Potato mushroom thyme scented casserole with rustic cabbage salad

 

Simple, comfort dish with a hint of thyme, make You feel content and full.  Crunchy rustic cabbage salad make a good company for it. Enjoy!

For 4 persons as a light dinner

For casserole:

600 grams potatoes

Olive oil for frying

 1 tablespoon of butter

300 grams fresh mushrooms

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

½ bunch of lemon thyme (substitute with regular thyme, though aroma is not the same)

150 gr of grated cheese (Emmental or Gruyere are perfect)

Salt and pepper for taste

For salad:

400 gr of white cabbage

1 medium onion

4 cucumbers

7 tablespoons Extra virgin sunflower oil

2,5 tablespoons of lemon juice

Salt

1)      Peel and slice potatoes. Dice onion, chop mushrooms in bite size, peel garlic. Wash and pat dry thyme. 

2)      Cook potatoes in salted boiling water for 10 min. Drain. Pre-heat oven to 200 ˚C.

3)      In the mean time pre-heat a shallow frying pan. Add a dash olive oil and butter, when it stops bubbling add onions, press garlic in and cook till soft , then add mushrooms and whole branches of  thyme.  Cook everything together for 5 min, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and take out thyme branches.

4)       Place half of the potatoes on the bottom of casserole dish, then sprinkle with cheese,  then mushrooms, sprinkle with cheese again and again potatoes. 

Top casserole generously with more cheese.  Transfer casserole to the oven for 20-25 min. or until cheese starts turning golden brown. 

5)      In the meantime make salad. Wash cabbage and slice it thinly. Kitchen mandoline is a real helper, if You have one. If not, have some patience and work vigorously. Then place sliced cabbage into a salad bowl, sprinkle generously with salt and squeeze cabbage hard with hands. It will soften the texture of cabbage and make it more mild. Then peel the onion, halve and slice it. Wash and slice cucumber. You can peel it, but it’s optional. 

6)      Add onions , cucumbers, oil and lemon juice to the cabbage. Mix everything well. 

7)      Serve hot casserole with addition of cold crunchy salad!

Ukrainian style pot stew

A real comfort food for rainy autumn day. Soft garlicky potatoes melting in Your mouth, then You feel tender juicy meat and You feel all right. Pleasant heat goes through Your body, and autumn is not that gray any more. Try it and let me know about Your sensations:-)

For 2 persons you will need:
300 gr pork meat
4 average potatoes
2 average tomatoes
1 small onion
2 big cloves of garlic 50 ml of dense sour cream
100 gr of grated cheese (any You like)
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Peel and dice potatoes and pre-boil them in separate pot with salted water for 10 min, they should be al dente if You can say so about potatoes. Put them in the colander and set aside.
2) Wash the meat with cold water, pat it dry with paper towel and dice it about 1,5-2 cm dice. Peel and dice tomatoes and onions. Preheat the oven to 180 ˚C.3) Now put all the ingredients on the table and prepare Your 2 pots with lids. Divide all the ingredients putting the same amount in each pot. First put half of the potatoes, the rest leave for the top. Then put the meat in, salt and pepper , then tomatoes, onions and pressed garlic, salt and pepper, then again potatoes and a good dollop of sour cream on top.4) So the layers are in the following order: potatoes, meat, tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes and sour cream on top. Cover the pots with the lead. Place them into the oven for 1 hour.


5) Take the lids off and place the cheese on top, keep into the oven 10 min more till the cheese browns nicely.
6) Serve hot! Tastes the best with sour cabbage garnish.
Smachnogo!
Notes: I've used 700 ml pots. You can modify the recipe according to Your pots. Or just cook the meal for 2 in one bigger pot with the lid. The recipe can be multiplied.

Idea: You can add some mushrooms to enrich the taste even more, and still it will be very Ukrainian.