Tag: gluten free

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Red Cabbage (Oktoberfest)

Ingredients:

Tasty red cabbage made on September 22, 2012.

2 1/2 oz. bacon, either American or German “Bauchspeck”, chopped
1/2 c. onion, diced
4 c. shredded red cabbage, about 1 lb.
1/2 c. dry, red wine
1/2 c. apple juice
1 T. honey
1 bay leaf
4 cloves
Ground black pepper
1 apple, peeled and quartered

Preparation:
Brown bacon in a dutch oven (to make a vegetarian option, use tbsp of olive oil instaed of bacon). Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour in red wine and juice to deglaze, add the spices, sugar and apple.

Simmer on stove top for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Keep the liquids one finger width (1/2 inch) deep, adding apple juice or water. Adjust seasonings. Serve hot.

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Orange and Rosemary Game Hens

Final dish of the orange rosemary game hen (cut in half), field mushrooms with hazelnuts, and port wine poached pears. Created September 16, 2012.

A very simple dish to make.  We created enough for 4-8 depending on the size of the rest of the meal and the appetites of your guests.

Ingredients:
4 game hens
2 cups of orange juice
1 tsp garam masala (can be found in most ethnic food sections)
4 oranges
1 large leeks, diced (a very mild onion flavored vegetable)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Black pepper (to taste)

Marinate the hens in 2 cups of orange juice for at least 4 hours.  While marinating, remove the zest and juice from the oranges.  In a large pot or Dutch oven, place the hens with a trivet at the bottom to prevent sticking.

Add the majority of the zest (reserve 2 TB of orange zest) and fresh juice along with 1 cup of water.  Tear the rosemary in half and add to the mixture.

Cook until the hens reach 160 degrees.  Pull off the heat and let set for 5 minutes before serving, sprinkling the 2 TB zest and garam masala to the dish and serve family style along with some rustic bread and red wine.

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Port Poached Pears

Poached Pears at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival – September 15, 2012

This past weekend was Wine, Romance, and Chocolate weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  We created quite a few recipes and this is one of many. 

The Port Poached Pears continue to be one of my favorite recipes, and yet it is fairly easy to make:

Ingredients:
4-6 Pears, peeled (recommend Bosc or Anjou)
1 1/2 cups of red wine (recommend Merlot or Port)
3/4 cups of granulated sugar
2 tbsp of lemon juice (can also add lemon zest if desired)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp of ground cinnamon or 3 sticks of whole cinnamon
1/2 tsp of whole cloves
1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients, except pears, and bring to a boil. Once the wine mixture is boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and add the pears. Simmer pears for 10-12 minutes and then turn pears and simmer for an additional 8-10 minutes – until they are tender. Remove pears and let them cool. Boil wine sauce until the liquid has been reduced by half. Pour sauce over pears and serve.

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Traditional Food Preservation Techniques With A Modern Twist – Part II

Part II: Flavored Salts and Sugars, Oils, and Extracts
In the previous issue of Renaissance Magazine, I wrote about how a well-stocked pantry or larder was essential to any kitchen.  It doesn’t matter the size of the kitchen, but food preserving helped keep food longer.  In this issue, I will focus on flavor enhancements including flavored sugars, salts, oils and vinegars as well as making your own extracts.  Although some of the enhancements were not widely used until well after the Renaissance period, they can complement any dish from any time period.  In addition, they make lovely gifts to your loved ones.

Flavored Salts and Sugars
Many of us are familiar with cinnamon sugar that topped our toast.  This is a similar process, but instead of blending powdered spices with sugars and salts, an older method is to let the sugar or salts absorb a lot of the essential oils from the fresh herbs and spices.

This is a fairly easy process.  You will need a ceramic dish such as ramekins.  Place a layer of salt or sugar at the bottom of the dish.   Sweet things should be applied to the sugar (nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, clove, citrus zest, or cinnamon) and savory things would be applied to the salt (garlic, rosemary, chilies, etc.)  Place the chosen flavor on top of the bottom layer of salt or sugar and begin layering.

Once the layering is finished, place the dish in a low heat area so the flavor infuses with the salt or sugar.  Salt requires a higher heat (200 degrees) for an hour and sugar requires a lower heat (100 – 150 degrees) for two hours.  The flavoring would need to be stirred occasionally within the sugar or salt to ensure thorough blending.  Place in an airtight container and serve as needed; it is important that the flavored sugars and salts are not cooled, as it will halt the flavor from disbursing evenly.

Extracts
Like the sugars, extracts are easy to make.  Finding a sweet spice (nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, clove, citrus zest, or cinnamon) and placing it into a clean bottle that can be sealed.  The ingredients will need to be either cracked (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, or ginger) or sliced thinly (vanilla and citrus zest.  Add a strong flavorless liquor such as Everclear or Vodka and seal shut in a dark place.  The longer the combined ingredients sit sealed with occasional shaking, the stronger the extract will become. Through this process, I have made vanilla, ginger, and various citrus extracts.

Flavored Oils & Vinegars
Flavored vinegars and oils require heating the liquid before adding the herbs or spices.  By using savory herbs such as rosemary, basil, thyme, or peppers, one can create a wonderful addition to their kitchen. To begin, slowly heat the vinegar or oil.  While it heats up, chop the herbs into large pieces and add them to the mixture.  It is important that you do not let the pot boil.  By simmering it and bottling it in small amounts, it prevents waste.  The flavored oils should be chilled as they spoil very quickly and should be used within 2 – 3 weeks.  The acids in the vinegars will keep longer than the oils and can be kept for months.  The flavored vinegars make a nice addition to olive oil for dressings and marinades.

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Bubble and Squeak – A New Recipe

This past weekend we demonstrated a couple of recipes including pasties, lemon bread pudding, and bubble and squeak.  I’ve posted the pasty and lemon bread pudding recipes before and if you click on the names, you can visit those recipes. 

Bubble and Squeak on the other hand was new.  Traditionally, the vegetables are usually sautéed in bacon fat and mashed potatoes were added later, but we decided to create small patties as it would be easier to cook and eat.  This was a typical meal in England for Sunday and Monday lunches as it would use a lot of the leftovers.  Below is our recipe for Bubble and Squeak.  I am also supplying a slight deviation from the traditional recipe by using olive oil instead of bacon fat for my vegetarian/healthy option fans.

Ingredients:
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, cut thinly along the bias
2 leaves of kale, diced
6-8 brussel sprouts, diced
Bacon fat (olive oil may be used for a vegetarian or healthier option)
Crumbled bacon (optional)
Olive oil or butter

Directions:
Begin to thinly cut up the vegetables and combine into a single bowl.  If the vegetables are cut too large, they will not be cooked thoroughly; it is recommended that they are cut rather small.  Add the mashed potatoes and stir until well blended.  If you notice the potatoes are a bit on the dry side, add some butter or olive oil.  The potatoes should be moist, but not wet.  Begin to form the mixture into patties (slightly larger than a ¼ lb. in size). 

Take your bacon fat or olive oil and add to a hot skillet or frying pan.  Once hot enough add the patties and begin to brown.  The goal is to cook and brown the patties.  Once golden brown on one side, flip and brown the other side.  Once completed, remove them and they are ready to be served.   They are best served hot, but they are still tasty when served at room temperature.