Cooking and cleaning and baking. Oh My!
As per usual, I was off yesterday and today as I take US Thanksgiving off. I had a great day off yesterday, as it was Magic night, which sort of got turned into meatloaf night because we were unable to obtain critical mass. So, Hammer and Nail along with RJA came over for dinner. RJA only joined because we promised absolutely no Magic would be played.
Of course, I'd also promised cookies for the United Way Cakewalk at work today. Our lovely and effervescent admin and I said we'd put in a tray of cookies again this year. She contributed short bread, orange chocolate chip short bread and Skor cookies, while I offered up White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies and Ginger Sparklers.
So, between dinner and cookies, I had some serious kitchen time to do. I started at around noon and finished at around 6. First came the Kapusta, which is a Ukranian dish consisting of cabbage, onion, bacon and tomato juice. Basically, I made it for me because I love it. I'd hoped others would too.
Kapusta
1/2 head cabbage, chopped into 3/8 inch pieces
1/2 onion, chopped same
1 standard tin tomato juice
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (originally called for 5 slices, but I love bacon)
2 tbsp bacon fat
1-2 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large pot or dutch oven, sautee the onions till tender. Add the cabbage and sautee it too.
2. Add tomato juice and bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour and a half to two hours.
3. While simmering, add the bacon and bacon fat. Not a lot, but just for taste.
4. Towards the end of the simmering, I add some brown sugar to kill some of the acidity of the dish.
Don't let the dish simmer too long, as it will turn to mush and you'll lose the texture of the cabbage. It's a great dish to just sit on the stove and wait for a few hours to be heated up.
While all this was going on, I chopped up the veggies for meatloaf, which basically consisted of me running them through the food processor. The veggies form the basis of the meatloaf sauce which had to be cooled to room temperature. As for the meatloaf, I'm used to the Cajun Meatloaf recipe. It bucks the trend of meatloaves since it isn't made in a bread pan. Instead it's cooked almost like a roast, and by God, I found another use for parchment paper.
With the Kapusta done, and the sauce prepared it was time to move onto the cookies. I did up the ginger sparkler dough first, since it has to cool and then I worked right through the other cookies. When all was said and done, it was approaching 5pm. Time flies when your having fun. =) A quick beer run later, I got potatoes peeled, and the loaf formed and in the oven. It's funny. I have half a dozen cookie recipes memorized, but I still have to look up the recipe for mashed potatoes.
Everytime I had a bit of down time, I was rushing about the apartment picking up and putting things away. Over the course of the day though, I think washed all my dishes twice or three. I can't pick up my laundry, but I'm obsessive compulsive about keeping a clean cooking area. Planning and executing a dinner party, even for 4, requires a fair bit of project management skills. I can see now why Serdmom always does the big family dinners and Serddad does day to day cooking. Everything came together, and was very well timed. Pardon me while I pat myself on the back.
Dinner was well received, and I was not left with a dearth of leftovers. Everybody had seconds, so yay! The next time I make a meatloaf, I'm going to look for lean ground pork and cut back on the salt, as I'd used cajun spice instead of the spice mixture listed in the recipe.
Anyways, the company was wonderful and I had a blast, but the night didn't end there. I had my second date, which really wasn't a date, but whatever. I ended up going over to her place to visit, and... do dishes since she was cleaning for a family visit. At the very least, they were different dishes than the ones I'd seen all day. I even brought cookies.
On the scale of crazy/silly, this is not all that high. Shh Kiy, I see you nodding and laughing. =) Basically, I thought long and hard about the comments in the previous post, and yes you're right. If the interest is there, you'll make time to meet with the person. So, I made time and I'm glad I did.
All in all, one of the best days off I've had in a long time.
Of course, I'd also promised cookies for the United Way Cakewalk at work today. Our lovely and effervescent admin and I said we'd put in a tray of cookies again this year. She contributed short bread, orange chocolate chip short bread and Skor cookies, while I offered up White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies and Ginger Sparklers.
So, between dinner and cookies, I had some serious kitchen time to do. I started at around noon and finished at around 6. First came the Kapusta, which is a Ukranian dish consisting of cabbage, onion, bacon and tomato juice. Basically, I made it for me because I love it. I'd hoped others would too.
Kapusta
1/2 head cabbage, chopped into 3/8 inch pieces
1/2 onion, chopped same
1 standard tin tomato juice
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (originally called for 5 slices, but I love bacon)
2 tbsp bacon fat
1-2 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large pot or dutch oven, sautee the onions till tender. Add the cabbage and sautee it too.
2. Add tomato juice and bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour and a half to two hours.
3. While simmering, add the bacon and bacon fat. Not a lot, but just for taste.
4. Towards the end of the simmering, I add some brown sugar to kill some of the acidity of the dish.
Don't let the dish simmer too long, as it will turn to mush and you'll lose the texture of the cabbage. It's a great dish to just sit on the stove and wait for a few hours to be heated up.
While all this was going on, I chopped up the veggies for meatloaf, which basically consisted of me running them through the food processor. The veggies form the basis of the meatloaf sauce which had to be cooled to room temperature. As for the meatloaf, I'm used to the Cajun Meatloaf recipe. It bucks the trend of meatloaves since it isn't made in a bread pan. Instead it's cooked almost like a roast, and by God, I found another use for parchment paper.
With the Kapusta done, and the sauce prepared it was time to move onto the cookies. I did up the ginger sparkler dough first, since it has to cool and then I worked right through the other cookies. When all was said and done, it was approaching 5pm. Time flies when your having fun. =) A quick beer run later, I got potatoes peeled, and the loaf formed and in the oven. It's funny. I have half a dozen cookie recipes memorized, but I still have to look up the recipe for mashed potatoes.
Everytime I had a bit of down time, I was rushing about the apartment picking up and putting things away. Over the course of the day though, I think washed all my dishes twice or three. I can't pick up my laundry, but I'm obsessive compulsive about keeping a clean cooking area. Planning and executing a dinner party, even for 4, requires a fair bit of project management skills. I can see now why Serdmom always does the big family dinners and Serddad does day to day cooking. Everything came together, and was very well timed. Pardon me while I pat myself on the back.
Dinner was well received, and I was not left with a dearth of leftovers. Everybody had seconds, so yay! The next time I make a meatloaf, I'm going to look for lean ground pork and cut back on the salt, as I'd used cajun spice instead of the spice mixture listed in the recipe.
Anyways, the company was wonderful and I had a blast, but the night didn't end there. I had my second date, which really wasn't a date, but whatever. I ended up going over to her place to visit, and... do dishes since she was cleaning for a family visit. At the very least, they were different dishes than the ones I'd seen all day. I even brought cookies.
On the scale of crazy/silly, this is not all that high. Shh Kiy, I see you nodding and laughing. =) Basically, I thought long and hard about the comments in the previous post, and yes you're right. If the interest is there, you'll make time to meet with the person. So, I made time and I'm glad I did.
All in all, one of the best days off I've had in a long time.
Labels: Recipe - Beef, Recipe - Main, Recipe - Side Dishes
posted by Serdic at 22:00
7 Comments:
Your recipe looks good, I'll have to try it. I love cabbage in almost any form. :)
It works on so many thinks too! Hamburgers, hot dogs, cold by it self. Mmm... that's some good eating.
I wonder how it would be with fresh cornbread!
Everything is better with fresh cornbread. ;)
Even sex??
...and I thought *I* was kinky. :)
There's always someone kinkier than yourself!
I'm willing to make you some cornbread so you can give it a try.
Ahem. Try it with the meatloaf.
Spoilsport. :p
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