Slow Cooked Lamb Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

Market vendor, Bruce Roberts of Little River Ranch, prepared these tasty sliders for Cabbage Day.

Slaw
Choose a tender young cabbage and rough chop it to your desired size. Place in a non reactive dish (plastic or glass) and pour the brine (recipe below) over it. Refrigerate overnight and pour off the brine. You can save the brine and use again, if desired. Add a drizzle of good olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.

Brine
3/4 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey

Brine recipe can be doubled if more brine is needed to cover cabbage.

Slow Cooked Lamb
Rob a leg of lamb or shoulder roast with salt and pepper and place in oven at 225 degrees for approximately 5 hours (internal temp of 175 using meat thermometer). A thermostatically controlled smoker also works well.

Remove from cooking and once lamb has cooled enough to handle, manually shred and chop the meat to "pulled BBQ" consistency. The bones can be used to make broth for other uses.

Construct the sliders with the shredded meat and slaw using fresh bread from the farmers' market. Add BBQ or hot sauce of your choice, though the natural flavors of the lamb and slaw will stand alone nicely!

Kimchi and Sauerkraut

Alice Loyd, senior gardener, food preserver and market educator extraordinaire, shared samples of Kimchi and Sauerkraut in honor of Cabbage Day. She uses Sally Fallon's recipe from Nourishing Traditions. Makes 2 quarts

1 head green or Napa cabbage, cored and shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup grated daikon radish (optional)
1-2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
3 cloved garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried chile flakes
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons whey (if not available, use an additional 2 teaspoons salt)
1/2 cup filtered water

Place vegetables, ginger and red chile flakes in a bowl and mash down with wooden pounder until juices are released. Stuff into a half-gallon wide-mouth mason jar and press again with pounder. The top of the vegetables should be 1 inch below top of jar. Mix water with whey and salt and pound over cabbage mixture. Add additional water if needed to bring liquid to top of cabbage. Cover tightly. Keep in a warm place for 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

For Sauerkraut:
Using the same method, combine 2 quarts loosely packed shredded cabbage with 2 teaspoons salt and 2 tablespoons whey. Pound in bowl and again in jar until most cabbage sits in its own liquid. Fill jar with filtered water and keep in warm place 3 days. Flavor will continue to improve for several weeks.

Better Cauliflower Casserole

I found some amazing cauliflower from Red Bud Farms last Saturday and did not want to make the standard gratin dish or just steam it. This recipe was delicious and the fresh dill sets it off perfectly. Enjoy.

1 head cauliflower, with the bottom cut flat

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

Mix together the butter and seasonings. Rub all over the cauliflower.

Bake in a covered casserole dish at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup

Recipe provided by Lynne Berla of Olifant & Castelo

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons dried lemongrass or 2 teaspoons lemongrass powder
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
2 kaffir lime leaves plus 2 tablespoons lime zest or 2 tablespoons lime zest if no kaffir leaves
1/3 cup sliced onion or 1 tablespoon dried onion
1/2 lb chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks, or 1/2 lb chicken breast cut into thin strips
1/8-1 teaspoon bird's eye (Thai) chile powder or 1-2 fresh chiles (depending on your heat preference). Warning: bird's eye chile is very hot, so use sparingly until you reach comfort level
14 oz coconut milk (may use light if desired)
1-3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 -3 teaspoons brown or white sugar
fresh basil and/or cilantro

1) Put chicken stock and lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves and/or lime zest and onions in a large pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve and return strained stock to pan

2) Add chicken to stock with chiles and coconut milk. Simmer for 6 minutes

3) Mix in fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Simmer for 1 minute more

4) Transfer soup to large tureen or individual bowls. Garnish with fresh basil or cilantro, if desired, and enjoy!

Chicken Tandoori Drumsticks

Recipe provided by Martin's Curry Rice

Ingredients:
6 lbs chicken drumsticks
1/4 cup ground ginger
1/4 cup ground garlic
1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup (marinade) and 1/4 cup (just before grilling) olive oil
1 tablespoon salt

Directions:
Skin the chicken drumsticks, was thoroughly and dry on absorbent paper. Slash them about 6 times right until the bone with a sharp pointed knife. Whip the ginger, garlic, chili powder, garam masala, salt, yogurt and oil to make the marinade.

Smother drumsticks in the marinade (use fingers to work marinade through slits made in chicken) and leave covered in regrigerator overnight (important).

Add 1/4 cup oil to the marinated chicken, mix. Lay the drumsticks on a hot grill. Cover and cook for approximately 10 minutes at 275 degrees. Turn the chicken and cover for another 10 minutes.

Sprinke with salt to taste and garnish with lemon and onion slices.