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A friend gave me a small cabbage plant and I stuck it in the ground. Well it grew and grew, the head must have been 12" dia. Well I didn't know what to do with it. I tried fermenting sauerkraut. I don't know about that after 1 month, I threw the last batch out, didn't like the smell. Kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage)is easier to ferment as it's got the spices and doesn't have to stay out as long as sauerkraut. I stink up the house....lol
QW cabbage is one of the easiest forgiving veggie there is don't be afraid just jump in there. I do mine most like NMS said and I don't do the acid soak either. If my home grown cabbage has a worm on it when I cut it open I just knock it off and cut away the area it was feasting on. Just wash it really well you will be fine.
If you put it in with corned beef, ham or smoke sausage just put it in last towards the end of cooking time or it will be mushy. It will still pick up the other flavors in the liquid of whatever you are cooking but still have that cabbage taste coming through.
I've only made cabbage two ways, and yep.....one way is on the smoker. Grill would work fine also. I cored it and stuck k.salt, pepper, some homemade pork rub, and a stick of butter in the core. Olive oil over all that then lay strips of bacon over the whole head, core up. Put on smoker and after 1/2hr or hr then put in foil leaving the top open. Don't have to have bacon or butter, but it does add to the flavor.
Another way is in a crawdad boil, I don't see why you couldn't just do that w/only cabbage on the stove. Add some crab boil, cajun spices to the water, couple wedges of lemon, even some brats, let that come to a boil while you core and wedge the cabbage. Then cabbage in, more spice, some mushrooms.......I'm getting hungry.
We like polish sausage and cabbage. I guess I cut the cabbage up a little more than you. It is all right to add red pepper or black pepper and eat it with hushpuppies. I would think a pressure cooker would overcook cabbage. I have only had corned beef a couple of time, so I know absolutely nothing about that. I cut the polish "turkey" sausage into small slices. It would be better to add margarine or butter but we have fat restrictions, so we leave that out. It is good just with the sausage and the cabbage.
My favorite way to make cabbage is to use a lot of butter (I know, not that healthy) and melt it in a fry pan then add coursely sliced cabbage with a whole chopped onion, salt and pepper and fry it with the lid on the fry pan so it steams the cabbage too. Just watch it so it doesn't burn and once in awhile mix it around. I cook it on a med-high and it only takes a short cooking time--minutes! Yummy!!
Cabbage I use only for soup. There are plenty of yummy ways to prepare it, for sure -- I'm partial to red cabbage with apples and caraway -- but that's best left to a restaurant with a kitchen with a really powerful exhaust hood ...
Wow! Thank You everyone for all your great tips, techniques and experiences. I really appreciate it as I embark on a cabbage adventure You know I see these big green heads at the store and never thought of cooking one before. The one I have is the light green, tight ball. I going to boil one half and chop and fry the other for starters. And I have kept every one's tips here for the next one.
BTW, I am one of those people who like brussels sprouts and cauliflower too. It must be in my genes Again, thank you all for your kindness.
Well if you enjoy brussel sprouts and cauliflower you're gonna love cabbage. I forgot to mention--I have never had to do much more then to take off the outter loose leaves and rinse the cabbage. I always buy the tight heads and I personally haven't ever found any bugs in there. When we grew our own cabbage the leaves were looser so I did have to look out for them but usually they were easy to spot and basically on the outter leaves. Enjoy your cabbage. Oh, when you fry up the cabbage it does shrink quite a bit so be sure to start with plenty!!
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