What's in Season: Cabbage

Buying: Look for cabbages that have tight heads - even if the outer leaves are a bit floppy, they can be discarded. Leaves should not be discolored, damaged or dried out. If buying from a store, avoid those that look like they have been overly tidied up. 


Storing: Cabbage should be kept cold to retain it’s Vitamin C amount. Savoy cabbage will keep for about a week in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. A cut, unused part of the cabbage should be wrapped tightly in plastic and placed in the fridge. It should be used quickly as cut cabage will continue to lose its beneficial vitamins.


Fact: The world record for the largest cabbage is ranked at 124 lbs from Wales.


Medical: Cabbage retains the most nutrition when eaten raw. It is said to reduce colonic cancer risk, perk up the immune system, and eradicate bacteria. Cabbage juice is apparently good for preventing and curing ulcers.


Cooking: Remove any tough, fiberous outer leaves. Quarter the cabbage, remove the core, and then cut into the desired size slice, either shredded in a food processor or cut with a stainless steel knife (certain phytonutrients react with carbon, so stainless steel will prevent the leaves from turning black). Only cut and wash cabbage right before using it. After cutting the cabbage, it is possible to soak the leaves in cold water to not only keep it crisp, but to draw out some of those sulfurous chemicals that put many people off cabbage.


Cabbage can be steamed or blanched for 6-8 minutes. After washing, shredding and blanching for 1 minute, cabbage can be frozen in plastic bags. Cabbage can be stir-fried, baked, braised, the thick, waxy leaves of cabbage are great for acting as carb-free sandwich wraps, salad cupping, or for stuffing. Add thin cuts of cabbage to soups to sweeten and thicken the broth.


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Cabbage-Not-Iceberg Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing, Oven-Roasted Tomatoes and Torn Croutons

I was looking through my Ad Hoc at Home cookbook and saw a recipe for the classic Iceberg Lettuce Salad. The quartered lettuce in the picture reminded me of quartered cabbage and decided to make it using cabbage instead. A lot of people from the CSA program choose to swap out their cabbage - either out of distaste, fed up with making coleslaw or just don't know what to do with it so I thought everyone loves Iceberg Salad, there's some reason why it's always on menu's so why not include cabbage as an interesting twist. And what a HIT!


Ok, it looks like a lot of work. And it was. Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home look like easy recipes, but for every ingredient, it's another recipe on another page. I've tried to lay it out below in an easy order.  I love the reward and the therapy of an all-day cook-fest. The remaining aioli can be used for sandwich spreads (I was a little too thrilled with myself at the success of homemade aioli), the garlic confit and oil can be used in other recipes. The blue cheese dressing can be used in salads or for dipping veggies throughout the week.  It might not be the healthiest, but it's a good way to incorporate cabbage into an interesting twist - cabbage is very low in calories - and I left out the bacon. 


Garlic Confit and Oil
2 bulbs garlic, peeled - about one cup
about 2 cups canola oil


cut off the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put in a small sauce pan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch - none should be poking through. POKE. Put the saucepan over med-low heat and cook gently - little bubbles should come up but they shouldn't break the surface - remove from the heat if this happens/adjust heat. Cook for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with a knife tip. Remove from the heat and allow garlic to cool in the oil. Can be refrigerated in a covered container for 1 week. 


Oven Roasted Tomatoes

8 cherry tomatoes, halved (I used a mix of purple cherry and yellow blush tomatoes)

extra virgin olive oil or garlic oil from above

thyme

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Put the tomato halves on a baking sheet and drizzle with the remaining ingredients. Roast for about 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and look like they are about to burst. Remove and let come to room temperature. 

Aioli
4 large egg yolks
2 cups Garlic Oil (above)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon kosher salt


To easily remove the yolks from the whites, crack in half and slowly dip the yolks into a bowl. You can gently put the yolk into your hand and the whites will run through your fingers. Put the egg yolks in a food processor and process to combine. With the motor running, VERY slowly add the oil through the whole in the center, blending until it is emulsified and thick. Add the lemon juice and salt. Stop the motor as soon as the last drop of oil is added - overworking it will cause it to break. Can be refrigerated covered for up to 1 week. 

*Substitute regular canola oil to make plain mayonnaise*

Blue Cheese Dressing
1 cup Aioli (above)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup creme fraiche 
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon dill
salt
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese (suggested: Pt. Reyes)
(recipe also calls for 1 teaspoon of both minced chives and mint which I did not have so I added dill which worked great)


Put the aioli in a large bowl then whisk in the buttermilk and remaining ingredients. Additional buttermilk can be used to make it less thick, if desired. Can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 1 week. 
*Buttermilk can be made by putting 1 tablespoon lemon juice into a 1-cup measuring cup and filling the rest with milk, stir, then let sit for 2 minutes. 

Grilled Cabbage Wedges 

1 cabbage, quartered

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F (should be set, from the tomatoes) or light up the grill - which we did. Rub the cut sides of the cabbage with the oil. Put the cabbage quarters on to a large sheet of tin foil, cut side down and drizzle with a little oil and season. Wrap and cover with the foil tightly to seal it.  Bake or grill for about 20 minutes, until the cabbage is tender. Open the foil to let cool. 

Meanwhile...

Torn Croutons

Tear day-old sourdough bread into bite-size pieces. Pour enough Garlic Oil into the bottom of a large pan to cover the bottom. Heat until hot and then add the bread in a single layer. Reduce the heat. Stir the bread in the oil so that it is coated. If you hear sizzling, the heat is too high and the croutons will become too dry - the key is to slow cook them for about 20 minutes so that the croutons absorb the garlicky oil and become crsip and golden brown on all sides. Set aside. 

Arrange the cabbage onto 4 plates or onto a serving dish. Tuck the tomatoes in and around the lettuce (4 haves per person). Sprinkle with the croutons. Spoon some of the dressing over the salad and serve the remaining dressing on the side. 

PHEW!

"I like a cook who smiles out loud when he tastes his own work. Let God worry about your modesty; I want to see your enthusiasm." — Robert Farrar Capon

locally caught that day.

i'm quite handy with a hammer.

sheep culling check. we were supposed to see the cows being milked. we were supposed to see some bee hives in action - suits and all. we were supposed to chat with a guy who has an oyster farm. we were supposed to go out on the boat around horn head to catch some lobster and crab. 

it's good to know the locals in a small town where everyone knows everyone. 

however, we didn't do any of the above. luckily though, the fisherman had gone out that morning before the rain and had caught some lobster and crab which he cooked and shared. so, we had a feast. check.

 dilled courgette soup. just caught atlantic sea lobster and crab. melted kerry gold butter with tonsa herbs for dipping. buttload of organic garden vegetable salad. fluffy-floury irish potatoes from the farmer's market with capers and lil' red wine vinegar. 

it's funny that something as simple as a just-hatched lightly poached egg could make one so happy.

throw in:
a salad of completely organic and picked from the vine/dirt into my hands veggies from the garden just up the hill
a beautiful sky of pinks and blues setting over the ocean in front of me
a table set for one (actually made me smile)
and the iPod on shuffle keeping me company.

the tender skins split after the first ripened tomatoes off the vine were picked as the juices were ready to burst. so soft. i literally couldn't wait to bite into. 

happy.

A Pleasant, "Local" Surprise

A chilly house on a rainy Irish day calls for a hot fire to warm the soul. there's only so many cuppa teas you can drink. So, as I open the door with my bucket to fill with coal from the shed, I find a Dunnes bag sitting on the stoop....hmmm. Pleasantly surprised, I put the bucket down and I curiously open the bag. It is filled with dirt covered vegetables! OH, talk about Pleasantly Surprised! I squealed to myself in delight, ran to the shed to fill up the bucket with coal and wooden sticks so I could quickly explore this bag of goodies. Opening up the plastic bags, the smell of the fresh vegetables surged towards my face as I breathed in the aroma of the earth's goods. Carrots, onions, parsnips, rutabaga, cabbage, and eggs. I was absolutely delighted. All this talk about local, organic, and seasonal foods I've been asking about and chattering away with to the locals in Dunfanaghy, who probably think i'm a nerdy header like the lot of them, suddenly paid off. There's lots of fields and farms here - there should be tons of local produce available. It's natural for me to be curious and I would love to find out that they do use "good" farming methods. I would even love to be involved in encouraging or starting it here...but anyways. This wasn't the crab and lobster that Thomas goes out on a boat to fish for that is immediately shipped to France and Spain because there is no market for them in Ireland. It wasn't the local farms' lamb that is sold off to the markets rather than being eaten at home. It isn't the pesticide-ridden produce because apparently no one cares about, or can afford to care about, organic in a recession. This was the leftovers from a family's back yard just up the hill from behind my house. (ok, maybe they use pesticides, I have no idea...but LOCAL. pleases me enough).

bags o'goodies

carrots and parsnips.

rutabaga.

eggs. JUST HATCHED.

white onions.

crunchy cabbage.

After I could stop smiling and racking my frenzied brain deciding what to do and make with all this, I called Frazer to thank him. He told me that his uncle, going back to Letterkenny, had taken most of the eggs so when he asked his dad if there were any left he said, go check the chicken shed - so these 3 eggs, now sitting on my kitchen counter, were just hatched barely hours earlier. talk about fresh. talk about local. I couldn't wait to taste it. I wasn't even hungry. but how could I resist?

Spinach Salad with Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Garlicky Irish Button Mushrooms with Campbell's Carrot and Just-Hours-Before-Hatched Fresh Eggs

Turn the oven on to 200C. line a pan with parchment paper and add the halved tomatoes and garlic cloves with the skin left on. Roast for about 15-20 minutes, until the tomatoes' juices have started to leak. (I love roasted garlic so a couple can be added to the salad if you like, that is, if they make it past the pan...)

before and after

In a small pot, bring some water with a splash of vinegar to boil. Meanwhile, in a pan, heat the olive oil and add the finely diced garlic. then add the mushrooms (cut into quarters). saute. sprinkle over some mixed dried herbs. add about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and give the pan a good swirl to coat. cook over low heat for about 6 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened a bit and the flavours have fused. Then, when the water has boiled, turn down to a simmer. Put the egg in a small cup and gently lower into the water and cook for about 2-3 minutes until the egg whites have just about settled. 

arrange some fresh spinach leaves in a bowl with the carrot  from the garden (dirt scrubbed off, peeled, and cut into coins). carefully lift the tomatoes out of the pan, including the juices and arrange on the spinach. gingerly scatter the mushrooms and garlic on too. dress with a little bit of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. lastly, scoop the poached egg out of the water with  a slotted spoon and place on top of the salad. season with a little bit more salt and pepper. 

mmmmmmm. for not being hungry i sure gobbled this down real fast. savouring each bite, the flavours and textures were a perfect combination. the roasted tomatoes were juicy, the spinach crisp, the garlicy mushrooms in the red wine sauce were divine, the carrots tasted of the earth (was there still a little bit of dirt left?ha), and the egg....it would be lame, cliche if i said it tasted of the farm. it had a thicker texture to it, kinda woody or potatoey tasting (this is ireland, land of the potatoes, they must penetrate the entire island's soil) but it was really scrumptious. even the juices and the vinegar and the runny yoke at the bottom of the bowl were licked up. 

Campbell's, I couldn't be thankful enough. 

now, even more so, i have to/want to learn how to grow my own veggies and herbs and have to figure out how that would be possible with no one living here year round...something to keep me busy on a rainy day!