KT Cooked It: Gołąbki

In a previous post, I talked about my Polish heritage, visit to Poland, desire to learn to cook some traditional Polish food, blah blah blah. My first dish was a cold summer beet soup. Now that the weather is finally season-appropriate, I wanted to make something warm and cozy. So now you're asking yourself "what the heck is a gołąbki?" Gołąbki (known in the vernacular as "golumpki") is a cabbage roll made from slightly boiled cabbage leaves used to wrap a mixture of minced meat, onions, and barely or rice. My mom made them when I was growing up, and I didn't have the same appreciation for them then as I do now (what kid likes cabbage???). I asked my mom how to make them a few months ago, and it seemed pretty easy. With a grocery bag full of ingredients, I headed home to make dinner, and here is how I did it!

What you need:

1 large head of white cabbage

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1/2lb lean ground beef

1/2lb lean ground pork

1 small can of condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup cooked brown rice (or white rice or barely)

Salt, pepper, dill to taste

First, I cut the cabbage in half and removed the core. I placed the cabbage in boiling water and allowed it to cook until it was tender, which took about 20 minutes. I could see the leaves starting to come off, and took that as a sign that it was almost done boiling. I set the cabbage aside in the strainer and allowed it to cool. After it was completely cooled, I pealed the leaves off, setting aside the 8 largest leaves. I kept a few other leaves whole, and then chopped the rest of the cabbage. 

While the cabbage was cooling, I took 1 cup of chopped onion and browned it in the skillet with a little olive oil. Then I added the pork and beef to the skillet to brown. I also added garlic salt and pepper to the mix, about 1/2tbl of each. After the meat cooled, I added one whole egg to the mix. Then, I separated the mix into two bowls. In one bowl I added the 1/2 cup of cooked rice (oh yeah, I cooked the rice while the cabbage was boiling!), and to the other I added the left over cabbage that I chopped up. The reason that I did this was because I try (operative word) not to eat much grain and I also love cabbage, so half rice/half extra cabbage gołąbki seemed reasonable consider Eric doesn't have the same feelings about cabbage...

Finally, it was time to roll my mix into the leaves. This took a little trial and error. I added ~1/2c of 

the mix to the center of the leaf, folded the bottom up slightly, then the sides, and then rolled.

After rolling my 8 cabbages (4 of each mix), I laid the left over unchopped leaves of cabbage onto the bottom of my baking dish. I laid the rolls on top, with the open side down to hold everything in place. Next, I poured the can of tomato soup on top. I didn't water it down, but I'm sure that would have been ok. Also, the next time that I make these, I will also add a can of chopped stewed tomatoes. I also added about 1tbl of dill weed to the top. Finally, I cooked my dish for 30min at 350degrees.

And here they are, right before consumption mmmm! Even my hubby liked them :)

For information on Polish food and some great recipes, visit Tasting Poland! 

Smacznego!

KT Made It: Halloween Wreath

Only one more week until the kiddies come out trick-or-treating, and I am SO pumped! Growing up in a neighborhood pretty much in the woods where the houses are so far apart that no one can hear your scream was appropriately spooky for the Halloween festivities...but slim-pickin's in the candy collecting department. And then there's the fact that there weren't many kids in the neighborhood which made for little demand. Hence the annual trick-or-treating trip to the more condensed communities. These are the reasons why I am so excited to finally live in a community with both a lot of houses and a ton of kids! Not only do I get to hand out candy (and snag a Reeces cup or two), but now I can decorate for Halloween! And the need for decorations = crafts! Of course, coming up with an awesome set of Halloween decorations takes years of collection, not to mention cash to spare. However, a door wreath is an easy and inexpensive start to my sparse rubber maid bin for holiday decor.

Here are a couple of the wreaths that I found online that I loved. There are probably hundreds on etsy for your google-imaging pleasure.

This one comes from the DIY diva of Tatertots & Jello, one of my favorite crafting blogs! She has a tutorial, which is helpful for even the most novice of crafters. 

I saw a lot of witch wreaths like this one, which comes from the etsy shop of Posh Creations. Super cute!

And then there is the popular rolled rose wreath with a Halloween twist! This one comes from Living Locurto, where there's a link to a tutorial for felt roses (if you're feeling inspired!)

And then, of course there is my wreath made from whatever inspiration I could find at my local Michael's craft store (and little hunting around the discount Halloween aisle...)

Pretty spooktacular, if I do say so myself :)

KT Cooked It: Mexican "Rice" Bowl, Pico de Gallo, and more!

Every Friday night is date night for Eric and I, which pretty much makes Friday my favorite day of the week! So when I was thinking about what we should eat for dinner last Friday morning, my original thought was a nice pork roast with veggies and some kind of pumpkin dessert - very seasonal. And then I walked outside and realized it felt like summer in October! Pumpkin just did not seem right! What's a girl to do? Well the answer seemed pretty obvious to me: MEXICAN! I love Mexican food - its a true story. And while sitting outside sipping a margarita and eating some fresh pico de gallo seems strange in the fall, the weather last Friday was just right for practicing my culinary skills in the art of tex-mex.

I didn't really know what I wanted to make, but we already had chicken, tequilla, cointreau, and some spices in the house, which I kept in mind as I went perusing through the Safeway on the hunt for inspiration and ingredients. I ended up leaving the store with the necessaries to make the following menu:

• Baked tortilla chips and plantain chips with pico de gallo
• Chicken, "rice" and black bean bowel
• Tropical fruit margaritas

Here are the ingredients and recipes below! Everything turned out delicious, considering they were trial and error, but the steps are edited to exclude my mishaps :)

Tropical Fruit Margaritas
What you need: (Makes 2)
1/2 Sauza tequila
1/4 Cointreau
1cup mixed frozen fruit
1tbl honey
1tbl lime juice

I've tried mixing these ingredients in various portions and I've found (for me) that I like this combination! I put all the ingredients in my blender and that's pretty much it. The amount turns out to fit perfectly into two of my margarita glasses, with a little room for some water to make them less thick (and less strong if its a little too potent!)














Baked Plantain Chips
What you need:
2 plantains (or more if you like!)
Cold pressed Coconut Oil (I use Nutiva brand)
Cinnamon, chili powder, paprika, stevia

       Preheat the oven to 375degrees.

      Slice plantains. I sliced mine length-wise first, and then cut those strips into 3-4 slices. Next time I try this, I think I will slice the plantain in small wedges along the length of the fruit.

 Next, I lined my baking sheet with parchment paper (I’ve found this helps to make baked veggies more crispy). I laid the slices on the cooking sheet. I brushed the coconut oil onto each slice, then sprinkled cinnamon, chili powder, paprika and stevia over top.

    Then, I flipped the slices over and did the same on the other side.

     I put the plantains in the oven until the edges were brown and began curling on the sides, which was a total of 35minutes. I also flipped the slices half way through.

Baked Tortilla Chips
What you need:
Tortillas (I used multigrain), spices as desired

Preheat the oven to 375degrees

·         Cut the tortillas into wedges.

·         Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in oven.

·        Cook each side for about 6-9minutes, or until the edges are brown. Turn the wedges halfway though.

·      After I took them out of the oven, I sprinkled then with paprika and a little salt.

Pico de Gallo
What you need:
2 cups chopped, seeded tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2tbl chopped cilantro
1tbl minced garlic
1tbl lime juice

Chop all of your vegetables, cilantro and garlic. Place the ingredients in a mixing bowel, add 1tbl lime juice and mix.

 

Next, I took 2/3 of my mixture and put it in the food processor. Then, I mixed the processed portion with the remaining mixture and that was it!

Chicken, "Rice" and Black Bean Bowel
What you need:
1lb chicken breast
Spices (chili powder, paprika, cumin, paprika)
Red, orange, yellow sweet peppers (I bought a bag of mini peppers and used 3 of each color)
1/2 red onion, halved and sliced
Black beans (I used canned beans)
1 head of cauliflower
Cilantro, finely chopped

·      For the chicken:

  o   First, I blended my spices in a mixing bowl – 1tbl chili powder, 1 tbl cumin, 1/2tbl paprika, 1/2tbl cocoa powder.

     o   Next, I coated my chicken breasts in the spices mix.

     o   I browned the chicken in the skillet on high heat, then let them bake in a corning dish with a little water. I added water so that the chicken would be nice and moist, and therefore easy to shred. 

     o   After they were completely cooked, I let them cool and then used a fork to “shred” the chicken. I ended up adding more spices because coating the outside ended up not being enough for the flavor. I also added 1/4 cup of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and that turned out DELICIOUS. 

·      For the cauliflower rice:

    

    Core the head of the cauliflower.

    Chop the cauliflower into smaller pieces, small enough to fit into the food processor

    Use your food processor to finely chop the cauliflower, place into a mixing bowel

    

    Next, chop cilantro. I like my coarsely chopped. I chopped enough for 1cup worth.

    Mix the cilantro + 1-2tbl cumin and garlic salt with the cauliflower

    Finally, brown the cauliflower “rice” on high heat in a little olive oil.

Before putting together my "rice" bowels, I sliced my peppers and onions, and sauteed them in the skillet

Finally, I put the "rice" on the bottom, then some peppers and onions, then 1/4c of black beans and some chicken, and topped the whole thing off with some sliced avocado and pico de gallo!


After about two hours of chopping, blending, and cooking, I ended up with a delicious meal that my hubby loved!

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you have any suggestions on how to perfect my recipes, or if there is anything you think I should try, please leave a comment!