Sunday Dinner - stew and cookies

Well, Blogger just ate the cookie recipe link, but it wasn't that big of a loss as 

I wasn't going to highly recommend them anyway.

The rest of the dinner was delicious - beef stew with mashed potatos and buttered cabbage.  

We've gotten a few heads of cabbage from Thistle Farms this fall, and so far 

this was my favorite recipe using it.

The stew was extremely unappetizing to look at - The Mister cut the beef pieces too small, in my opinion, and it got a bit mushy - but it tasted very nice.  I added some extra veg, 

and if I were to make it again, I would add even more.  

Carbonnade flamande

Buttered cabbage

Pork Mu Shu Stir Fry

I'm continuing on my cabbage kick.  Right now Napa cabbage is my thing.  Loving it.

This was inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe I saw - a pork burger with a warm slaw topping.

I wasn't really interested, but the flavors used stayed with me, so I decided to make it into a stir fry instead of a burger.

SO GOOD.

Pork Mu Shu Stir Fry

1 tb oil

6 garlic cloves, minced, divided in half

 3 green onions, minced

1 small to medium head Napa cabbage, outer leaves removed, cored, and shredded

3 tb hoisin sauce

1 tb oil

12 or so mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 lb ground pork

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

3 tb soy sauce

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large pan.  Add half the garlic and the green onions.  Cook until soft and the garlic is just starting to color.  Add the cabbage, and cook, stirring often, until the cabbage is soft.  Stir in the hoisin sauce.  Taste, correct seasoning.  Transfer to a bowl; cover and keep warm. 

Heat the second TB of oil in the same pan.  Cook the mushrooms, stirring often, until they start to color.  Add the second half of the garlic and the pork.  Stir and break up pork.  Add the 5 spice and ginger.  Cook until the pork is cooked through and nicely browned.  Stir in the soy, cook one minute.

Remove from heat.

Stir the cabbage to redistribute the yummy juices.  Place a scoop of cabbage on each plate, top with a scoop of the pork mixture.

Drizzle with extra soy sauce or hoisin if desired.

Cabbage Gratin

 I must admit I never think of cabbage when I think of veggies to cook for meals.  Cabbage?  I think coleslaw.  I think cabbage rolls (shudder).  I think - well, that's about it.

But I've seen lots of recipes lately - in my paleo searches, and on Pinterest - for grilled cabbage, cabbage "noodles", serving chopped cabbage instead of rice with stir fries and curries, and it made me think I should be more adventurous. 

I tried a cabbage gratin from the book Canadian Living's Vegetarian Collection.  I reviewed this book a few years ago, and it's a good book, so I was confidant this was a good starting point in my cabbage explorations.

I made a couple of changes - the savoy cabbage at the Superstore looked nasty and old, so I bought a napa cabbage instead.  I used a cup of light cream and a half cup of milk, but next time I think I would go with only a cup of liquid.  I also used panko bread crumbs instead of fresh, olive oil instead of butter, and parmesan instead of gruyere for the topping. 

The adults loved this, the kid tolerated it.  Cabbage is moving up the charts in our house.

Recipe: Savoy Cabbage Gratin