Cabbage Soup with Pancetta

Still cabbage from the whole cabbage boil to repurpose. A soup is always welcome.

I was out on a testdrive with an electric car, a VOLVO EX90, this morning. The dealership is just around the corner from Italian grocery Al Mercatino. Some Aranchini rice balls and a thick slab of Pancetta went in my shopping basket.

Thin cuts of the pancetta went in the pot first. Some carrot, onion, garlic and potato went in as the base. The last remaining homemade chicken stock with more water became the soup. A tsp caraway seeds are good for any cabbage dish.

The veggies had to cook 8 min. Then I chopped the cabbage chunks and added them to the soup. They needed an other 5 minutes to get ready. Just some chives on top and a nice bowl of tasty soup was served.

Ingredients:

40 g pancetta

1 tsp olive oil

1 carrot

1 onion, 2 garlic cloves

2 potatoes

500 ml chicken stock + water

300 g cooked cabbage

Chives

Salt, pepper, caraway seeds

 

Korean Cabbage Pancakes with glazed Pork Belly

After my cabbage boil there is enough left over to create other dishes.

Luckily an already opened package of Korean pancake mix was in my Asian drawer. That was the binding agent for the chopped up part of my boiled cabbage.

The white of a spring onion, an egg and seasoning together with water made a not too runny batter. Just between sticky and runny.

Baked in a decent amount of oil and rested on some kitchen paper later.

Sliced pork belly was cut in 2 inch pieces and went in a pan. I cut a white onion in strips and added them too.

The sauce was made in a jar and after.the pork took the color, went in the pan.

Finished with the green from the spring onion and lots of sesame seeds. Plated with the pancakes was a delightful dish.

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1/2 cup 250 ml of Korean pancake mix

350 to 400 ml water

1 egg

Salt and pepper

175 g chopped baked cabbage

Pork Belly:

225 g pork belly

1 spring onion 

1 white onion

Sauce:

1 heaped tsp Gochujang paste

1 tsp Gochugaru

1 tbsp thick sugar syrup

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp garlic powder

4 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp toasted seasame oil

Pepper

3 tbsp water

 

 

Cabbage Boil Insta Reel

First it was the onion boil, now the whole thing had to get bigger. Why not boil a cabbage?

Eating an onion in one go is not a problem. But even with the smallest head of cabbage, there is still enough of it to go around. Now I have to think about recipes with cooked cabbage.

Prep work is easy. Just remove the 2 outer layers. Use a knife to cut around the core and get it out. Take out a lot of the inner part to make room for butter and seasoning.

Use a sheet of baking paper and set the cabbage in the middle. Place a sheet of aluminium foil under the baking paper.

Preheat the oven 180 C fan.

Stab some slits on the outside around the cabbage. Brush it with olive oil and put lots of your favourite seasoning on top. Such as smoked paprika, lemon salt, garlic powder and whatever spice you like.

Put some of it in the center too. Use softened butter and stuff it in the core.

Pull up the sides of both foils and wrap the cabbage like a ball and place it in the oven.

Bake for 2 hours. Then open the foil and set the cabbage with all its sauce in a bowl. Start peeling off single layers and dip them in the butter.

Ingredients:

2 kg cabbage

80 g butter

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and so on...

 

 

Boozy Figs with Cream

You will need 8 figs for this dessert. Surprise, yesterday I harvested 8 figs from my tree.

Just remove the tip and cut them down the middle.

In a wider pot, add Pro Secco and Crème de Cassis and a small cinnamon stick and two cloves. Bring them to a boil and cook for 3 min on low. 

Set the figs in, face up and on low heat with a lid cook for 5 min. Take the figs out.

Put the heat to high, add lemon juice and reduce the liquid to 25%. Cool down.

Stir creme fraiche with vanilla sugar and place the figs on plates. Top with syrup and add cream.

Ingredients:

8 figs

200 ml Pro Secco

100 ml Crème de Cassis

2 cloves

1 small cinnamon stick

2 tbsp lemon juice

150 g creme fraiche

2 tsp vanilla sugar

Bell Pepper and Avocado Sauce with Pasta.

This is not a smooth sauce. It is a chunky vegetable mix not very sauce like. The creaminess is only from the avocado chunks.

I cooked the pasta in chicken stock. A lot of it went in the pan to prevent the avocado from sticking to the pan and burning.

That was the only liquid added. No cream in sight.

The pasta was cooked nearly al dente and went in the pan with pasta water to finish cooking. A bunch of parsley, water cress and basil went in last and chunky pieces of Parmesan.

Recipe for 2:

180 g pasta ( papardelle)

2 chicken stock cubes

1 large avocado

2 long red peppers

2 green onions

2 garlic cloves

Salt, pepper, piment d'espelette

Basil, parsley, watercress

MOMENTUM Lunch at the Nuerburgring

Winter is coming in the Eifel.

Today is cold and rainy as it was yesterday. Driving on a Trackday in this conditions is no fun, I stayed in and looked for a spot for lunch.

Just around the corner of the Ring is the industrial hub of the area, where manufactures and tyre and suspension companies have their testcenters.

Since last year there is finally a spot where you can have a coffee and snacks or a hot lunch.

It is on top of the Bilstein 7 post suspension rig and a great space to be. 

Todays main lunch option was Pork Schnitzel with bell pepper sauce, croquettes and a side salad. 

I found an Ice Tea that I never heard off before from a company just 50 km away from where I live. No sugar, fresh brewed tea, mint and lemon and agave syrup. Good to get some new stuff to taste

Pollock and Potato Salad

A little cooking at the holiday apartment at the Nuerburgring.

To get groceries you have to drive winding roads down to Adenau or a large detour due to year long road construction to Kelberg. Locally there is only the famous ED gas station, where you get some breakfast items or cooked lunch.

I bought some pollock at the supermarket and potato salad. This time I have a very small apartment with a small kitchen - living area. Not much room for adventurous cooking.