Last week was busy from beginning to end so I am squeezing this recipe in the day before our last Sola Gratia pick up….sniff, sniff.
In recent years I have fallen deeply in love with the humble cabbage so I was delighted to see the wheelbarrows full of beautiful cabbages last week at pick up. Thanks to Erich Adickes for the picture!
Yesterday I tried out a roast pork recipe that I'm thinking of using for the David Olney/Sergio Webb house concert….my theme, if there is such a thing, is fall harvest/comfort food. So I did a slow roasted pork with a paste of garlic, fennel seed, rosemary and pepper. It was supposed to have sage but I left the sage Ernie brought in from the garden for me sitting on the counter. Oh well. The house smelled divine all day.
I took it out to rest for awhile and turned the oven up to 500 degrees while Owen and I got to work. We cut the cabbage into wedges and then sliced it up, threw it in a pan with a glug of olive oil and some salt and pepper. We roasted it in the upper third of the oven for 15 minutes, tossed it and roasted it 15 more. Now I WILL give you that it's not the most beautiful pan of cabbage but MAN it was good. I LOVED it, Ernie LOVED it, Owen said it was o.k. I asked him how the pork was and he said, "oh, DELICIOUS!" Then he paused and admitted cheerfully that, "there's a flavor that for lack of a better word…..is kinda annoying." He had no problem devouring it however. I also made him some mashed potatoes as I'd promised only to realize that the potatoes we had were so little that we'd be peeling all night. So we took the biggest ones and he peeled them and I made mashed potatoes just for him. He doesn't like the rustic (i.e. lumpy) style I usually do so we went all out with the hand mixer. He proclaimed them good. I sighed and said, "there still not as good as Val's, are they?" He struggled to reassure me but did end it with, "well, no offense Mom….but hers were REALLY good." Good thing I adore that child…..and Val. Ernie and I just had cabbage with the pork….it was perfect. Leo had macaroni and cheese. Don't ask. Sigh.
If I'd been up to it I might have tossed some fennel seed or caraway seed with the cabbage but I was petering out…it was a busy weekend. Barbara Kafka also gives a few other versions (from Asian to Indian flavors) in her book, Roasting: A Simple Art. As you can see from the picture below my copy of this cookbook is well worn and well loved. I HIGHLY recommend getting it from the library at the very least. My favorite roast chicken ever and I don't think we have ever once not loved what we've made from it.It's a good read too. I hope you like it….let me know if you try it…..
This roasted cabbage sounds DEEElicious! Thanks for posting, Cynthia.
Leo doesn’t know what he’s missing.
I love how the cabbage carmelizes when you roast it. The crispy bits are the best parts. I have that book, too, and started roasting cabbage sometimes from her recipe. I never get tired of discovering cabbage’s hidden talents.
I’ve never roasted cabbage before, wonder if Bob would like it that way? He’s not fond of it otherwise cooked. We’ve come to love roasted broccoli.
We need to have you all over for dinner again. I’m thinking rouladen with red cabbage. That makes a great gravy for mashed potatoes.
I don’t think Owen knows who I am when I’m at your house, but it’s nice that he remembers my potatoes.