Buttered Cabbage with Caraway

Gobsmacked. I thought I was pretty well versed in what one could do with cabbage, addicted to the stuff as I am.

Whether it’s braised, in stewed, stuffed, boiled, or made into coleslaw, we eat cabbage in every which way around here.

But this my friends, this has to be the easiest way to prepare cabbage and still have it taste great. (Boiled cabbage is probably the easiest, but then what you have is just boiled cabbage.)

My mother made something like this the other day with curly cabbage. You just simply blanch the torn or roughly cut cabbage leaves in boiling salted water, drain them, and toss with butter, and seasonings.

Butter and cabbage together? A dream team. And caraway and celery seeds just make them dance.

Buttered Cabbage with Caraway Recipe

Ingredients

• One 2-pound head of green cabbage
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
• Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

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Caramelized Onion English Muffin Pizzas

Back in 7th grade home-economics, the cooking segment consisted of learning how to make pizza with English muffins, some spaghetti sauce, a little cheese and a toaster oven.

Relax. These aren’t those pizzas. These are cool, a little fancy, English muffin pizzas. When my father came home with a bag of English muffins announcing that he was going to make pizzas with them, I sort of rolled my eyes and stepped away. (Okay, dad, whatever you want.)

But when the aroma of caramelizing onions, ham, bubbling Mozzarella wafted through the house, I got my plate ready. We’ll be having these again soon.

Caramelized Onion English Muffin Pizzas Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 English muffin halves
• 1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese, packed
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup diced ham
• A pinch of chopped fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon stoneground mustard
• Optional: A few slices of fresh tomato

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Caramel Sauce

Making your own caramel sauce from scratch is a lot easier than you might think, and it takes practically no time at all. This recipe comes from my friend Suzanne who is a baking genius. I’ve watched her make caramel sauce many times and finally got around to doing it myself.

My one note of caution is to be extra careful while you are cooking the sugar, as with any candy making process. Once the sugar has melted it has a much higher temperature than boiling water. Also, when you add the cream, the mixture will foam up, so use a pan with high sides.

Caramel Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup (210 g) of sugar
• 6 Tbsp (85 g) butter
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream

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White Bean Soup with Ham, Pumpkin, and Chard

Years ago my doctor advised me to “eat colorful foods”. “When you look at the foods on your plate, there should be lots of color and variety,” he explained.

Great advice, and easy to remember. Colorful fruits and vegetables are loaded with nutrients.

Here’s a warming fall and winter stew that is so alive with color, it makes me smile just to look at it. Just take your basic white bean and ham soup, and rev it up with tomatoes, fresh pumpkin, and chard.

My father came over to try some for lunch and went home with half the batch (I wouldn’t let him take it all). Enjoy!

White Bean Soup with Ham, Pumpkin, and Chard Recipe

This recipe calls for a sugar pumpkin (the kind you use to make pies). You can easily substitute the same quantity of butternut squash or almost any winter squash.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• One 2 pound whole sugar pumpkin, halved, seeds scooped out, flesh peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks (resulting in 3 1/2 cups or 1 pound of chunks)
• 1/2  pound ham hock
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 15-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained OR 1 large fresh, ripe tomato, peeled and chopped
• 6 sprigs of thyme, tied with string (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 2 15-ounce cans of cannellini white beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 large Swiss chard leaves (can substitute kale), center rib removed, leaves roughly chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

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Tuna Patties

Tuna patties!

All you have to do is say these two words and I’m flooded with childhood memories. We kids are only a few feet high, have tiny feet, scabbed knees, and boundless energy.

In between chasing each other around the dining room table we are squealing to our mother, “We’re having tuna patties!”

We were enthusiastic about food, to say the least. And always hungry.

Back then, this was one of my mother’s go-to dishes. No idea what her recipe was, and it’s been so long since she’s made them, it’s long forgotten.

This recipe is as close as I can come to what I remember, probably with a few added flourishes.

What I love about the recipe is that I almost always have the necessary ingredients in the pantry and fridge, the patties are incredibly easy and quick to make, and they’re budget friendly too. Oh yes, and they taste great! (At least to us. Big fans of canned tuna here.)

Tuna Patties Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 6-ounce cans tuna
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup white bread torn into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp water (or liquid from the cans of tuna)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, green onions, or shallots
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A couple squirts of Crystal hot sauce or tabasco
• 1 raw egg
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon butter

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Frutti di Mare Seafood Salad

Please welcome Hank Shaw as he shares a favorite summer seafood salad. ~Elise

Frutti di mare, the Italian mixed seafood salad you see in deli counters all over the country, can range from appalling to sublime. Back when I was living on Long Island, there was an Italian deli in Babylon that made such a fantastic frutti di mare that it has lingered in my memory for decades.

What made it so great? It’s all in the freshness of the ingredients, and the choice of seafood. I remember calamari that melted in your mouth, flakes of crab, briny, firm shrimp, and a mix of tiny clams and scallops so buttery I always saved them for the last bite.

Which seafood you use is up to you. Lobster would be the high end, of course, but crab, scallops, shrimp, crawfish, clams, mussels, calamari, octopus, cuttlefish — really anything you like. A mix of seafood is what is important here, not any specific ratio or variety.

Bring out your good olive oil for this salad, and if you have any fancy salt, use it here, too. A little crunchy finishing salt sprinkled over the salad right before you serve is a nice touch. You can also add a little black or red pepper if you want to jazz things up.

Think of this as a main course salad on hot summer days. It is best served chilled with a loaf of good bread, along with an easy drinking white wine, rose or pilsner beer.

Frutti di Mare Seafood Salad Recipe

Be sure to follow the steps in order, so all the seafood is properly cooked and the broth becomes nice and flavorful.

Ingredients

Poaching Broth:

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup white wine or chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped

Salad:

• 2 celery stalks
• 1 large yellow or orange bell pepper
• 1 pound tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chives
• 1 pound small cocktail shrimp
• 1 pound small clams in shell
• 1/2 pound bay scallops
• 1/2 pound calamari, cut into rings
• 1/4 cup high-quality olive oil, or more to taste
• Juice of 1-2 lemons
• Salt and black pepper to taste

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

Move over pumpkin pie, and say hello to pumpkin cheesecake! If you really truly want to impress your guests this holiday season, I recommend this cheesecake. Tall and proud like a classic New York style version, this one has a pumpkin cream cheese filling with a splash of bourbon, all sitting atop a pecan graham cracker crust.

And if that wasn’t enough, we bathe it with homemade caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Yes, it is good. Better than good. Downright fabulous.

I first made this pumpkin cheesecake for my mother years ago. She’s a “cake girl” in family of people who prefer pies, and cheesecake is her favorite cake. A pastry chef reader sent me his recipe (thank you Glen!) which I adapted to this one.

Like a proper NY cheesecake, this one is tall and requires a high sided springform pan. You may be able to halve the filling and cook it in a standard pie tin (if you do, let us know how it works out for you) with less cooking time.

It also requires cooking in a water bath, which can sometimes be problematic. My recommendation is to use 3 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil, and make sure that when you are wrapping the pan you do so gently, so you don’t introduce any holes that would cause the pan to leak. Several people have also suggested using a turkey roasting bag as a way to keep the water out of the pan.

If you are a fan of cheesecake and pumpkin pie, this cake is so worth doing. Just be warned that it serves a small army, which might be just what you need for the holidays.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 4 graham crackers)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk

Filling

• 2 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree*
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons bourbon or other whiskey
• 5 large eggs
• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups (1 pound) brown sugar

Pan

• 1 9-inch diameter, 3-inch tall springform pan

* You can make your own pumpkin purée by cutting a sugar pumpkin in half, scooping out the seeds, placing the pumpkin halves cut-side down in a roasting pan with a 1/4 inch of water in it, and cooking it in a 350°F oven for an hour, until soft. Scoop out the flesh and purée it in a blender or food processor. Strain out excess water.

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