#help me out here

rubynye:

some-stars:

wyomingnot:

Cooking/recipe side of tumblr! Could I have some assistance, please?

As some of you know, I live in China. In the part where the entire province is under lockdown. Getting food has been a challenge, but I’m getting by.

The management of the gated community I live in provided bags of produce at a cheap price today. No sifting/sorting. Here’s a bag, take it or leave it. Of course there was a line, and I was watching the bags as they went by. They were all basically the same. Some had yellow onions, or bigger (and fewer) tomatoes, but more or less, yeah.

And while I’m familiar and know what I can do with the tomatoes and onions, I have no idea what to do with that much cabbage. Or celery.

If someone has any suggestion for something to utilize all this stuff, I would be most grateful. Suggestions for long-term storage very much welcome.

Many thanks in advance!

You can roast cabbage with butter or olive oil or both and some salt—roast it until it softens and browns, it’ll be delicious and filling and keep well in the fridge for over a week. Also, I haven’t tried this but since shredded cabbage will just melt into a slow cooked stew anyway, maybe try shredding and freezing it? (This is the round cabbage; idk what to do with Napa cabbage besides stir fries and salads, alas.) You can freeze eggplant too if you’re going to cook it in a stew or braise, just slice it first. And I bet if you chop the celery and freeze it in oil in an ice cube tray you could make little portions to add to soups and stews maybe? If any of this is incredibly mistaken I apologize tho

Slice the eggplant a cm or two thick (leave the skin on for texture) and brown both sides in oil, then add rice wine, soy sauce, and grated ginger and garlic. The eggplant will soak up the seasonings and become flavorful with a mouth-filling texture. Chop up some of those chives and add them at the end. You can cook the celery similarly but it’s not absorbent, so I would season it with salt and pepper instead of liquid seasonings. Maybe fish sauce if you have it and like it.

Another thing you can do with eggplant: slice the same way, toss with olive oil and seasonings (I like black pepper, garlic, thyme, salt, and lemon juice), spread out in a single layer on a greased sheet pan, and roast at about 420 F until darkish brown on the outside and melty golden inside. You kind of need to eat that right away, though.

I can confirm that you can freeze celery and then use it in soups and stews; it loses pretty much all of its crunch when frozen, but maintains its flavor nicely.

Come to think of it, all of those vegetables together would probably make a really great soup. Which could be frozen in smaller portions and thawed when wanted, if you have enough freezer space.