Cabbage Dom

Today I thought it would be a good idea to go through my rather tatty recipe card collection. This collection dates from the 1970s and is written on catalogue cards, some of which came from the Victorian Railways technical library. So for example on the verso of French Bean Stew we have the entry for the title 'Recommended practice for the prevention of electric sparks that may cause fires in tanks or tank cars containing flammable liquids or flammable compressed gases, due to proximity of wire lines. Rev. ed., 1975. (Association of American Railroads Bureau of Explosives Circular no. 17-E)'.

Recipe cards

The idea is to transfer the recipes to the Paprika app, or to discard them if I think I will never make them again (if I ever did). But I am finding it difficult to be ruthless with this little piece of history, so it looks as though the collection will remain unweeded for another day.

However the Cabbage Dom recipe is one that I still make frequently so I will add it to Paprika, even though I may keep the original cards for old time's sake. This recipe has quite a long list of ingredients (luckily I chose a blank card and not one with a railway engineering title on the verso). Its origin is unknown but it has been a great favourite since a friend passed it on all those years ago.

Cabbage Dom

Ingredients

1 lb cabbage
1/2 lb potatoes
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cummin powder
1 tsp sugar
few bay leaves
2 tsp ginger juice
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp turmeric
few cinnamon, cardamon
1/2 tsp cumminseed
1/2 cup curd
2 tsp flour
2 tsp butteroil
salt to taste
fresh chilies

Method

Cut cabbage in big pieces and potatoes into small. Wash and drain.

Heat oil and fry potatoes until slightly brown. Remove from oil. To same oil, add cumminseeds, cinnamon, cardamon, chili, cumin powder, turmeric, sugar, ginger juice, bay leaves. Add 1/2 cup water and fry until mixture is dry. Add cabbage and fry for a while then add curd, salt and potatoes and stir well, adding a little water if necessary, and cover pan.

When cooked and liquid gone, add garam masala, fresh chilies, a little flour and a little butteroil. Stir well and remove from heat.

Note

I usually use curry leaves instead of bay leaves. I assume that curd is yogurt, and find that mixing the flour (or arrowroot) into the yogurt before adding it to the pan is a great way to stop it from curdling. I assume that butteroil is ghee, but don't necessarily add it. How many fresh chilies? Up to you!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Belgium biscuits

Today's treat at printing was Belgium (or Belgian) biscuits. The print master has been trying his hand at baking and the latest offering proved a resounding success.

His version consisted of spicy biscuits sandwiched together with jam (a New Zealand brand, naturally) and topped with a blob of icing and a choc bit. The kiwi expat amongst us knew immediately what they were, but they were a new experience to the rest of us.

The recipe comes from the Edmonds Cookery Book, which apparently has the same status in New Zealand as the PWMU or the Green and Gold cookery books have in Victoria and South Australia. Our Belgian biscuits came with an apology for the substitution of choc bits for the cherries specified in the original recipe, so I was amused to read in this blog entry from Pat Churchill (which includes the recipe) that she had never seen them made with cherries. In her experience red jelly crystals were the popular choice of the discerning housewife.

It seems to me that the Belgium biscuits baked for the Ancora Press, with their restrained blobs of white icing and discreet chocolate decoration, are decidely more elegant than the garish pink and red creations suggested by the venerable Edmonds.

 

The Vegetarian Inn

Does anyone remember the Vegetarian Inn in Glenferrie Road Malvern in the 1970s?

Tonight I turned to one of my all time favourite soup recipes, Tomato soup with Tamari, and the memories came flooding back.

The restaurant was run by a French family who cooked a set menu of vegetarian macrobiotic food. The first course was soup with home made flat bread. The main course was a platter of mixed delights, a combination of grainy things, salady things and veggie things. I don't remember if there were sweets. While waiting (often quite a while) for the meal to be served, we listened to Alan Stivell on the stereo and enjoyed a glass or three of wine and beer and the company of good friends.

One night the soup was so delicious that I ventured to ask for the recipe, which was generously given. This is a beautiful soup with a lovely fresh taste, best served of course in a 1970s style pottery bowl. In fond memory of the Vegetarian Inn, here is the recipe.

Tomato soup with Tamari
1 lb tomatoes
1 onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium potato
2 cloves garlic
Mint, parsley
Tamari
1 1/2 pints water

Saute chopped onion, mint, zucchini, potato and minced garlic in oil. Add chopped tomatoes and water, simmer one hour.
Put through mouli, add Tamari, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley.

Here is a picture of the soup in preparation.

Tapenade

This evening I decided to use up a backlog of olives by making tapenade. I searched around for vegetarian versions and found that capers seemed to be the generally agreed substitute for anchovies.

Scorning such niceties as exact quantities of ingredients, I squashed my olives with a big knife to remove the stones, chopped them roughly and chucked them into the mortar with a squashed clove of garlic and a spoonful of drained capers.

The olives were a mixture of kalamatas marinated in olive oil with lemon and chili from the wonderful Boroondara Farmers Market. Some miscellaneous green and stuffed olives had been languishing for a few days in the same marinade.

Adding a little more of the marinade and some lemon juice, I worked the mix with the pestle until it was broken down but still a bit chunky. Then I added some chopped rosemary and a few pine nuts and ground it up a bit more. Finally some coarsely ground pepper and a bit more lemon juice, and it was ready to scoop into a bowl and serve with some olive bread croutons (made from olive bread thinly sliced and dried out in the oven).

Not exactly a recipe which would pass the MasterChef test of being able to be reproduced exactly by any competent cook carefully following the instructions, but it worked for me.

The pleasure of the table

Tonight I decided to make a dish based on a recipe from one of my favourite Australian cookbooks, The pleasure of the table: the cooking artistry of Wivine de Stoop. This book was published in 1981 and tells the story of a wonderful Belgian lady who gave classical French cooking classes at her home in Blackburn during the 1960s. The book includes photographs of Wivine's lovely home, complete with Aga stove. It also has delightful sketches by Donald Green and a foreword by Penny Smith.

The book is still sometimes to be found in op shops and second hand shops and I encourage you to buy it if you see it.

The recipe I adapted is 'Gratin Maison' which in the original includes hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and broccoli baked with a mornay sauce. The eggs are stuffed with a herby breadcrumb mixture. It's a lovely simple, comforting dish and I recommend it to you.

Blackeye beans

I have been asked for some really good blackeye bean recipes, but not spicy ones. This is a bit hard as I usually make them spicy! But here goes.

Blackeye bean salad
This recipe is from Vegetarian dishes from the Middle East by Arto der Haroutunian, Century, 1983.
6 oz (180g) blackeye beans, cooked
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon (and some lemon wedges)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 Tbs finely chopped parsley
1 tsp finely ground cumin
75 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
Crush garlic and salt together and stir in lemon juice. Put drained beans in a bowl with onion and parsley. Add garlic-lemon mixture and cumin, and mix thoroughly. Pour oil over the top and garnish with paprika. Serve hot or cold, with lemon wedges.

Blackeye beans cooked in beer
I haven't actually tried this one, mainly because I never have any spare beer. But it sounds interesting. One of my other reliable sources of blackeye bean recipes, Gail Duff, also has blackeye bean recipes featuring turnips and cinnamon. Apparently this 'hearty stew has a lovely dark, rich gravy which enhances the flavour of the beans'. Maybe I should find some spare draught beer! The recipe is from Bean cuisine by Janet Horley, Prism Press, 1982.
8 oz (1 cup) blackeye beans
1 pint (2 1/2 cups) water
Cook beans until just tender. Drain and reserve the stock.
12 oz (3 cups) white turnip, chopped
8 oz (3 cups) mushrooms
1 large onion
1/4 pint (1/2 cup) draught beer
1/4 pint (1/2 cup) bean stock
4 Tbs wholemeal flour (or less?)
2 Tbs chopped parsley
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Slice the vegetables and saute lightly in oil. Stir in the flour and gradually blend in the bean stock. Combine all the remaining ingredients and adjust the seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes before placing in a covered casserole. Bake for 1 hour. (or less?)

Finally, here is one from Gail Duff (Gail Duff's Vegetarian Cookbook, Pan Books, 1979).
Black-eyed beans with cinnamon and tomatoes
8 oz (225 g) black-eyed beans
1 pint (575 ml) water
12 oz (350 g) firm tomatoes
4 Tbs (60 ml) olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 pint (275 ml) stock
2 tsp tomato paste
Simmer beans for 30 minutes or until barely tender. Drain if necessary. Scald, skin and seed the tomatoes and cut them into strips. Heat the oil in a saucepan on a low heat. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft. Stir in the beans and cinnamon, cover and cook gently for a couple of minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Mix in the tomato paste, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or so to allow the beans to pick up the flavour. Mix in the tomatoes just before serving.

I hope you enjoy these recipes.