Cabbage Cake (Torta de Repollo)

You know how I love trying new recipes...and Erica at My Columbian Recipes always seems to have such good ones. So here is another Erica inspired recipe. Torta de Repollo is a traditional Colombian recipe that can be served as a side or main dish. I made it as a main dish and added meat to it...just to be a little different, and I had some ground chicken to use up. I would love this a lunch, brunch or breakfast!

Ingredients

3 tablespoon olive oil (or butter)

2 shallots (or 3 scallions), finely chopped

3 cups sliced cabbage (1 head), cored

1/2 - 1 lb ground chicken (or pork )

1/2 lb monteray jack white cheese, shredded (you can use what you have like mozzarella or queso blanco)

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder>

5 beaten eggs

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1/4 cup fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Method:

In a large skillet heat oil or butter and saute shallots until tender, about 5 minutes.

Brown the meat until no longer pink or the juices run clear.

Add the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl.

Add the cheese, eggs, milk, bread crumbs, meat, parsley and seasoning and salt and pepper.

Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until is set at 350 F.

Serve with tomato sauce.

This is a tasty way to eat your cabbage. I have been trying to discover way to enjoy it and eating it more.

I am up In Michigan right now for my nieces wedding. They have had a late spring and the trees are just starting to bud here.

...but not in bloom yet...

...I thought I would share some of our Spring trees in bloom from Florida. The Jacaranda from my neighbors house is so pretty, and the ground gets covered in the same purple blanket. It is just about done now.

I was hoping to see all the beautiful flowering trees they have here. If I find some I'll post it later.

Have a great weekend.

Shopping Dog and a Turkey Casserole (tetrazzini)

Tucker loves to go to the pet store! He is so excited when we reach the parking lot he can't wait to jump out of the car. At his age(14 1/2) ..we just can't leave him home, although we choose his dog food for him. We get him a potato duck blend that is for dogs with allergies. Sheesh! wouldn't you know it's our dog that has a food allergy!

When he was younger it was always fun to watch him run in place on the slippery floors of the store. He's slowed down a bit, but he still...

...has to check everything out!

I wonder...if he eats something that is displayed on his level....do we have to pay for it?
He does make sure that they don't forget his doggie treat during checkout!
I've added this to Camera Critters visit and check out more cute and interesting critters.

Now on to the food!

I know this is a little late for Thanksgiving leftovers, but Christmas is just around the corner and some of you will have turkey for that as well.

I guess this is a little like Turkey Tetrazzini, but I didn't have any spaghetti noodles so I used mini penne instead. That's the nice things about casseroles, you can use what you have and what you like!

I topped mine with cheddar cheese instead of Parmesan and bread crumbs.

I had some celery to use up so I added that, and I always like shallots instead of onions.

Ingredients
8 oz Mezze Penne
1 stalk celery chopped
1 shallot chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained (I used shitake)
1 cup peas
1 tsp tarragon
1 tsp dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
salt to taste

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking dish.
2.Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain, and place in the prepared baking dish.
3.In a touch of olive oil saute shallots and celery until tender.
4.Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour . Mix in chicken broth and milk. Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir in about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and remove from heat.
5.Mix everything... broth mixture, turkey, seasoning, celery, shallots, mushrooms...with pasta. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 20 - 30 minutes, until surface is bubbly or lightly browned.

You can make it as soupy or thick as you like it. You can top it with the parm and bread crumbs instead...any way you like it...as long as the kids will eat it! My daughter had two helpings, but she picked out the mushrooms.

Summer Squash Casserole

The local summer squash has been looking very good lately, and my daughter actually asked for some summer squash (she usually avoids zucchini). Then I remembered this casserole that my mother in law made us when we were in Michigan visiting them. The live on a dairy farm and My FIL always has a large garden going. Maranda has been able to pick fresh raspberries (her favorite) ever since she could remember. She was also able to see how the squash (both summer and zucchini) grew, she got to pick apples, grapes, strawberries, and carrots, green beans, and many more depending on what time of year we visit. I even went out with her to dig up some potatoes, she wasn't into getting her hands dirty for that!

Maybe some corn...she is out standing in a corn field...don't get lost! She was real little here.

She a little older in this one. Mmm... raspberries right off the bush. She would ask for a bowl to put the berries in, but she would come back and it would be empty. She ate them all! :D

Have you ever had sugar snap peas fresh from the garden? Nothing better!

Her dad wanted a picture of her on the tractor, she couldn't reach the pedals yet to plow the field!

I think I have some more photos when she was in between these too ages. I might not of scanned them yet! Later...

Back to the recipe! This is what I had to go by(note the cow, she has a lot of cow things). It seems the recipe is from Wade's Aunt Myla. You know how some of these old or I should say "classic" recipes are. I will type just what it says, and then tell you what I did!

Boil 10 minutes: 2 small (ok I'm not sure what it says here I think it says small) sliced, with
1 tsp salt
1/2 med onion
1/2 cup grated carrots
Brown: 1 pound ground beef
Add: 1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream (I used low fat)
Place: squash mixture on bottom of casserole dish, spread meat over top.
melt: 1/2 cup oleo
Add: 1 package instant stuffing mix & spices
Spread: over meat mixture
Bake at 325 degrees to brown topping.
I used two zucchini and 2 summer squash and sliced them. I didn't boil them first because my husband doesn't like the squash mushy. I figured it would cook just right with out the boil. Since the carrots are shredded they will cook in a short time too.

I used ground chicken instead of beef, and brown the onions (I like to use shallots) with the meat. I just used a vegetable peeler to shred the carrots. I did use Campbell cream of chicken soup, the low sodium one.

I used Stove Stop whole wheat stuffing and seasoning. I also added some of my Bonne Herbes blend on the squash, and I used butter instead of oleo, but used less than 1/2 cup. Baked for about 25-30 minutes. Until the top is browned and the squash is tender.

This is my kind of comfort food. Healthy, but with a little butter and stuffing thrown in!

Everyone was happy and ate it! I was lucky to have some leftovers for lunch!

Happy Friday! See you on Sunday for Tailgating time! Maybe I'll bring this along!

Tailgating Time
Pot Luck Friday