Two weeks since our last post... Rest assured we have been eating, but with a long weekend trip to Texas to see the Call family (enchiladas and margaritas galore) and lots of nights out here in Boston, we haven't had much to put up.
Speaking of family, check out these photos my folks snapped of us with the newest member of the Call family, Betsy Ruth Call (2 mo) with her older brother Beckett (3 yr) and the proud parents Brian and Casey Call.
Now to the food:
Three recent meals reflect Melissa's versatility with a simple and humble ingredient: cabbage. Now I was never a huge fan of cabbage, although I have consumed my fair share of coleslaw growing up in the south. And what the Germans do to cabbage borders on offensive. But since knowing Melissa I have met quite a few cabbage-based dishes that went down quite well -- cabbage stir fry, spicy Asian-inspired cabbage soup, it's even been used in omelets. These are not vegetarian dishes, but the methods for preparing the cabbage can easily be adapted to meatless ingredients. (By the way, all three dishes were made using just one head of cabbage.)
First, a great example of the Asian style cabbage dish: chopped cabbage and soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles) stir fried with pork tenderloin and sambal oelek chili paste. Not fancy, just really tasty and full of whole grain goodness; topped off with a smattering of uncooked cabbage for a bit of crunch. As usual, a gewurztraminer is our choice with spicy Asian-style foods. Cono Sur "Vision" gewurz (2007, Casablanca Valley, Chile) is our current favorite for under $20.
The second dish was an inspired combination that came out fantastically well: cabbage and lima beans with bacon, caramelized onions and red capsicum (bell pepper). Cabbage and lima beans are both ingredients that strike fear into the hearts many a finicky American child, but my biases were jettisoned a long time ago when it came to trusting Melissa's culinary judgement. The flavors in this dish were beautifully melded, largely because of the way Melissa cooked it all. The lima beans take around and hour or more to cook, so they were boiling away long before the rest of the dish was prepared. Around 30 minutes prior to the lima beans being finished the onions were caramelized in a slather of olive oil. The bacon went in next and slow cooked until done, and slices of capsicum were added just prior to serving. The cabbage was wilted by steaming over the lima beans just as they were finishing. Layer upon layer to serve and washed down with a Sam Adams Light. Yum.
As good as that dish was, the last one was really the coup de grace. A simple beef stir fry made with sambal oelek and red onions, with fresh arugula from the garden (it grew like mad while we were gone), accompanied Melissa's roasted cabbage. She sliced up the remaining cabbage in thick (about 1 inch) slices and roasted them in a roasting pan with olive oil and a bit of sea salt. The cabbage softened to a perfect consistency and the caramelized edges were smoky and just a little sweet. And it's visually stunning. Wow. Cabbage -- who knew? A 2007 Mondavi Private Selection chardonnay (CA) did the trick with this dish. Crisp and fruity with very subtle oak.
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A quick note on a nice wine we had while comfortably accommodated at Brian and Casey's beautiful new home in Fort Worth, Texas. I have met a number of inexpensive red blends from California that I have really enjoyed (think Red Truck). This Bordeaux-style blend from Napa Valley was really nice: Bangin' Red from Crescendo Hills Winery. Not sure what year it was, but I did read the label and I remember it had cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec, zinfandel and probably some petit verdot. (Aside from not being made in Bordeaux, the inclusion of zinfandel grapes keeps it from being a true Bordeaux blend). Nice ripe berries, vanilla and spices on the nose and in the mouth; not particularly complex, but a great red for about $10.
Try it out if you spot it in your bottle store...
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Melissa's recipes
Stir fried noodles with pork and cabbage
250g Pork tenderloin
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp of sambal oelek (or other chilli paste)
1 tbsp of sesame seed oil
Soba noodles
1/4 large cabbage
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup of water
Slice pork into thin strips
Marinate in Soy Sauce, Sambal Oelek and sesame seed oil.
Boil Soba noodles together with cabbage in a pot of water
Stir fry Pork in hot pan with a little olive oil (saving the marinade juices for later)
Drain noodles and cabbage and add to frying pan
Add in marinade, rice wine vinegar and water to the hot fry pan so it coats the noodles, cabbage and soba. Let it boil off some steam for around a minute to reduce the liquid and make sure any pork juices are cooked.
Cabbage and lima beans with bacon
1 cup of lima beans
1/2 red onion
4 rashers of bacon
1/4 cabbage
1 red capsicum (bell pepper)
The lima beans take around and hour or more to cook unless you soak them overnight in cold water or soak them in hot water for an hour or two before cooking. I can never plan that far in advance so I boil them for around an hour at 20 minutes. While the lima beans are cooking, slice the onion into half rings and slow saute in olive oil until they're soft and add chopped bacon to the pan. Continue to cook on low to medium heat until the onions are fully caramelized and the bacon rendered and chewy. Add the sliced red capsicum to the frying pan a minute or two before serving and toss with the onions and bacon. Steam the cabbage over the lima beans in a bamboo steamer for 5 minutes. (alternatively boil in a little water for ~10 minutes). Serve the cabbage on the bottom, then lima beans, topped with the onion/bacon/capsicum mixture.
Sliced flank steak with roasted cabbage
500g of flank steak
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp of sambal oelek (or other chilli paste)
1 tsp of sesame seed oil
1/2 red onion
couple of handfuls of arugula (rocket)
1/2 a cabbage
Olive oil
Slice cabbage in 1 inch thick slices leaving stem intact. The stem keeps all the leave together so you can roast pieces of cabbage rather than "leaves" of cabbage. Brush with olive oil and season with salt. Roast in a 400oF oven for around an hour. Turn during cooking when each side is a nice dark brown. The dark brown parts are not bitter but instead become wonderfully sweet and chewy like roasted onions. Slice the flank steak thinly and marinate in the soy sauce, sambal oelek and sesame seed oil for ~20 minutes. In a hot/medium fry pan saute sliced onions until almost translucent. Turn up the heat and add sliced beef (draining off excess marinade before adding meat to pan). Quickly stir fry until meat is seared all over. Serve on a bed of arugula with roasted cabbage.
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Melissa's recipes
Stir fried noodles with pork and cabbage
250g Pork tenderloin
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp of sambal oelek (or other chilli paste)
1 tbsp of sesame seed oil
Soba noodles
1/4 large cabbage
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup of water
Slice pork into thin strips
Marinate in Soy Sauce, Sambal Oelek and sesame seed oil.
Boil Soba noodles together with cabbage in a pot of water
Stir fry Pork in hot pan with a little olive oil (saving the marinade juices for later)
Drain noodles and cabbage and add to frying pan
Add in marinade, rice wine vinegar and water to the hot fry pan so it coats the noodles, cabbage and soba. Let it boil off some steam for around a minute to reduce the liquid and make sure any pork juices are cooked.
Cabbage and lima beans with bacon
1 cup of lima beans
1/2 red onion
4 rashers of bacon
1/4 cabbage
1 red capsicum (bell pepper)
The lima beans take around and hour or more to cook unless you soak them overnight in cold water or soak them in hot water for an hour or two before cooking. I can never plan that far in advance so I boil them for around an hour at 20 minutes. While the lima beans are cooking, slice the onion into half rings and slow saute in olive oil until they're soft and add chopped bacon to the pan. Continue to cook on low to medium heat until the onions are fully caramelized and the bacon rendered and chewy. Add the sliced red capsicum to the frying pan a minute or two before serving and toss with the onions and bacon. Steam the cabbage over the lima beans in a bamboo steamer for 5 minutes. (alternatively boil in a little water for ~10 minutes). Serve the cabbage on the bottom, then lima beans, topped with the onion/bacon/capsicum mixture.
Sliced flank steak with roasted cabbage
500g of flank steak
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp of sambal oelek (or other chilli paste)
1 tsp of sesame seed oil
1/2 red onion
couple of handfuls of arugula (rocket)
1/2 a cabbage
Olive oil
Slice cabbage in 1 inch thick slices leaving stem intact. The stem keeps all the leave together so you can roast pieces of cabbage rather than "leaves" of cabbage. Brush with olive oil and season with salt. Roast in a 400oF oven for around an hour. Turn during cooking when each side is a nice dark brown. The dark brown parts are not bitter but instead become wonderfully sweet and chewy like roasted onions. Slice the flank steak thinly and marinate in the soy sauce, sambal oelek and sesame seed oil for ~20 minutes. In a hot/medium fry pan saute sliced onions until almost translucent. Turn up the heat and add sliced beef (draining off excess marinade before adding meat to pan). Quickly stir fry until meat is seared all over. Serve on a bed of arugula with roasted cabbage.
3 comments:
Oh my goodness Melissa you're recipe book will be rivalling Grandma Hartley's in size!
Congratulation Auntie and Uncle call and pass my congrats onto Brian and Casey, very cool another wee grublet in the family :)
Well Missy and I are posting from Valencia and I know you and Melissa will be very jealous as you were thinking of coming to Spain this year...... we would have loved to have had you along as no one talks to us in English and we just read the Spanish from the phrase book, but we've been having Menu Del Dia and Tapas and struggling through the language barrier.
Enough for now see you at xMus :)
Jealous indeed. Can't wait to see your photos on Hob-a-Nob and hear tales of your Spanish culinary adventures. My best one in Spain was at a pulperia in Galicia. Pulperia -- look that up...
...and the menu del dia actually was pulpo (octopus in Gallego) ;-)
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