Woodfield Weekly
It's June already. A leafy month with lots of Lettuce, Spinach and due soon; Rainbow Chard. Greens are more hearty now and very sweet, and we have the first Summer Round Cabbage available although supply may be limited at first. It's good to see them though as they signal the coming of the summer crops with Broccoli, Beetroot etc to follow.
On to recipe suggestions and a cabbage recipe from Delia kicks things off today. Then a couple of old recipes we found on an interesting little website called Retro Food Recipes (www.retrofoodrecipes.com). The coleslaw recipe dates from 1970, and the potato cake recipe from 1936. Hope you enjoy them.
Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Toasted Pistachios and Pine Nuts
You can make all sorts of stuffings if you follow the basic recipe – you could use cooked lentils or other chopped nuts or whatever ingredients happen to be handy
Ingredients
For the stuffing:
5 fl oz (150 ml) brown basmati rice
6 fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 oz (25 g) unsalted shelled pistachio nuts
1 oz (25 g) pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 oz (50 g) currants
2 small cinnamon sticks
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 smallish head of spring cabbage
12 oz (350 g) red, ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
You will also need a small frying pan with a lid, and a casserole with a capacity of 4 pints (2.25 litres).
First of all, cook the rice. Begin by warming the frying pan over a medium heat, then add the oil and add the onions and let them cook for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly tinged brown. Next, stir in the rice, give it a stir so that it is glistening with oil. Then pour in 10 fl oz (275 ml) boiling water and season with salt. Stir, once only, then cover with the lid. Turn the heat to its lowest setting and let the rice cook for 45 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are tender.
Take the pan off the heat, remove the lid and cover with a clean tea cloth for 5 minutes, then turn the cooked rice into a mixing bowl and leave it to cool a little. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
Now place the pistachios and the pine nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 7-8 minutes (make sure you set a timer). Then remove the tray from the oven and leave the nuts to cool. Now you can prepare the cabbage. To do this, discard the tough outer leaves and then carefully peel off about 6 or 7 whole leaves. In each one of these make a V-shaped cut with a sharp knife to snip out the hard stalky bits. Next, chop up the heart of the cabbage and bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Blanch the whole leaves and chopped cabbage, separately, by cooking them in the boiling water; the whole leaves will take 5 minutes and the chopped will take 2-3 minutes. Then drain the cabbage in a colander, rinse in cold water and drain again. Shake off as much moisture from the leaves as you can and wrap them in a clean tea cloth or piece of kitchen paper to dry.
Then add the chopped cabbage to the cooled rice, with the currants, pistachios, pine nuts and mint and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Now take a heaped tablespoon of the rice and chopped cabbage mixture and wrap it in one of the prepared leaves – squeezing gently till you have a neat package and tucking the ends underneath to prevent the parcels bursting open while they are in the oven.
Fill and roll the remaining cabbage leaves with the rest of the stuffing, then pack the parcels closely together in a casserole, tucking the cinnamon sticks in amongst them. Season with salt and pepper and pour the chopped tomatoes over the parcels. Cover and bake for 1 hour in the oven.
Coleslaw Recipe with White Cabbage, Carrot, Red Apples, Lemon, Onion & Mayonaise.(1970)
INGREDIENTS
1/2 (about 450g) Head of Fresh White Cabbage
1 Large Carrot
2 Red Apples
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 Small Onion
Cut out the hard stem and remove any coarse outer leaves from the White Cabbage. Slice it very fine and place in cold water to crisp for 30 minutes. Peel the Carrot and Onion and grate or finely slice them. Cut the Red Apples into quarters, remove the core, and then finely slice or chop them.
Drain the White Cabbage well and place into a large mixing bowl. Add the Onion, Carrot and Apple. Toss to jumble up the ingredients well. Add to this the Mayonaise and combine with a spoon until all the ingredients are nicely coated.
Finally, season to personal taste with the Salt & Pepper. Cover and place into the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes. Serves 4.
Irish Potato Cakes Recipe with Potatoes, Salt, Butter & Flour. (1936)
INGREDIENTS
8 Boiled Potatoes
Salt
Butter
Plain Flour
METHOD
Mash the Potatoes, then add Salt and Butter to taste, and enough Flour to make a dry dough. Roll on a lighly floured board to half an inch in thickness. Cut into rectangular pieces and bake on a hot griddle. Serve split and buttered hot, with salt & pepper