Embracing Routine, and Braised Cabbage

Instagram lately.

Airing out stinky hockey equipment.

Swedish meatballs at IKEA.

A quick trip to Muskoka, where there's still plenty of snow.

Our kitchen, turned into a barbeque assembly area.
Wii, rediscovered.
Food.
Hockey.

I'm grateful that we made the time for a quick road trip last weekend.  Things have been so routine around here, and although I try to appreciate all of the moments that make up our everyday lives, I desperately needed a changed of scenery.

We celebrated another hockey tournament championship.

Number one son decided to make a birthday cake for his girlfriend.  The recipe he chose wasn't a simple one, and a two hour education followed.

Lessons learned:

Unhusked hazelnuts do NOT have the husk removed.  

Hazelnuts are also known as filberts.  

Husks are not easily removed with a vegetable peeler.  

Toasting nuts removes most of the husks with minimal effort.

Hazelnut paste is not Nutella.

Heavy cream is whipping cream, not the table cream I use in my coffee.

The toothpick will never come out completely clean.

Icing a cake with mousse is a pain in the a**.

Mom needs a new stand mixer.

We ate Irish food in honour of St. Patrick.  The kids thought the corned beef tasted like ham, so the ham-haters in the house weren't impressed.  I've never made this before, so I just used the pre-seasoned, packaged brisket from the grocery store.  Next time I think I'll try making a more authentic one from scratch.

Surprisingly, the braised cabbage was a hit.  Until now, I had never even so much as bought a cabbage, unless you count the pre-shredded coleslaw mix.  Growing up, I couldn't stand it.  If cabbage rolls or sauerkraut appeared on my plate, you could bet I'd be at the table for a very long time trying to find ways to avoid eating.  I didn't much like the smell while I was slicing it, but once it started to simmer the smell was amazing.  One of the kids thought it tasted like onion rings.

I will be making this again.

Braised Cabbage

adapted from Emeril's recipe on the Food Network

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons bacon fat

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

One half of large head of cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

1/2 bottle beer
Red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

In a large pan, melt butter and bacon fat. Add the onion, bay leaf, and cabbage, stirring to mix. Add the beer, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Braise until the cabbage has wilted, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf, sprinkle with red pepper flakes (optional) and serve immediately.

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Shamrocks, and Tater Tot Casserole

We celebrated a birthday in our house on St. Patrick's Day.   

The tradition is that the birthday child, or in this case adult, is allowed to choose their favourite meal for dinner on their birthday.  So we decked out the kitchen in shamrock swag and made Tater Tot Casserole.

Creamy, spicy ground beef, green beans, frozen tater tots, and shredded cheese.  This is simple comfort food, and it was devoured in record time.  The potato topping and GREEN beans made it work as a St. Patrick's Day meal which was an added bonus.

Tater Tot Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef.

1 onion, diced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp Montreal Steak Spice (if you can't find it, there's a DIY recipe here)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup, OR this Basic White Sauce, if you prefer to avoid canned soups

1 tbsp ketchup

Dash of hot sauce (optional)

1 can of green beans, or fresh steamed green beans

1 bag of  frozen Tater Tots

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F.  In a large pan, scramble fry ground beef with onion until the meat is cooked and the onions are soft.  Depending on how lean your ground beef is, you may want to drain some of the fat from the pan.  I usually buy extra lean ground beef and don't bother with draining the fat from the meat.  Add garlic and seasoning, stir and cook for another minute or so.

Stir in the basic white sauce OR cream of mushroom soup, along with the ketchup and hot sauce, if using.  Heat through while stirring occasionally.  Transfer to casserole dish.  If using canned green beans, drain first and pour over meat mixture.  I like to use fresh green beans which I've cut into bite sized pieces and steamed until crisp-tender.

Add a layer of frozen Tater Tots over the green beans, and top with shredded cheese.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked and the cheese is melted.

And this was the requested dessert.  Stay tuned.

*Update*

The recipe is up for the Coconut Banana Chia Chocolate Snack Cake

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