Simple Stuffed Cabbage With Ground BISON.

My husband really loves this stuffed cabbage, it reminds him of his grandmother's cooking. I wish I knew how she made it, I never really had any chance to find the recipe. I suppose I can ask my mother in law, to see if she has the recipe. But for now, I think my husband is pretty happy with mine. 

The recipe is really simple, you can use any type of meat you like. For some reason, I prefer Bison then the regular ground beef. You can grind your own too, I was way too lazy ...

For Stuffed Cabbage:

10 large cabbage leaves, blanched quickly on a boiling water just enough to soften the leaves

16 ounces ground bison

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

⅓ cup finely chopped carrots

⅓ cupfinely chopped celery

2 tbs finely chopped parsley

1 tbs  smoked paprika

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Simple Tomato Sauce:

2 - 14 ounces canned diced fire roasted tomatoes

½ cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for sauteing the onion, about 1 - 2 tablespoon

First make the simple tomato sauce:

• Put a large shallow pan or braisser over medium heat, add 1 - 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the chopped onion and saute until the onion is soft, add garlic, and saute until fragrant. Empty the canned tomatoes into the pan, add smoked paprika, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil. Turn the heat to low while you are making the stuffed cabbage.

To make the stuffed cabbage:

• Put all ingredients (except the cabbage leaves) into a large bowl, mix all ingredients gently with your hand. 
• Lay one cabbage on a board, add the filling, roll the leave up firmly, then fold over the end (like making a spring roll). Place the stuffed cabbage directly into the tomato sauce pan.  Repeat with the rest of the cabbage leaves. Turn the heat back into medium, cook until the sauce begin to bubble. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, continue to cook for another 30 to 40 minutes, and the sauce is reduce and thicken a little. Adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with nice crusty bread.

Update on Saturday, April 25 :

I have no idea that many of you never eaten or even heard of BISON. Bison is actually the scientific name for American buffalo. Bison  has significantly less fat, and has lower cholesterol then beef, pork and chicken. The meat is tastier and sweeter too!

Buffalo meat is not stranger to me, it was pretty common in Bali since the Balinese is forbidden to eat cow as they are consider sacred, so they eat water buffalo as a substitute. Back then I though it was the same thing between a water buffalo and a cow...

Grilled Red Snapper With Parsley and Paprika Sauce

Here is another recipe that I like to prepare during the week. Almost all grocery store I know will carry Red Snapper fillet, with or without the skin on. If you can't find them at your grocery store, fillet your own, check  here (it's so cool) how to fillet your own fish.  I had 3 medium size fillets weigh  more or less about one pound.

The grilled tomato is delicious, versatile to serve with any kind of main dish. To make this grill tomato, simply cut the tomato in half, brush with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Grill until a little bit soft and until you get that beautiful mark.

I also like to make a lot of this parsley sauce, I put them in a jar, then store in the refrigerator up to two weeks. I use it for everything from fried rice, stir fry, even to spice up my soup. it is delicious and can be quite handy, especially if you don't feel like spending too much time in the kitchen. 

Please note that, there is no exact measurement for this ingredients, it's all depend on your taste, if you like it more spicy, add more paprika and chipotle pepper. If you like, you add more parsley as well. So, use this ingredients as a guideline and apply them according to your taste.

The recipe:

2 - 3 (about 1 pound) Red snapper fillet, pat dry with paper towel

1 to 2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs lemon juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Sauce: 

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

1 tbs paprika

2 tsp smoked chipotle pepper flakes

¼ cup olive oil (or butter, if you are not too concern about your heart)

1 tsp fish sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Grilled tomatoes, for serving

To make the fish:

• In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice , salt and pepper. Mix well. Rub the fish with it and let sit for 5 minutes. 
• Grill the fish for about 2 minutes on each size (depending on the size of your fillet, cooking time may vary). Transfer to a platter. Drizzle the sauce on top, serve with Iranian Rice or couscous, and simple grilled tomatoes.

To make the sauce: 

• Heat the olive oil in small skillet over medium low, add the parsley and cook for a few second before adding the rest of ingredients. Cook for another 10 to 20 seconds, turn off the heat. The sauce is now ready to use.
  

Braised Cornish Hen with Coriander, Kirmizi Biber and Preserved Lemon

This is my entry for PASSOVER ROUND-UP 2009 which will be hosted by Lori Lynn of Taste with The Eyes. Thank you for inviting me Lori! I will certainly prepare it better for next year. 

I still have  a jar of my preserved lemon in the refrigerator. I thought I'd make something with it. The Kirmizi Biber will add a little bit of spiciness to the dish, though I like it more spicy, I  only put 2 teaspoon in the recipe. You can completely omit the chili, but I think it will taste a little bland (that's my opinion, though) 

Ingredients:

2 cornish hens, rinse under cold running water, pat dry, quartered

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbs coriander seeds, roughly ground

2 tsp Kirmizi Biber, or Cayenne pepper (I put 2 tablespoons)

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tbs tomato paste

1 canned (14 oz) whole fire roasted tomato, chopped

2 preserved lemon, rinse under cold running water to remove the saltiness, discard the pulp - roughly chopped

1 stick cinnamon

1 to 1½ cup water

2 tbs finely chopped parsley

2 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

• Heat the oil in a braiser over medium heat, add chopped onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Add garlic, coriander seeds, kirmizi biber, and oregano. Saute for another minute. 

• Add tomato paste, canned tomatoes, water and cinnamon, stir. Add the cornish hen pieces, bring to a boil. When it is boiling, reduce the heat to low. Now add the preserved lemon. Cover the pan with its lid. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. 

• Open the lid, add 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, and taste to see if need more salt (the preserved lemon is usually very salty, so make sure to taste the sauce before adding salt). Cook the cornish hens for  another 10 minutes without the lid, so that the sauce thicken a little and the cornish hens is cook completely. 

• Transfer the cornish hens including the sauce into a serving plate, sprinkle the remaining parsley over it. I served this with glazed carrots with honey and orange blossom water, steam Brussel sprouts, and Persian rice.             

South Western Potato

I was so happy when I found this recipe from Jaime, I have been looking for an idea of what to submit for my monthly entry to Phd event. I don't even have to think twice of making this recipe. The title it self has won me over. Taste wise, it was absolutely delicious and worth making it. It was pretty easy, straight forward and honest down to earth food. I love it, and I'll be making this fairly often.  Thank you so much for posting the recipe Jaime!    

This recipe goes to the monthly PHd, created by Cathy and Krysta. Care to join? Have any potato dish that you would like to share with us? Please visit this site to find the information. It's totaly easy!

April's Potato Ho Down roundup will be hosted by Donalyn from Dlynz on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. If you would like to join, please send your entries to Donalyn at dlynk@htva.net by Monday, April 13, 2009. Make sure you receive an email back stating she received your entry.

I didn't have any bacon and bbq sauce in hand, so I substituted them with mustard, then sprinkled smoked chipotle pepper for the smokiness. Next time, I'll definitely make it with bbq sauce and bacon.   

RATATOUILLE, A Recipe From A Friend.

Every house hold has their own recipe for ratatouille, so does a friend of mine. Her recipe is very unique, because she fry vegetables separately. She told me that this will give the smoky flavor that you would not get from the the traditional ratatouille. She also adding tomato paste instead of fresh tomato or canned tomato, so the flavor is really concentrated. The long simmer on a low heat will reduce the liquid a little and make the ratatouille silkier. I honestly like to make ratatouille this way, yes it takes longer time to fry the vegetables one by one but, it is worth all the effort.

4 small Italian Eggplant, quartered and cut into 1" thick cube
2 Red/Yellow bell peppers cubed
2 zucchinis, sliced

1 small white onion, cut into half then cut into ¼" thick slice
2-3 garlic cloves whole peeled
1 can (16 oz) chicken stock
2 tbs Tomato paste
olive oil
¼ cup roughly chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

• Fry the eggplant, bell pepper, zucchinis, white onion and garlic in a little oil separately. So that the eggplant gets some color, the peppers and zucchinis get some chars, onions start sweating and the garlic is brown and soft and start to release the fragrance.
• Layer them into a cooking pot, add the chicken stock, and tomato paste. Simmer on low for 45 mins. Stir once or twice. Add chopped parsley, taste and add salt and pepper if desire (sometime the chicken stock is already salty enough)

I serve the ratatouille with simple grilled salmon and steam couscous. Special thanks for "CB" who kindly enough e-mail me the recipe years ago.