savoy cabbage
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The green-grocer had a display of vivid green savoy cabbages this morning. I couldn’t resist. I cut the luscious, very fresh cabbage into half and set about cooking one half for dinner tonight and I’ll cook the other half tomorrow.
STIR FRIED SAVOY CABBAGE
Savoy cabbage, caraway seeds, butter and garlic.
Collected some garlic, a teaspoon of caraway seeds and some butter. Steamed the finely cut cabbage briefly (probably 4 minutes), then drained it in a sieve. Meanwhile, I heated the butter in a pan and cooked the garlic and roasted the caraway seeds before adding the shredded cabbage. Tossed it around until it was mixed and cooked. Served with microwaved then browned potatoes and oven roasted salmon fillets with Mediterranean herbs on top. Easy, quick, delicious weeknight dinner for two, I’d probably use the whole cabbage for more. I seek out smaller cabbages, pumpkins, rock melons and other produce which don’t store well as usually I am only cooking for two people. Pity I forgot to take a photo in my eagerness to eat my dinner!
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/stir-fried-savoy-cabbage
ROASTED SAVOY CABBAGE
A bowl of roasted vegetables can make lunch on a gloomy day rather fun. I cut most of the remaining savoy cabbage into wedges. I leave the core in as I think it adds to the richness of the flavour and it can be sliced out before it’s served, or, in my case, left in and eaten! I prepared onions, potatoes and carrots, briefly microwaved the last two vegetables for five minutes then sloshed olive oil into a glass baking dish .Added all the vegetables. Sprinkled sea salt on top of everything and then into the oven. First I roast all the vegetables together, then remove the cabbage once the edges are coloured then warm them again later when everything is roasted and ready. Drizzle with caramelised balsamic vinegar. (My husband prefers Worcestershire sauce.)
While the vegetables were roasting I also prepared some forgotten apples to stew. When the first flush of winter apples arrive in the shops I buy way too many and we don’t eat them all. I’ll eat the stewed apples, cooked in water and masses of cinnamon, with yoghurt in the morning. I usually have mango but they’ve become very expensive and came from the East until the weather warms up in Western Australia again.
Tidying up I remembered the ‘no waste’ bloggers writing about using the apple peelings and cores to make apple jelly. My Grandmother used to make apple jelly in apple season. The boiled up apple pieces were suspended from an upturned bentwood chair in a pillowcase to drip into a bowl all night. Apple jelly is exquisite, sweet and spicy with cloves, but a step too far for me today.
To recover from all this busyness in the kitchen, I’ve made myself a pot of vanilla and cranberry tea, which is very pretty, smells lovely and tastes great! Quick look at the weekend papers but find that’s not very cheerful so head for the gardening section and the restaurant reviews.
THE GREAT BIG SAUSAGE ROLL
This is not a fancy dish but it is a delicious and easy dinner. I used about a fifth of the finely chopped savoy cabbage along with cubed potatoes and peeled carrots, diced onions and beef mince to make two very fat, giant sausage rolls. ( This time I used very lean mince and it caught on the pan. Normal mince is tastier and easy to use.)
Planned to write out the recipe to include here but that didn’t go as planned. I’ve never really measured the ingredients for these pastry rolls but carefully weighed and noted what I did and when I did it so I could record the process. I’ll never be a recipe developer: the piece of paper I was writing each step on was splattered in all sorts of things. Not at all like the online videos! My apron also went in the wash at the end of this process. Don’t know why everything was such a mess, but we enjoyed eating this and we’re glad I made two so there’s one left for tomorrow. Ate one hot and one cold, both really good.
white-cheeked honey eaters
A pair of these small colourful honey eaters have established themselves in the back garden. They are endemic to Southern Western Australia. They flit around, landing on the clivias, lavenders and passion fruit vine. They are also hunting small insects. They are busy, flitting up and down and are very loud. We hear them chattering when we wake up and they continue well into the evening. We suspect from their behaviour that they are building a nest but we’re not sure where and do not want to disturb them. Apparently, they build their cup shaped nests down low in shrubs and bushes and both feed the young. They are described as ‘Gregarious, active and noisy with swift, erratic flight’. We watch them through the window and they watch us, too!
eBird Image
This is a photograph of a New Holland Honey Eater which is very similar to the White Cheeked Honey Eater. The little birds outside our window are never still long enough to take a photo.
Today is the second day of spring! Beautiful weather after a very wet, cold winter.