Using My Heads

Now’s your chance to prove to me that blogging is more useful than Twitter.

So here’s the deal. I have cabbage in the garden—lots of cabbage, many big heads of cabbage—that will have to be picked sometime soon. How would you use them up/preserve them if you were me?

Things to keep in mind:

• Cold storage won’t work.
• I won’t be making sauerkraut.

I’ve already asked this question on Twitter and received several good recipes and suggestions. Can blog commenters do better?

Comments

[Sandra]

How 'bout a blog comment from someone who now follows you on Twitter? I would make chow-chow with it. Similar to a relish, it cans well and can be kept for a long time! If you're interested, I'll send you my recipe.

[rebecca]

Oh do, please!

[kim from hiraeth]

I don't have any ideas about putting them up, but fried cabbage is delicious and it takes quite a bit of it to make a 'mess' of fried cabbage because it shrinks down. (By 'mess' I mean a 'batch'--that's what my Grandma always called it!)

[rebecca]

You just fry it? Or is there more to it than that?

[rosemary]

When I read your post, I thought of Chow Chow, so I agree with Sandra. Much more interesting than sauerkraut!

[kim from hiraeth]

You shred the cabbage like you would for slaw, then melt some butter in a large frying pan and pile it all in. It'll shrink down, so you want to almost over fill the pan. Put a lid on it and let it go on med/med high heat. Low and slow. Eventually, after it cooks down, you'll take off the lid and let the moisture cook off. You won't be fooling around with it or turning it or stirring it. Just let it go. After a while you'll be able to tell it's starting to brown on the bottom. Peek and see if it needs a little bit more butter to brown. Once you get some good caramelization on the bottom, cut it in two or three sections and turn it, slipping more butter underneath it as you go. Let that side go without peeking until you hear the sizzle and you know it's browning. Same thing; slip a little more butter in if you need to.

The cabbage is so sweet and tender and delicious. My sister in law adds onion and celery seed, but I like it with plain old cabbage.

[rebecca]

That sounds really good. The cabbage that grows here is so sweet and tender that it's best served without much additional flavouring.