“‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing-wax –
Of cabbages – and kings – ”
Roasted Cabbage Steaks with Melted Cheddar
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices of cabbage including core
- 2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup grated old cheddar cheese
Instructions
- To prepare the cabbage, cut a whole cabbage in quarters. Cut 1-inch-thick slices from two quarters, so you get good-sized steaks. It’s best to leave the core in so the steak stays intact.
- Coat both sides of each steak with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Microwave the steaks on a plate, two at a time, at high for 4 minutes – this will help to pre-soften the core. Test with a fork – if it pierces easily, you are good to go.
- Roast the steaks on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, remove from oven, carefully flip each steak and roast for another 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle one side of each steak with a few tablespoons of grated old cheddar—white or orange, up to you. Return to oven for 2 to 3 minutes, just enough that the cheese melts into all the nooks and crannies, but before it begins to brown. (Alternatively, let it brown a bit!)
- Serve right away. The cabbage will be buttery soft, and you won’t even taste cheese and cabbage as two distinct flavours, just one gorgeous whole.
These charming and whimsical lines from Lewis Carroll’s poem, “The Walrus and The Carpenter” are spoken to a gathering of unsuspecting young oysters, just before the Walrus and the Carpenter tuck in to feast upon them. Perhaps not so charming and whimsical, then, but instead, rather sinister.
However, those lines are often quoted when one is inviting a friend, maybe someone you haven’t seen for a while, to come and have a chat, to let the conversation roam where it will, on an exploratory expedition with no topic off limits and all ideas possible. Accidental discoveries are made; eureka moments shared; friendship deepened.
Now and again similar moments happen in the kitchen. All ideas are possible. Accidental discoveries are made.
Late in the holiday season, between New Year’s Day and the return to work and sober pursuits, it was my husband’s turn to make dinner. There was leftover turkey tetrazzini to be warmed up, and for a vegetable, roasted cabbage. He prepped the cabbage by cutting it into thick steaks, coating them with oil and sprinkling with salt. He then microwaved the steaks for four minutes, “to soften the core,” he said. (I thought this a redundant step, but I was wrong.)
He then roasted the cabbage in the same 375F oven in which the tetrazzini was warming. All was going to plan. Then I called from the living room, “At the very end, just sprinkle some grated cheddar on top to add creaminess.”
I meant the tetrazzini. He thought I meant the cabbage.
All ideas are possible. We discovered that barely melted cheddar on roasted cabbage steak is a perfect culinary marriage. The cabbage is buttery soft, and the cheese enters every crack or crevice and becomes one with the vegetable.
Like many, I’ve reached my limit with the possibilities of turkey, except for the turkey stock I spent a whole day making. Here proposed is a simple risotto to accompany a roasted cabbage steak, with a leek you might find rattling in the vegetable drawer, and some dried morels from last season.
Idle chat and roaming conversation at dinner encouraged.
Leek and Morel Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 1/2 oz about 1/2 cup dried morels, soaked in 1 cup hot water
- 1 leek white and tender green parts
- 3 cups turkey chicken, or vegetable stock
- 1 cup morel mushroom soaking liquid
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup arborio rice
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Soak dried morels in hot water.
- Prepare the leeks: trim tough green ends and save for stock. Slice the white and tender green part lengthwise and chop into 1/4-inch slices. Place in a small bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 15 to 20 minutes – this will loosen the dirt, and it will fall to the bottom of the bowl.
- Lift leeks into a colander and drain. Rinse under running water and shake to dry. They should be thoroughly clean.
- Remove the morels from the soaking liquid, squeezing them to release excess water. Chop into bite-sized pieces
- In a small pot, heat stock and soaking liquid over medium heat until boiling; reduce heat to low to keep warm.
- Melt butter and oil in a cast iron or other heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat. Once sizzling, add leeks and cook until limp but not brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add rice and stir to coat grains in butter and oil. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup stock to the pan, stirring occasionally until liquid is fully absorbed.
- Continue adding stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring occasionally after each addition until all the liquid is absorbed, rice is creamy in texture and still very slightly al dente. This will take 20 to 25 minutes and can’t be rushed.
- Turn burner off underneath the rice and allow to sit for a couple of minutes on the cooling burner until every bit of liquid is absorbed, but not so long that the rice sticks to the pan.
- Stir in butter, Parmesan, lemon zest, and salt and pepper. Serve at once as a main dish or a side. Roasted cabbage steaks with melted cheddar are a great accompaniment. Option: if cheese in two dishes is too much, leave it out of the risotto.
