Gevirts: quick cheap easy good food – Page 18

Cassoulet

A quicker, easier cassoulet

Recipes for cassoulet are full of instructions like “simmer for four hours” or “stir for an hour” or even “let sit overnight”. I like recipes you can make in an hour, and this is an amended cassoulet recipe that takes – okay, not an hour, but maybe two hours, and most of it is just baking time. Cassoulet uses more meat than I usually eat, but once in a while on a cold evening, with people coming over, this is a good meal. This cassoulet is more beans and vegetables than meat, at least.

Usually I try to cook from dried beans instead of canned, because it’s better for you and cheaper, but cassoulet already takes a long time, and it would take longer if you had to cook the beans first. So you should start from dried beans if you have time.

How to make cassoulet:

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a medium frying pan, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Saute one chopped onion and four minced cloves of garlic. Cut up 1/4 pound of lamb and 1/4 pound of pork sausage, and brown them and four chicken drumsticks with the onions. Pour all that into an oven-safe casserole.

Add a cup of defrosted tomato sauce (or a can of commercial tomato paste), 1/2 cup of white wine, 1 cup of beef stock (or 1 beef bouillon cube and a cup of water), two teaspoons of thyme, two teaspoons of chopped parsley if you have some growing, and one teaspoon of cloves. Also add two cans of white beans with their water, and half a cauliflower, chopped. Add more water if needed until the liquid almost covers the meat and vegetables. Adjust the drumsticks so they stick up out of the casserole. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Bake at 350 for about an hour and a half.

We like cassoulet with sauteed spinach on the side, pretty simple.

Vegetarian or vegan

This is really neither. You could make it vegan by browning chunks of tofu and/or tempeh and a diced sweet potato in place of the meat. Use plenty of miso in the stock, in that case.

Can I keep this for later?

Sure. Put the leftovers in a tupperware in the refrigerator, and the flavors will blend and it will be even better than it was at first. You can reheat it for about four or five days. You might need to add a little salt after reheating to bring out the flavors.

Caramelized cabbage

This is a stove-top version of a Times recipe that involved long slow baking I never have time for, but we liked it this way.

First make some noodles to serve on the side:

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix 3 cups of flour with 6 eggs and 1/3 cup oil. Knead and divide in half. Roll out thin and slice into long thin noodles. Leave to dry.

Now make the caramelized cabbage:

In a medium frying pan, heat a little olive oil and 1/4 stick of butter. Saute one small cabbage, chopped roughly (not too fine). Add a large pinch of salt and a tablespoon of molasses, stir, and cook to soften the cabbage.

Meanwhile, chop an onion and add that, chop 2 cloves of garlic and add that, and add half a pound of pork sausage. Add 1/4 cup thick yogurt and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and stir. Keep stirring occasionally and let it cook until it’s really soft, about 20 minutes. You want there to be some burnt-ish browned bits, so don’t stir it too often.

While that cooks, make a sauce for the noodles. Fill a large saucepan half full of water and put it on to boil. In a small frying pan, melt a little butter in some oil, then add a tin of anchovies, 2 chopped cloves of garlic, a handful of sage, a pinch of red pepper flakes, a pinch of black pepper and salt, another quarter cup of breadcrumbs, maybe some parmesan. Stir, and turn off the heat. When the water boils, add the noodles to the water and cook about 3 minutes. Drain, and coat the noodles with the sauce. Serve side by side with the cabbage, with sliced cucumber and lox on the side.

Under maybe not needed, you can also microwave 1/4 cup of cranberries until they burst, add a splash of white vinegar, a spoonful of sugar, and a splash of soy sauce, and serve that as a sauce on the side.

Vegetarian or vegan

This is really neither. You could make it vegetarian by browning tempeh or feta in place of the meat. Use plenty of miso to add flavor to the cabbage, in that case.

Can I keep this for later?

Calamari and fries

Pulpa!

In Rome, I once took a bunch of American students out for dinner. We all ordered different appetizers, but when the waiter brought the food, he had brought pulpa – sliced cold octopus – for everybody, instead of whatever they had ordered. He explained (in Italian) that the pulpa was really exceptionally good that evening, much better than the stuff we had ordered, and so he wanted us to eat this. I said I appreciated the thought, but I wasn’t sure Americans would eat pulpa. He looked shocked. “Not eat pulpa! What do Americans eat?” I let him leave the pulpa, and it was indeed the best pulpa I have ever eaten, but only two of us ate it.

How to make Calamari and Fries:

Preheat oven to 425 F. Pour 1/8 cup of olive oil on a baking sheet and spread it around. Slice up four large potatoes into fries. Scatter the fries on the baking sheet and toss them with tongs to get them all coated in oil. Bake about twenty minutes or until the fries begin to blacken at the edges.

Meanwhile do the calamari. Take a pound of calamari tubes and tentacles. In a small bowl, break two eggs and add 1/4 cup of flour, and mix. Sort out all the tentacles and toss them into the eggs. Slice all the tubes crossways into 1/4 inch wide slices, so they are like a lot of little white rings. Toss the rings in the egg bowl too. Mix it up so that all the calamari is coated with eggs and flour.

In a large frying pan, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the calamari and eggs, and stir with a spatula until they are all cooked, about 3 minutes. It’s hard to tell when they’re cooked, but it’s probably fine just to see when all the egg is set up. If you cook them too long they’ll be rubbery, so don’t go longer than 3 minutes.

Take the fries out of the oven and serve everything hot, with a cucumber and tomato salad on the side, and maybe some feta cheese and olives. Serve lemon slices to squeeze on the calamari.

How long will calamari keep?

Not at all. Eat them hot!

Broccoli Soup

Special vegan ingredients? No thanks.

I’m a historian, and part of my interest in cooking is to see what people might have eaten a long time ago. I like to cook using only ingredients that I really understand where they came from. That means I don’t like to use soy milk, vegan butter, and things like that. But I do often like to eat vegan meals. I find that with a little thought and planning, you can make lots of excellent vegan meals using only traditional natural local ingredients. For example, in this soup the vegetarian version calls for yogurt to make it thicker, but if instead you add rice at the beginning and puree it, you’ve got a thick soup and it’s still vegan. I know where rice and broccoli come from, and onions and celery.

How to make broccoli soup:

Fill a large saucepan half full of water and set it over high heat to boil. Meanwhile, chop up the florets from one big stalk of broccoli, and compost the stems. Also chop an onion and two stalks of celery. When the water boils, put in the broccoli. Add a cube of chicken or vegetable bouillon too, or use frozen soup in place of some of the water.

While the broccoli is cooking, put a medium-sized frying pan on another burner and turn it to medium heat. Heat 1/8 cup of olive oil in the pan and saute the chopped onion and celery in the oil. When the onions and celery are soft, add two tablespoons of flour and stir to make a roux. Cook the oil and flour together for about a minute, stirring the whole time, until they are really cooked together. Then scoop out a cupful of the soup water and slowly add it to your roux, stirring the whole time, until it blends and makes a thin sauce.

Pour the sauce, with the onions and celery, into the saucepan with the broccoli. Remove from heat and puree with the immersion blender, then put the soup back on the heat and bring it to a boil. Once the soup is hot, take it off the heat and add a cup of Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of chopped basil, one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper. Reheat if necessary, but don’t boil the soup after the yogurt is in it.

Serve hot, right away, with crackers or bread.

Vegetarian or vegan?

Vegetarian. You can make broccoli soup vegan by adding 1/2 cup of rice right at the beginning when you put the water on to boil, and leaving out the yogurt at the end.

And will broccoli soup keep?

No, broccoli soup has a tendency to taste a little bitter the next day.

Braised endives

Eew, endives? Isn’t that some weird foreign food?

Well, it’s not the most ordinary American food, but in France people think of endives as perfectly normal, regular food. Children eat them. Think of them as small cabbages, or thick asparagus. My kids loved these braised endives – generally kids like soft cabbage, and of course broiled cheese and ham don’t hurt! In fact, if you can’t get endives or they are too expensive, this recipe would work just as well with a cabbage cut up into chunks.

Braising cabbage chunks

How to make braised endives:

In an oven-proof frying pan, like a cast-iron skillet, place six whole endives with just the tough outer leaves stripped off. Add four cups of chicken stock with a pinch of salt and pepper, or water with a spoonful of miso if you want them vegetarian/vegan. Add the juice of a lemon. Cover and simmer for about half an hour, until the endives are soft.

Meanwhile, grate 8 ounces of Gruyere cheese (or Swiss will be cheaper, but try to get Gruyere). When the endives are soft, lay thin slices of ham or chunks of bacon over the top of each one, and sprinkle the grated cheese over that. Run the whole skillet under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and brown, and serve hot.

Vegetarian or vegan

Braised endives are a meat thing, but you can easily make them vegetarian by leaving out the ham. If you leave out the cheese and the broiling, too, then they are vegan. They’re delicious that way, perhaps with fried potatoes or rice on the side.

Can I keep braised endives for later?

We didn’t have any left over, but yes, they’d be fine the next day for lunch. They won’t freeze well though.

Black-eyed peas and rice

Don’t you need bacon for black-eyed peas and rice?

You can put 1/4 pound of chopped bacon in to saute with the onions if you want. We’ve found that spices can make a good black-eyed peas and rice even without the bacon, and we’ve been trying to stay away from bacon and other processed meats that seem to be bad for people.

How to make black-eyed peas and rice:

At breakfast-time, put 1/2 cup of black-eyed peas into a bowl to soak with plenty of water. At dinnertime, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat and cook one chopped onion in the oil until the onion is soft and browned. Add the beans with 3 cups of water (the soaking water is okay, or fresh water), and 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon of chopped thyme, 1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir and simmer, covered, for half an hour. Add more water, a cup at a time, if you notice there’s not much water left.

Meanwhile, put on the rice. Use a small saucepan over high heat. Put in a cup and a half of rice and three cups of water. Stir, and cover. When the rice boils, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the rice has soaked up all the water and is soft. When the beans are soft all the way through (cut one open to check), and the rice is done, add the rice to the beans and mix. Taste, and add more spices or salt as necessary.

What if I forgot to put the beans to soak this morning?

You can still make the beans without soaking, but you’re going to need to simmer them for at least an hour instead of half an hour.

Vegetarian or vegan

Black-eyed peas and rice is vegan – not a very fancy vegan main dish, but it sticks to your ribs. To make it fancier for company, serve it with a nice green salad and a clear soup like miso soup.

Can I keep black-eyed peas and rice for later?

Yes, black-eyed peas and rice will be better the next day, and you can keep it in the refrigerator, well sealed up in a tupperware, for a week. It won’t freeze well though.

Beans and beef stir-fry

Another use for string beans

If you have a lot of string beans in your garden and you’ve already made Greek String Bean Stew and Salade Niçoise, this is another good choice.

How to make Beans and Beef Stir-fry:

Break the tips off about a quart of string beans. Put a cup and a half of rice in a small saucepan with three cups of water, cover, and bring to a boil. When the water boils, reduce heat to low and simmer until all the water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, heat a little vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the string beans and stir. Chop two mushrooms and add to the wok, and stir. Stirring frequently, add two chopped cloves of garlic, a quarter cup of soy sauce, and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Slice 1/4 pound of steak thinly and add that. When the rice is done, add the rice too, toss, and serve.

Vegetarian or vegan?

Vegan unless you add the beef at the end; then it’s not. Either way, it’s lactose-free and gluten-free.

And will this stir-fry keep?

Yes, it will be okay for a few days afterwards.

Bean burgers

Sometimes in the summer it just seems like burger time, maybe with corn on the cob, but what if you don’t want to eat beef? These bean burgers are great with ketchup, mustard, pickles, slices of tomato, lettuce, or whatever you like to put on your burgers.

How to make bean burgers:

After breakfast or lunch, put 3/4 cup of dried black beans in a bowl with a lot of water to soak. About an hour before dinner, pour the beans and water into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer until the beans are soft, about half an hour.

While the beans are cooking, make the buns. In a medium size mixing bowl, mix 3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of instant yeast, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 cup water, and an egg, and mix. Turn out of the bowl on to a floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Divide the dough into eight balls. Put the balls on a greased baking sheet and flatten them just a little, to the shape of hamburger buns. Let the buns rise while you preheat the oven to 425.

Now make the burger mix. Drain the water out of the beans. Heat 1/8 cup of olive oil in a large frying pan. Chop an onion and three mushrooms and fry them in the oil. When the onions are soft, add them and the mushrooms to the beans and mash the mixture up with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Add salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and a handful of parsley if you want. Add an egg (which will help stick it together) and a handful of breadcrumbs. Mix it up.

Now put the buns in the oven. While the buns are cooking, fry the burgers: Add more oil to the pan if needed. Form the mashed beans into burgers with your hands. Fry the burgers about five minutes until they’re browned on one side, then flip with a spatula and brown some more (they’re already cooked so it doesn’t matter how long they cook, but they’ll taste better browned in oil). If you want cheeseburgers, top with cheese as soon as you flip them, and put a large lid over the frying pan to hold in the heat and melt the cheese.

Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, onions and peppers, ketchup, mustard, or whatever you like on your burger. We like this with microwaved corn on the cob, or with a green salad.

Vegetarian or vegan?

Naturally vegetarian, but not vegan because of the eggs in both buns and burgers.

And will these burgers keep?

The burgers will be fine the next day, but the buns get stale.

Boston baked beans

Doesn’t it take forever to make baked beans?

No, not really. You can start after lunch and have delicious baked beans in time for dinner, if you’ll be home all afternoon. There’s not more than half an hour of total work time involved, but it’s spread out over four hours. So yeah, it’s not something you can whip up after you get home from work. Even if you use canned beans, it would still take two and a half hours to bake. That’s why they sell canned baked beans, which are cheap and good and can make a good quick dinner if you are pressed for time, with some coleslaw and maybe bread and butter.

How to make baked beans from scratch:

After lunch, put 2 cups of white navy beans into a large pot with plenty of water, stir once, cover, and put them on to boil. After about an hour and a half, or when the beans are soft, preheat the oven to 375. Scoop the beans out of the water with a slotted spoon into a casserole or oven-safe roasting pan (save the water for later). Chop an onion and 1/4 pound of bacon and mix in with the beans. In a small bowl, mix together all of these: a cup of tomato sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. anchovy paste (do not leave this out! use chopped canned anchovies if necessary), 1 tablespoon of mustard. Mix all that into the beans, and add the water the beans cooked in until the beans are just barely covered with liquid. Put the casserole in the oven to bake.

After about two hours, take the casserole out and sprinkle a thick layer of breadcrumbs on the top. Bake another half hour or an hour. Take it out of the oven and let it stand for five minutes, then serve with cole slaw (that’s just chopped cabbage and carrots, with a spoonful of mayonnaise and a pinch of salt and pepper).

Vegetarian or vegan

Baked beans are vegan if you leave out the bacon and the anchovy paste. Substitute some miso. It’s not a very fancy vegan main dish, but it sticks to your ribs.

Can I keep baked beans for later?

Yes, baked beans will just taste even better the next day, and you can keep them in the refrigerator, well sealed up in a tupperware, for a week. They won’t freeze well though.

Avocado Soup

AVOCADOS ARE YUMMY

Avocados are so delicious, you practically don’t need any other ingredients to make this delicious soup. It takes a few minutes, and you can leave it in the fridge all day and then serve it at dinner to your guests, without spending any time in the kitchen at all after they arrive.

How to make Avocado Soup:

Scrape out the insides of three or four medium-sized avocados and put them in a medium-sized mixing bowl with 2 cups of whole milk and a cup of plain yogurt, a large pinch each of salt and black pepper, and as much cayenne as you feel like (a smaller pinch, probably). Use the immersion blender to puree all this together. Refrigerate until almost ready to serve, with plastic wrap (or a plastic bag) pressed down on to the surface to keep it from going brown.

Just before serving, add the juice of half a lemon (or the same amount of lime juice). Slowly add water to thin it out into a soup if it’s too thick. Ladle into bowls, and on top of each bowl put two or three cooked shrimp and a handful of chopped parsley or cilantro (but cilantro really).

Vegetarian or vegan?

Naturally vegetarian if you leave out the shrimp. You could make it vegan by using almond milk instead of regular milk.

And will avocado soup keep?

Yes, you can keep it for a day or two in the refrigerator, but avocado soup is best fresh. I don’t think it would freeze well.