Here it is, the Cavolo nero - aka black cabbage, a native of Tuscany. It even has its own website. Just how hard does a vegetable have to try to gain acceptance? It's a really attractive plant with textured glaucous leaves - I think even if it's lacking in the taste department I could find it a place in the flower garden.
Here's tonight's supper - minus the pork chops which are still in the fridge. Cavolo nero, salad potatoes, the last few spears of asparagus - and a handful of eggs thrown in to fill up the picture - all grown within a 100 yards of the stove.The Cavolo nero I cooked with onion, garlic, chilli and the juices from the pork until tender but not overcooked. As a first attempt it was OK - there's potential there. It's the sort of vegetable you feel must be good for you. Any suggestions out there for extending my recipe base?
9 comments:
Green (ho, ho) with envy at your garden produce. Asparagus here long over (and it wasn't really mine anyway) and potatoes still a deeply buried dream. I'm actually a big fan of cabbage - black or not. Try it steamed with a little soy sauce and a sprinkling of grated ginger or bubble and squeak - now you're talking...
By the way, I believe it IS good for you.
I love Cavolo Nero but ours is far off from being ready to eat - I plant it out late so it goes well into the winter. I chiffonade (how posh is that?) and stir fry, with onion, chilli oil perhaps, a shake of pine nuts. Or if a heartier meal is required, with a cheesy and mustardy bechamel. It's a great addition to a spaghetti based meal - whether using a buttery, olive oil, creamy or cheesy dressing/sauce; bacon is a great addition, and if you remove the rib, you can use it any way that you might use spinach. Yummeee!
I'd rather have it in the flower garden, personally. But as it's good for us.... if I have to (and Savoy cabbage is so much better!), lightly steam, chop, stir into fluffy mashed potatoes with lots of pepper and nutmeg, serve with anything pork-related. Or use for colour rather than flavour (Mopsa's suggestions sound good) and feel virtuous about eating it.
But new potatoes..... now you're talking.....
Ginger, pine nuts - it gets better and better. Keep those suggestions coming internets.
Oh, goodness... I've just groaned at Elizanethd's gorgeous homemade jame and now I see your yummy dinner - I shall have to go and find something to eat!!
We've just had two types of homegrown lettuce, but I'm so green with envy at your cavalo nero! Mine drowned in all the wet this winter, sadly. I love the stuff! I even eat it raw in salads, but cooked as Mopsa describes, it's divine.
I like cabbage fried with onion and shredded carrot.
Wok fried/steamed with a sprinkle of 5-spice powder.
Wonderful! I am envious. Cabbage is a fantastic plant. The world would be a better place if we all ate more cabbage. Within 10 metres (so small is our garden) we have strawberries, gooseberries, herbs, apples, pears, but nothing so exotic as a cabbage. I like those Romanesque cauliflowers, all pointy and green that you see occasionally in farmers' markets.
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