Smothering is a classic Southern, Cajun and Creole cooking method where vegetables are cooked gently in a covered pan with a little fat – such as butter or bacon grease – and just a splash of liquid until meltingly tender.
It’s a wonderful way to cook vegetables. Instead of boiling them and pouring away the cooking water, the vegetables soften slowly, keeping all their flavour and goodness in the pan.
Almost any vegetable works well cooked this way, and you can easily turn it into a heartier dish by adding meat such as chorizo, smoked sausage or bacon.
This particular combination of vegetables comes from cookery writer Sophie Grigson. The garlic can be peeled before cooking, or left in its skin then squeezed out and stirred through just before serving.
SMOOTHERED VEGETABLES
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
3 leeks, trimmed and cut into 2 cm lengths
2 kohlrabi (around 650 g), trimmed, peeled and cut into 2cm/¾in cubes
3 large carrots (around 550 g), peeled and cut into 2cm/¾in pieces
6 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme
water, to cover
salt and freshly ground black pepper
40 g butter
METHOD:
Place the leeks, kohlrabi, carrots and garlic into a wide shallow pan which will take them in a single layer. Tuck the herbs down among them.
Pour in enough water to come about 1.5cm/½in up the sides of the pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and dot with butter.
Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat to the absolute minimum. Cover the pan with a lid or foil and leave to cook very gently for about an hour, stirring occasionally to make sure that it doesn’t catch. If necessary add an extra splash of water, or if it ends up too watery, uncover and boil the water off.
Either way, you are aiming to end up with meltingly tender vegetables, perhaps slightly patched with brown towards the end of cooking, with little more than a few tablespoonfuls of syrupy liquid left in the pan.
Serve warm.
