April 25, 2024

At Home with GCH: Irish Colcannon

March 15, 2013 by
Irish Soul Food!

Irish Soul Food!

St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend.  Now if you’re like me, your carefree days are behind you and you will not be found in a pub, swilling green beer!  But it is fun to partake in a little luck of the Irish, wear something green, and eat some Irish soul food.  If Corned Beef and Cabbage is more effort than you want to put in, have I got the recipe for you!

Colcannon is classic folk food, meaning it’s what the poor villagers could throw together in a pot to feed a large, hungry family.  This is not a fancy dish, but it’s filling, easy, and incredibly tasty!  If it’s still cold where you live, this will warm your tummy!

Irish Colcannon

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices of bacon, diced
  • 3 large or 4 small potatoes, scrubbed, peeled if desired, and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 green onions, diced
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Put bacon in a large pot over high heat.  Cook until crispy, then remove the pan from the heat.
  2. While the bacon is cooking, simmer the potatoes in a little water and cover with a lid.  When you can break the chunks of potato with a fork, add the cabbage and simmer until the potatoes are done, about 3 minutes more.  You want the potatoes to be cooked through but not mushy.
  3. Lift the potatoes and cabbage from the water and add to the pot with the bacon in it.  Yes, leave the grease in the pot!  Over medium-low heat, fold in the butter and milk, stirring to combine and break up the potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in the green onions.

Now…if you made this recipe, you have half a head of cabbage left over.  May I suggest Roasted Cabbage Wedges?  With a little olive oil, salt, and fennel seed, the cabbage becomes sweet, tender, and delicious!  An unexpected way to eat this nutritious green veggie!

 

Roasted Cabbage Wedges
Roasted Cabbage Wedges

Ingredients:

  • 1 head green cabbage (or half a head)
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fennel or anise seeds (optional, but I really like it!)
  • 1/2 lemon

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Cut the cabbage in half from top to bottom.  Cut out the core, and cut each half into four wedges.
  2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Arrange cabbage wedges on the sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and fennel or anise seeds, if using.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the leaves take on some color.  With a spatula, flip over the wedges and bake for another ten minutes.  The cabbage wedges should be soft, with crispy edges.  Serve with a squeeze of lemon if desired.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipes, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

If you would like to contact Dana in regards to this blog, please email her at Dana@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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At Home with GCH: Vegetable Pancakes

March 8, 2013 by

Vegetable Pancakes

My Jewish friends call them “latkes” and my Korean friends call them “jeon.”  I call them veggie pancakes, and I wonder why I don’t make them more often!  Kind of like hash browns, these crispy little guys are a great way to get more vegetables in your diet.  I also like them for cleaning out my fridge and getting rid of my “singleton” vegetables – you know, that ONE zucchini in a plastic bag, or the last carrot in the sack.  Frugal, I say!

If you have a food processor with a shredder attachment, you can have this recipe mastered in minutes.  If not, you’ll have to get out the box grater and put some muscle into it.  You can experiment with a large variety of firm vegetables—roots are best—like potatoes, carrots, yams, parsnips, or turnips.  You can also mix in some softer veggies, like zucchini, and any kind of minced herbs you like.  I usually just use green onions, because I always have those on hand, but feel free to try thyme, tarragon, or very finely minced rosemary.  Top with sour cream or plain yogurt and you have a nutritious, unusual side dish that’s at home next to a salad or a steak.  These make a great breakfast, too—add eggs, bacon, and fruit, and you’re in business!

Vegetable Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 small potatoes (Russet or white), peeled
  • 1 large carrot, peeled
  • 1 smallish zucchini
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 teaspoons flour, optional
  • vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

  1. In the food processor with shredder attachment, shred the potatoes, carrot and zucchini.  If you are using a box grater, use the largest holes and coarsely shred all the vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside, in a large bowl, for ten minutes.  
  2. After ten minutes, squeeze out the water accumulating in the bottom of the bowl.  This will keep your pancakes from getting soggy!  Then mix in the beaten egg – I just use my hand.  If it’s still really watery, you can add a teaspoon or two of flour.
  3. In a large non-stick pan over medium heat, add about 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil.  You aren’t deep-frying the pancakes, but you do want to make sure there’s plenty of oil, so they don’t stick to the pan.  Drop quarter-cup sized dollops of pancake mixture into the pan, and make sure they don’t touch each othe… they are hard to separate, and won’t cook evenly.  Fry for 3 to 5 minutes per side, so they are crispy and firm.  Repeat with the rest of the pancake mixture, adding more oil to the pan if necessary.  Drain on a paper bag or paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt.  Serve with sour cream.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipes, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

If you would like to contact Dana in regards to this blog, please email her at Dana@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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GCH:What’s on Your Plate? – Roasted Winter Veggies & Broccoli Craisin Salad!

November 19, 2012 by

Thanksgiving week!  Oh boy…here we go!  Don’t you just love it?  I do.  My favorite foods on the table are always the side dishes.  So this week I am going to share two recipes.  Maybe one of them might even end up on your table this year!  Both of these recipes also fall into the healthy but oh-so-yummy category, too!

The first recipe is for Roasted Winter Veggies.  I love roasted veggies…the melange of colors, and textures, and flavors; the nicely caramelized bits; the few little pieces that hover just this side of burnt!  Making roasted veggies is a very forgiving recipe, too.  I have the veggies ready to go into the oven the moment the turkey comes out to rest and be carved.* There are a few basic ingredients; but then you can add and subtract to your heart’s content.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 medium butternut squash, halved, seeded and peeled

1 large Vidalia onion, peeled

3 large Yukon Gold potatoes  (or 4-5 medium red potatoes), peeled

1 bag (12-16 ounces) carrot chips (or baby carrots)

1# brussel sprouts, trim end off and remove outer leaves (if large, cut in half)

1 small head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 1+1/2″ florets

12 ounce pkg Baby Bella mushrooms, stemmed and cleaned; cut into appropriate size

3 medium red beets, peeled (rinse your hands after handling the beets..unless you like a pink tint to your nails and fingers!)

1 tablespoon each: sea salt,  freshly ground pepper

 

Directions: Prep the veggies, washing anything that needs it. Place two really large low-sided roasting pans (sometimes called cookie sheets with sides) into the oven and preheat oven to 425. Cut everything into approximately 1+1/2″ pieces; don’t cut the veggies too small as all they will shrink a bit while roasting. Just try and have everything fairly close to the same size.

Place all the veggies, EXCEPT for the beets, into a really large bowl (or stockpot). Pour most of the oil over the veggies (add the rest if necessary), add salt &pepper, then gently mix together making sure to thoroughly coat each piece of veggie. Pour onto the heated pans. Then place the cut-up beets into the bowl stirring to coat, and add them to the veggies on the roasting pans. It is important that the veggies are not piled up on one another. You do not want them to steam but to roast.  They should be in a single layer. It might be very snug but they will shrink slightly as they roast.

Roast for 30-35 minutes ‘til the most dense veggies are done when poked with a fork.  I like to <attempt> to turn the veggies over after the first 15 minutes; that way more sides of each piece will caramelize; yum.  Be fairly quick during this turning process as you don’t want to leave the oven open very long!  Once you have determined that they are done, remove from oven.  Turn off the oven.   Carefully taste, adding additional salt and pepper (I always add more!) and place into your serving bowl.  <3

A few other things to keep in mind:

If you are preparing this recipe…and there is nothing else in the oven…follow the directions in the recipe.  HOWEVER, if you are making this on Thanksgiving Day: put the pans into the oven for about 10 minutes before you take the turkey out.  Then while the bird is resting, and being carved, and the gravy is being made, the veggies can be roasting. When the turkey is removed, bump the heat up to 425.  Fill the heated pans, and place them back into the oven.  Roast the veggies for approximately 30-35 minute, check that the densest veggies are done and, if so, remove the pans from the oven and turn off the oven.

At this point, if the meal is not ready to be brought to the table, place the veggies into a serving dish, and place back into the oven ‘til you are ready to go. Other veggies to consider: asparagus, broccoli, parsnips, sweet potatoes, fingerlings, fennel. Leftover roasted veggies?  (Hard to believe, but…) Use them as the key ingredients to roasted veggie lasagna, roasted veggie chowder, roasted veggie omelet or frittata, roasted veggie burritos…the list could go on and on.  These are particular dishes I have made.  How kind would you be to yourself but to have one of these chosen as a quick and easy meal to come home to after Christmas shopping-til-you-drop?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

And here is the recipe for the second side dish: Broccoli-Craisin Salad.  This is a beautiful raw salad, a very healthy but oh-so-yummy addition to the side dish array on your Thanksgiving Day table.  It has a slightly smoky (from the bacon), slightly sweet (from the honey), slightly tart (from the vinegar), very mellow taste.  I have had MANY supposed broccoli haters be prompted to try just one tiny taste…only to find they enjoy it and come back for more!  We enjoy this salad all year long!  Hoping that your family enjoys it, too!

Ingredients:

2 heads broccoli crowns, cut into small florets*

1/2 pkg Craisins (dried cranberries)

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2  cup sour cream

1/4 cup honey, warmed

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup sunflower seeds

freshly ground pepper

 

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, and vinegar; set aside. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Take mayo mixture and pour over broccoli mixture, tossing gently to thoroughly coat. I pour the dressed mixture into a large zip-top bag to go into the fridge.  Every once in a while, give the bag a flip-over and a couple of squeezes to massage the yumminess all around!

Then when your meal is ready to go onto the table, just pour the salad out into a serving bowl.  Easy-peasy!

Should be prepared at least 4 hours beforehand, up to 8 hours or so. Just prior to serving, stir in the sunflower seeds and ground pepper to taste.

* The biggest hint I can offer to you for this salad is to cut the broccoli florets as small as you possibly can.  I consider it a labor of love and, oh, so worth it!  It is MUCH more palatable to have little florets in your mouth as you munch on this salad rather than a large hunk of broccoli!  Trust me!  You can do the chopping ahead of time, even a day or so, and simply store in the fridge. 😉

Honestly, I have been known to sit in front of the television while doing it! <3

Have a wonderful, thanks-filled Thanksgiving Day! May we each always remember how very much we have to be thankful for and give thanks to the One Who so perfectly and abundantly and graciously provides for our every need!

Psalms 30:12

To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. <3

God loves you!  and I do too.

Coleen <3

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