Cabbages
Asparagus
Peas
CABBAGES
There are often leaning pickings in the vegetable garden at the beginning of spring before the newly planted seeds grow. However, if you have planned well you should have a few cabbages to pick. The humble cabbage is often much maligned no doubt because some of us remember from our childhood the limp, smelly vegetable that was boiled for 30 minutes so that the cooking water was more nutritious than the cabbage.
A
good way to cook cabbage is to sauté it in some butter, margarine or olive oil
or stir frying it with other vegetables such as onion and carrot. Cabbage goes really well with bacon and ham and
of course corned beef, as well as apple, carrot, potatoes, leeks and onions,
and strong cheeses such as parmesan, feta and blue cheese. It can be seasoned with fennel or caraway
seeds, garlic, thyme, nutmeg or cinnamon and nuts such as walnuts and pine nuts. It is often served with fatty meats such as
pork and duck.
It
is a good idea to remove the white core of a cabbage as it can be rather bitter.
And if you are worried by the gas that
cabbage can produce in the digestive system try blanching it in boiling water
for 5 minutes then drain it and continue cooking it in your preferred way. If you want to separate the leaves of a
cabbage, remove the core and place the cabbage in a pot of boiling water for
one minute and drain and dry on paper towels.
Cabbage
can be a very comforting food when combined with potatoes – just think of
classics such as colcannon, bubble and squeak, corned beef with boiled potatoes
cabbage and onion, and cabbage, bacon and potato soup. Cabbage leaves can also
be used for all sorts of stuffing. Here is a recipe with chicken.
Cabbage rolls stuffed with chicken
Ingredients (serves 6)
·
6
chicken thighs opened flat
·
6
Savoy
·
6
rashers of bacon, reserve lean ‘eye’ part of bacon and chop the rest
·
Half
a cup of white wine
·
200ml
chicken stock
·
1
tin chopped tomatoes and herbs
·
1
chopped onion
·
2
sticks diced celery
·
2
cubed carrots
·
2
tablespoons tomato and green olive salsa
·
Lemon
pepper
Method
1.
Blanch
cabbage leaves in boiling water for half a minute, cool under tap, drain and
put aside.
2.
Brown
chicken quickly and put aside.
3.
Sauté
onion, celery and chopped bacon.
4.
Add
wine and reduce volume by half.
5.
Add
chicken stock and tin of tomatoes
6.
Bring
to a simmer.
7.
Place
a piece of chicken on a cabbage leaf, top with ‘eye’ piece of bacon.
8.
Place
some tomato and olive salsa on bacon.
Sprinkle with lemon pepper.
9.
Roll
up cabbage leaf and place in casserole dish then add sauce.
10. Cook in slow oven at 120°C
for 4 hours.
11. Thicken, if desired, with
cornflour mixed with a little water.
12. Serve with mashed
potatoes and green vegetable.
LINKS
How to – Cabbage
This
link is a great place to find out all about cabbages with a long list good
cabbage recipes to try.
Five-spice cabbage
Cabbage
at its best! Red and green cabbage
quickly cooked with a light seasoning of Chinese flavourings.
Coconut cabbage
Here
is recipe for a spicy, lightly cooked cabbage dish to serve with Asian
curries.
Braised red cabbage
A
really classic dish which goes with lovely warming stews and mashed potatoes
for a cold spring evening.
Cabbage with split peas
This
a heart-warming vegetarian curry which is good for the start of spring when
cabbages need using up but the home-grown peas have not yet matured.
Steamed cabbage with crisp bacon
This
is a tasty and simple dish with the classic combination of cabbage and bacon.
Cabbage with sesame, cumin and fennel seeds
A delicious and simple way of preparing
cabbage that goes great with pork.
Miniature cabbage with mustard &
dill sauce
This
is a great way to use any baby cabbages you may have grown
ASPARAGUS
Asparagus is a plant on steroids. No sooner do you pick it than another lot of spears thrust itself towards the sky. Asparagus straight from the garden doesn’t need a lot of cooking. Just poach it for 3 or 6 minutes depending on thickness in simmering water in a large deep frypan. When it is cooked the stem should bend a little but not droop. Purple and green asparagus does not need to be peeled, just bend the stem and it will snap leaving the tough base behind. White asparagus needs to be peeled and cooked thoroughly or it will be tough and bitter. Don’t add vinegar or lemon juice to cooked asparagus as it will cause it to wrinkle and ruin its colour.
Poached
Serve
poached asparagus: as ‘soldiers’ to dip into poached eggs or coddled eggs with
butter and cream; dressed with herbs and breadcrumbs or chopped nuts (eg. walnuts, macadamia,
pinenuts) sautéed in butter; with Hollandaise sauce, a browned butter sauce,
pesto, lemony mayonnaise or aioli; au
gratin – placed in a shallow dish, covered with rough bread crumbs, grilled
bacon pieces, some grated parmesan and grilled until golden brown.
Cold
Serve
cold poached asparagus with slivers of ham and chopped boiled eggs and
mayonnaise. Place spears in slices of good quality bread with crust remove,
spread with herbed butter or mayonnaise and garnished with ham or boiled
eggs. Add slivers of fresh or poached
asparagus to salads. It goes well with
mixed salad leaves, baby spinach leaves, peas, snow pea sprouts, goats cheese,
grilled houlomi, smoked salmon, mushrooms, parmesan, chick peas, prawns,
grapefruit segments, butter beans, capsicums. Serve with a creamy, mustardy
dressing with a hint of sweetness.
Barbequed
To
chargrill asparagus simply spray it with olive oil and cook it for 3-5 minutes. Cook until it is bright green and tender. Try
wrapping it with slices of prosciutto before grilling.
Stir-fried
Add
sliced asparagus to stir-frys. Asparagus
goes well with soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce and toasted sesame seeds or
almonds.Soup
Add
chopped asparagus (save tips, cook and use to garnish soup) to potatoes,
garlic, onion or leeks, and chervil or thyme that have been sautéed in butter.
Cover with vegetable stock or water and cook until very tender. Puree and then
put through sieve to ensure a smooth soup.
Serve with cream.
Add Asparagus to: quiches, tarts, pasta, omelettes, frittatas, pizzas,
risottos and fritters.
LINKS
Beetroot and asparagus salad
A
tasty salad for mid spring using tender baby beetroot.
Creamy asparagus pasta
A
quick recipe for simple and delicious pasta.
Asparagus goes very well with cream, try adding a little white wine to
the sauce for more flavour.
Asparagus, parmesan and ham strata
This
is a great spring dish using fresh asparagus, young spring spinach and
celebrating the abundance of eggs after a lean winter.
Poached chicken and asparagus
spaghetti
This
recipe contains spring peas and leeks as well as asparagus.
Preservation
Freezing
- blanch the spears for a few minutes, refresh in ice cold water, freeze on a
tray then pack into a vacuum sealed bag or sandwich bag and keep in freezer.
PEAS
Boiled peas
Boil
fresh peas in water for 5 minutes or until el dente, frozen peas need around 3
minutes once they come back to the boil.
Garnishes
·
Mint
sauce – dissolve 1 tsp of caster sugar in 2 tsp boiling water, add 2 tbsp of
white wine balsamic vinegar and 1 cup of finely chopped mint
·
Garlic
butter with chopped mint
·
Toasted
sesame seeds and butter
·
Crispy
bacon pieces, garlic and olive oil
·
Olive
oil, lemon juice and lemon zest
Mashed peas
Cooked
fresh or frozen peas can be served smashed – coarsely mashed with a fork or
processed to a form a smooth puree, or served any stage in between. They go
well with mashed or smashed potatoes. Season
well and dot with butter, a dob of cream or a sprinkle of olive oil. Add sautéed onion, bacon etc, garlic, anchovy,
as you wish.
Mushy peas
Fry
a coarsely chopped onion in olive oil until lightly golden. Add 3 cups of peas, 1/3 cup of vegetable
stock and 1/3 cup thin cream. Cook until
peas are tender. Mash with fork and
season.
Sautéed Peas
Add
cooked peas to sautéed onion or leeks or shallots, sautéed bacon pieces,
pancetta, prosciutto, sautéed garlic.
Toss in the pan with a little butter or olive oil. Finish if you like with a little stock, white
wine, or lemon juice, season and reduce to form a sauce. Garnish with a little finely chopped mint or
other herbs, or finely lemon zest.
Pea Pasta
Add
cooked peas to pasta dishes. Peas go
well with cream, garlic, shallots, onion, leeks, white wine, ricotta, feta,
smoked salmon, chillis, pesto, rocket, parsley, mint.
Sugar Snap Peas
The
pods of sugar snap peas are edible because they're less stringy than garden pea
pods which have criss-cross fibres and are too tough to eat, which is why you
have to shell the peas before eating. Team
with bacon, butter, sage, prawns, mint, chicken and ham.
Snow Peas
Snow
peas are easy to grow and can be eaten raw, steamed, lightly sautéed or stir
fried so they retain their crispness and wonderful green colour. Don’t let them get too big or they can become
stringy and try to eat them as fresh as possible as they go limp and tasteless
if left too long.
RECIPE LINKS
Asparagus and peas
with hazelnuts
A
great fresh tasting spring recipe using the first peas and snow peas planted in
late autumn or winter, spring asparagus and the last of the hazelnuts picked in
autumn.
A great recipe for spring using spring lamb, young onions and early snow peas.
Penne with peas,
feta and lemon
A
great way to use all three commonly available types of peas and a lovely,
light, spring pasta.
Brussels sprouts
with peas and hazelnuts
This
is a terrific way to use young sprouts and spring peas as well as use up any
hazelnuts in store.
Crushed peas and
potatoes with sumac lamb cutlets
This
recipe shows how delicious peas can be when they are smashed up a bit.
Sugar snap peas
with orange, almond & dill
This
is a delicious way to use snap peas.
Garlic choy sum and
snow peas with peanuts
A
very tasty vegetable stir fry using snow peas and Asian greens. Asian greens need to be grown quickly in
spring and harvested while young before they can go to seed.
Green pea and
radish salad
This
salad uses the best of spring vegetables if you use fresh podded broad beans
rather than frozen ones. Lightly cook
them in boiling water, cool in cold water and remove their tough outer
skin. Radishes can be grown in early
spring but don’t let them grown too large and risk becoming woody.
Chilled pea soup with mint gelato
This
recipe is a sophisticated celebration of peas.
The combination of peas and lettuce is a classic. Use fresh peas and cook for a little longer
that frozen peas. You can use the last
of the stored potatoes to make this an early spring dish or wait until the
first chats are ready in late spring.
Warm green pea
& garlic dip
Peas
aren’t just for sides; they can star on their own as this dip proves.
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