Chef Mik's Kåldolmar aka Stuffed Cabbage

The recipes for stuffed cabbage are vast and varied, as is its predecessor stuffed grape leaves or dolma’s. As for stuffed cabbage here in the States they enjoy most likely the largest on the planet and serve them with tomato sauce. In what use to be Yugoslavia they make a great version known as sarma with the addition of sauerkraut and broth. In Sweden they serve theirs known as kåldolmar with a light gravy and lingonberries which is the version I am preparing today. King Karl XII first introduced them to Sweden after having battled with the Turks in the late 1600’s, and it has been a staple ever sense. It is quite similar to cabbage pudding which is popular all over Northern Europe. Like cabbage pudding this recipe is great just the way it is and most people don’t do much to change the basics. When they do, the most common variation would be the cabbage some use green while others prefer savoy. Beyond that the only other things that will differ from time to time is the rice more often then not a short grain such as Arborio is used however there are those who apt for a long grain instead though most any precooked rice will do. For the record, I will be preparing mine with Jasmine rice, also sometimes when I prepare cabbage pudding one thing I like to do is add either a stout porter or dark beer to my broth, which I will add to my braising liquid today, but it is by no means a necessity. Some might say I am playing it rather safe as there are of course those who would rather experiment with the dish, I have been guilty of doing so myself creating versions where in the filling consisted of wild hare and/or bore and chanterelles or having finished the dish with a nice morel mushroom sauce. . Nevertheless I have also come full circle and enjoy the classic and understand well why it enjoys that title

Shopping List

Green or savy cabbage

Ground beef

Ground pork

Rice

Eggs

Milk

Onions

Bread crumbs

Flour or corn starch

Veal or beef broth/stock

Lingonberries

Clarified butter or butter and oil

Salt

Pepper

My Mad Method

Start by prepping your cabbage, core the thick stem

Simmer the cabbage in well salted water until the leaves have softened, are pliable and have begun to release themselves

Drain the cabbage and either submerge in an ice bath of simply allow it to cool on its own

There is a thick rib that runs down the back of the leaves that attached them to the stem, gently trim a portion away, which will make them easier to roll

Filling: 2 parts ground beef, 1 part ground pork, 1 sautéed onion, precooked rice, 1 egg per pound, milk water or broth, bread crumbs salt and white pepper to taste

Place 75 grams filling in the center of the cabbage leaves, fold in sides and roll up tight

Here is an example of what the finished roll should look like

As you are preparing your rolls pack them tightly to keep them together, seem side down

Sear off the rolls in clarified butter or a combination of butter and oil, and pack tight again seem side down, add a little broth and braise for 45 min until nicely browned

Fresh out of the oven and ready to serve!! Many people life to make gravy out of the sauce, simply pore liquid over into a pot and thicken with a roux or corn starch, you can also add a touch more broth or even cream

Ready to eat!!

Shown here with pan gravy, and lingonberries

 

Chef Mik's Ciabatta

Today I am baking ciabatta which is somewhat similar to focaccia, it is bread best enjoyed the same day it is baked, though they freeze well. Ciabatta is a water based bread that employs a starter which I normally have on hand although at home prepared one yesterday. Back in the kitchen however we had been using the same starter for the prier 3 years which we simply fed and replenished.  Back in the café we sold our ciabatta by the loaf or by the roll, and used them on several of our sandwiches. It’s nice airy bread which is a great back drop for grilled meats and/or vegetables either on a sandwich or served along side. We made several breads that were flavored with fresh herb’s, olives, sundried tomatoes what have you, many of which we prepared with the rustic Italian style bread, though I also enjoy using a bread with a starter such as ciabatta for those types of breads.

Baking tips: Give yourself plenty of time, ciabatta is not bread that you can bake start to finish in a couple hours. Even if you have a starter it will take at least 4 and a half to 5 hours do to the fact the dough rises twice, the first of which for about 3 hours the dough is handled 3 times the first hour and a half every 30 minutes, folding the dough as one might a letter before placing it into an envelope, folding in the sides as well before returning to the container. After that first 90 minutes the dough is left to rise another 90 minutes undisturbed. So yes a bit labor intensive but once you try the finished product you will know it was worth the time and effort 

Shopping List

Bread flour

Fresh or instant yeast

Filtered water, or soft water

Sea salt

My Mad Method

Combine 430-50g bread flour, 1 tsp instant yeast and 1 TBSP sea salt, the starter broken up, 4-5dl warm (35c) water, mix to a semi loose cohesive dough

Transfer the dough to a good sized container with a tight fitting lid

Here is a photo of the dough rising in a container with a tight fitting lid

After the first 30 minutes it will be time for first fold which will be repeated twice more before the dough is left to rise additional 90 minutes

This is the dough after 3 hours, ready to work

Dust the top of the dough with flour, carefully roll out onto a well dusted counter top divide the dough, stretch it 10-20cm, fold again and allow another 45 minutes proofing

Using a bread paddle flip the dough, stretch it being careful not to pop air bubbles, dust with corn meal if desired, indent dough with fingers tips

Roll the dough over again onto a stone in a 225c preheated oven bake for 35 minutes or until you have a nice crust and if taped sounds hollow

Straight out of the oven allow the bread to relax and cool down on a wire wrack before serving

Ready to serve!

Chef Mik's Bread Starter

This is a base to a great starter well suited for ciabatta, Italian bread, focaccia and so on. It’s good to have on hand and will keep as long as you replenish it.

One note; yeasted water is simply water with very little yeast in it, just enough to get the starter going, here is the basic measurement: 1/4 TBS instant yeast that dissolved in 2.5dl water.

Shopping List

Rye flour

Whole wheat flour

Bread flour

Unbleached all purpose flour

Yeast

Filtered water

My Mad Method

Combine 1 TBS rye flour, 1 TBS whole wheat flour together with 1/2 TBS yeasted water along with circa 3-4dl water

Add 250g bread flour, 150g all purpose flour

When the starter has come together into a tight mix transfer it to a container with a tight fitting lid and store at room temperature for 24 hours

This is the starter after 24 hours it is now ready to be used! For a sour starter allow it to sit a bit longer

Chef Mik's Lemon Orange Cake

The first cake recipe I ever came up with in my life was a lemon orange cake; I was 7 or 8 years old at the time. I created it in the kitchen with my mother who was an executive chef in her own right, though she mainly managed restaurants by that point. At any rate to this day it remains one of my favorite cakes of all time. While that recipe having both lemon and orange is somewhat different then this one here, I have always gravitated towards this combination. In fact the first poultry dish I ever came up with was a "Lemon Orange Chicken" with the additions of ginger and garlic, when I was also about 8. Interestingly enough lemon and orange is somewhat common in Mexican cuisine, as is ginger and garlic quite common in Asian cuisine which means I’ve been a practitioner of cross cooking sense childhood! But I digress, I should mention I typically use Myers lemons in the cake and if I serve it with glaze I do so with confectioner’s sugar diluted in Myers lemon juice. Having said that one thing I love about this cake is the texture that comes in the form of the nut crust.

Shopping List

Butter

Caster sugar

Eggs

Vanilla

Myers lemons

Navel oranges or juice oranges

Walnuts

Cranberries

Flour

Baker’s powder

Salt

My Mad Method

Using a paddle cream together 230g butter or margarine and 400g sugar, next add 8 eggs 1 at a time and mix to combine add 2 tsp vanilla extract with last egg.

Add the zest of one lemon and one orange also add 1dl each lemon juice, orange juice.

Incorporate 500-550g unbleached flour, 4ts baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt while mixing.

For this recipe today I am adding 100g each: toasted walnuts and dried cranberries.

Quickly combine the walnuts and cranberries into the batter.

Grease a cake form and fill with the ready cake batter, bake 1 hour or until a tooth pick comes out clean in a preheated 175c (350f) oven, if you like add nuts to the cake form.

Straight out of the oven ready to be plated and served!

Here is another version of the same cake and this is how we sell them.

Chef Mik's Chicken Picatta

There are so many versions of chicken piccata out there who knows where to begin. Most using some form of lemon sauce finished with butter. When I was in school I was taught to first dredge the veal, fish, pork or chicken in flour and then an egg wash seasoned with parmesan cheese and fry it, close to what they refer to as parmesan here State side. While in Italy I experienced a piccata deep-fried served as its own course. I call this one California style because I usually grill the chicken first, and finish the sauce with Myers lemons which are very common here on the West coast. However today I am dredging the chicken in flour the pan frying it and finishing the sauce with the addition of Parmesan cheese but no butter. I like to prepare the base to my sauce before hand then finish it when together with the chicken

Sorry the pore resolution on some of the photos, it was late there was no natural lighting...

Shopping List

Chicken

Parmesan cheese

Capers

Shallots

Garlic

Parsley

Unbleached all purpose flour

Butter

Extra virgin olive oil

Red pepper flakes, optional

Sea salt

Black pepper

My Mad Method

Clean and butterfly the chicken

Dredge the chicken in seasoned all purpose flour

I have simple seasoned my flour with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Infuse 2 cloves garlic and 1 TBSP shallots in 2 TBS clarified butter

I have also added some red pepper flakes 

Add 1 dl white wine, 3 dl chicken broth or stock, and the juice of 1 lemon

Heat 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil together with 1 or 2 TBSP unsalted butter

 

When the butter-oil is at temperature place the chicken presentation side down

When the chicken has browned flip it and brown the other side a couple minutes longer

Add sauce, cook for 5 minutes, it will reduce and thicken slightly, add the juice of 1 lemon, 2 TBSP capers, cook for a minute longer, turn off heat add 2 TBSP each Parmesan and chopped parsley stir melting cheese

Ready to eat

 

 

 

Chef Mik's Pork Tenderloin Filled Puff Pastry

The idea of baking meat in dough goes back most likely to the days of the Romans when they would prepare huge decadent feasts for the social alit, who’s glutinous ways eventually aided in the downfall of the empire. One of the things they would do would be to stuff one animal in another; you might think a turducken today. Sausages most likely came out of this practice as well, so you might say stuffing meat’s in bread was a natural evolution of sorts. To this day many countries have their own traditions of baking, boiling, poaching, steaming, or even frying meat or fish and along with whatever food or flavoring seen fit to accompany it. Here are a selection of some of the most well known; Spanish Empanada, the Polish pierogi, the English Wellington to name a few. As for me well I love all the above and will add this observation, as a boy my mother a chef in her own right use to bake one of if not the best beef Wellington I have ever tasted. That said she also prepared several adaptations of the dish including one of my personal favorites a meatloaf wrapped in puff pastry! Another version I love is similar to the one I am preparing today but has Kassler (a German type of smoked pork loin) in place of filet of pork which I am using today.   

Shopping List

Pork tenderloin

Bacon

Puff pastry

Garlic herb cheese

Mushrooms

Eggs

My Mad Method

Clean and trim one pork tenderloin. Remove head and tail and use center section

Season with salt and pepper and brown on all sides

Portion out puff pastry (oval is a great shape), spread herb cheese over the center of the pastry dough (about 1.5 dl)

Cover with sautéed mushrooms, and bacon. I have 6 mushrooms and 4 pieces of bacon

Place browned tenderloin presentation side down in the middle of the filling

Wrap the puff pastry around the meat and filling, seal with egg wash

Brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash, place in an 180c preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown

Ready to serve!!

Ready to eat!!