Miso

Cabbage Wedges with Miso Butter

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Cabbage is a much maligned vegetable, with many of us having unpleasant memories of watery over cooked soggy cabbage. Cooked with a little care, cabbage is yummy and very good for you. According to nutritionists, we should all be eating more of it. Its nutrient dense, packed with fibre, and generally good for your gut health.

This is really tasty, and fairly easy to prepare with the oven doing the work. The cabbage goes sweet and slightly charred at the edges and the miso butter adds a salty richness to it. I had this along with some chicken I roasted in the oven at the same time. (I’m such a cheapskate I never turn the oven on just to cook one thing). If you don’t eat meat this is also delicious served on a bed of rich creamy hummus.

What’s even better it has only 3 ingredients, and is almost too good to be described as just a side dish. I used a sweetheart cabbage, and because of its shape, it made more sense to cut it into wedges. You can make this with other types of cabbage. Cut them into steaks if you prefer.

Serve 4 (but if using a large cabbage, up the ratio of butter and miso paste)

Ingredients

1 Sweetheart cabbage (tough/damaged outer leaves removed if necessary and cut into quarters with the core parred back but not removed completely as this with help the wedges stay in one piece)

40 Grams Butter (melted)

1 Tbsp Miso Paste

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius), and prepare a baking sheet (I usually line mine with foil because I’m lazy and it cuts down on washing up)
  • Melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave (or in a pot if you don’t have one), and then stir in the miso paste until thoroughly combined
  • Lay your cabbage wedges on the tray and brush evenly with the miso butter, before baking for 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the wedges) until the cabbage has softened
  • Serve immediately

Roast Shoulder of Venison with Miso Butter

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I’m lucky enough to have a friend who’s husband culls local deer.  She recently turned with a big of venison including a shoulder of venison (thank you Dermot and Bronagh). Apologies that the photos don’t do this justice, but we fell on this like a pack of animals and were too interested in feeding our faces with delicious roast meat to take decent photos.

This was a bit of an experiment (I’ve never cooked with this cut before, but as its from a really muscular part of the animal so I knew to cook it long and slow, at least 4 hours, plus resting time). Because venison is so lean I wanted to keep it from drying out.  I did this by slathering it in miso butter (which tasted yummy but didn’t overwhelm the taste of the meat).

I served this as part of an Easter dinner with roast potatoes and vegetables, but you’ll have plenty of meat left over and it’s great in sandwiches, wraps etc.

Ingredients

2.5 Kg Shoulder of venison (including the bone

125 Grams Butter (softened)

1.5 Tbsp Miso paste

Carrots/celery/parsnips

1 Glass White wine (optional)

Method

  • Remove the venison from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature
  • Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)
  • In a large roasting pan, cover the base with celery stalks, halved carrots or parsnips (this will act as a bed for meat to stop it sticking to bottom and will help flavour the meat juices.  I use old wonky vegetables that have hanging around the fridge, these won’t be eaten but are just to add flavour)
  • Mix the butter and miso paste together and rub all over the venison, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies.
  • Set the venison on top of the bed of vegetables and add a class of white and a glass of water to the pan (or 2 glasses of water if you’re not using wine)
  • Cover the roasting dish tightly with aluminium foil and place in the oven
  • Cook at 200 degrees (Celsius) for 30 minutes before turning the heat down to 150 degrees for at 3.5 hours
  • After 2 hours remove the pan from the oven. Turn the meat over and baste with juices in the pan.  Cover again with foil and return to the oven
  • After 4 hours check on the meat, if it still feels a little tough, cook for another 20-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and keep covered while the meat rests for at least 30-45 minutes (it’s important not to rush this part as it will help the meat stay tender).  Drain of the meat juices and use to make really delicious gravy, or spoon over any left over meat to help keep it moist

Miso Sesame Chicken

Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen2 Comments

The cracking recipe comes from the national treasure that is Nigella Lawson.

I have tweaked it a little, leaving out the fish sauce (only because I didn’t have any). I’ve used chicken thighs, she used a spatchcocked chicken (whole chicken with the backbone removed and pressed flat), but again this was because this what I had.

The chicken is best if you can let it marinade overnight. So if you can be organised, you’ll have an amazingly tasty weeknight dinner. This is also delicious enough to impress friends if you’re cooking for them. If you’re feeding vegetarians/vegans this marinade is also fantastic spread on slices of aubergine before roasting them.

Serves 4

4 Large chicken thighs or 8 small ones

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

1 Tbsp Soy sauce

2 Tsp Sesame oil (use one day in the marinade and reserve one for later)

4 Tsp White Miso paste

1 Tbsp Grated ginger

1 Clove of minced garlic

1 Tbsp Sesame seeds (reserve for during roasting)

  1. Add the marinade ingredients to a bowl and stir until well combined
  2. Put the chicken thighs in a large freezer bag, pour in the marinade and seal the bag. Rub the marinade onto the chicken to make sure it’s well coated and then refrigerate over night
  3. The next day if you have time, take the chicken out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you intend to cook it and allow the meat to come to room temperature
  4. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, empty the chicken thighs into an oven proof dish (skin side up) and empty any remaining marinade from the freezer bag over the chicken
  5. Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken thighs)
  6. Remove the tin foil and baste the chicken with any juices in the dish, drizzle over a teaspoon of sesame oil (a little goes a long way), and then sprinkle with sesame seeds before returning to the oven for another 10 minutes (check they are cooked by sticking in a fork and making sure the juices run clear)
  7. Remove and serve with your favourite side Asian slaw or spicy cucumber salad or just plain potato salad goes brilliantly with this