Kimchi Soup

By Natalie 

This is a very satisfying, hot, spicy soup experience. Its a quick version, inspired by more complex soups and stews like kimchi-jjigae.  I really adore kimchi, which is a traditional Korean side dish often made by fermenting napa cabbage or other vegetables.

I find this soup is especially good if one is feeling under  the weather.

Ingredients:

Couple of slices of a fatty ham,cubed (optional, remove if you wish to make the soup vegetarian)
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 TB grated ginger (optional, can be strong. leave out if you like)
2 TBs soy sauce
1 TSP toasted sesame oil
1 TSP fish sauce/Worcestershire
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups kimchi, (a bit older is fine) squeeze out juice and chop
1 TB red pepper flakes
1 TB gochujang
1 cup kimchi juice or how ever much you can squeeze out of the kimchi, even if  its not a full cup.
8 cups water/ broth
1 c chopped scallions

Chop the ham and marinate for a few mins with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and fish sauce.

Saute ham mixture in a medium/large pot cook for a few mins. Add onion and cook for a few.

Turn heat to medium high and add the kimchi and gochujang. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Add the kimchi juice and the water or brothand bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer and cook for 20 minutes. 

Serve in big bowls with scallions on top. I also like some thin sliced daikon floated  on top, and to add a squeeze of lime.

The Farmhouse Cookbook w. Raised Doughnuts, Puzzle Cake, Beef Stroganoff & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: The Farmhouse Cookbook, Claire Moon

Publication Details: Ideals Publishing, 1978

Ideals Magazine was an inspirational and religious magazine that started publication in the 1940's and that was especially known for its Christmas and Easter issues. The magazine aimed for a folksy charm and centered around family stories, poems, illustrations, traditional tales and the like. While the magazine ceased full publication several years ago, they still publish those two holiday issues which are available through larger bookstores and sites like Amazon.


Back in their heyday Ideals would also publish special issues and magazine formatted cookbooks of various kinds. In fact, they published a lot of cookbooks! I have seen sites where 70 or more titles are listed.

These cookbooks are often worth tracking down for their large numbers of themed recipes as well as their reflection of North American cooking in the eras in which they were published. The cookbooks run the gambit from bread to cookie to budget to gourmet to meat and on and on. Some, such as the one we are looking at today, have sections for all of these and are centred around what one supposes must be an "ideal, in this case the "Farmhouse".

As with many cookbooks from the 1970s, The Farmhouse Cookbook swings frequently between the classic and the campy, including in its full page photography. Here the photography seeks to emphasize the farmhouse theme.

There are pages and pages of recipes broken down by type (Salads, Mains, Desserts, etc.). Most often there are 4-6 recipes to a page! These are all over the map in terms of their appeal to a 2017 palate. Classics like Beef Stroganoff, Sauerbraten or Potato Pancakes never really go out of style while others like Cheese Savory Canapes and Celebration Salad likely are too dated for all but the most adventurous to attempt.

Then are are those like the Sauerkraut Casserole that sound kind of "out there" at first, but on closer inspection have interesting flavour combinations. Whether these combinations are of interest to you or not, of course, is another matter.

Here we are going to look at only a small number of the cookbook's recipes focusing on those that had accompanying photographs. To see the rest, alas, you will have to track a copy down!

The recipes either immediately proceed or follow their picture.

(Click on images to enlarge)

(Above the Red Cabbage recipe is pictured as accompanying a pork roast)

See also: Eastern Vegetarian Cooking w. Lime Pickle, Dashi, Millet & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

See also: Mary Poppins in the Kitchen w. Dundee Cake, Welsh Rarebit, Yorkshire Pudding & more! -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook TBT List

Spicy Red Cabbage and Sesame

Submitted by Natalie

This is a  delicious dish with Asian inspired flavours and some heat. It is also vegan.

Ingredients: 

1 Red cabbage sliced into thick shreds

4 cloves garlic smashed and minced

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp or 3 to 4 shakes cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp red hot chili pepper flakes 

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 heaping tsp all natural peanut butter

1 tablespoon black vinegar

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce (regular or sodium reduced)

1 tsp vegeta seasoning

sesame seeds

lime

Heat enough olive oil to cover a large saucepan with a thin layer to medium-high heat.

Add the sliced cabbage to pan and saute until softened,  around 5-8 minutes, stirring regularly.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together 1/4 cup of water and the vegeta seasoning, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar and both of the vinegars. 

Add to the cabbage in the saucepan and lower heat to medium-low. 

Cook another 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly. 

Add the cayenne and blend in.

Add the peanut butter, and bit of water to thin if needed, and blend in thoroughly.

Add the hot pepper flakes and blend in.

(This is a pretty spicy dish, so if spicy is not your thing cut the cayenne and red pepper in half or taste and adjust as needed. If you really don;t like the heat. a dash of cayenne and a pinch of red pepper flakes is very tasty and not too spicy.)

Plate the cabbage dish and then to finish, top by sprinkling sesame seeds over it. Serve with a lime wedge. A couple of squirts of lime add a lot! 

A great side or summer salad lunch dish. 

Enjoy.

See also: West African Peanut Chicken

See also: Fiery Okra Jalapeño Slaw‏

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