I know some of you might scoff and turn up your nose at this post. It’s not really a cooking post. But not all meals need to require hours of preparation to be delicious and most that are healthy require just a little bit of time. This meal just takes minutes and it has become on of my favourite during these hot summer days by the pool. Who wants to spend tons of time hanging around a hot kitchen with the water is calling??? And by the way, this meal will also do wonders for keeping you happy in your bathing suit. I call that a win win!
Just to provide a bit of backstory, I grew up loving Kohlrabi, my mother planted it by the side of the house when I was a kid and it was probably my favourite vegetable. Not many of my friends knew what it was, and if you aren’t familiar with it, it’s time for something new. It tastes a little like the inside of a cabbage but with less burn and a little sweeter. It also maintains it’s consistency when cooked though I only ate it raw and fresh out of the garden growing up… Mmmm still one of my most favourite foods from childhood. Imagine my surprise when I saw it spiralized and bagged in the grocery store. I’ve tried other spiralized veggies before but they often turn to mush, I must be overcooking them. I kinda gave up on them in general since the only one I liked was the turnip (made my own) and it was a whole bunch of work.
These are so easy and delicious it’s literally insane. Even my husband likes it, trust me when I say that’s a big deal. Must be since cooked kohlrabi really doesn’t have a strong flavour and picks up the flavour of what you put with it. Kinda like a la dente pasta, even cooked it keeps it’s structure đ
Here’s where the easy part comes in, you can steam, microwave the kohlrabi like the package says or you can pan fry in a bit of butter, my personal favourite. Once hot add some pesto or some of your favourite seasoning, (pesto is really good) mix and fry just until hot. Add in a can of salmon or tuna and mix. Eat and enjoy the healthy flavourful meal, that took you less than 10 minutes.
Kohlrabi Fry
1 bag of kohlrabi ‘linguine’
1 tablespoon butter
1 – 2 tablespoons basil pesto
Strained can of tuna or salmon
Melt butter in a fry pan, on medium heat, once melted add bag of kohlrabi and mix until warmed through and pieces are browning. Add pesto and mix thoroughly, once mixed through add strained can of fish. Serve immediately. Can serve 2 but I eat the whole thing and never feel bad about that!
May I suggest a little spring soup? I was walking down the produce isle in the grocery store the other day and spotted some beautiful fat fresh leeks. I couldn’t help myself. They looked so good that I just grabbed them and put them in my basket. They aren’t something I cook with often and really who is thinking about soup in April? Not me usually and then all of a sudden there’s this…
Yes, it’s snow, snow and more snow for the next couple of days and guess who’s thinking about a nice creamy leek soup….. ME!
It’s so easy to make that it’s almost embarrassing to be actually writing this recipe down but here goes anyway.
I happened to have a couple extra baked potatoes from the other day just getting dry in the fridge so they worked well to get fried up in some butter to make some nice crispy crouton substitutes. That works really really well in this soup đ
Creamy Spring Leek Soup
3-4 large fresh leeks cleaned thoroughly and chopped
4 celery stalks chopped
splash (2 -3 tablespoons) oil of choice, I used avocado oil
Fish out the bay leaves and thyme sprig if you used fresh then mix the soup with either immersion blender or in a blender. Mix in cream and salt and pepper to taste. Serve right away with a sprinkle of cracked black pepper and potato or regular croutons.
*Also, in the event you happen to have a bit of mashed potatoes sitting in your fridge you can easily add these into the soup to essentially make this a leftover saver!
When you get to be in your later years….. whatever that is for you, 40’s, 50’s, 70’s or if you’re lucky enough and that means your 80’s or 90’s, it gets tiresome sometimes to make meals. Maybe not the actual making of them but for sure coming up with things to make. I think that’s why people like to go out so much, it’s just difficult to try to think of what to eat every. single. day. for dinner and never mind adding lunch and/or breakfast! Sometimes a new toy is just what one needs to be able to find some inspiration. For me this last year during lockdown that new toy has been a smoker; but not just any smoker, the Big Green Egg. This baby checks all the boxes, smoker, BBQ, pizza oven….and much needed inspiration to try some new things and redo some old favourites.
It’s not difficult to work the Egg, just two sliders that manage the airflow and consequently the temperature inside, probably one of the least technical devices I own but oh oh so much fun. Today’s adventure with the Egg includes two recipes, one of our long time favourites Jack Daniels Baby Back Ribs recipes and because giving you an old favourite I already posted here feels a little like cheating I’ve added another I found recently and really caters to my love of spicy foods, Ricardo’s Ribs jacked up even more in the smoker! You can go back to either of those links but I’ll add Richard’s here for convince and for me to always have available.
Prepare Richard’s Ribs by mixing up the rub ingredients and covering the ribs in the spice mix.
Richardo’s Rub Mix(with minor alterations)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon child powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Mix the ingredients in a bowl, if you compare, I’ve cut down on the salt, increased the onion powder and added garlic powder because really, you can NEVER go wrong with garlic powder. Let the ribs sit covered overnight or rub them first thing in the morning to have ready for smoking later in the day. You can also salt and pepper the Jack Daniels Ribs and set them aside for when you’re ready to smoke them.
Richardo’s BBQ sauce(slightly altered)
1 teaspoon chilies powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup blueberry jelly (any kind really works here)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce or Sriracha to taste (spice level)
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir simmering gently for about 5 minutes or until it thickens to a syrup consistency. Set aside for use on the ribs.
Set up your smoker letting it reach 225 – 240 degrees F. Have the sauces ready to go and set your ribs on the grill. You can add applewood chips into the smoker, they work really well with both recipes.
Smoke the ribs for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours then slather them with the sauce and grill the sauce to a finish, serve with the balance of the sauces. The internal temperature of the ribs needs to reach 145 degrees F or to 190 – 200* F for all the fat and collagens to melt making them super juicy and melt in your mouth!
Allow the ribs to sit for 10 minutes before cutting into and serving them. Save any remaining sauce for next time! I often double or triple the sauce and store extra in jars in the freezer.
Food doesn’t always have to be ‘low carb’, ‘keto’, ‘whole 30’, ‘Atkins’, ‘low fat’, ‘GI’ or ‘detox’. Sometimes food can just be good old fashioned delicious comfort food and that is where this meal comes in.
We had this meal quite often in our house growing up and I’m sure people all over the Czech Republic and their descendants all over the world still eat this meal quite frequently. It’s just GOOD! And if anything tastes like home to a Czech person… this would be it!
I have always loved the sweet and sour cabbage and other than garlic my favourite spice is the caraway seed, probably even more so now because my husband doesn’t love it so much so I eat it less often. But this meal wouldn’t be even close to authentic without it so it stays. The cabbage to the pork is kinda like cranberries are to turkey. It is so addictive that you won’t mind having two or more meals worth when you make this, it’s just the two of us here unless people are coming over so we will (okay I will) eat it for a few days.
I know some of you are not going to be terribly pleased with some of these instructions and I realize that it can be challenging when you might not have eaten this and are trying it for the first time but with difference sizes of roasts and cabbages it’s really difficult to give exact measurements. Go with the flow here and rest assured you’ll enjoy the outcome.
Roast Pork
Pork Roast 2-4 lbs (Sirloin or Blade)
1-2 onions diced
1-2 teaspoons caraway seeds
5-8 garlic cloves minced or more
salt
pepper
drizzle of oil
1/4 – 1/2 Cup flour
Place the roast in a nice heavy cast iron roaster drizzled with oil (I generally use avocado oil) liberally salt and pepper the whole roast, rub the minced garlic around the whole roast and place diced onions around the roast in the pan.
Roast in oven at 340 – 350 degrees F until the internal temperature of the roast is 145 – 160 degrees F. This should take 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the roast. Once the roast is cooked take it out and set aside while making the gravy.
Place the roaster with all the sauce and bits on the stove and cook until all liquid is gone and the oil and onions have turned a nice golden brown. Add just enough flour so that the mixture is about the consistency of porridge and fry the flour for 3 – 5 minutes. Slowly add 1/2 to 1 cup water mixing and letting it bubble until you have the consistency of a gravy. Flavour with more salt, pepper and fresh minced garlic if you want more garlic flavour. Set the roast back in the roaster until ready to serve, cutting into slices and drizzling with gravy.
Sweet Sour Cabbage
small head of cabbage
1/4 – 1/2 cup water
1 -2 tablespoons caraway seeds
salt to taste
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons oil
whole onion diced
1 – 2 tablespoons flour
Shred the cabbage the same way you would for coleslaw and put in medium sized pot. Add water (just less than enough to cover the cabbage), salt, caraway seeds and cook until soft. Once the cabbage issue cooked add the vinegar and sugar and in a separate fry pan add diced onions and oil, fry until translucent and add flour, frying on low until lightly golden then add to the cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil and season to a nice sweet sour flavour. Set aside until ready to serve.
Dumplings or Knedliky
300 grams or about 1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cups of milk (any fat amount will do)
1 kaiser or egg bun chopped into small cubes 1/2 inch or so.
Put a large pot of water on the stove. I generally use my large roasting pan because it has the length to accommodate the dumpling. Bring to a slow simmer while you make the dumpling.
Add the first 3 dry ingredients to the mixer first then wet into the middle. Turn the mixer to low level with a dough hook and allow to blend the dough. Keep at low speed until all the flour is incorporated. This may take a while and you may need to stop the mixer and pull the flour from the sides. Once you have a nice soft dough allow the mixer to do the kneading for you for 5-7 minutes.
Take the dough out of the mixer and finish kneading on a dry counter working in the cubed bun pieces. Shape into an even log 2 – 3 inches in diameter and slide it into the covered pot of boiling water. The dumping will expand and you will slowly simmer it for about 20 minutes, turning it halfway through. Once it has boiled take it out carefully and place on cutting board. Cut through the middle and ensure that the centre is done. If it is still doughy and needs a little more you can place it back into the pot and boil for another 3 – 5 minutes. ** We’ve always cut this using thread… yes a thick (light coloured) thread. To do this slide a piece of thread about 12 inches long under the log and criss-cross on the top pulling the thread up through the dumpling cutting it into a nice slice. If you are going to slice with a knife I would recommend using a serrated knife so as not the squish the dumpling.
Slice all the dumpling and serve with sliced meat, all topped with gravy and a side of the sweet and sour cabbage.
This meal can easily be reheated and though the dumplings are best steamed as a leftover it can also be microwaved.
Also any leftover dumplings can always be cut up and fried with eggs the next day… maybe a recipe for another time???
