½ pound uncooked shrimp (tails on are good) 1 TBSP butter 1 carrot (shredded) ½ yellow onion (finely chopped) 4 scallions (chopped) 1 garlic clove (minced) 1 Roma tomato (cut a cross on top and bottom, place in boiling water 1 minute to remove the skin, cut length ways into quarters and remove the seeds, finely chop the pulp) 4 cups fish stock or with shrimp head and tail make your own shrimp stock S&P Pinch of fresh thyme Pinch of cayenne Pinch of dried tarragon
Make the roux to an oak color, add the onions and salute a few minutes, add the rest if the vegetables, tomato and sauté several minutes, add the fish stock one cup at a time and mix.
Set six shrimp off to the side. With the remaining shrimp chop them and add to the pot.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat. With a hand blender blend the soup ingredients.
Cook on low for ¾ hour.
Add the thyme, salt and pepper and the tarragon and simmer 15 minutes.
15 minutes before serving in a separate small fry pan, melt 1 TBSP butter, sauté’ the whole shrimp with a tad salt and pepper.
In a bowl, plate the soup and then add the sautéed shrimp in the center of the bowl.
2 oz. Pancetta 1 TBSP olive oil 1.5 Lbs. chicken (or 3 chicken thighs, cut two slices across the bone of the thighs) ½ onion chopped 6 pearl onions Salt and pepper 1 small amount of chanterelle mushrooms rehydrated 1 clove garlic minced 1 small leek (white and green) halved and sliced 1 TBSP flour 1 cup of dry white wine 1 cup of chicken broth 1 TBSP Dijon mustard Sprigs of fresh thyme 1 bay leaf
Preheat oven to 425°
In a Dutch oven sauté the pancetta in olive oil. Add the onions and leeks and sauté slowly for 15 minutes. Add the flour and mix. Add the chicken broth and stir into a paste. Add the wine. Keep stirring. Add the rest of the ingredients except the chicken and mix. Cook on low for about 10 minutes.
Place the chicken on top of the mixture and place the Dutch oven in the oven and cook for 1 hour.
I have made this dish several times before but I keep making adjustments. This one I like b/c it brings me back to my roots in New Orleans’s for meat stuffing. Instead of a Mirepoix (onion, carrot and celery), I went with the New Orleans Trinity of onions, celery and bell pepper. This all comes back as a favorite of mine for stuffing green bell pepper or mirlitons (aka chayote squash). Only with mirliton, I like to use ground lamb. This substitute blend of Trinity offers a little more punch. I have researched the origins of this dish (the way Grandma made it) but those left me little in want of just a little more flavor. Don’t get me wrong. Grandma’s is always good.
(Click on pic to enlarge)
1 head of cabbage (Reserve smaller leaves for the sauce) ½ Lb. ground beef (I used ground chuck) or use all ground beef ½ Lb. ground pork ½ onion finely chopped – for the filling ½ onion finely chopped – for the sauce 1 celery stalk finely chopped 1 medium carrots grated ½ medium green pepper finely chopped 2 large garlic cloves minced 1 cup of cooked long grain rice 1/4 cup plaint bread crumbs/panko S&P Sour Cream Fresh dill 4 TBSP Butter 1 TBSP Olive oil 10g unflavored gelatin mixed in 1/4 cold water 1 15oz. can of stewed tomatoes (in celery, onion and green bell) ½ cup dry white wine 1 Cup chicken stock 2 TBSP tomato paste 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Cabbage – Cut the core out of the center of the cabbage. Place in at least a 7 Qt. pot half full of boiling water with the core side up. Boil a couple of minutes and then gently remove the first of three or four leaves with tongs and place on a tray, keep doing this until you have peeled all the biggest usable leaves and that the leaves are cooked but firm enough to roll. Remove the small remaining cabbage and return the leaves back in 3 to 4 at a time and boil another 30 seconds or so. Set aside to cool. With a knife slice the top main part of the rib off of the cabbage leaf to make the leaf flexible.
Rice – In left over cabbage water cook rice 10 minutes and remove and drain.
Carrots – grate in a food processor.
Chop the Mirepoix – Add celery, onion, garlic, bell pepper and 1½ TBSP butter chop in a food processor.
Filling – Mix the rice, ground meat, bread crumbs, mirepoix, celery, salt, gelatin and pepper. I mixed it in a KitchenAid 3 minutes on stir setting with the mixing blade. Spoon ~ a third cup of filling and make a cylindrical meatball and place in a cabbage leaf. Fold the top over tight then the sides and roll the cabbage and place in a 13×9 dish.
Sauce – Saute the left over chopped cabbage in 2 TBSP butter and brown and remove. Add the chopped carrots and ½ onion finely chopped and chopped garlic in olive oil and saute. Add the stewed tomatoes, wine, chicken stock, tomato paste salt and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and place 1/2 at the bottom of a Dutch Oven.
Cooking – Add the rolls in the pan. Cover with the rest of the sauce and a couple of cabbage leaves. Cook covered on 325° in the oven for 60 minutes. The idea is to cover the rolls so that they steam in the oven making the cabbage very tender and easy to cut with a fork. Check the rolls to make sure the cabbage is cooked. Remove the rolls into a cover cookware bowl.
You can leave them in the frig overnight and reheat.
Plate, cover with sauce, sour cream and chopped fresh dill.
This is a dish that calls for ground lamb. Lamb can have a gamy flavor and lots of herbs are used to offset the gaminess. When using ground beef, you can tone back the herbs to half of the recipe of using lamb. There was no ground lamb at the market this time, so I bought lamb stew meat and ran it through the meat grinder.
1 TBSP Olive Oil 1 cup chopped onion 1 Lb. ground lamb (Or 1 lb. beef, or ½ lb. beef and ½ lb. pork) ¼ tsp dried parsley ¼ tsp dried rosemary, ½ tsp dried thyme (Or, 1 tsp. Herbs de le Ron) 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce 2 cloves garlic minced 2 TBSP flour 2 TBSP ketchup (1 TBSP tomato paste and 1 TBSP ketchup) 1 cup ale beer (or Pilsner, Guinness or IPA. I prefer IPA for the tangy rich hops taste) (If you don’t want to use beer or wine you can use 1½ beef broth) 1 cup frozen peas and carrots ½ cup corn kernel w/some corn juice Sharp cheddar and Colby Jack cheese
Cheese: I use local Wisconsin grated sharp cheddar from Shullsburg. Others use Irish cheddar. I have seen Irish cheddar in the store and it is from Ireland, but I haven’t used it. I like to support local Ag and I live ten miles from Shullsburg.
Meat filing: Sauté onions, add meat lightly brown, add everything else except topping except flour and beer. Cook on medium then add flour and mix then beer (or beef broth) and make a gravy. Don’t overcook it has to go into the oven. Turn off heat and let sit.
Make the mashed potatoes (Or cauliflower), place meat into a 2 quart square baking dish, top with cheese then top with potatoes and bake at 400ᵒ uncovered 30 minutes. Let cool and serve.
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets (Or you can use frozen cauliflower) ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp ground black pepper 2 TBSP butter ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1 TBSP chopped Italian parsley 2 tsp olive oil
Put the fresh cauliflower in a food processor and process into rice. Place in a double boiler and steam until just soft – 10 minutes. If using frozen cauliflower just thaw. Not necessary to steam b/c frozen has already been blanched.
Return to the food processor and process into a mash (like mash potatoes).
Add to a pot with a little olive oil, with the remaining ingredients, mix and warm up then serve. You can always add more butter or even cream. Very similar to making mashed potatoes.
MashedFresh Cauliflower on the board and frozen in the strainer.Processed fresh cauliflower.Frozen CauliflowerProcess into a mash
Ducks Mahal 