Ham & Kohlrabi Stew with Peas

It's another stew in July! But it cooks up so quickly and is really delicious. All it needs is some good crusty bread and butter to make it a complete meal.

I call for the peas last in the list of ingredients, because that is when they go into the stew, but do make sure they are shelled and ready beforehand!

I have been lucky to be able to get some really good local ham, processed at a small local butcher. If you can't get that maybe consider some good quality peameal bacon in its place. 

4  servings
30 minutes - 20 minutes prep time

1 kilo (2 pounds) kohlrabi
2 medium onions
1 cup chicken OR ham stock
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon rubbed savory OR thyme
2 bay leaves
500 grams (1 pound) smoked, raw ham steak
1 cup chicken OR ham stock (yes, another)
2 tablespoons chick pea flour
2 cups shelled fresh green peas

Peel the kohlrabi and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Put it in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot. Peel the onions and cut them into 6 or 8 wedges. Add them to the kohlrabi. Add the first cup of chicken stock, and the seasonings. Consider how salty the ham will be when you add the salt. Cover and bring it all up to a boil, then let it simmer steadily.

Meanwhile, cut out and discard any bone and excess fat from the ham, and cut it into slightly smaller (than the kohlrabi) bite-sized pieces. Add it to the pot of kohlrabi. Simmer until the kohlrabi and ham are both done, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the chick pea flour in the second cup of cold chicken stock. Mix well to be sure there are no lumps. There is no reason to add this last, as the chick pea flour needs plenty of time to cook, other than that it is important to get all the lumps out before it goes in. Add it as soon as it is lump-free and mix it in well, then let everything continue cooking until done.

Add the peas about 5 minutes before you are ready to serve the stew and let them simmer until done. If the stew is made in advance and re-heated, it would be best to keep them out until then.




Last year at this time I made Herby Feta, Quinoa, & Snow Pea Salad. 

Kohlrabi Soup

Here is a simple, unadorned soup; very straightforward. We thought it was lovely. The kohlrabis give it a mildly sweet flavour and have a somewhat unusual crisp-firm texture.

They can be rather hard to find, but maybe at a farmers market. If they are small, you will likely need 4 of them, but you take what you can get. Mine were quite huge and I actually used 1 1/2 which, yes, was 500 grams. The larger they get, the more the skin gets thick and tough, though, so better to get slightly smaller ones if you have the choice. You may not. Ours were quite tender in spite of their size.

You could replace the sour cream with coffee cream or yogurt if you like, i.e. have it instead. 

4 to 6 servings
45 minutes - 15 minutes prep time

500 grams (1 pound; 2 or 3 medium) kohlrabi
1 large carrot
a medium onion
1 large stalk of celery
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon rubbed savory OR thyme
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups unsalted chicken OR vegetable stock
1 teaspoon potato starch OR arrowroot
1/4 cup sour cream

Peel the kohlrabis and cut them into dice. Peel and dice the carrot. Peel and chop the onion. Wash, trim, and dice the celery.

Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat until melted. Add the vegetables and seasonings and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes,  until quite soft but not browned. Watch the temperature; they should really be simmering in the butter but, as noted, not enough to brown them.

Mix the starch into the stock and stir it into the vegetables. Mix well. Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in the sour cream, and let the soup come back up to steaming hot, but do not let it simmer (to avoid curdling). Serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Brocc-a-Leekie Soup. 

Kohlrabi Soup

We enjoyed this soup very much. For once we are getting a good crop of kohlrabies - they seem to be one of the few vegetables in our garden to do well in this cool, rainy summer.

Mum came over and helped us eat this. She commented that her vegetable soups always seem to come out bland but this one had lots of flavour. That is a hazard with vegetable soups, and the solution is pretty simple: sharpen it up. Be sure to use enough salt - the amount of salt a pot of soup will absorb is a little disconcerting, but you are really going to miss it if it is not there. Ginger adds another shot of sharpness, and so does the vinegar. You don't really notice any of these flavours particularly when you are eating the soup, but now the vegetables sing together instead of sitting there in sullen silence.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour - 45 minutes prep time

1 medium carrot
1 stalk of celery
2 medium onions
3 medium or 2 large kohlrabies
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon rubbed savory
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 cups unsalted chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Peel and grate the carrot. Wash, trim, and chop the celery. Peel and chop the onions. Trim the greens off the kohlrabies and set them aside. Peel the kohlrabies and grate them - it is easiest if you leave a little of the stem/peel at one end to give you a handle.

Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped and grated vegetables and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until softened and reduced in volume considerably.

Sprinkle the flour and seasonings  over the vegetables and mix in well. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, stirring regularly to prevent it from sticking. At this point, begin mixing the stock in slowly, stirring between each addition to avoid letting the flour form lumps. Once it is all in, mix in the apple cider vinegar.

If you wish - and unless your greens are in very poor condition you probably do - discard any bad or tough leaves and stems from the greens, and wash and chop the remainder very finely. Add them to the soup. 

Let the soup simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 10 or 15 minutes before serving. Check and add a bit more salt if needed first.




Last year at this time I made Chicken in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

Kohlrabies au Gratin

Suddenly kohlrabi seems to be quite trendy and I am seeing it around, even in our local grocery store which is not exactly adventurous. This is a delicious way to serve them; admittedly a bit rich so pair it with simply cooked chicken or fish.

Kohlrabi does take a bit of cooking to get it tender. You must also be careful to peel it sufficiently. I start by slicing off about 1/4" at the base, then peeling my way up. Likely a good 1/4" will need to come off as you start, but the skin gets thinner as you get closer to the top and you can peel off less as you go. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to tell where you should be peeling, as there is a bit of a line between the tough outer skin and the inner, tender pith.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour 30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time

4-6 medium kohlrabies (1 bunch)
1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon rubbed savory or thyme
1/3 cup 10% cream
150 grams (5 to 6 ounces) soft goat cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Peel the kohlrabies and slice them thinly; 8 to 10 slices each. Put them in a pot with the chicken stock and bring to a boil; boil for 15 to 20 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, mix the butter, flour, and seasonings in a small bowl. 

Lift the kohlrabies out of the broth, draining them well, and put them in a shallow 2-quart baking pan. A small lasagne pan would work. Reduce the heat under the chicken stock to very low.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Add the seasoned butter and flour mixture to the pot of chicken stock, and mix in well. Once it is completely blended, return the heat to medium-high, and add the cream and the goat cheese. Mix well, and continue stirring until the mixture simmers and thickens slightly. Remove from the heat at once. Pour it over the kohlrabies, and mix them gently so that each slice is coated in the sauce.

Mix the bread crumbs and grated Parmesan, and sprinkle it evenly over the casserole. Bake for 45 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbling. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.




Last year at this time I made Intruglia. 

Feta Cheese Stuffed Kohlrabi

Kohlrabies can vary quite a bit in size. I used 2 large ones, probably about 4" across, but smaller ones may be more tender, or more to the point, you take them in the size you can find. I would consider a 3" diameter to be a medium kohlrabi and would have used 3 of them, and a 2 1/2"  diameter would have been small and I would have used 4 of them. In any case I'm pretty sure the 2 of us would have eaten them all. That's considering this as a main dish, served with some sort of starch to make it a complete meal. They would also make a nice little first course at a more formal meal, and as such would serve at least 4 (or perhaps even 6 or 8 if you found and used smaller kohlrabies although at that point they would be more of an hors d'oeuvre than a first course).

I really liked these; they were mild but satisfying. Do be sure your kohlrabies are fairly tender when they come out of the boiling water bath. Poke them along the equator to test. You want them to hold together, but by the time they come out of the oven all crunch should be gone, and that takes some cooking.

If I had the kohlrabi greens, I would be inclined to serve these on a bed of the plain boiled or creamed greens. 

2 to 4 servings
1 3/4 hours - 45 minutes prep time

2 to 4 kohlrabi (see comments above)
1 medium carrot
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
100 grams (1/4 pound) feta cheese
1 large egg
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 to 1 1/2 cups broth, - chicken, vegetable or the cooking water

Put a pot of salted water on to boil, such that the peeled kohlrabies will be covered once they are added. If you plan to use this cooking water as your broth, don't over-salt it.

Peel the kohlrabies. Boil them for 20 minutes, then drain well and put in cold water until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, peel and grate the carrot. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic.

When the kohlrabies are ready, cut them in half along the equator. Scoop out the insides, leaving a half-inch shell. Place them in a lightly oiled fairly snug baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Finely chop or grate the kohlrabi pieces removed from the insides. Heat the oil in a medium skillet, and cook the carrot, onion, and kohlrabi bits gently over medium heat, stirring regularly, until they have softened and reduced in volume. They may brown slightly, but don't let them brown too much. When they are done, add the garlic, and cook for another minute, stirring well. Remove this stuffing to a mixing bowl and let cool for a few minutes.

Wash, trim, and chop the parsley and add it to the stuffing. Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the stuffing. Break in the egg and mix well. Divide the stuffing evenly between the kohlrabi halves. Pour enough broth or cooking water around the kohlrabies to fill the dish about half an inch deep. Bake them for 45 minutes. Check them after half an hour and add a little more broth if it is looking low - you should end with just enough to cover the bottom of the pan well.

Let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, and pour the liquid in the baking dish over them when you serve them.

Kohlrabi Slaw

Sharp eyes may catch that this is basically my recipe for Tartar Sauce, expanded into a salad. And nothing wrong with that! Yes, I would serve it with fish but in this case it made an excellent accompaniment to hamburgers. It's a good all around summer slaw, and it should keep in the fridge for several days too.

4 to 6 servings
15 minutes prep time

Make the Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
3 tablespoons dill pickle brine
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
a squeeze of lemon juice, if available

Whisk all the ingredients in a smallish salad or mixing bowl.
  
Make the Salad:
1 medium kohlrabi, "bulb" only
1 medium carrot
1 large dill pickle
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 sprigs fresh dill

Peel and grate the kohlrabi. Peel and grate the carrot. Finely chop the dill pickle. Wash and dry the parsley and dill, and chop them finely. Mix them into the salad dressing in the bowl.

Kohlrabi, Fennel & Apple Salad

Here's a nice quick salad, with tangy flavours and a good crunchy texture. Next time I make it, I'll cut things finer than I did this time, I think. They should be a little coarser than if you had grated them, but not by too much.

This has been a difficult year in the garden in many ways as it has been so cool and damp, but the fennel is loving it, and I have the best I've ever grown. I'll need to think of more ways to use it. Two little kohlrabies are preferable to one larger one, as they will likely be more tender, but you make salad with the kohlrabies that you have, not the ones you wish you had. I did have two little ones, as the kohlrabies are not loving it - all the brassicas have been so disease and bug-ridden this year - but I don't know that they were notably tender. Still, they were okay, once they were peeled and trimmed.

4 to 6 servings
20 minutes prep time

 

2 medium-small kohlrabies
OR 1 large kohlrabi
1 medium bulb fennel
1 large apple
the juice of 1 large lime
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sunflower seed OR olive oil
salt

Peel the kohlrabies and cut them into fine julienne. Trim the tough stems and base from the fennel, and slice it very finely. Peel the apple if you like, although if you have a red one the colour will add a nice touch - I suggest you leave it on. At any rate, cut it in quarters, core it, and cut it in fine julienne to match the rest of the vegetables. Toss them all with the lime juice.

Mix the honey, mustard and oil in small bowl  until well amalgamated, then toss it with the salad. Season it with a little salt to taste.




Last year at this time I made Beans with Peppers & Shiitakes. Couldn't make that this year! Between anthracnose (yes, it's as 'orrible as it sounds) and cold, the beans are over.

Chicken & Kohlrabi Stew

Thursday evening it turned cold, as the weather forecast said it would. In preparation, we spent the last few days prior running around the garden making sure everything was stashed and that we had harvested everything that we could, or at least wanted too. In the process, I rediscovered our patch of kohlrabi that got planted sometime mid-summer then kind of forgotten.

I was impressed at how well they stood up to that. They are generally considered a summer to early fall vegetable, but if the leaves are trimmed off they will actually store quite well. You won't find them in a regular grocery store at this time of year, but they may turn up at a farmers market. Since mine were from the garden, they still had their leaves, but any you find now are more likely to have been trimmed for storage. In that case, replace the missing leaves with a bit of kale or cabbage. These later season kohlrabis will likely need a bit more trimming than fresh ones in the summer.

This is a variation on a traditional Hungarian recipe. I find the slight sweetness of the kohklrabi goes very well with chicken. You can omit the parsley root (or replace it with a small parsnip) if you can't find it, but it does add a subtle and interesting flavour.

6 servings 
45 minutes - 30 minutes prep time

 
Prepare the Vegetables:
6 to 8 (2 pounds, without leaves) medium-small kohlrabis
2 cups chopped kohlrabi leaves or kale or cabbage

1 medium carrot
1 or 2 parsley roots
2 large leeks
1 or 2 stalks of celery
3 or 4 cloves of garlic

If the kohlrabis have leaves, cut them off and discard any tough or damaged ones. Chop the remaining ones fairly finely; there should be about 2 cups but it could be a bit more. If the kohlrabis arrive without leaves, use some good green cabbage or kale to replace them.

Peel any skin which is tough and fibrous from the kohlrabis - if it is tender and green it can be left on. Cut the kohlrabis into halves or quarters, and slice them about 1/4" thick. 

Peel the carrot and parsley roots, and dice them finely. Trim the leeks, and chop them. Rinse well and drain. Wash and trim the celery, and chop it. Peel and mince the garlic.

Start the Stew:
4 cups chicken stock
4 (1 kilo; 2 pounds) medium skinless boneless chicken pieces

Put the chicken stock in a large pot. Add the prepared kohlrabi stems (leave the leaves until later) and the carrots and parsley root. Cut the chicken into largish bite-sized pieces and put them on top. Bring up to a simmer and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Finish the Stew:
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon rubbed thyme or savory
1 teaspoon dillweed
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
the juice of 1/2 lemon

 Mix the flour, salt, and seasonings in a small bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the leeks and celery Cook gently for about 5 minutes, until softened and reduced. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, stirring regularly. Add the flour and seasonings and cook fo another 5 or so minutes, scraping up the flour to keep it from sticking to the pan but allowing it to cook thoroughly.

Ladle in enough chicken stock from the stew, stirring asidiously, until the flour has formed a smooth paste. You will likely need at least 2 cups of the chicken stock to be added to the skillet. Once this is done, add the contents of the skillet to the large pot and mix in well. Add the chopped kohlrabi leaves or cabbage. Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes; total cooking time should be 20 to 25 minutes. The chicken should be cooked and the kohlrabi tender, and the kohlrabi leaves or cabbage doen to your liking.

Squeeze in the lemon juice just before serving.





Last year at this time I made Roast Lamb Shoulder with Cranberry-Nut Buckwheat Dressing.

Braised White Beans & Root Vegetables

For some reason, I don't make this very often. Then I make it, and realize I'm missing out. Sure, it seems rather plain and basic, but it's so very, very good in its plain and basic way, like Shaker furniture. Mild - at least as mild as something with that much garlic can be - but richly and subtly flavoured by the Jerusalem artichokes, and it sits easily on the stomach. You could serve it with any kind of roast or chops, but it is perfectly capable of holding its own as a vegetarian main dish, which is how I generally serve it. Leftovers reheat very nicely, should you actually manage to have any. I always think it should make two meals, but we always both go back for seconds and what is left is more of a snack.

I'm pretty sure I got this recipe, or at least its progenitor, from The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins.

4 to 6 servings
1 1/2 to 2 hours - 30 minutes prep time;
overnight if including preparing the beans.


Prepare the Beans:
2 cups white pea (navy) beans
OR white kidney beans

Put the beans in a pot with water to cover, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let them soak overnight (best) or 3 or 4 hours at least. Change the water, and bring them to a boil. Simmer until barely tender. This can be done in advance and the beans kept in the fridge for up to three days before finishing the dish.

Prepare the Vegetables and Bake:
6 to 8 large Jerusalem artichokes
1 fist-sized piece of celeriac,
OR 2 or 3 stalks of celery
1 large carrot
1 large potato
1 medium kohlrabi (optional)
1 large onion OR leek
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
2 or 3 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
the juice of 1 large lemon
salt & pepper; plenty of both

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Put the beans and their cooking water in a large baking dish with a cover. Add the Jerusalem artichokes, peeled (if you like) and cut into largish bean-sized dice, the celeriac, peeled (definitely) and cut into bean-sized dice, the carrot, peeled and cut into bean-sized dice, the potato, scrubbed and ditto, the kohlrabi, peeled and diced, the onion or leek, peeled and chopped. Just for a change, peel and mince the garlic. All these go into the pot.

Drizzle over the oil and lemon juice, and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Give it a stir, and put on the cover. Bake for an hour, or a bit longer if necessary, until the vegetables are tender.




Last year at this time I made Tea-Poached Pears with Honey.

Stir-Fried Beef & Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a very fun vegetable. Not only does it look like it flew in from outer space, once it's in the kitchen it is effectively two different vegetables, with the leaves that cook like kale or chard, and the crisp-tender white swollen stem. (I'm going to refer to it as a bulb, although it isn't one, at least not in a botanical sense.)

It is very effective in a simple stir-fry, with the two parts of the plant providing contrasting textures and complementary flavours. I did mine with beef, but chicken pieces would work very well also. If you use chicken, add the chicken and kohlrabi bulb pieces to the pan at the same time - the chicken won't need to cook quite so long as the beef.

It is much better to get smaller kohlrabis and use more of them, than to get large ones, as they get woody once they are a certain size. Practically speaking, most that come to market are not so big as to be terribly woody, but woody enough to need a bit of trimming. But definitely pick the smallest, most tender ones you can get. The stems can be used if they are tender, but discard them once they get tough.

2 to 3 servings
20 minutes prep time


300 grams (2/3 pound) round steak cut in thin slices
- (can use chicken instead)
black pepper
1 large onion
1 tablespoon peeled and finely minced fresh ginger
2 to 4 medium-small kohlrabis
1 tablespoon sunflower seed oil
3 to 4 tablespoons oyster sauce

Slice the steak into bite-sized pieces of about 1/4" thick. Season with black pepper to taste.

Peel the onion and cut it into slivers. Peel and mince the ginger and add it to the onion.

Rinse the kohlrabis well and cut of the leaves. If the stems are tough, cut them off and discard them - you should be able to pierce them with a thumbnail. Chop the leaves coarsely. Peel off the tough base of the kohlrabi bulbs, and peel up the sides as far as they are tough and woody. Once you have reached tender skin it can be left on. Cut the prepared kohlrabi bulbs in quarters, and slice each quarter thinly.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. When hot and showing signs of smoking, add the beef and stir well. Once it is browned, add the sliced kohlrabi bulbs, and stir them in well. Once they look a bit softened, add the onions and ginger. Continue mixing and turning the meat and vegetables. Add the oyster sauce.

Once the dish looks to be essentially cooked, add the kohlrabi greens. Cook for about 2 minutes more, stirring in the leaves until they are well wilted.

Serve over rice or noodles.





Last year at this time I made Spinach Sautéed with Mushrooms & Green Onions, and Strawberry Agua Fresca.

Kohlrabi & Turnips Sautéed in Butter

Even people who aren't sure they like turnips or kohlrabi may like this mild but flavourful dish.

2 to 3 servings
25 minutes - 15 minutes prep time


1 large kohlrabi
3 small turnips
2 tablespoons butter
salt & pepper
lemon juice (optional)


Put a pot of water on to boil. Meanwhile, peel the kohlrabi and turnips, and cut them into slices. Cut the kohlrabi slices into quarters. You should have about the same quantity of both vegetables. Put them in the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain well.

Heat the butter in a large skillet. Add the vegetables in as close to a single layer as you can, and cook them slowly in the butter (over medium heat) until lightly browned on each side. Turn occasionally. Season with salt & pepper and serve hot, with a squeeze of lemon juice if desired.



Last year at this time, I made Broccoli & Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce, and Broccoli & Barley Salad with Feta & Tomatoes.