in Sydney at the Good Food Month's Night Noodle market but this year I have decided to book in for a cooking class with one of the best chefs in Australia.

Peter Sheppard's Cookery School is a hands-on, fun afternoon of learning, making and eating! It runs between 11am and 2pm, where you will cook and eat 3 fabulous dishes. Cookery schools are run with 12 persons, with dates and menus planned to suit interested parties. If you nominate a date, we will fill the group.

Cost: $85pp including GST, includes coffee at the start and the recipes to take home.

Why [the name] CAVEAU?
In French Caveau (pronounced Ca'vo) translates to vault, and also refers to a small wine cellar. More importantly, Le Caveau was the name of the famous literary, wine & gastronomic society formed in France in 1792 (perhaps the first food & wine society), which appealed since books, food and wine are passions we share.

Who is the chef?
Peter Sheppard. He trained at Banc - a top Sydney restaurant which was awarded three hats by the SMH Good Food Guide, and was also named Best Restaurant in the SMH GFG and Gourmet Traveller. Sadly, since Peter left in December 2002, Banc has closed its doors and its great head chef, Liam Tomlin, has since left Australia.

After leaving Banc, Peter opened Reflections Waterfront Restaurant in Huskisson, Jervis Bay on the South Coast of NSW. He had Reflections for a year, during which time it attracted a loyal following and was lauded in publications including the GFG, Gourmet Traveller and Delicious Magazine. Peter opened Caveau in May 2004.

The reviews for Caveau suggest that this is one restaurant that is a 'must see'. Since class sizes are 12, it would be a good idea to book in advance.

Photos and information property of Caveau and its website

Location:
122-124 Kiera Street
Wollongong NSW 2500

Contact:
Tel : +61 2 4226 4855

Opening times:
Lunch - Thursdays and Fridays
Dinners - Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm

http://www.caveau.com.au

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One of the things I miss most about living in Tasmania (2000-2002) is an amazing little cafe in Moonah called 'Cafe Eva'. It was run by the lovely Eva, a Hungarian friend I met through my husband who had been part of a babysitting ring of parents who would babysit for each other when their children were small. Eva is a larger than life personality who made you feel like you were a guest in her home the minute you walked in her small cafe on Main St. Moonah, ten minutes from bustling Hobart city. Sadly her cafe was sold and became a juice business but Cafe Eva and her famous Hungarian paprika chicken with homemade nockerli or nockedli (a Hungarian version of gnocchi but much smaller pieces) will always be close to my heart.


Sadly Eva didn't pass on her recipe but I have found one that looks very close to the spirit of the dish that she cooked. The photo comes from Wikipedia Cuisine of Hungary and links to the Wikipedia page for Goulash

(Image source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprikahuhn)

Hungarian Paprika Chicken with Nokedli (Paprikáscsirke nokedlivel)

• 2 onions chopped
• 4 Tbsp. shortening, corn oil or lard
• 3 Tbsp. Hungarian paprika
• 1/8 Tsp. black pepper or whole pepper corns
• 2 Tsp. salt
• 4 to 5 lbs. chicken disjointed, use legs, thighs, breast and back for best flavour
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 pt. sour cream

1. Brown onions in shortening.
   
2. Add seasonings and chicken, brown 10 minutes.
   
3. Add water, cover and let simmer slowly until it is tender. It will smell wonderful!
   
4. Remove chicken, add sour cream to drippings in pan and mix well.
   
5. To thicken gravy, mix into a paste 1 Tbl. soft butter with 1 Tbl.of flour and stir into drippings.
6. Add dumplings and arrange chicken on top. Heat through,but do not boil, and serve.
   

The recipe includes some potato dumplings based on instant mashed potato but paprika chicken wouldn't be the same without some of Eva's famous nokedli (sounds like gnoccheli). A hungarian variety of gnocchi but made in small pearls of homemade goodness which, when coupled with paprika chicken, send you into a state of bliss.

Nokedli (Galuska)

Ingredients:
The dough just needs to be lightly combined. Over mixing will make this dumpling blend unworkable.
800g flour
4 eggs
Pinch salt
650ml water
Melted butter or oil

Method:
Bring 5 litres of water to the boil with 20g salt.
Beat eggs, water and add to sifted flour and salt.
Combine lightly and push through dumpling strainer with a spatula into the boiling water.
Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon when they rise to the surface of the water.
Roll in melted butter or oil before serving.

In the video it shows the chef using a Spaetzle Maker to form the miniature dumplings by pushing the dough through the holes into the boiling water. I found some Spaetzle Makers on Amazon, below and realised I already have a potato ricer with interchangeable ricer discs that I could use.

Eva's paprika chicken was served on a warmed plate with a blanket of nokedli (tiny hand-fashioned dumpling squiggles similar in texture to gnocchi), and the succulent, tender pieces of paprika chicken carefully placed on top and lashings of the amazing sauce covering most of the dumplings and sprinkled with some paprika and dollops of sour cream. Delicious!

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More on chicken paprika from Wikipedia:

Goulash is a dish, originally from Hungary, a stew or a soup, usually made of beef, red onions, vegetables, spices and ground paprika powder.^[1] The name originates from the Hungarian gulyás (pronounced goo-yash listen (help·info)), the word for a cattle stockman or herdsman.

So Paprika Chicken (Paprikas) is a variant of Goulash

Paprikás

A slightly similar dish is Paprikas, made only with diced meat. Paprikas is made with chicken, lamb^[14], pork^[15], calf^[16] or goose, sometimes bones included (chicken cutlets or lamb). The meat is covered by a rich, thick creamy paprika sauce. Paprikás is usually made without any vegetables. The diced meat is seared with finely chopped fried onions and paprika, then simmered along with stock or water on low heat.^[17] Chicken paprikash is made with whole chicken pieces, legs, thighs, breast and back, onion and paprika, covered and cooked on a small fire, simmered until the chicken is tender, then sour cream and heavy cream is added to the gravy. If two or three tablespoons of paprika powder is used for spice and a generous amount of sour cream or cream (or a mixture of both) is added to the meat in the end, which is prepared the same way as the Pörkölt, it will become what the Hungarians call a Paprikás^[18]. Topping the dish with fresh chopped parsley gives the paprikás its special flavour. When making paprikás, a tasty vegetarian alternative is gombapaprikás - mushroom paprikas - where sliced mushrooms are used instead of meat.

References:

1. June Meyer's Authentic Hungarian Chicken Paprika
   http://homepage.interaccess.com/~june4/hunchicpaprikas.html
   
2. Answer to the question "Hungarian version of gnocchi - recipe please?" by louevans1970@btinternet.com on Yahoo Answers
   http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080113154908AAEpHqR
   
3. Food Safari video featuring the making of Nokedli
   http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/134/Porkolt_with_nokedli_and_cucumber_salad
4. Cuisine of Hungary
   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Hungary
   
5. Recipe Bazaar Nodedli Dumplings
   http://www.recipezaar.com/Hungarian-Nokedli-Dumplings-54823
6. Group recipes Nokedli
   http://www.grouprecipes.com/9224/nokedli---hungarian-dumpling.html
7. Hungarian Food Recipes: Nokeldi-Galuska-Spaetzle
   http://hungarianfoodrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/06/nokeldi-galuska-spaetzle.html
   
8. Hungarian nockerli
   http://neocortext.blogspot.com/2008/03/hungarian-nockerli.html
9. Goulash place nokedli reference
   http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Review/99-99/goulash-place

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