Roasted Savoy Cabbage Slaw with Spicy Bacon Dressing

Roasting cabbage wedges before slicing them for coleslaw brings out the sweetness in this winter vegetable, which is further enhanced by the salty, spicy, slightly creamy bacon dressing. Best of all, this coleslaw can be made a day or two ahead.

We eat a lot of salads in the summertime, especially since we moved to Dubai three years ago. With temperatures soaring it’s hard to think about turning the stove on unless it’s really, really necessary and something chilled and fresh like this Tuscan Bean Salad is the perfect dinner. As we head into Autumn, salads get heartier and we enjoy what the French called salades composées including this Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad. But even during winter here, salads are a favorite. They change complexion somewhat, with the addition of couscous or bulgur wheat, making them heartier and more sustaining. Or they feature winter vegetables like cabbage and Brussels sprouts. This week our Sunday Supper group is sharing winter salad recipes, hosted by super Sue of Palatable Pastimes. Make sure you scroll on down to the bottom to see all the great dishes we have for you today.

Ingredients
For the coleslaw and dressing:
6 slices streaky bacon
Rendered bacon fat from streaky bacon

For the coleslaw:
1 head Savoy cabbage (Mine weighed 1 3/4 lbs or 800g.)
Generous handful small red radishes – About 9 or 70g – Put more if you love them.

For the dressing:
1 clove garlic
1 small purple onion – about 2 1/2 oz or 70g
1 small red chili
2 tablespoons white Balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons plain Greek-style (thick and full fat) yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon bacon fat (or use more olive oil)
1 heaping teaspoon whole grain mustard
Good pinch flakey sea salt, plus extra to taste once the coleslaw is tossed

For optional garnish – young beet sprouts

Method
Fry the bacon until crispy and drain on some paper towels. Set aside one tablespoon of the bacon fat for the dressing and save the rest for brushing on the cabbage before roasting.

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 220°C.

Cut the cabbage into six thick wedges and place them in a large baking pan. Brush the bacon fat on with a pastry brush.

Roast the cabbage wedges in your hot oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the tops are turning brown. Some of the leaves on the bottom may get very dark. If they taste burnt when they come out, discard those bits.

Mince your garlic and chili pepper and put them in a small bowl with the balsamic vinegar. You can remove the seeds of the pepper if you don’t like things too spicy, of course. I left mine in. Cut the onion in half and then slice it as thinly as you can. Add it to the vinegar bowl and stir.

When the cabbage is out of the oven, set it aside to cool. You want it to be browned on the edges, but still crunchy.

Add the yogurt and the mustard into the dressing, along with the salt, and stir well.

Chop the bacon up, reserve a good handful for sprinkling on the coleslaw and add the rest to the dressing, along with the 1 tablespoon of bacon fat you set aside earlier and the olive oil. Mix well.

Once the cabbage is cool enough to handle, cut out the hard stalk in the middle and slice the wedges up into strips.

Remove any thick ribs as you go along. You can share these with your furry helper, if he’s nearby. Vegetable lover that he is, mine is always right under foot when the cutting board comes out.

Cabbage, you say? Don't mind if I do. Cabbage is good for dogs! 

Remove the ends of the radishes and slice them into pretty white circles rimmed with pink.

Pile the sliced cabbage and radishes into a large bowl with plenty of room for tossing.

Add on the salad dressing and toss well to coat.

Taste a piece or two and add a little sprinkling of salt, if necessary. This can be served immediately or stored, tightly covered in the refrigerator for a day or two.

When you are ready to serve, let the coleslaw warm up a bit, if it’s been refrigerated. Give it another good toss, plate it up then top it with the reserved bacon bits and some young beet sprouts, if desired.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of winter salads too? Have we got a line up for you!

#SundaySupper Winter Salads

• Amish Ham Salad from Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Arugula, Butternut & White Bean Salad with Maple Vinaigrette from Pook’s Pantry
• Arugula Salad with Maple Vinaigrette from Cooking Chat
• Beet Terrine from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Blood Orange and Salmon Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette from La Bella Vita Cucina
• Blood Orange, Beet, and Apple Salad with Goat Cheese and Citrus Honey Vinaigrette from Renee's Kitchen Adventures
• Blue Cheese and Pear Salad from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Breakfast Salad from Our Good Life
• Brussels Sprouts Salad with White Bean Dressing and Pecan Crisps from Beauty and the Beets
• Chill Chasing Matchstick Vegetable Pasta Salad from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Chopped Salad with Roasted Root Vegetables and Bacon from MyGourmetConnection
• Citrus Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cobb Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Colorful Veggie Filled Quinoa with a Ginger-Lemon Dressing from Positively Stacy
• Crunchy Beet & Arugula Salad from The Crumby Cupcake
• Escarole and Roasted Broccoli Salad with Anchovy Dressing from The Texan New Yorker
• Farro Salad with Roasted Squash, Radicchio and Lemon-Tahini Dressing from Caroline’s Cooking
• Grilled Chicken Salad from Real Food Real Deals
• Hot German Hot Noodle Salad from Seduction in the Kitchen
• Kale Salad with Lemony Tahini Dressing from My Life Cookbook
• Lemony Couscous Lentil Salad from Magnolia Days
• Low-Carb Spinach Breakfast Salad from Life Tastes Good
• Mandarin Tossed Salad from Meal Planning Magic
• Orange and Walnut Baby Spinach Salad w/ Quinoa and Citrus Vinaigrette from The Freshman Cook
• Quinoa Salad with Apples, Pecans and Dried Cranberries from The Chef Next Door
• Radicchio Pear Walnut Salad from The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing from Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• Roasted Butternut Squash Pearl Couscous Salad from Mysavoryspoon
• Roasted Savoy Cabbage Slaw with Spicy Bacon Dressing from Food Lust People Love
• Roasted Squash and Cabbage Salad with Crispy Chick Peas from Monica’s Table
• Shredded Beet Salad from Wholistic Woman
• Simple Arugula, Fennel and Leek Salad with Citrus from Simply Healthy Family
• Simple Spinach Cobb Salad With Lardons from And She Cooks
• Spinach Citrus Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette from From Gate to Plate
• Warm Balsamic Steak Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing from Momma's Meals
• Warm Cabbage Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese from Nik Snacks
• Warm Cauliflower Spinach Salad with Pancetta from Taste and See
• Warm Potato and Broccoli Buffalo Salad from Sweet Mornings
• Warm Potato Salad with Arugula, Bacon and Brown Butter from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• Warm Steak Tomato and Mozzarella Salad from Family Foodie
• Wilted Lettuce Salad from Confessions of a Cooking Diva
• Winter BLT Panzanella Salad from Hardly a Goddess
• Winter Citrus and Endive Salad from An Appealing Plan
• Winter Fruit Salad from Pies and Plots
• Winter Kale and Wild Rice Salad from Moore or Less Cooking
• Winter Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Winter Salad with Fennel, Apple, Goat Cheese and Radishes from Delaware Girl Eats
• Winter Squash Quinoa Salad from Kitchen Gidget

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Wild Rice Salad plus more Winter Salad Recipes #SundaySupper from Sunday Supper Movement

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Stuffed Whole Baby Savoy Cabbages

Savoy cabbage is milder tasting than its green or red counterparts and baby ones are milder still, compared to their grownups. If you are serving folks who aren’t crazy about cabbage, but do like greens, give Savoy cabbage a try. The baby ones are also adorable. 

Our elder daughter is dating a delightful young man that is not only a talented type designer but, bonus, he cooks and bakes beautifully. Every weekday he creates lunch for his office mates as part of his contribution to the team. It’s a brilliant arrangement, by which, as I understand it, he gets a discount on his share of the office rent and everyone gets a healthy, freshly prepared, delicious meal every day. So smart, these young people! I’ve been wanting to try one of his specialties (from an original recipe by Jacques Pépin) a whole stuffed cabbage that is cooked then cut into wedges for serving. But when I came across baby Savoy cabbages in my local grocery store and I couldn’t resist them. Some day I'll make the big guy.

The week’s Sunday Supper theme is Stuffed, Rolled and Wrapped so the individual stuffed cabbages are perfect! They may seem a little fiddly to make but I assure you that the baby Savoys are fairly hearty little cabbages and you can stuff your filling in with confidence. The stuffing and the simple tomato sauce they cook in is what my mother made whenever she made cabbage rolls as I was growing up.

Ingredients
4 small Savoy cabbages – about 2+ oz or 55-60g each

For the filling:
12 oz or 340g ground beef
4 oz or 115g ground pork
1 medium onion (about 2 1/2 oz or 70g
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup or 45g raw rice
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 can ( oz or 400g) whole tomatoes – buy the best quality you can afford. I like the Italian ones for best flavor.
2 cloves garlic
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme plus extra for garnish, if desired

Method
Mince your onion very finely and then mix it together thoroughly with the rest of the filling ingredients.

Divide your filling into reasonably equal portions.

Gently open your little cabbages and start filling from the middle, closing up the leaves over the filling until you have used all the filling allotted to that baby cabbage. Repeat until all four are filled.

Separate all the leaves and start stuffing in the middle.

When the area is full, close the leaves around the filling.

Keep adding stuffing and closing the leaves.

When you get to the outer leaves, put some stuffing on them and squeeze them up against the inside.

Finally, put the last of the stuffing right in the top and close up.

So cute, right?! 

Cut four pieces of foil and wrap them around the cabbages so that they hold their shape, leaving a hole at the top of the foil.

Puree your canned tomatoes with a hand or regular blender, along with the garlic, salt and sugar. Use the tomato can as a measuring device and add a full can of water to the mixture and stir to combine.

Put the four stuffed cabbages in a pan that has a tight fitting lid, hole side down and pour the tomato garlic sauce in the pan with the foil-wrapped cabbages.

Bring the sauce to a boil and then put your lid on the pan and simmer for about an hour or until the internal temperature of the stuffed cabbages reaches 160°F or 71°C.  (While the “safely cooked” temperatures have been reduced for cuts of pork, they haven’t changed for ground meats.)

Meanwhile, pull the leaves off of your fresh thyme sprigs and mince them.

When the cabbages are cooked, remove them from the pan, unwrap your little foil bundles and arrange them on your serving dish.

Add the minced thyme to the sauce and check seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary. Cook the sauce down until it thickens slightly.

Pour the sauce on and around your stuffed baby cabbages. Garnish with some extra thyme, if desired.

Enjoy!

How they look on the inside.

Do you like your food stuffed, wrapped and rolled? Check out the 54 links below to everything from appetizers to desserts!

Starters and Snacks

• Endive Stuffed with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Honey by Shockingly Delicious
• Filipino Turon (Banana Lumpia) by Killer Bunnies, Inc
• Arepas de Queso by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Chicken Tinga Taquitos with Avocado Cream by Savvy Eats
• Eggy Rice Wraps by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Puff Pastry and Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Onigiri by Brunch With Joy
• Stuffed Pierogie Shells by Seduction in The Kitchen
• Scotch Eggs with Sriracha Dipping Sauce by Run DMT
• Celery Root Lettuce Wraps with Beluga Lentils by The Wimpy Vegetarian

Entrees and Mains

• Rouladen by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Stracci di Antrodoco by Manu’s Menu
• Eggplant Rollatini by MealDiva
• Chicken Cordon Blue by The Foodie Army Wife
• Stuffed Whole Baby Savoy Cabbages by Food Lust People Love
• Chicken Taco Egg Rolls by Table for Seven
• Shrimp Tempura Roll by Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Lemon and Herb Stuffed Salmon by Nosh My Way
• Tamales de Rajas y Requeson (Roasted Poblano Tamales) by La Cocina de Leslie
• Bademjan Shekam-por by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Mascarpone Blueberry Stuffed French Toast by gotta get baked
• Korean-style Meaty Stuffed Potatoes by kimchi MOM
• Strawberries and Cream Pancake Roll by Curious Cuisiniere
• Creamy Goat Cheese Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes by Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Greek Rolled Meatloaf by Kudos Kitchen By Renee
• Shrimp Burritos Con Queso by Cooking On The Ranch
• Bee-Bim Bop Sushi Rolls by NinjaBaking.com
• Angel Hair Shrimp Lettuce Wraps by Family Foodie
• Genoa Salami and Kalamata Olive Calzones by The Texan New Yorker
• Zucchini Boats by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Girl’s Camp Breakfast Burritos by Hot Momma’s Kitchen Chaos
• Crab Louie Stuffed Chicken by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Rustic “Wrapped” Tart with Ramps by Delaware Girl Eats
• Potato Roll Stuffed with Ham and Cheese in Red Sause by Basic N Delicious
• Ham, Turkey and Cheddar Turnovers by Magnolia Days
• Crispy Chipotle Shrimp Burritos by Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• Caprese Stuffed Chicken Breasts by Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Pizza Pockets by girlichef
• Ham and Cheese Crescent “Roll” Stromboli by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Beef Wellington Braciole by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Greek Salad Wrap by The Messy Baker
• Cabbage Venison Lettuce Wraps With Fresh Herbs by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

All Things Sweet

• Easy Apple Dumplings by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls by Chocolate Moosey
• Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach by Desserts Required
• Chocolate Cake Roll by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cannoli Stuffed French Toast by Momma’s Meals
• Lemon Poppyseed Swirl Cookies by What Smells So Good
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Egg Rolls by Melanie Makes
• Raspberry and Lemon-Curd Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast by La Bella Vita Cucina
• Chocolate Chip Banana Sweet Rolls by Big Bear’s Wife
• Orange Chocolate Swiss Roll by Noshing With The Nolands
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies by Alida’s Kitchen
• Flourless Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies by Pies and Plots
  
  
  

Smothered Cabbage with Pork

Pork pan-fried until the edges are crunchy and caramelized, smothered with plenty of onions and cabbage, seasoned with chilies and freshly ground black pepper is home cooking at its Louisiana best.

In southern Louisiana, we like to smother things. My mother says that growing up, she never had a crunchy vegetable. Green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, okra, eggplant, you name it, it was cooked till soft and mushy. Now when she’s making maque choux, she cuts the fresh corn off the cob and barely introduces it to the heat and calls it done. I’m really not sure what my grandmother would think. We all think it’s very tasty.

My maternal grandmother has been mentioned on these “pages” before. She was a woman who had it all, before we even knew what that looked like. She ran her own business with my grandfather, raised three girls, kept a tidy house and cooked a full meal for dinner (what she called the midday meal) every day of the week, with an extra full menu on Sunday. Their major appliance store was on Center St. in a small town and their house was right behind it. She’d nip away to get dinner started and leave a pot roast or round steak, smothered with onions, simmering on the stove while she attended to customers and answered the phones. She and my grandfather would close the store for dinner and open again after they had eaten and they had watched their stories, which is what they called the soap operas. The characters on The Guiding Light  and As the World Turns were part of daily life and their adventures were discussed as if they were neighbors. They had been watching those characters live their lives for almost 20 years so by the mid-1970s, when I started eavesdropping, the conversations were candid and, frankly, a little bit alarming. John Dixon’s wife Kim wants to divorce him! He forced himself on her. Is it rape since he’s still her husband? This was pretty radical stuff for daytime television. Even my grandfather was hooked.  If I sat quietly on the periphery, the grownups never even noticed me there, with my wide eyes and bigger ears.

Anyway, the point of all this is that dishes that could simmer, covered, were easy favorites for a woman trying to run a store, cook a meal, and keep up with her stories, and this cabbage with pork was no exception. It’s still one of our favorite dishes so, when I make it, I make a BIG pot. We can eat this for days!

This week’s Sunday Supper theme is Eat Your Greens in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Our host with the most is DB from Crazy Foodie Stunts and we have a great round up of green dishes and drinks for you.  Make sure to scroll on down for the link list.

Ingredients - for six to eight servings
4 thick pork chops, bone in (Approximate weight 2 lb 10 oz or 1200g)
White vinegar (just a few tablespoons)
Sea salt flakes
Black pepper
Cayenne
Monosodium glutamate (optional) – my grandmother used something called Adolph’s Meat Tenderizer. But I use MSG since none of us have a sensitivity to it.
2 heads cabbage – I used one normal cabbage and one Savoy – total weight 7 3/4 bs or 3500g
1- 3 small red chilies – This is my addition. My grandmother would have seasoned this dish with cayenne and black pepper so if I don’t have fresh hot chilies, I do that instead.
2 large onions (Approximate weight 1 lb or 500g)
11 1/4 oz or 320g smoked slab bacon
Olive oil

Method
Cut the bone off the pork chops, leaving a little meat for those who like to chew the bones, by which I mean me.  Cut the meat into small chunks and sprinkle the bones and chunks with some plain white vinegar. (I keep one bottle with a lid that has holes cut into it for easy sprinkling.)

The vinegar helps tenderize the meat as it marinates.

Season the meat liberally with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne and, if desired, MSG.

Put the pork into a bowl and toss it around so that all the pieces are well seasoned. Cover with cling film and set aside to marinate.

Cut the bacon into similarly sized chunks.

Core your cabbage and then slice it into thin pieces. Set aside a couple of handfuls of the very greenest pieces for adding to the pot right at the end. Smothered cabbage may taste delicious but it’s not the prettiest dish. Adding some bright green at the end helps with this.

Peel and slice your onions thinly. Split the red chilies down the middle then mince them finely.

In a big pot, big enough to hold all your ingredients, and that has a tightly fitting lid, heat a good drizzle of olive oil and start to pan fry the pork, including the bacon, a few pieces at a time.

As they brown, remove them to a plate and keep pan frying until all the pork is wonderfully browned and caramelized. Add a little more olive oil along the way, if necessary.

Once all the pork is browned, you should have some lovely sticky stuff left in the bottom of the pot too. Add another drizzle of olive oil then the sliced onions and chilies.

Pop the lid on and let the onions sweat for a few minutes.  Use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape all the delicious brown bits off the pot.

When the onions are translucent, add the pork back into the pot, making sure to scrape in any juice that pooled in the bottom of your plate.

Right here I need to tell that my grandmother would have cut the cabbage into larger pieces and put it all in at once and cooked till it was smothered down and completely soft. So feel free to use her method if that appeals to you. I add mine in a bit at a time so that when the pork is cooked and tender, there is cabbage of varying degrees of doneness in the one pot, all the way from melted into almost nothing to still just a bit crunchy.

So here it goes, my way. Add about one third of the cabbage to the pot and put the lid back on. No need to stir yet. Simmer over a medium low heat until the cabbage is wilted and soft, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove the lid and give the whole thing a good stir.  Add in another third of the cabbage and put the lid back on. Simmer for another 20-25 minutes before removing the lid and stirring the pot. The second batch of cabbage should be wilted now too.

Finally, add in all but the couple of handfuls of the greenest cabbage leaves and put the lid back on again. Simmer, covered, for another 20-25 minutes.

Stir the pot and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Finally, add in the last green handfuls of cabbage and stir. Cook for just a few more minutes until those greens are slightly wilted but still a little crunchy.

These were the outer leaves of the Savoy cabbage. I saved them because they are a much brighter green than the normal cabbage. 

Enjoy!

Eat Your Greens this week! Now you have no excuse not to!

Green Light Appetizers and Sides

• Espinacas con Crema (Creamed Spinach) from La Cocina de Leslie
• Steakhouse Style Creamed Spinach from It's Yummi!
• Oven-Fried Green Beans from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Irish Champ from girlichef
• Fresh Herb Tabouleh from Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Moroccan Greens from Cooking On The Ranch
• Broccoli and Cheese Soup from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Polenta Crust Creamed Spinach Tart from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Cheesy Broccoli Baked Potatoes from MealDiva
• Spinach and Artichoke Squares from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
• Green Rice from Basic N Delicious
• Broccoli and Blue Cheese Tarts from Mess Makes Food
• Avocado Fries from Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Spinach Cashew Pakoras with Tangy Date Sauce from Sue's Nutrition Buzz
• Garlicky Italian Green Beans and Potatoes from Webicurean

Getting Greens Through Salads

• Pixie Dust Salad with Avocados, Pixie Tangerines and Radishes from Shockingly Delicious
• Roasted Broccoli Spinach Salad from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Apple, Spinach and Zucchini Salad from Hip Foodie Mom
• Brussels Sprouts Slaw from Hot Momma's Kitchen Chaos
• Asparagus-Fennel-Pea Shoot Salad from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing from The Foodie Army Wife
• Creamy Chicken Pesto Salad from Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Entreés That Will Leave You Green With Envy

• Eggs and Greens Pizza from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
• Creamy Green Pizza from The Foodie Patootie
• Shamrock Spinach Crepes from Curious Cuisiniere
• Healthy Green Pasta from Momma's Meals
• Swiss Chard & Sausage Pasta Bake from Delaware Girl Eats
• Smothered Cabbage with Pork from Food Lust People Love
• Spinach Fettuccine with Bacon Alfredo from Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Roasted Asparagus Eggs Benedict With Cajun Hollandaise from Having Fun Saving
• Indulgent Pesto Risotto from The Weekend Gourmet
• Twice Baked Turkey Pie with Cabbage from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Slow-Cooker Irish Stout Chicken Stew from FoodieTots
• Chicken and Asparagus Flatbread Pizza from Family Foodie

Desserts and Beverages That Will Make Others Turn Green

• Lemon Kiwi Meringue Pie from Desserts Required
• Mint Cookies and Stout Shake from Melanie Makes
• Verde Sangria from Country Girl in the Village
• Baileys Mint Ice Cream & Chocolate Stout Float from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Shamrock Cookies from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Green Tea Latte from Manu's Menu
• Grasshopper Mousse from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Amazing Grass Brownies from Killer Bunnies, Inc
• Leprechaun Ice Cream from Cookistry
• White Chocolate Cupcakes with Pistachio Pudding Frosting from Cookin' Mimi
• Collard Greens, Mushroom, and Cheddar Bread Pudding from The Texan New Yorker
• Coconut Avocado Ice Cream from URBAN BAKES
• Lime Meltaways from Pies and Plots
• Chocolate Mint Cake from NinjaBaking.com