Cabbage Soup

This is a traditional Basque soup. It is very basic and usually served with brown beans and salsa. The recipe for brown beans is included below the cabbage soup recipe. Normally, the cabbage soup is placed in a bowl, then brown beans are scooped and placed into the middle of the soup, finally topped with a few tablespoons of your favorite garlic or hot pepper based salsa.

Ingredients:

- 1 head green cabbage, cored and chopped into about 1 inch pieces

- 3 stalks of celery, halved lengthwise and sliced

- 1 small yellow onion, chopped

- water to cover

- 6 t chicken boullion granules

- 3 bay leaves

Preparation:

In a large stock pot, place cabbage, celery and onion. Add water to cover and stir in boullion. Add bay leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let boil for 5 to 10 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and let cook another 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with brown beans and salsa.

Brown Beans

Ingredients:

- 1/2 lb dried brown (pinto) beans

- 5 C water

- 4 t beef boullion granules

Preparation:

In a slow cooker, place all ingredients. Stirring every few hours, cook on high for at least 8 hours, however 10 hours is preferable.

Cottage Cheese Salad

A side dish at Basque restaurants. You'll think of cottage cheese differently after you have it like this!

Ingredients:

- 1 Pt Cottage Cheese

- 1 C Mayonaise

- 8 green onions, sliced (white to light green only)

- 1 clove garlic, chopped

- 1 T apple cider vinegar

- 1/2 t onion powder

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Marinated Peppers and Tomatoes

At Basque restaurants, this is served with the salad (usually a plain green or Caesar salad).

Ingredients:

- 4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into wedges

- 1 large green bell pepper, sliced into strips

- 1 medium red onion, quartered and sliced

- Olive Oil

- Balsamic Vinegar

- Salt and Pepper

- Onion Powder

Preparation:

Combine tomatoes, peppers and onions in a large bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and onion powder to taste. Mix, cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving. Stir every-once-in-a-while.

The Homemade Basque Meal

Tomorrow I will be attempting to make my first Basque meal at home. This is the plan:

Roasted Leg of Lamb (boneless)

Brown Beans

Cabbage Soup

Bread, Butter, and Salsa

Caesar Salad

Marinated Tomatoes, Onions, and Peppers

Cottage Cheese w/Green Onion and Garlic

Spaghetti

French Fries (garlic fries)

Pie

I have never cooked a leg of lamb before, so this will be an experiment. If this works out well, I will post the recipes, possibly with pictures, although my camera is not so good.

Woolgrower's Basque Restaurant

Woolgrower's

Bakersfield, CA

This is a family owned Basque restaurant in my home town of Bakersfield, CA. There are a lot of reasons I love this place - the atmosphere, the nostalgia, the friends and family I see when I'm there, and especially, the FOOD! You just can't get this type of food anywhere.

Most of the food is served family style, although there is always the option to order something extra for yourself. The regular offerings with every meal (called the "Set Up") is French bread slices, butter, salsa, brown beans, cabbage soup, salad, and marinated tomatoes with peppers. At dinner, french fries, spaghetti, vegetable, and pickled tongue are also included in the "Set Up." My lunchtime favorite is the "Set Up" with the tuna sandwich, Clorousso Style. It comes with three thinner slices of sourdough bread, tuna, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonaise for you to assemble yourself. There is something in the tuna that I cannot replicate after several attempts to do so.

I plan on trying to replicate the basic "Set Up" for our dinner next Saturday night.

Some of the other menu options include oxtail stew and filet minon, along with many others I can't remember. At dinner time, I am usually so full from the "Set Up" I never order a main course.

Woolgrower's comes equipped for large parties with two completely separate, full-service bars and dining rooms set up in the front (for smaller groups) and in the back (for the office party or family reunion size). No need to worry about your dress at Woolgrower's. You'll see people in everything from suits and dresses to dusty boots with jeans, or flip flops and shorts. Most people dress moderately nice. Just don't go with a time crunch. You'll want to spend a lot of time there and enjoy yourself.

Reservations for dinner are recommended. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Woolgrowers

When I visit my family in Bakersfield, California, I cannot miss going to Woolgrowers. Located in the old downtown area of Bakersfield, Woolgrowers is surrounded by some of the oldest and best restaurants I have ever eaten at. The fare is Basque through and through, from the cabbage soup with beans, bread and salsa to the pickled tongue and oxtail stew. While I have never tried either of the latter items, I can live off the soup, bread with salsa, and salad (aka: the set up). "The Set Up" is the basic part of the meal traditional in Basque restaurants. Everyone gets the set up and, if it is dinner time, you also get spaghetti (fatter noodles than traditional spaghetti), french fries, green-onioned cottage cheese, and gelato for dessert. These items are all served family style and keep coming until you can't eat anymore.

Woolgrowers is a non-traditional, family-style restaurant in that everyone at the table can have the set up, along with an additional item (the main course). Main courses usually change depending on the day of the week. They range anywhere from the aforementioned oxtail stew to fried chicken to lamb chops to filet mignon. The restaurant also seats like a normal restaurant, meaning you can make reservations or just pop in (although that is not encouraged due to the restaurants popularity).

Traditional family-style Basque restaurants offer two main courses depending on the night of the week. Also, everyone is served at the same time, like 7:30pm, at long tables. You could sit across from someone you don't even know!

So, if you are ever in my old neck-of-the-woods, be sure to stop in and enjoy a little Basque experience! If you can't find it, just ask anyone, they'll know how to get there!!