feast.

The most underrated vegetable

Cabbage is possibly the most underrated vegetable. It gets a bad rap, and yet, it makes so many delicious things: the slaws! kimchi! sauerkraut! It is also dirt cheap, and with April 15th coming up quickly — and the resulting fretting over finances — that is a huge asset. Moreover, cabbages sport a forgotten amount of variety. There are little baby Brussels spouts, ruffly Savoys and Napas, the more leafy cousin bok choy, castoff regular old green, and my wintertime favorite, red. You see, red cabbage is a particular bright spot in winter. When all the other vegetables are varying shades of gulag gray, the hot pinky fuchsia of cooked red cabbage provides a beautiful pop of relief in the kitchen, a reminder that there will once again be foods with color, that there will one day be more to eat than root vegetables and soft apples.

In winter, my favorite way to prepare cabbage is a pretty simple, classic dish. As such, there are a number of variations and a small multitude of names for this dish. Nevertheless, all are a simple combination of shredded cabbage, tart apples, and dried tart cherries. If you want a more German dish, toss in a little beer. More Italian, you say? Use red wine. You can use red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Brown sugar or maple syrup. Cloves, caraway seeds, ginger, sautée, braise. Listen to Alice Waters, Marco Canora, Molly Stevens, the Franks — the chef at work, Matt, makes a pretty mean version. And, well, you get the idea. There are a lot of things you can tweak. What that means is that this is also pretty hard to mess up. The resulting dish is sweet and tart, rich without being heavy. I could see this as an ideal side to a pork chop or some sausages, but if you’re like me and don’t eat meat, pair it with some buttered noodles, or, better yet, nothing at all.

Cabbage and apples
Adapted from Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli, via Food & Wine.

I list the Franks’ version, here, thought I’ve had good success with a number of different similar recipes. This just happened to be the one I made most recently — and took pictures of.

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tart, firm apples, thinly sliced
• 1 medium red onion, finely diced
• 1 medium head of red cabbage, cored and shredded
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 small bay leaf
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• Juice of half a lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil

Melt butter in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. When melted, add apples and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add cabbage, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook until cabbage begins to wilt. Add wine, sugar, cherries, cloves, and bay leaves. Reduce heat and cover. Cook, stirring periodically, until cabbage is tender, about 45 minutes. Add vinegar and lemon juice, stir, and cook an additional 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, season again with salt and pepper, and a small drizzle of olive oil. Stir again and serve.

Serves 6.