Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage with a twist and a kick!

Everyone I know has had a recipe for sweet and sour red cabbage, ideal side dish for pork roast, pork chops, chicken thighs, sausages and any other dish you can pair it with, me, I like to eat it by itself, it's so good!

So here is my recipe for this wonderful dish that can be eaten hot, or room temperature, and enjoyed anytime of the year!

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

4 slices of bacon, cut into lardons
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium sized head of red cabbage,cored,sliced thin (1/4 inch)with v-slicer/mandolin,
(second slicing notch on v- slicer) or slicing blade on food processor
2 large white onions, sliced as thinly as the cabbage, use the same slicing method as above
2 large Granny Smith Apples, unpeeled, cored and sliced thinly
2 large Mutzu Apples, unpeeled, cored, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cracked black pepper
2 allspice berries, whole
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon nutmeg grated
1/2 cinnamon stick-2 inch piece
Pinch red pepper flakes- optional
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups water

Prepare all ingredients as stated, when you make everything ready it's easier. In a large stock pot, over medium high heat, cook lardons of bacon until slightly crispy, remove the bacon bits, drain on paper towels, reserve. To the bacon drippings, add the butter, stir until melted,lower heat to medium, then add 1/2 the sliced cabbage, 1/2 the onions, stir until coated with the butter/bacon drippings, then add the other 1/2 of the cabbage and onions, stir until all is coated with the butter bacon mixture, add the apples, stir and cook down a bit, then add the salt, pepper, allspice berries, whole cloves,bay leaf, grated nutmeg, red pepper flakes, if using, stir everything together until well mixed. Mix up the water, brown sugar,vinegar, then add to red cabbage mixture, add the cinnamon stick, bring all to the boil, stir to coat everything, then lower heat, cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stir thoroughly from time to time to be sure all cabbage gets cooked, leave lid off for the last 20 minutes to let the liquid evaporate, remove allspice berries, cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaf; if the sauce is too thin to your taste, remove cabbage mixture, leaving the liquid then bring to a boil, thicken with a combination of 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch/water slurry, stir until thick, return the cabbage onion apple mixture, coat with the thickened sauce,serve, sprinkled with the reserved bacon, enjoy it hot or at room temperature. This can also be cooked in a slow cooker, just cook the bacon in the regular way, then proceed to layer cabbage with the other ingredients, reduce the water to 1-1/2 cups.

Almond Cake

Almond cake, a recipe I posted several days ago, can be flavoured however you like, just change the extract flavour and leave top plain or with whatever topping you prefer, I recently made this cake with vanilla extract with coarse salt very lightly sprinkled on top, giving it a faint sweet and salty flavour

This is the original Almond Cake pictured above

Whenever you make this cake, plan ahead, use in season fruit, or lemon, or vanilla. The texture is light and fluffy and will take any number of toppings or go with fruit and whipped cream. A nice caramel sauce would also go well, served under the cake, then with fruit or as a drizzle on top.

Easy Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream, half and half, or evaporated milk(not light,and not 2% Evaporated milk)

Place all ingredients into large sauce pan, heat on medium stirring until sugar and butter dissolve, bring to boil, boil for 2 minutes, stirring all the time, so the mixture doesn't burn on the bottom, the sauce is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Let it cool slightly, put into mason jar, refridgerate remainder, lasts two weeks, if you can keep it that long, it's just too delicious

Rhododendron Nova Zembla

This wonderful Rododendron jumped into my cart last time I was at the garden centre, selling for half price, it will be a wonderful addition to my garden, just have to pick the right place to put it. This shrub will grow to 5 feet by 5 feet and needs at least 60 % sun.

This is a close up of the flower, it is really vibrant!

This is the large rhodo that I currently have and I have a small mauve one in a garden opposite this one, that is about 3-1/2 feet high, and is likely to stay relatively small.

Stuffed Mushrooms

i know it seems I jump around a lot with the recipes, but this recipes was my girls favourite, and since it will be their birthday soon, I want to relay the recipe, so they have it in their inbox. Use 1 large portabello mushroom cap per person if it is an appetizer, or if using white or brown domestic mushrooms, use 2-3 per person. This recipe is for 12 white/ brown large cap mushrooms. Oven 350 degrees F, prep time 30 minutes, cook time 20 minutes approx.

Stuffed Mushrooms

12 large white mushroom caps 1 inch or more in diameter
Stems and scraping from inside these mushrooms, chopped finely
1/2 pound smoked bacon, cut into small lardons
Reserve the bacon drippings
3 tablespoons butter
3-4 green onions, white part chopped, green part reserved
1- large clove garlic, minced
2 stems fresh thyme, leaves picked off stems
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tableoons butter, melted
1 cup fine breadcrumbs

Wash and dry each mushroom, snap off the stems, being careful not to break the mushroom cap, with a small sharp teaspoon, (grapefruit spoon works here) scrape each mushroom cap free from the brown gills and making the mushroom cap a little deeper in order to fill it with lots of stuffing. This should be done for any type of mushroom that you are using. Place the mushrooms cap side down, (underside up) on a baking sheet, salt the inside of each mushroom cap.
In a medium sauté pan, cook lardons of bacon til almost crisp, remove from pan, drain on paper towels, leave the bacon drippings in the pan and add 3 tablespoons butter, add the chopped mushroom stems and scrapings from the mushroom caps, let the butter and bacon drippings coat the chopped mushroom pieces stir until it starts to brown, and looses its moisture, add the chopped white part of the green onion, the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste, cook and stir until the onion is just soft, but not brown. Remove from heat, add back the bacon lardons, the cream cheese, stir well, taste for salt and pepper. Let the mixture cool slightly, then fill each Mushroom cap generously. Sprinkle each mushroom with the shredded Gruyere. Mix the melted butter and the breadcrumbs together, sprinkle mixture over each filled mushroom, bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, until hot and bubbly, garnish with reserved chopped green onion tops. Serve as an appetizer or side dish with bbq steak and baked potatoes.

Almond Cake

This is one of the easiest and tastiest cakes you can make. Serve with fresh fruit any kind, and whipped cream or caramel sauce. Enjoy!

Almond Cake

10 inch fluted pie pan, well buttered
Oven 350 degrees F 30-40 minutes
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup creme fraishe ( easy to make: combine 1 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons buttermilk,let stand for 8 hrs, or it thickens)
1-1/2 cup white sugar plus 1 tablespoon reserved
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Combine melted butter, and sugar, beat well, add eggs, beat well after each addition, then add creme fraishe, whip with mixer until fluffy, then add salt, and flour, stir to combine, then add almond extract, stir gently. Pour mixture into prepared pie pan, sprinkle top with almonds,and reserved sugar, bake for 30-40 minutes in a 350 degree F oven.

Easy Spinach Pasta

I found a great recipe for creamy spinach pasta, and made it great with a few tweaks of my own, this is so easy it takes about 15-20 minutes from start to finish.

Spinach Cream Sauce

1-250 gram pkg cream cheese
1 cup half and half, (you can substitute evaporated, or creamy soy milk if you don't want to use cream)
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped dried tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
Fresh ground pepper

Put all ingredients into food processor, process until the cheese is smooth.

1-400 gram bag of baby spinach, washed and dried
1-500 gram bag of your favourite pasta

Cook pasta to your taste in a large pot, drain most of water,(leaving about 1/4 cup) return all to pot, add the spinach stir, put the lid on, the steam from the pasta and remaining water should wilt the spinach, after 4-5 minutes add some of the sauce from the processor bowl, stir, put the lid on pot, wait another 4-5 minutes stir, by now you should be getting that creamy saucy pasta that we all love, if it is still a little watery, put the pot on low heat for a couple of minutes, what should happen if you have cooked the pasta until just done, the drained pasta should still cook a little more and absorb the sauce, making it nice and creamy, (in the same way as KD does). Add a little more grated Romano or Parmesan cheese and another crack or two of black pepper.

Enjoy with chicken, or any other meat. We used leftover meatballs from the meatball with romesco sauce, just the meatballs not the sauce, which I reserved for another dinner sandwich, heat up the meatballs, toss together with the pasta and spinach sauce, it should turn a little pink with the bits of sauce that clung to the meatballs, it is delicious, no added flour, or other thickening agent used. Reserve the remaining creamy sauce in freezer.

Garden in Spring

I have a great garden, periodically I make changes, move things around, usually to make room for new bushes, vines and other perennials. Last fall, I took out my huge hydrangea bushes in the front and planted these great azalea bushes, covered the root ball with soil, mulched with pine needles, well not only did they survive...(what I didn't say is it took me a long time to decide where they were going, so they sat potted in the front of the house for at least 3 weeks), this is the color very vibrant!

This next picture is of the new hellebores or Lenten roses I planted last fall, there were three but only two survived the winter, they are amoung the first to bloom after the tulips but before the star of Bethlehem!

I love to change and rearrange the plants in my various gardens, endlessly satisfying for a few dollars you can add great color to your world!