Bacon grease is highly recommended
In honor of St. Patrick’s day, our food appreciation classes made a quick detour to Ireland where we hoped to pick up a bit o’ luck with a pot of braised cabbage.
Understand, this is a dish some kids will turn up their noses at. Others love it. Personally, I think braised cabbage is pure ambrosia, especially the way I make it: with onion, a little cider vinegar, a tart apple and caraway seed. Oh, and bacon grease is also highly recommended. You just need a heavy pot or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and you’ll be on your way.
If you’re a meat eater, try browning a pork sausage rope, then letting it finish cooking on top of the cabbage. It would also love to share a plate with a rack of pork loin or just about any other swiney cut.
In a heavy pot or Dutch oven over low heat, melt 2 tablespoons bacon grease (or substitute extra-virgin olive oil). Sweat 1 medium onion, roughly chopped and seasoned with salt, until soft. Add 1 medium head cabbage, outer leaves removed and cut into 1-inch pieces. (Start by cutting the cabbage into quarters and removing the tough core near the stem end.) Add the cabbage to the pot, along with 1/4 cup cider vinegar, a seasoning of salt and 1 teaspoon caraway seeds. Cook for 30 minutes over low heat, or until the cabbage is soft and has lost its bright color. Stir in 1 Granny Smith or other tart apple, grated, and cook another 10 minutes.
Serve hot or warm. This can easily be made a day or two ahead and reheated.
For more great stories about how we are taking back our food system, read Fight Back Friday.
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
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