Adaptable Stuffed Cabbage for These Unusual Times

Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

Stuffed Cabbage with Mexican Crema and Walnuts
Jasmine Rice, Beef, Castelvetrano Olives, Herbs, Lemon

When I saw this recipe from Bon Appétit, I thought… I have a head of cabbage, I can make my own version without having to go to the dreaded grocery store. The result was a mighty tasty and quite striking Stuffed Cabbage made with everything on hand.

Give it a try! Use the recipe as a blueprint to incorporate what you have available. It’s actually quite fun to make the substitutions.

You’ll definitely need a cabbage, any kind will do. And long grain rice, fresh herbs, some kind of sour cream or yogurt, some nuts, an egg or two. And there you go!

The recipe is flexible; add meat or not, onion is nice but not mandatory. I like savory olives but you may like sweet raisins. Lemon is good for tart notes, but no lemon? No problem, Bon Appétit uses sumac in their recipe. No dill? Use parsley. Butter is great but olive oil would work just fine.

The recipe is easy, I did use quite a few pots and pans however. But hey, there’s plenty of time for doing dishes…

Adaptable Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

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Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos

Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos

Corned Beef & Cabbage Tacos
Carrots Escabeche, Charred Corn Tortillas
Caraway Horseradish Sauce

Got left over corned beef? Try corned beef & cabbage tacos. Yep, nestled within charred corn tortillas are cubes of tangy salty spiced leftover corned beef topped with seasoned green cabbage, a creamy caraway horseradish sauce and pickled carrots. These vivacious tacos are filled with an adaptation of the ingredients found in that classic St. Patrick’s Day recipe. Except potatoes. But if you are missing the potatoes, I have a recipe for that too (see below).

Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos

Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos Recipe

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A Potato Lover’s Dream: Colcannon, Three Ways

kimchi mashed potatoes, kimchi colcannon

Kimchi Colcannon
Garlic, Scallion, Butter

cabbage leek colcannon

Green Cabbage & Leek Colcannon
Chick Peas, Olive Oil, Nutmeg, Garlic

southern greens colcannon guinness gravy

Southern Greens Colcannon
Mustard, Turnip, Collards, Spinach
Guinness Gravy

I am of Russian, Romanian, English, and German descent. But on March 17th I will be Irish. In the spirit of St. Paddy’s Day, I’ve been playing with potatoes. Mashed potatoes. Been taking the famous Irish potato & cabbage dish, colcannon, and giving it my spin. I was going to share one recipe, but honestly, I can’t pick just one. Spicy fermented garlicky kimchi with butter and scallion? Green cabbage and leek flavored with nutmeg, studded with chick peas? Loads of dark leafy greens with Guinness gravy? Please, you pick. . .

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A Sweet & Savory Dinner Featuring Truffle Honey

cooking with truffle honey, bacon wrapped pork loin

A Sweet & Savory Dinner ~ Featuring Truffle Honey

Pan-Seared & Roasted Pork Loin Wrapped in Bacon
Demilune of Baked Butternut Squash & Apple with Truffle Honey & Rosemary
Sauteed Purple Cabbage with Truffle Honey, Balsamic Vinegar, Caraway Seeds

My generous friends at Gourmet Attitude in NYC, purveyors of fresh truffles and fine truffle products, sent a gift box called the “Trio Boutique” containing three jars of fancy truffle products ~ truffle honey, truffle carpaccio, and white truffle cream. Merci and Grazie! We thought it would be fun to cook three separate dinners, each featuring one of these preserved truffle goodies.

For the first truffle dinner, lean and mild pork loin was enhanced with thick smoky bacon. Nutty butternut squash was baked with gala apple and laced with truffle honey, rosemary and butter. Then for contrast, purple cabbage was sauteed with onion and butter, flavored with balsamic vinegar and toasted caraway seeds, finished with truffle honey. This rather common combination of pork, apples, and cabbage was elevated by the truffle honey and the pretty demilune squash presentation with a rosette of colorful cabbage. It’s a meal that exemplifies uncomplicated effortless elegance.

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Baby Candy Stripe Beet Fettuccine, Beet Syrup

Baby Candy Stripe Beet Fettuccine, Beet Syrup

Fresh Egg Fettuccine with Braised Red Cabbage, Red Onion, Roasted Red Beet
Red Wine Butter Sauce & Beet Syrup
Thyme-Scented Baby Candy Stripe Beet with Fresh Chervil

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t toss those adorable blushing baby candy stripe beets into the pasta. Their charm would have been sadly lost. So the thyme-scented little chioggias were simply sliced in half and arranged around the pasta, with the most incredible concentrated beet syrup, and dainty little sprigs of fresh chervil.

We’re celebrating betacyanin, the pigment that gives beets their fantastic color, which also happens to be a powerful antioxidant. Candy Beet Fettuccine is the second course in a striking beet-centric vegetarian meal prepared for the 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group’s monthly challenge featuring the BEET. It joins first course, Baby Golden Beet Salad, in a color competition, posted yesterday here. Red, pink, or gold?

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