MARCH 26, 2009 ISSUE
Mountain Living
Plant a Cabbage, Eat a Cabbage
Red Cabbages add beautiful color in the garden and on the plate. Photo by Amy Cooke
Gardeners have been growing Early Jersey Wakefield cabbages since 1840, and you can continue the tradition. These little cabbages have pointed heads that are filled with tender sweet green leaves and they don't take up much room in the garden. Even if your vegetable patch is small, you have room for these little conical cabbages.
Cabbage is a wonderful underrated vegetable. The heads in the grocery store are always good, but homegrown has a sweet snap that makes any meal special. You can sow seeds inside now for little seedlings that will be ready in just about a month or buy seedlings ready to plant.
Try growing beautiful red varieties like Mammoth Red Rock or Red Acre that will add gorgeous color to your rows and your plates. Textured varieties including Chieftain Savoy and perfection Savoy display beautiful quilted patterns on each leaf.
Celebrate spring by planting and eating more cabbage!
Scalloped Pork Chops
You will spend just a few minutes putting this dish together—then you have plenty of time to plant little cabbage seedlings while it bakes. Make a large dish of this even if you have a small family because the flavors blend and the leftovers are delicious. If you do want a smaller dish, the recipe is very easy to cut in half and works just as well. Any pork chops will do, but thick ones are the best in this dish. You can use ones with or without bones, and the long cooking time will tenderize any cut. This is a great dish for using stored vegetables and despite the long cooking time, they retain their texture and flavor. Be sure to use baking potatoes—not new, waxy potatoes—because the starch in them helps thicken the sauce. This is an old, traditional recipe and the plain seasonings are delicious, but don't hesitate to add additional herbs and spices. Rosemary, cumin, smoked paprika, curry powder or fennel seeds are all good possibilities. You can use any milk or cream from non-fat up to heavy cream. There is plenty of flavor from the vegetables, so skim milk is fine and the low baking temperature means that the milk does not boil so it doesn't curdle. As usual, though, the dish will be richer and very delicious if you use a milk or cream with more fat. You can use a large casserole or bake the recipe in a rectangular glass dish. If you don't have a large casserole you can bake it in two smaller dishes.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (will need more below)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 pork chops
salt and freshly ground black pepper (will use again, below)
ground red hot pepper
plain white flour
about a tablespoon of softened unsalted butter
1 head of green cabbage
3 pounds baking potatoes
3 large yellow onions
3 large carrots
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried sage
warm milk or cream to cover
Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Melt the butter in the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the pork chops with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover both sides thoroughly and then sprinkle on a little or a lot of hot red pepper, depending on how hot your family likes their food, but remembering that the hot pork chops are going to be surrounded by milk and vegetables that will reduce the burn.
Put a little more salt and pepper, along with a spoonful of flour, onto a large plate and mix well. Place the seasoned pork chops into the seasoned flour. Make sure to cover both sides of the chops with the flour and shake them to remove any extra coating.
Cook the chops in the butter/oil mixture until both sides are golden brown, turning only once.
While the pork chops are browning, prepare your baking dish and vegetables.
Use the softened butter to coat the bottom and sides of a very large casserole dish.
Remove the tough outer leaves of the cabbage head, then cut out the hard center core. Cut the cabbage into quarters, then slice very thinly and reserve. Peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly, too.
Peel the onions, cut in half and then cut them into very thin slices. Next, peel the carrots and cut them into very thin 'coins' or slices.
Estimate how much milk you will need to cover all of the chops and vegetables once you have them in the pan. Warm the milk with the dried thyme and sage. You want to be very careful not to let the milk boil or even come close to a simmer.
Begin layering everything into the casserole dish. If your dish is very wide but shallow you may want to make just one layer of each item. Most casserole dishes will accommodate two layers of everything.
First, place about half of the cabbage into the dish. You can salt and pepper at the end but everything will be perfectly seasoned if you take the time to sprinkle a little salt and pepper over each layer as you build the dish.
Next, layer on half of the potatoes, then the onions and then the carrots, seasoning as you go. Top with four of the pork chops, then repeat everything again, ending with your top layer of chops. Add the warm milk or cream to your skillet. Again, you don't want to boil or simmer the milk but do swish it around to pick up all of the lovely flavor from browning the pork chops.
Pour the seasoned milk into the dish until it just comes up to the top layer of pork chops. If you didn't warm enough milk it is okay to top off your casserole with a little cold milk. If you warmed too much keep it ready to add in case you need it during baking.
Cover the casserole. If it comes with its own lid use it or make a top out of foil. Bake for about one hour, then take off the cover and bake for about another 30 minutes. Add more milk any time it does not come up to the top of the vegetables and partly cover the pork chops.
Serve with a loaf of crusty bread or a pan of biscuits so you can enjoy the lovely juices.
Leftovers re-heat beautifully in a low oven or in the microwave oven.
To make a comment, ask a question or find out more about sources, contact Amy at amycookehcp@bellsouth.net.
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