Around The World in 52 Weeks: Sarma

Though sarma is traditionally a Serbian dish, Montenegro, my county for the week borders Serbia. Food in Montenegro has both Italian and Serbian influences. These wraps can be made using grape leaves, chard leaves, or cabbage leaves. I opted for the cabbage as I had one in my refrigerator and it didn’t require a trip to a specialty store (as the grape leaves would have.)

The only thing I regret about this dish was not having started it earlier. It takes three hours to cook, so starting dinner at 6PM was just a dumb idea on my part. When dinner was finally read around 9PM I indulged in these delicious wraps. The sauerkraut made them the perfect amount of bitter. I would definitely make these again.

Sarma
(source)

Ingredients
1 head cabbage
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 lb ground pork
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 egg
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can sauerkraut
1 cup tomato sauce
water, as needed

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine the meat, rice, onion, egg, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Form meat mixture into oblong balls, about 1/2 cup of meat each. Wrap each ball with a cabbage leaf.

2. Spread the sauerkraut on the bottom of a pan. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, on top of the sauerkraut. Pour tomato sauce on top and then add enough water so that the cabbage rolls are completely covered.

3. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, allowing to simmer. Simmer for 3 hours.

* serves 3
* Shared with KB and Whitesnakes’s Simply Delish Saturdays.

I’d like to see people travel the globe with me.
Every Saturday I will be posting my recipe, as well as pictures to ethnic cuisines you have made and want to share.

- You must mention The Law Student’s Cookbook‘s Around The World In 52 Weeks in the entry you link. You can either use a link or use the banner.
- In your post you must  at least mention what cuisine the dish is.
- Email me your recipe at elizabeth@crabtech.net. Make sure to include:

* Your name or blog name
* The direct link to your post
* A picture of the dish or permission to pull a picture from the post

- Make sure to email me by Saturday at 12noon Pacific Standard Time
- If you enter a recipe you will be automatically entered into my current giveaway.

Around The World in 52 Weeks: Barbecue Limas

This week my kitchen to the Marshall Islands. I was going to make dessert as well as dinner, but I kind of forgot I didn’t have any heavy cream and had to say goodbye to my plans to make a coconut cream macadamia cake, because I was too lazy to go to the grocery store.

While I didn’t make the coconut cream cake, I did use an ingredient I haven’t use before (which by the way is another of my resolutions for the year.) I had no idea until I made last week’s meal plan that butter beans and lima beans were actually the same thing. I had a can of butter beans in my cabinet, for whatever reason, and they have been sitting there forever because I had no idea what a butter bean was. I learned this week that it’s a lima bean! I’d never cooked with butter/lima beans before, but this Marshall Islands dish was delicious.

Of course the American is using canned lima beans.. But if we were actually on the Marshall Islands in the Caribbean we would have fresh beans that grow wild on the island. Cite.

I wasn’t too sure about this recipe. But after it was made and I was eating it, it was so good. And my boyfriend liked it too. We like the Marshall Islands.

Barbecue Limas (adapted from here)

Ingredients
1 can lima beans (or butter beans)
6 oz spicy Italian sausage
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 16-oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp mustard
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

1. Brown the sausage, onion, and garlic in a skillet. Add the tomato sauce, mustard, and brown sugar and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

2. Pour the sausage mixture into a baking dish. Mix with lima beans and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

* serves 2
* I’m sharing this dish with KB and Whitesnake’s Simply Delish Saturdays.

I’d like to see people travel the globe with me.
Every Saturday I will be posting my recipe, as well as pictures to ethnic cuisines you have made and want to share.

- You must mention The Law Student’s Cookbook‘s Around The World In 52 Weeks in the entry you link. You can either use a link or use the banner.
- In your post you must  at least mention what cuisine the dish is.
- Email me your recipe at elizabeth@crabtech.net. Make sure to include:

* Your name or blog name
* The direct link to your post
* A picture of the dish or permission to pull a picture from the post

- Make sure to email me by Saturday at 12noon Pacific Standard Time
- If you enter a recipe you will be automatically entered into my current giveaway.

Chicken Saltimbocca over Noodles with Sauteed Kale and Garlic

Until recently my two favorite vegetables were sweet potato and spinach. Recently a new veggie has made the list: kale. Seeing kale
in the store, I would never suspect that it would be something  I wanted to eat so bad. But having kale for the second time, it’s definitely finding a way into my regular diet.

The chicken saltimbocca required more work than what I would normally put into a weeknight meal, but luckily I still am on break! The sage had such a delicious flavor. And the prosciutto. Basically, the whole dish was YUM!

 

Chicken Saltimbocca

Ingredients
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
8 fresh sage leaves
4 slices prosciutto
1 3/4 cup flour
3 tbsp Brummel&Brown (or other butter replacement or butter)
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions

1. Lay the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap.  With a mallet pound the meat to 1/4 inch thick. Season each breast with salt and pepper.

2. Arrange 2 sage leaves on top of each chicken breast. Wrap 1 slice prosciutto around the chicken like a belt, covering the sage. Pour 1/4 cup of flour in a pie pan. Dredge the chicken in the flour.

3. In a large frying pan, melt 2 tbsp Brummel&Brown. Add the chicken in the skillet and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until cooked all the way through. Remove from the pan and set aside, covering to keep warm.

4. Reduce heat to medium. In the same pan melt the remaining Brummel&Brown and whisk in the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp of flour and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the wine and the broth and cook until the sauce has thickened. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

* serves 4
* 318 calories per serving
* the calorie count does not include the pasta

Sauteed Kale and Garlic

Ingredients
1/2 lb fresh kale, stem removed and leaves chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups water

Directions

 1. In the olive oil saute the red onion and garlic, until they begin to turn brown.

2. In the skillet add the kale with 1/2 cup water. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated. Add another 1/2 cup of water and cook the water off again. Repeat one more time.

* serves 4
* 62 calories per serving

Slow Cooked Hoisin Pork

I love my slow cooker, but for some reason I don’t give it much use. This doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, because given the fact that I am considerably busy with school and work and just life in general, the slow cooker would make sure that I had dinner at a reasonable hour without having to rush home from working and going to school to make sure I have time to eat before running to my night class again.

Whenever I use the slow cooker I get the same thoughts, but just as fast as I think it the slow cooker makes its way to the back of the closet where it sleeps until I beckon it again.

This dinner was absolutely delicious. I had this chunk of pork that I had cut into two pieces. Unfortunately the first chunk just turned into a huge fail with another dish I made a few nights before.

Using the slow cooker was definitely the way to make sure this pork was cooked to perfection!

I am only going to share the pork recipe in this post. I served it with white rice and a peanut cabbage slaw. The slaw wasn’t something I’d make again, so it’s not worth sharing.

Slow Cooked Hoisin Pork

Ingredients
3 lbs pork, trimmed of thick fat
Salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 piece of ginger about 2 1/2 inches long, peeled and grated
about 7 1/2 oz hoisin sauce

Directions

 1. Rub the trimmed pork with salt and pepper. Put it in the slow cooker. Add the garlic, tucking the cloves around the pork. Put the grated ginger in the slow cooker. Pour the hoisin sauce over everything. Cook on low for 10 hours.

2. When the 10 hours has passed, with two forks shred the pork and make sure to mix the sauce around.

* serves about 6 – this kind of depends on what sized servings you get
* no calories calculations on this one due to my uncertainty regarding amount of servings

Swedish Cardamom Meatballs over Orange Mashed Potatoes

After having made Swedish meatballs several weeks ago, when I happened upon this other Swedish meatball variation, I was all over it. While I’ve seen Swedish meatballs served over noodles or by themselves, I decided I wanted to serve them over my favorite mashed potatoes ever. Matt also loves these mashed potatoes which is surprising because he’s usually such a traditionalist with food. These orange mashed potatoes are sweeter than your average mashed potato with a hint of surprise.

The cardamom and the orange paired beautifully together.
It was a meal I wish I had more of.

Swedish Cardamom Meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 3 egg
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup Brummel&Brown, divided
• 6 cups sliced yellow onions
• 1/2 cup sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups beef broth
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons dry gravy maker mix
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl soak the breadcrumbs in milk for 5 minutes. Mix in the meat, eggs, and chopped onion. Season with cardamom, salt, and pepper to taste.  Roll into 1 1/2 inch meatballs.

2. Saute the meatballs in 1/4 cup Brummel&Brown for about 20 minutes.

3. In a separate skillet saute the sliced onions with 1/4 cup Brummel&Brown and sugar, until caramelized about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Remove the meatballs and onions from both pans and set on separate plates and set aside. Deglaze both pans with the remaining 1/2 cup of Brummel&Brown and beef broth. Cook over high for one minute and then combine the contents of both the pans into one.

5. Stir in the cream and caramelized onions into the pan. Season with gravy seasoning, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves. Bring to a simmer. Mix the water and the cornstarch together and then stir into the sauce. Add meatballs and simmer approximately 20-30 minutes.

* serves 12
* A LOT of calories per serving

Ground Pork and Bacon Wraps

I told you in my last post that after making the Swedish Meatballs I had excess thawed ground beef and ground pork. Rather than get out more meat to use, I decided to alter the recipes I had upcoming in my meal plan to make sure everything got used up. This meal initially was supposed to be chicken and bacon fajita. Since the ground beef was used in the tetrazzini, it only followed that the ground pork was going into the next dish: the fajitas, which I am going to call wraps instead since I did not use fajita sized tortillas.

The flavor of the ground pork plus the… more pork (bacon) was delicious. This was such an easy recipe, but still had a ton of flavor packed into the tortilla.

Ground Pork and Bacon Wraps

Ingredients
12 oz ground pork
3 slices bacon, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
4 multi-grain tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory tortillas)

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-heat. Cook the pork until it is no longer pink in the middle. Set aside.

2. Cook the bacon until the bacon begins to release some oil.  Stir in the onion and bell peppers. Cook until the onions are translucent and the bacon is crispy. Stir in the tomatoes and mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are soft.

3. Warm the tortillas. Scoop 1/4 of the mixture into each tortilla. Roll and enjoy!

* serves 4
* 1 wrap per serving
* 413 calories per serving

Swedish Meatballs

This was a sparse meal. I should have made a noodle. I did have a vegetable, but it wasn’t worth sharing with you. You know, I only share the best.

Despite the minimalness of this picture and the meatballs, the flavor was so absolutely delicious and despite the fact that it looks like I didn’t have very much to eat, it was very rich and filled me up.

These meatballs weren’t exactly easy to make. They also weren’t exactly hard. But they definitely were time consuming.  This is a dish when you want something yummy, but not for when you’re in a hurry!

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

MEATBALLS
1 onion, peeled and grated (through a cheese grater)
2 tbsp Brummel&Brown
2/3 cup skim milk
4 slices of bread, torn into pieces
2 eggs
1 lb ground pork
1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground black pepper

SAUCE
6 tbsp Brummel&Brown
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart beef broth
3/4 cup sour cream

Directions

1. Saute the grated onion in the butter spread over medium heat until translucent. Remove from heat and let cool.

2. In a medium bowl soak the bread in the milk. Set aside for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes pulverize the bread in a food processor and pour into a large bowl.

3.  Add the onions to the bread. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients to the bowl and with clean hands, combine the ingredients into well combined. In 1 tablespoon portions, shape the meat mixture into meatballs with your hands. Set them aside as you go until all the meatballs are formed.

4. Heat the 6 tbsp of Brummel&Brown for sauce in a large saute pan over medium heat. Once melted, reduce the heat and add the meatballs. Brown the meatballs on all sides and remove from the skillet, without cooking all the way through.

5. Slowly whisk the flour into the butter you cooked the meatballs in. Let the flour cook until it is a coffee-with-cream color, mixing regularly.

6. In another pot, heat the beef broth until it simmers. Slowly add the beef stock to the flour a little at a time. Keep stirring, until it becomes loose and silky.

7. Add the meatballs to the sauce, turning the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes.

8. Remove the meatballs and place in a serving dish. Add the sour cream to the sauce and mix well. Serve over the meatballs.

* serves 8