Of Cabbages and Kings

Well, really about cabbages, but in another sense, cabbage is the king of the winter vegetables. Shown are two red and one green cabbage from our CSA. Cabbage stores very well in a cool place, and the green or purple leaves are a welcome addition to winter meals.

Raw Cabbage: Cole Slaw

Main ingredient: thinly sliced cabbage. If you have a mandoline or kraut cutter, you can use it. Otherwise, just use a sharp knife on a cored head of cabbage, cutting thin shreds.

Additions: choose from any combination of the following: finely slivered red onion, slivered apple, slivered carrot, raisins, finely sliced radicchio, chopped scallions or finely slivered leeks, or finely sliced cucumber pickles. (In summer, slivered bell pepper, celery, or zucchini could join the party.)

Dressings: You can go with a buttermilk style dressing, or a vinegar and oil dressing.

My Favorite Dressing: 1/2 cup kefir or yogurt (I make my own), 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon vinegar or pickle juice, one teaspoon or more dried dill weed, salt to taste.
Shake up and pour over the bowl of vegetables. We also use this on mixed salads and winter "chef" salads. You can sweeten it with a bit of honey if it's too sour.

Yogurt Dressing: one cup yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon caraway seed, 1/2 teaspoon celery seed, salt and pepper to taste, 2 tablespoons toasted sesame or sunflower seeds. This makes enough for a big bowl of vegetables.

Oil-vinegar Dressing: Mix 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablepoons balsamic vinegar, fresh or dried herbs to taste, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder. Shake well, pour over the vegetables, let sit an hour or more for the flavor to permeate.

Cooked Cabbage: so many ways

Don't feel you have to just boil wedges of cabbage. There is so much you can do with it. It improves almost any vegetable soup. You can put it in curries and stir-fries. You can saute red cabbage with onion and apple slices, a traditional German dish.
Here are a couple of my favorite cabbage recipes.

Colcannon

This is a traditional Irish recipe.

1 lb cabbage
2 pounds baking potatoes
2 small leeks or a bunch of scallions
1/2 cup milk
4-6 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon mace (optional)

Shred cabbage, cook in boiling salted water till tender.
Peel and cut up potatoes and cook in boiling salted water till
tender. Chop leeks or scallions fine, simmer in 1/2 cup milk for 8-10 minutes. Mash potatoes, mix in milk and scallions, drain cabbage and stir in. Season to taste with mace, salt and pepper. Stir in butter and serve hot.

Alternative: you can put the cabbage through a food mill or blender, and mash in with the potatoes.

Cabbage Baked with Feta Cheese (from Moldova)

2 1/2 lb head of cabbage, slivered finely
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil (extra virgin olive oil is nice)
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill
1 1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika
another 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Blanch cabbage in a kettle of boiling water for 2 minutes and drain. Then saute cabbage in the 3 tablspoons butter and oil for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, till nicely browned, but not burned. Cool slightly.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper and dill into cabbage. Turn cabbage into a casserole or baking dish. Mix feta, bread crumbs, and paprika, and sprinkle over cabbage. Then top with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes.

Lactofermented cabbage (aka Sauerkraut)

Yes, you can make your own sauerkraut. And it's not hard. You need a half-gallon canning jar (I find them at Ace Hardware), which makes this an easy process. You will also need a small plastic bucket or similar container. This is the process of lactofermentation, which improves the digestibility as well as the keeping qualities of the vegetables.

3.5 pounds green cabbage
1 tablespoon salt
1 small onion, cut into chunks (optional)
1-2 teaspoon your favorite seasonings: always caraway seed; you can alo add dill seed, mustard seed, a few juniper berries, a few allspice berries, etc.

Slice cabbage finely, using a knife, mandoline, or kraut cutter. Mix the cabbage and the salt well, in the bucket, and let stand for 15 minutes. Then start pounding. You can use your fist, the end of a rolling pin, or bean masher. You need to pound the cabbage until the juices start to flow. When you have pounded all the cabbage, and it is very juicy, you are ready to fill your jar.

Place about 1/4 of the cabbage in the jar, press down well, add
1/3 of the onion and spices. Pack another 1/4 of the cabbage, then another 1/3 of the onion and spices, and continue until your jar is full. Press down well to eliminate air bubbles. The juice should come up over the level of the cabbage. Put the lid on. Place the jar in a saucer on your counter. Let it work. It will probably take about 7 days. Now put the jar in your frig for it to mellow. It can be eaten at any time, but it's better after another few weeks have passed. It will keep for months in your frig; just use a clean fork each time you get some out of the jar.

If the cabbage develops a funny color, smells bad, or gets moldy, throw it out. I have made many jars of sauerkraut and never had any trouble. It is important to use organic cabbage which is still juicy and not dried out. Sauerkraut keeps best when made with the autumn cabbages.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT reduce the amount of salt. The full tablespoon of salt for the half-gallon of cabbage is necessary to prevent any unpleasant organisms getting started in your ferment. The lactobacillus bacteria which does the work gets along fine with the salt.

If you are interested in learning more about lactofermentation,
I recommend the book "Making Sauerkraut" by Klaus Kaufmann and Annelies Schoneck.

Loveland local people can contact Ursula at Cresset Community Farm to attend a pickling session. Ursula is a master of pickling, and makes a wide variety of lactofermented vegetables.