Our eyes opened wide to the possibilities of cabbage after we prepared a dish featuring maple-spiced red cabbage and apples. It was delicious, as were the accompanying breaded pork cutlets. Cabbage doesn’t always get its due. But as a converted fan, I’m hoping that will change.
Cooks in northern Italy, for example, already add savoy cabbage to pasta and risotto. And at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., cabbage is served with foie gras and caviar. “Its sweetness complements the duck and pork,” writes owner Alice Waters in her book Chez Panisse Vegetables (HarperCollins, 1996).
The recipe that caught our attention comes from a great cookbook written by the folks at EatingWell magazine. They teamed up with health care provider Kaiser Permanente to produce the book, EatingWell In Season (The Countryman Press, 2009).
The cabbage is shredded and sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, along with apples and red onion. Maple syrup and cider vinegar are added; the combination is considered a traditional New England seasoning. The cabbage has a sweet and sour taste, though perhaps a bit more sweet than sour. It’s definitely a keeper.
For the cutlets, we used thin-sliced pork loin chops. That way we didn’t have to pound the pork to make it thin. We departed from the recipe in one other small way. To brown the bread crumbs, we turned up the broiler near the end of baking.
More great cabbage recipes coming up.
Bon appétit,
Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch
