Getting brave with Brassicas

I have mentioned that I have a love-hate relationship with brassicas, but I think that, at last, I’m growing up.  I’ve had to because we grow them – a lot – and I’ve had to think of creative ways of dishing them up.  In the last three or so months, we’ve had more broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage than we’ve known what to do with.  So, I’ve learned to be a bit more adventurous….sometimes….

Cabbage

Red Cabbage - cutI avoid white cabbage – like the plague.  White cabbage, presented as a seasonal vegetable in any establishment, will guarantee my never returning.  Red cabbage is beautiful – inside and out, and in addition to doing it in a slaw (usually with a French dressing), I also cook it.  My mother used to make “Apple Cabbage” – a family favourite.  So do I, but with a twist.  She would sauté chopped onion, and then add the shredded cabbage and a chopped apple (no water other than that on the cabbage, if you’ve had to rinse it).  I do all of this and add a good glug of apple cider vinegar.  In addition to enhancing the flavours, the vinegar stops the red cabbage from going blue.  Instead, it remains a gorgeous purple.

Cabbage cooked this way is a wonderful accompaniment to a roast and/or any meal, particularly pork or beef; it’s a wonderful blast of colour in any meal.  Also, and useful to know when one is cooking for only two, like I often do, prepared this way, the cabbage freezes well, with no deterioration in the flavour, so one can cook an entire cabbage, portion it and store to use at another time.

For some of our friends, I’m delighted to say, this is a very popular part of my repertoire!

cauliflower2Cauliflower

Like cabbage, overcooked cauliflower is good for neither man nor beast and brings back not-so-great memories of institutional food.  It’s a smell that’s hard to get out of one’s head.  Anyway, having happily discovered roasted cauliflower, I was game to experiment, myself.

A few weeks ago, we had a surfeit of cauliflowers that were beginning to look like many-tentacled creatures from outer space rather than the beautiful white crowns that we are used to.  That meant that whole roasted cauliflower was out of the question.

Cauli_before_after_roast2014Not to be thwarted, I decided to break up the cauli into florets and to roast them with a bit of olive oil, garlic and chopped bacon.  Once roasted, I sprinkled this with grated Parmesan and, wow, was it delicious!

Broccolini_cheatCheat’s Broccolini

Like the cauliflower, the broccoli was also beginning to bolt, thanks to an unseasonal but welcome warm spell.  That meant broccoli soup and/or broccoli and blue were out of the question.  Blanched broccoli in a salad is delicious, so I came up with this very simple broccoli(ni) salad:

I tidied up, blanched and refreshed the stalks, and laid them out on a platter.  Over that I sprinkled a crushed clove of garlic, the  juice of a lemon, salt and pepper and, of course, olive oil.  Difficult, hey?

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Turn a simple breakfast into a stunning one

I’m not a morning person. This is mostly why, over the years, Tom does the breakfast. There are, however, times when I get in on the act. Usually it’s because I have a bee in my bonnet about something – and it’s over a weekend or a holiday, so I’m a bit more capable of engaging my brain………

So, here are two breakfasts. One is very simple and the other involves some standard and not-so-standard breakfast ingredients that are used in combination.  I’m sure you have made all of these things before – what makes these breakfasts stunning are the combinations and the presentation.

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This a continental type breakfast, consisting of fresh gooseberries from the garden, Greek yoghurt and honey, followed by toast accompanied by great coffee.  It was a public holiday Friday and I didn’t want our boring week day breakfast.  There was also a rugby match to be watched; we needed a table in front of the couch.  We have a butler’s tray which can sometimes be a little awkward, because of the depth of the edges.  So I turned it over and put a pretty cloth over it:  a practical little breakfast table.

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For the breakfast you can, of course, just plonk the yoghurt and gooseberries into bowls.  Or you can celebrate the time out doing something different and layering gooseberries and yoghurt in beautiful glasses.  Put a drizzle of honey over the top layer and if you like, add a sprinkle of cinnamon…

How difficult is that, and how appetising does this look?

As an aside:  The crystal glasses were a silver wedding anniversary gift to my parents, in 1986.    Oh, and the plates – the original ones – I bought from the OK in Yeoville, the same year……

Breakfast stacks

The second breakfast was cobbled together the morning after we had returned from a short trip and hadn’t had time to shop.  I ferreted in the fridge and wandered round the garden and discovered eggs, bacon, spinach and tomatoes, as well as fresh chives and parsley.2013-11-17 10.20.04

On our trip, I had found the most beautiful, brightly coloured, grass table mats and wanted to use them – instantly.

Having been away from home and stayed in a hotel and bed and breakfasts, I was itching to get back into the kitchen.

After a week of hotel breakfasts, I wanted something different.  I made a thick, rich tomato sauce starting with onion sauted in the fat from the crisply fried bacon which had been set aside to drain.  Once the bacon and sauce had been sorted, a batch of creamy scrambled eggs followed and then I wilted a small bunch of young spinach leaves.

While all that was going on, plates were happily warming and waiting to have the breakfast bits piled on them.  First the wilted spinach and then a dollop of the tomato mix, followed by the scrambled egg and, finally, the crispy bacon.  Before garnishing with a sprig of parsley and a fresh chive flower, I chopped some chives and sprinkled these over everything, making sure that some scattered on the plate, itself.  And there you have it:  a Breakfast Stack.

2013-11-17 09.58.34Of course, there are other wonderful things that you can use in a breakfast or brunch stack – black mushrooms, crostini, cheese, grilled tomatoes, or whatever rocks your socks, and which is “stackable”.

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….and not just for breakfast….

Of course, the Gooseberry Glasses also make a fresh, healthy and delicious dessert; presented this way, they will impress.  The Breakfast Stack could equally be a stack of lunch or supper!

Taking simple breakfast fare and using crystal glasses, or arranging the elements differently, turned ordinary breakfasts into stunning ones.