vegetables and Gouda

2019-11-24

Aged Gouda is not something I can easily find here in the New Mexico desert, so I made it myself. That happened more by accident than intentionally. We used to buy a bag of baby bell gouda every time we went to Las Cruces, but after the last one, we both suddenly stopped eating them for no apparent reason. And then we pretty much ignored them for well over a year.

Every few months I ate one, so I knew they weren't going bad. Instead of waiting for that to happen, I decided to use them in a recipe. After all, I use other cheeses in recipes all the time, just never considered using these until now.

A. Turkey stuffing

2019-11-24

I started this recipe as an alternative turkey stuffing and did use it as such. See: roasted baby turkey with vegetable gouda stuffing.

This is not a bread stuffing, only vegetables and aged Gouda cheese. You can add up to an equal amount of bread if you prefer a breaded stuffing, but be careful to soak and squeeze the bread. Bread stuffing will draw moisture from the turkey if they are prepared too dry. They get messy if prepared too wet.

This has a very long list of ingredients for the simple reason that—like I so often do for mixed veggies recipes—I cleaned out my refrigerator. Don't worry if you are missing a few things from the list. No need to run to the store. Check your fridge and use what you have instead to fill up your cooking pot with a nice vegetable stew for your family.

The defining ingredient in this recipe is the aged Gouda. It tastes different from the other cheeses that I normally use. Make sure you try it before you use it and substitute with something else if you don't like it. No use ruining a good veggie stew.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 4+ servings:

  • 1 small potato
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 ft. leek white
  • ½ large onion
  • ½ salad cucumber
  • 2 medium carrots
  • 2 apples
  • 1 small sweet potato
  • 1 cup bamboo hearts
  • 2 tbsp. nacho jalapeños
  • 8 gouda baby bells

optional:

  • 2 tbsp. lard
  • 2 cups pork stock/gelatin
  • meatballs
Pic1: mixed vegetables & aged Gouda

Directions

For both recipes:

For the turkey stuffing:

 

PPic2: potato, onion, celery, cucumber
Pic3: apples, carrots
PPic4: sweet potatoes

 

Pic5: bamboo hearts, nacho jalapeños
Pic6: lard, gelatin
Pic7: stew

 

B. meatballs with vegetables and Gouda

2019-11-2019-11-24

I had more veggies than I could fit inside the turkey. Rather than discarding them, I made some meatballs with the vegetables and moved the turkey meal to the next day.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 2 servings:

  • veggies as above for 2
  • meatballs for 2
Pic8: meatballs, mixed veggies, aged Gouda

Directions

 

Pic9: add cheese
Pic10: melt cheese
Pic11: add meatballs