Blog - biscuits and such
southern food blog
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Roasted Cabbage

In preparation for today’s St. Paddy’s Day festivities I’ve been in the kitchen this afternoon roasting some cabbage. Roasted cabbage is one of my favorite winter time vegetables- it’s easy to come by all winter long, it pairs well with a wide variety of protein, and it offers a combination of flavor, crunch, and nutrition that I’m desperate for during the long winter months.

 

 

This winter I’ve been trying to be more thoughtful in my weekday meal prep. I realized that I was not eating lunch/scrounging for lunch/going out for lunch way more often than I was being thoughtful about what I was eating. So for the past few months I’ve been sticking to a strict ritual of food prep on Sunday afternoon so that I have lunches parceled out for the whole week before I even have to drag myself out of bed Monday morning.

 

 

 

I like my roasted cabbage prepared pretty simply with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. There’s a fine line between perfectly roasted and burnt (I live on that line), and the if you hit it just right the cabbage is sweet and crunchy with just a tang of vinegar. It’s a treat, whether or not it’s St. Patrick’s Day.

 

 

Roasted Cabbage

 

1 head cabbage

3-4 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

 

Halve and slice your cabbage into thin (1/4″) strips. Heat oven to 375F and spread cabbage out on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until browned.

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Colcannon

They say that on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish. And while the sentiment is certainly admirable, for those of us with deep roots in the South, this is also pretty true. A serious case of the norovirus a few  winters ago had me in bed and on ancestry.com for the better part of a week; just enough time to dig three hundred years back into my dad’s family history. It turns out that my grandmother’s description of our family history as “you know, a little Scotch, a little Irish, and a little English” was pretty accurate, and that with the addition of one Pole who immigrated to Wilmington in the early 1800s (the O.G. Rosemond), that’s what we are. Scots-Irish mountain folk who made their lives and found their homes in the foothills and mountains of North Carolina.

 On my mom’s side of the family things are a little more clear cut, as the immigration has happened more recently. My Grammy is Sicilian and my Poppie (a Waldron) is Irish. His family immigrated from County Mayo in the late 1800s.

 

 

Even more immediately my youngest sister, Genevieve, has elected to immigrate to Ireland. She’s engaged to a nice Irish lad and has absolutely no plans to ever move back stateside. And, while I miss her desperately, I’m not too sad to have a reason to visit Ireland and somewhere to stay in Dublin. Plus, when Everett and his cousin Iris are old enough I’ll be ready to ship them off to Auntie Gen & Uncle Naoise Camp across the ocean. Based on the amount of colcannon that Ev ate last night I have a feeling he’ll fit right in.

 

 

Colcannon

 

4 russet potatoes

1/2 cup whole milk

3 cups of shredded kale

1 white onion, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 tbsp butter

Salt & pepper to taste

Pinch of nutmeg

 

Clean and boil your potatoes, skin on. Sauté chopped white onion and garlic in 1 tbsp butter. Once onions have browned (3-4 minutes) add kale to the pan, stirring frequently until wilted.

 

Using a mixer or a large bowl and a strong forearm mash potatoes with 2 tbsp butter, milk, and spices. Add in kale and onion mixture and fresh green onions. Transfer to your serving dish.

 

Make a well in the top and add the remaining 2 tbsp butter, allowing it to melt into your hot potatoes!

 

 

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Sauerkraut & Dumplings

For the past few years I’ve been on a quest to understand how my family’s history is interwoven into the history of my home state, North Carolina. My family, Rosemonds and Ballengers and Caudells and Walkers (and on and on), has roots in this state that go back centuries. One of the most interesting components to exploring that for me has been the food, the food that is important to my family and the food that is important to my state.

 

 

A few years ago my Uncle Ted and Aunt Ann taught me how to make my great grandmother Flossie’s pound cake. While we were together, talking about food, my Uncle Ted told me about one of his favorite family recipes, a Caudell family favorite- sauerkraut & dumplings.

 

 

Flossie was from St Pauls, North Carolina, and her family was the blend of Scots-Irish and English that was typical of the Southern piedmont. While Ted wasn’t sure of the origins of the recipe it appears as though somewhere along the line a twist of German inspiration made its way into the family recipe book. Sauerkraut & dumplings is as straight forward as it sounds. The sauerkraut is made quickly on the stove with caraway seeds and apple cider vinegar and topped with light and fluffy dumplings. The combination is wonderful- the tangy vinegar and the salty dumpling, the crunch of the cabbage and the lightness of the dough. I understand why it’s a beloved family recipe that has been passed down through generations.

 

 

Sauerkraut & Dumplings

 

sauerkraut:

 

1 head cabbage, shredded

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp caraway seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cayenne pepper

 

dumplings:

 

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg, beaten

1 cup sifted flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

 

Combine half of your shredded cabbage and your vinegar in a large skillet. Simmer for 10 minutes, and stir in the remaining cabbage and the spices. Simmer over medium low, stirring frequently, for 30 minutes.

 

Mix your dumpling ingredients together. Spoon onto the hot sauerkraut and cover. Cook, leaving covered, for 30 minutes, long enough for the dumplings to set. Serve hot.

 

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