Herbed Cabbage

I didn't like cabbage as a child. Realising I did actually like cabbage was a sign of maturity - I was 24.

Children aren't supposed to like cabbage. If other people didn't like it then I was just certain that I wouldn't like it either... Like sprouts. They're just "urgh" aren't they?!

Umm, no. Aside from being delicious, and good for you - cabbage is also very pretty. It shouldn't make a difference in whether or not something is edible, but it totally does. 

This recipe is another I have pilfered from BBC Good Food although I'd change it a fair bit. As flavoured as this dish was, it should be more. More herbs. More garlic. More yum.

There are 3 ways of making this dish, the way the recipe says, the way I made it in these pictures, and the way I will try next time. Sorry to make it all too complicated, I know it's only cabbage.

I didn't have any goose fat as per the original recipe. I'm a bit fed up of buying expensive only use once ingredients - but I think the plan here is that you make this cabbage on Christmas day and you would already have some for your roasties. (Have you that yet? You really should.) You can buy a jar and keep it in your fridge for months, so if I can find it I will try next time, I reckon it will add some va-va-voom.

Also - the original recipe says to remove the herbs you add in once you flavour the shallots. I did a bit of both for this dish - because I left in some chopped rosemary. Next time I'm going to crush one garlic clove and add that in with even more chopped rosemary. I didn't have shallots and I used leeks as they were in the fridge. It still tasted nice, but I will probably try it with onion next time.

Serves 4- 6

Ingredients

1 savoy cabbage

1 tbsp olive oil (or 4 tbsp goose fat)

1 medium leek. (or 4 shallots, or 1 onion)

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 garlic cloves

Instructions

• Finely chop your your leek/shallots, 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 clove of garlic. Leave to one side
• Quarter the cabbage, remove the core and shred thinly
• Quickly blanch the cabbage in salted boiling water for 3 minutes

• Then tip it all into a colander in the sink, and hold under cold water till cool. Drain well.
• Heat the olive oil (or goose fat) in a pan till hot and sauté the leek/onion/shallots, rosemary and one whole garlic clove and one crushed garlic clove for 5 minutes

• Discard the whole clove of garlic, and rosemary sprig
• Add the cooled cabbage and heat through. This gets steamy!
• Season & enjoy.

I'm trying to resist the temptation of adding bacon to this. You know it would taste SO good. In fact, the bacon might save you the purchase of goose-fat. Bacon flavour that also saves you money? Well all right then. 

Sugar Crusted Lamb

This recipe is delicious and quick to prepare for a dinner party - and pretty unique too. This lamb generally comes out pink > a teeny bit undercooked so be cautious if you're thinking of serving it to a fussy eater. And a small advanced warning about getting an urge to sprinkle sugar on all your dinner - I'm sure it wont taste as good!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 lamb cutlets - 700g

Seasoning

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 large sprigs of rosemary

2 tbsp demerara sugar

A smearing of olive oil

Instructions:

• Preheat the grill to high, and place a baking tray underneath it to heat up
• Prepare the lamb by seasoning with salt and pepper
• Strip the rosemary sprigs by stripping the leaves off and discarding the stalk
• Mix the lamb with the rosemary and mustard - ensuring it's well coated
• On a separate plate, spread out the sugar and dip each side of the lamb cutlets onto the sugar
• Take out the baking tray from under the grill, quickly place the cutlets on and return to the grill for 10-12 minutes. Or as long as you can stand the smoking! The sugar does burn - but don't worry, it does not taste burnt.

Recipe is adapted from BBC Good Food, which is a fantastic resource.