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23 January 08 re: fish-stuffed cabbage |
| m-c: |
| I've come to realize that although Mark and I eat plenty of fish in spring, summer, and autumn, come the winter I want heavy, burnished, heat-giving dishes, and I don't know enough fish recipes that fill the bill. |
| Fish soups seem good, as long as they have lots of stuff in them, and fish panini (last winter's obsession) are good too. But now I've gone out on a limb and invented as new dish of my own, fish‑stuffed cabbage. |
| mb: |
| Oh, you've always been a great one for stuffed cabbage, it's no surprise that you'd find a way to work fish into it. |
| m-c: |
| Exactly. That's what inventions usually are, just slight reworkings of established themes. |
| mb: |
| Or fusion. |
| m-c: |
| How to wed Peruvian and Pakistani cuisine -- curried ceviche. |
| mb: |
| Or you run out of something .... |
| m-c: |
| No bananas for banana bread? How about grapefruit pulp instead? |
| That sounds as if it might be interesting, don't you think? |
| mb: |
| Mmmm, maybe ... maybe not. Anyway, back to the stuffed cabbage. |
| m-c: |
| I've made it two different ways so far, one with smooth stuffing, one with textured, and naturally I like the textured one more. Also I made one with only four ingredients in the stuffing and with seven, and I'm not sure which of those I like better, so I'll tell you about all the possible stuffing ingredients and let you make up your own mind. |
| You start by choosing a Savoy cabbage the right size to fit into a heavy pot with a lid, like a Le Creuset pot. I have a little beauty made by a French company called Invicta that holds just 4 cups, perfect for the two of us. |
| If your cabbage is too big, you can take off outer leaves till it's the right size. Lay three long strings over the bottom and out the sides of the pot as if you were starting to make a star of David. |
| Core the cabbage (save the core for making kimchee). Spread the leaves gently and take out the tiny cabbage at the heart of your big cabbage. Chop up the tiny cabbage and add it to the stuffing. |
| Now make a stuffing of whole-wheat breadcrumbs, or breadcrumbs and chunks of bread, plus a mild-flavored fish (sole, cod, catfish) that you have ground to a paste in your food processor. |
| The other two essential stuffing ingredients are a member of the onion family and fresh marjoram. The angels sing wedding songs when marjoram and cabbage are used together. If you can't find fresh marjoram, use dried, not too much. Or dried oregano -- I'm stretching it now. |
| If the member of the onion family is mild, like scallions or sweet onions or leeks, leave it raw. If it's strong, like shallots, cook it in butter or olive oil. |
| Other stuffing ingredients that go well are mushrooms, celery, and parsley. |
| It's up to you whether you want the stuffing to be smooth or chunky. Use your food processor to achieve the result you want. |
| Now stuff the stuffing into the opened-out leaves of the cabbage. This is the one place in the recipe where you can go wrong, by compacting the stuffing too much. You want it to be loose and crumbly, not like mortar. |
| mb: |
| Oh yeah, now I remember this part from when I was a little girl -- you tie the strings up and make bows. |
| Exactly right. It looks dressy and festive, but it's practical too. |
| Moisten the cabbage and stuffing with clam broth or (cool idea) Clamato, pop the top on the pot, and put it into a 350° oven. How long to cook the cabbage depends on how big your cabbage, how much stuffing, and so on. When the cabbage is done to your liking (mine took an hour), turn the heat off and let the cabbage sit in the cooling oven for at least an hour, to marry and deepen all the flavors. |
| Like most fish dishes, fish-stuffed cabbage isn't so good left over, so try to make only the right amount. |
| mb: |
| Do you ever make cabbage rolls instead of the stuffed whole cabbage? |
| m-c: |
| Never, it's way too fussy for me. You have to figure out how to limpen the cabbage leaves, tie up every package individually -- it's a rule of thumb for me never to make any recipe that features the word "individual." |
| mb: |
| Pudding? |
| m-c: |
| Well, OK, individual servings of a bulk food are OK, but not little separate things that have to be crimped and closed. |
| mb: |
| FLBs? |
| m-c: |
| Ah yes, Fuckin' Little Buns. I do make an exception for them, but they are one of the great dishes of the known universe. |
| mb: |
| Will you give us a recipe today? |
| m-c: |
| Not today, but remind me some time soon. |
| mb: |
| Count on it. |
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