Love Cabbage
Chou Savoie or chou de Milan (big, rough-leafed cabbage)
This simple cabbage recipe is irresistible, as I found out when my mate said to me, “If you are making cabbage that I will love, being not so keen on cabbage, you are a magician.”
Needless to say, I knew already that my cabbage had seduced many cabbage-haters before and so was confident it would keep on track. Any cabbage will do, but I happened to have an enormous Savoy cabbage on hand, the kind with the rumpled dark green leaves that looks like the one under which babies are discovered.
I peeled off the outer leaves to keep for stuffing with crushed nuts, rice, onion, garlic, but that’s another recipe and will emerge in P-O Life eventually. This basic recipe will tempt any and all cabbage-haters, if only because of the bacon. Who on earth in his/her/its/their right mind can resist crispy bacon strewn over just about anything? Except maybe ice cream.
So grab a cabbage, and if a big one, take off the outer leaves down to the tender middle part, cut out the heart of the cabbage and slice it thin. Cut the cabbage into nice 2-3-inch chucks and you will be ready to go.
YOU WILL NEED……..
- 1 cabbage, smallish and pale green, or a large Savoy, outer leaves removed to stuff and innards chopped coarse or sliced finer to steam
- 4 slices streaky bacom, cut into 1-inch piees and sautéed until crisp, reserving fat, and set aside.
- 2 teaspoons of caraway seeds, called Carvi in the spice section of a market
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth, or in a pinch, ½ cup water
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
WHAT TO DO NEXT….
In a large pot, heat the broth or water, shake in a little salt and grind in a little pepper and add the chunks of cabbage. Cover the pot and let the cabbage wilt and soften thoroughly for about 15 -20 minutes.
Add the crispy bacon with its fat, the caraway seeds and butter and cook another 5 minutes.
Serve with lemon wedges. (Some like lemon, some don’t.)
I was deemed a magician and we had only two or three spoons left to add to my ever-expanding winter minestrone! Now to stuff those leaves…
