Salmon prompts request for Big Green Egg recipes
It’s good to see you in your Wednesday morning context, and to wonder what you’ve got up your culinary sleeve. So, the requests.
Sy Pinglot was served salmon that was “drybrined, then cooked in individual portions on a Big Green Egg. It was delicious, and I didn’t get a chance to ask the cook how he did it. Maybe one of your readers could help. I am new to the Big Green Egg and would appreciate any and all recipes readers have tested.”
Today we are also searching for missing things, including recipes for Boston butt in a crock pot, empty nesters’ small-scale meals and Israeli couscous salad.
CREOLE FAVORITE
The conversation continues about your favorite ethnic dishes. For Maria B, ethnic cooking in the Cajun and Creole tradition “is as old country as I want to get. My grandmother makes big pots of this traditional favorite. This one came originally from Southern Living.”
Our Best Jambalaya
1 pound andouille
sausage, sliced 2 tablespoons canola oil 2 cups diced sweet onion 1 cup diced celery
1 large red bell pepper,
diced
4 garlic cloves, minced 1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Creole
seasoning
1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried oregano 2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
3 cups chicken broth 2 cups uncooked longgrain rice
2 cups shredded cooked
chicken
1 pound peeled, mediumsize raw shrimp, deveined
1/2 cup chopped fresh flatleaf parsley Garnish: chopped green onions
Cook sausage in hot oil in a Dutch oven over mediumhigh heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon.
Add the next eight ingredients, from diced onion to dried oregano, to hot drippings; sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Stir in tomatoes, broth, rice, chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
Stir in shrimp; cover and cook 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in parsley. Serve immediately, garnished with chopped green onions.
To freeze jambalaya: Prepare recipe as directed. Line bottom and sides of a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with heavy-duty aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; fill with jambalaya. Cover and freeze. To serve, remove foil, return casserole to original baking dish; cover and thaw in refrigerator 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F until thoroughly heated.
UKRAINIAN COMFORT FOOD
N.P. read about Serbian stuffed cabbage and said, “In my native country we had a similar dish. It is the Ukrainian version of stuffed cabbage, known as holubtsi. The filling can include meat but always contains grain and vegetables. ‘Little Pigeons’ is the literal translation of the name.
“This could be a vegetarian main dish or as a side.” (The sender’s source is Just a Pinch.)
Holubtsi (Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage, Vegetarian Style)
Kosher salt, as needed 1 head green cabbage,
about 4 pounds
4 large potatoes, peeled
and finely grated 2 tablespoons freshly
squeezed lemon juice 1 small onion, coarsely
chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted
butter
1 1/2 cups sour cream,
divided
1/2 cup buckwheat, rinsed twice with boiling water and drained Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Gather the ingredients. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Remove and discard the core from cabbage. Put the cabbage in the boiling water, cored side up. Cover and cook until tender enough to pull off individual leaves, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove cabbage head from water, and allow it to cool until it’s easy to handle. Remove 18 whole leaves. Use a paring knife to cut away thick center stems from each leaf, without cutting all the way through. Finely chop remaining cabbage, and place it at the bottom of a large casserole dish or Dutch oven.
Drain potatoes in a mesh strainer or cheesecloth, twisting or pressing to remove as much moisture as possible. Transfer to a large bowl, and stir in the lemon juice so they don’t turn brown. Set aside.
In a small skillet, sauté the onion in butter until tender.
Add onion mixture to the potatoes, combining well.
Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and the buckwheat to potato mixture, combining thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees F. Place about 1/2 cup of filling on each cabbage leaf. Roll once away from you to encase the filling.
Flip right side of leaf to the middle, then flip left side. You will have something that looks like an envelope. Keep rolling again until you have a neat little roll.
Place cabbage rolls, seam side down, on top of chopped cabbage in the casserole dish or Dutch oven, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Dollop the remaining 1 cup of sour cream evenly over the holubtsi. Cover and bake until the buckwheat filling is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
To prepare in a crockpot: This is easy and hands-off. Follow all the method steps before baking but place the chopped cabbage at the bottom of a greased slow cooker: Place the formed rolls on top of the chopped cabbage, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the remaining 1 cup of sour cream with 2 cups of vegetable broth or stock, and add this liquid on top of the rolls.
Set the slow cooker on low for 4 to 5 hours, or on high for 3 to 4, or until the filling is tender. If needed, add more broth to the pot to keep the rolls moistened at all times.
Both today’s recipes are hearty food, and here it is May. But both also freeze well, and that can make lighter work in the long run. What you serve alongside can be simple and fresh and balance out the more laborious parts. But you knew that. What else do you know about cooking that the rest of us need to know?
Tell us, please.