All posts tagged cabbage

By Jessica | March 17, 2010 | Dinner Parties, Main Courses, Projects | No comments

Look. I’m sick of all these bloody stereotypes of Irish people getting drunk and eating potatoes, throwing up and pissing green beer and shit. That’s why I’m trying to affirm a different association this St Patrick’s Day. Once that includes cheap, hardy, corned food and Guinness. And Jameson. And car bombs… And limericks. Shut up.

I made a corned beef, which let me let you know, is pickled beef brisket, boiled in water cause guess why. Back in the day, they’d slaughter some cows right?, and preserve what they couldn’t eat in a salty bath, and boil the last of the shit in March (St Patty’s Day), right in time for Lent, when there was no meat anyway. Goddamn, religion is so conveniently explained.

Ok, the other shit Ima put on you is a little local establishment I like to get my rocks off to and that’s Los Paisanos. Cause not that I told any of my guests that night, but Los was brining the beef for days before my paws got ahold of the slab. Let me proceed with the St Patrick’s Day menu…

Menu: Corned Beef, Red Cabbage Slaw, Individual Shepards Pie, Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting, Car Bombs. Check it:

Corned Beef: A) It turns red all on its own. B) Bought 5 pounds of meat. C) Got like 2 pounds of meat and 2 pounds of fat. Look at them blobs!

Individual Shepard’s Pies: A) I didn’t do anything sexy here, just wanted the ol school shit. B) Except for the middle layer of kale that’s not usually in a Shepard’s or Cottage Pie. C) Shepard’s Pie is with lamb, Cottage Pie is with beef.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Frosting: A) I used an Epicurious recipe, go there, but lose the baking soda for a denser, more brownie like thingy. B) Frosting is 8 oz of soft cream cheese, a cup of confectioners sugar and 2 big glugs of Baileys. C) B dropped my phone.

*Craic, pronounced “crack,” means “fun” or “good times” or you can say something like, “what’s the craic?” for “what’s happening?” or “whats going on?” THANKS B for your hot Brit Butt!

By Jessica | January 3, 2010 | In The News, Main Courses, Other People's Recipes, Projects, Recipes | 1 Comment

Saw Food, Inc. Kill me now.

My New Years resolution (besides working this fat ass out) is to shop at more farmers markets and eat smaller portions with the goal of being a bit more conscious of my consumption. Ima also do my best to plan out meals so I can double up on the ingredients I buy. How many times does your recipe call for scallions, you buy the bunch, use half, and throw the rest out a week later? So yeah, that shit cannot be happening.

Here is mine and B’s meal plan this week, all different meals that use many of the same ingredes:

Bright and Spicy Citrus Salad Over Rice

That Soba Noodle / Shiitake / Spinach jam on the NYTimes most emailed list for the past couple days.

B and I used to wok up some rice on the daily, haven’t in a while, looking to get back to our roots with some Pork Fried Rice. (wok, peanut oil, chopped pork chop, cooked rice (brown?), cabbage, carrot, siracha, sesame oil, cilantro, basil, bam.)

Although I get my Ashe on, on the reg, I also got a need for the chipotle to hit that tongue as well. I’ll be doing this poached shredded chicken breast with chipotle dressing this week as well.

Oh, and something with a sweet potato. All yall healthy people been squawkin about this shit for a while, I really wasn’t down, but I’m going to try it for lunch. I’ll let ya know how it goes.

By Jessica | December 11, 2009 | Main Courses, Other People's Recipes, Recipes, Snackin, Salads and Apps | No comments

It’s fucking big. See? That’s \/ a lemon and that’s \/ a pomelo. Awesome, right?
Lemon Vs Pomelo

A pomelo is the best cause it’s huge but really light in weight. And then when you open it, it’s beautifully pink (although, I found out that not all of them are, but what the hell do I know). The one I got for this salad wasn’t very citrusey or very sweet. But still very bright, and a perfect addition to the spicy dressing.

I adapted this recipe from a cook book about salads. The book is only aaaight, but here is my version of the salad.

Bright and Spicey Pomelo Salad

Bright and Spicy Pomelo Salad

dressing:
2 tbl rice wine
juice of 1 juicy lime
1 pinch of brown sugar
1 tsp siracha
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 finely diced jalapenos, finely diced and go ahead, leave them seeds
3 tablespoons of canola oil

Mix everything but the oil together. Taste and make sure it’s salty or spicy enough for ya. When you’re ready to toss your salad (hehe), whisk the oil in and dress your veg.

the rest:
1 pomelo, sectioned (if you are really ambition, do it right, see here, otherwise, you know, peel and section it.)
1 small nappa cabbage or iceberg, if ya feel it
1 carrot, shredded
chopped fresh mint, basil and/or cilantro (or maybe 2 out of the 3)
chopped mixed roasted salted nuts

Put your salad in your eatin bowls, with the pomelo beautifully on top. Add the oil to your dressing as noted above and generously dress it. Eat. Mmm mmm good as a mo.

(PS. this original recipe called for fish sauce, shallots and not red onion, and less siracha in the dressing. Do what you will.)

By Jessica | November 21, 2008 | Recipes, Snackin, Salads and Apps | 4 Comments

It was a friend’s birthday recently so we decided to give a peck of pickled perfection. The tasty treat was a trifecta of Bob McClures Spicy Dill, Rick’s Pick’s Mean Beans, and JJ’s Homemade Tried and True Super Tested Fire Butt Kimchi (that’s the new name). Check my recipe for the least traditional kimchi you ever done heard of. But, for any of those losers that think they don’t like kimchi, give em my version and they’ll be thanking you for turning their ignance around in a big way.

Kimchi is a typical korean condiment eaten with many a meal. Generally it’s fermented cabbage, pickled with rice vinegar, sirachi, ginger, scallion, and/or garlic. I’ve also had this with daikon or radish instead of the cabbage, maybe it’s called something else, don’t know. All are great. But for mines, I’m not trying to use garlic, and I don’t ferment the cabbage, and I added extra cayenne pepper just to make sure my mouth burns when I eat it.

Oh, AND? I make huge amounts at a time. It’s really cheap to make and lasts forever. Kimchi can be eaten as a snack, condiment, garnish, and depending on spice level, a dare.

1 small white cabbage
rice wine vinegar
fresh ginger, finely diced
1 bunch of scallion, sliced to the top
Sirachi to taste
cayenne pepper to taste, I use about 3 tbs.
the largest size mason jar

Quarter the cabbage with a slice through the stem. Each quarter should have a piece of the center stem which you need to cut out and toss. Proceed to dice the cabbage into big bites. Cut your ginger and scallion. After everything is cut, begin to layer the cabbage with the scallion and the ginger in your large mason jar. Ideally you are looking for an even distribution of the three ingredients cause you won’t be able to stir the shiv once it’s in. Pack your cabbage tight. (pervert) There is more room in there than you think.

Now please forgive me for really inaccurate measurements. It’s hard to give precise measurements for this recipe because everyone is going to have slightly different amounts of liquid depending on how much cabbage you shoved in there, how much of the other ingredients you want, how pickled you want it to be, how spicy you want your ass, etc. You get me? But no worries, you can’t eff this up. Generally mix about 3 cups of vinegar with 1 cup of water and a quarter cup of sirachi. Mix well and pour into the jar. If you need more brine, create another batch with the same ratio. If you want extra spicy kimchi like this sweet baadasssss here, play with the amount of sirachi and/or add cayenne pepper. That’s what I do every time.

This is going to be ready to eat in about a day.

By Jessica | October 8, 2008 | Main Courses, Recipes, Snackin, Salads and Apps | 1 Comment

What do you get when you combine homemade dumplings and spring rolls, wine flowage, and tequila shots to boot? Our house on Saturday night. Oh. Yeah. And I’m not going to lie to you people, the food was banging. Even C said the food seemed easy enough to make at home and her culinary skills peak at choosing a stinky cheese and a dope wine – not that thats anything to laugh about. I can’t taste the difference between merlot and shiraz but give me a blind pork test and I’ll school you. Anyway, make these things at your house to impress your friends.

Steamed Pork and Scallion Dumplings

1/2 lb of ground pork
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup of tamari
3 tbs of sesame oil
dash of vinegar
fresh pepper
wanton wrappers
Makes about 12.

Mix the first 6 ingredients together. Drop a spoonful of mixture on to the center of the wrapper. Wet the exposed edges with water. Grab all the corners, bring to the middle and scrunch together. Steam for 20 minutes. Dipping sauces below.

Steamed Ginger and Beef Dumplings

1/2 lb of ground beef
1/4 cup of finely chopped ginger
1/4 cup of tamari
salt and fresh pepper
wanton wrappers
Makes about 12.

Mix all ingredients together. Drop a spoonful of mixture on to the center of the wrapper. Wet the exposed edges with water. Grab all the corners, bring to the middle and scrunch together. Steam for 20 minutes. Dipping sauces below.

Fried Cabbage, Shitake and Carrot Dumplings

1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup of white cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup of shitake mushrooms, diced
wanton wrappers
veg oil for frying
1/2 cup of water
Makes about 12.

Dice your carrot, cabbage and shrooms and combine in a bowl. Drop a tablespoon or so (you’ll begin to feel it out) onto the wrapper. Guess what you do here. That’s right. Wet the edges, grab the corners, bring together, scrunchy scrunchy. Here is what is different. Heat a frying pan and add a bit of veg oil for frying. When very hot, place your dumpling to fry for 5 minutes. When they have a nice crispy brown bottom, pour in a 1/2 cup of water and cover immediately to finish cooking through with a nice steam bath. Let it do its thing for 5 minutes. Should be ready at this time. Dipping sauces below.

Fresh Spring Rolls

1/2 carrot, julienned (that means cut into thin strips at about 3 inches)
2 scallions, cut down the middle middle and cut at about 3 inches
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of chinese or (uh, american? or italian?.. dunno) basil
rice paper rolls

Cut your veggies and clean and dry your herbals. Add the rice paper to a bowl of very warm water and let it soften for about 30 seconds. Make sure you get all the edges under the water so it doesn’t roll up and crack. When the paper is soft, very gently pull it out and lay flat on a cutting board. Throw a bit of each of your ingredients into the center towards the bottom of the wrapper. Begin to roll the fatty towards the center. Halfway up, grab the right and the left and fold over the rolled half. Then continue to roll up. As soon as the paper dries, it will stick to itself. To serve, use a very sharp knife to cut 2 or 4 slices and stand up if possible.

Dippin Sauces

sirachi
wasabi paste with tamari
chopped ginger in tamari
sesame oil with red pepper flakes (or without)

Let me mention that I particularly like the wasabi with the beef and the sesame oil with the spring rolls. Let me also mention that these are damn easy to do, cheap as all get out and fun to eat. I am not afraid to cater your next dumpling affair. Gimme a date and a time and I’ll be there. You provide the tequila.

By Jessica | August 5, 2008 | Restaurants | No comments

Asian again. R and I had dumplings from Eton yesterday for dinner with a cold bottle of white wine on the roof of our apt building. It was such a brooklyn moment that i had to take pics. Plus, much props to Etan, the newly opened dumpling place in Carroll Gardens. The dude that owns it was a personal chef prior to opening his store. The mostly take out place, although he has about 3 tables, dons a hot plate for cookin. A HOT PLATE. He uses a hot plate to make his dumplings. Love how this guy can take like 6 bucks and open a place in bk, hire a few dudes to throw his dough around and make his dumplings from his recipes. $3.50 for 5 dumplings is a deal. Also found out he does catering. Go there.

We had pork and beef, chicken and mushroom, and veggie cabbage. Sauces included a duck sauce, caramelized vinegar, chili oil and Sirachi, all of which here homemade, except for the Sirachi. (remind me to do a whole post on this special sauce.)

Expect a dumpling recipe to come.