September vacation

 "September blows soft...Till the fruit's in the loft"

Well, this doesn't look like a traditional vacation photo to be sure, but it does reflect some of my stay-at-home vacation activities these past 10 days. Definitely food and garden oriented. Two recent acquisitions have been a new camera and a new cookbook on canning fruits and veggies...so you might say I'm really into preserving food in two different ways.

Vegetarian cabbage rolls

One of my favourite meals and definitely a comfort food in my family, going back at least three generations (although my mom, gran and Nan always made versions with meat).  A recipe for using the tomatoes, basil and parsley from your garden:

Image: today's lunch -- yummy leftovers from Wednesday's dinner

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

1 large head green cabbage, cored
3 cups cooked rice
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 small red pepper, finely chopped
1 small yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp black pepper
1-19 ounce can stewed tomatoes, chopped

In a large pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Toss in head of cabbage and blanch for 4 minutes. Allow to cool then remove the leaves whole. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the rice, celery, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, onion, garlic, fresh tomatoes, parsley, 1/2 the basil and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Mix well. Distribute mixture on the leaves in a line down the centre; tuck ends in. Gently roll edges of each leaf and place rolls in casserole or baking dish. Top with the stewed tomatoes and remaning basil and pepper. Bake in a preheated over at 350 F for 25 minutes.

Making roti

Image: Peshawari Roti, Pakistan

I enjoy looking at food photography and usually prefer to get recipe inspiration and information from books, but I do think web technology is superior for presenting step-by-step instructions when the right touch is so important. Here is my video pick-of-the-day:

I discovered Manjula's Kitchen this morning but know I will be viewing often.