Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Cabbage is having a moment. Here's what to do with it

Cabbage is having a moment. Like other members of the brassica family — cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts — cabbage is making an appearance on restaurant menus, whether it's crunchy and briny or smooth and buttery with charred edges.

Cabbage grows well in Alberta, and it's still inexpensive compared with other fresh produce, with more storage power.

If you're new to cooking with cabbage, we explored a couple ways you can make the vegetable sing on the Calgary Eyeopener Tuesday.

We often refer to Brussels sprouts as tiny cabbages. When you consider how adored roasted Brussels sprouts tend to be, it's easy to imagine roasted wedges of cabbage as equally delicious.

Treat them in a similar way: drizzle or toss wedges of cabbage in oil and spread out on a parchment-lined sheet, sprinkle with salt and roast between 350 to 425 F until tender and charred on the edges. Cooking time will depend on your oven temperature, the type of cabbage you use and the thickness of your wedges.

You can also cook cabbage in a similar way on the stovetop: heat a generous drizzle of oil in a large, heavy skillet (cast iron is ideal) and cook wedges or cross-sections of cabbage until golden on the bottom.

Flip and cover with foil. This will trap the moisture and help them steam through.

Cook until just tender and golden on the other side. If your cabbage is thick and dense, you may want to add a splash of water or stock before covering to help it steam through, then continue to cook until the moisture evaporates.

Eat your oven or pan-roasted cabbage as-is, or chop and add to mashed potatoes or use as the base of a salad. We posted the recipe for the much-loved charred cabbage with Mimolette from Pigeonhole last summer.

I recently added a big pour of coconut milk, a spoonful of peanut butter, some ginger, garlic, soy sauce and some red chili flakes to the hot skillet and brought it to a simmer, then served the warm peanut sauce over the cabbage with chopped salted peanuts. Divine!

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a big, savoury Japanese pancake loaded with chopped cabbage. It's also often served with chopped scallions, shrimp, pork belly, bacon, noodles, fried noodles or tempura bits — depending on the region and cook — and cooked on a griddle.

Top it with okonomi sauce (make your own with equal parts soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup), Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and/or pickled ginger, and serve it in wedges or squares.

This version is adapted from Chef Michael Olson.

Ingredients

Batter:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp beer (or more water)
• 2 cups finely chopped or coarsely grated green cabbage
• canola or other vegetable oil, for cooking
• 6 slices bacon, cooked (optional)

Toppings:

• regular or Kewpie mayonnaise
• okonomi sauce (in Asian grocery stores, or stir together equal parts soy sauce, Worschestershire and ketchup)
• seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and/or pickled ginger (optional)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the water, eggs and beer. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to allow the batter to rest.

Add the cabbage to the batter and stir to coat.

Heat a generous drizzle of oil (or use bacon drippings if you have them) in a 10-inch skillet set over medium heat, and scrape in the batter.

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Cook for 4-6 minutes until the bottom starts to brown a little and the pancake begins to rise and firm up at the edges.

Shake the pan occasionally to loosen the pancake. If you're using it, crumble the cooked bacon over the top of the cooking pancake.

To flip it, slide the pancake from the pan onto a dinner plate and then carefully invert the hot pan onto the plate and carefully invert the hot pan over the plate and flip it back, letting the pancake fall onto it, lifting up the plate so that the other side can now cook another 4-6 minutes, or until golden and firm.

Brush the mayonnaise over the surface or drizzle it over along with the okonomi sauce and serve warm.

Serves: About 8.

Cabbage Schnitzel

I've been seeing a lot of photos of the cabbage schnitzel at Prime Seafood Palace in Toronto — wedges of tender cabbage in a crisp, golden crumb coat, sitting in a pool of herby-citrusy sauce.

At least two people whose taste I admire have said it was one of the best things they've ever eaten, so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm certain it isn't as divine as theirs, but it's a tasty way to eat cabbage.

You can serve it in all kinds of ways with any number of sauces: a herby green sauce, romesco, mayo, gravy ... you name it.

Ingredients

• 1 small to medium green or savoy cabbage
• all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• egg (or JUST Egg)
• panko or other dry breadcrumbs
• canola or other vegetable oil, for cooking
• romesco, a herby green sauce, smoky roasted red pepper dip, mayo, mustard-dill sauce or gravy, for serving
• chopped parsley, for garnish
• lemon wedges

Cut your cabbage vertically into 1 to 1 ½-inch wedges or steaks, keeping the core intact so that the pieces don't fall apart.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil (enough to accommodate your cabbage) and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until just barely tender.

Drain, cool, and if you like, refrigerate until you're ready for it.

When you're ready to cook, put some flour into a shallow dish and generously season it with salt and pepper. Crack an egg into a second shallow dish and stir it up with a fork (or pour in some JUST Egg), and put some panko into a third.

LISTEN | Julie Van Rosendaal shares how she cooks with cabbage:

Douse each piece of cabbage in the flour to coat, and then in the egg and then the panko.

While you're doing this, heat a generous pour of oil in a heavy skillet, or heat half an inch to an inch in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Cook the wedges, turning until they're golden all over.

Serve with the sauce of your choice, a scattering of parsley and a lemon wedge for squeezing.

Serves: As many as you like.

Flemish-style Braised Red Cabbage

This is a fairly small batch of braised cabbage. 

Traditionally, it's made using a large head of cabbage, plus 3-4 chopped apples, made tangy with vinegar and sweet with red currant jelly or honey, and it keeps in the fridge or freezes well.

Feel free to add chopped rhubarb and/or sour cherries in place of (or as well as) the apples, and double or triple this quantity if you want a larger batch. 

Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil
• 1 small onion or large shallot, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 small or ½ large red cabbage, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1 tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 tbsp brown sugar or honey (or a combo)
• 2 tbsp apple cider or balsamic vinegar
• 1 cinnamon stick

Heat the butter in a large saucepan or small pot over medium-high heat and as it begins to foam, add the chopped onion, cabbage and apple.

Season with salt and pepper, add the brown sugar or honey, vinegar and a cinnamon stick and stir to combine everything well.

Reduce the heat to low, cover and let it cook for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice when you think of it.

Let cool and if you can, refrigerate it for a day — the flavour will be even better the next day. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Makes: About 4 cups.