Ahoy, savoy…cabbage that is.

Savoy cabbage is my latest Farmers Market find as my sister, Karen, and I travel to at least one farmers market a week.

Most of the time, we find the typical vegetables and market items like squash, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, lettuce, strawberries and much more. And, as our brother taught us, there’s a myriad of varieties of all vegetables.

Step up to the spotlight savoy cabbage!

Glenn Rosentretter and Craig Netland are the growers selling it at their Farm Fresh Produce stand at the Fergus Falls Farmers Market.

The unique savoy

The cabbage caught my eye. It didn’t look like the cabbage mom grew in our farm’s garden. The savoy’s leaves have a lacy look. No, it wasn’t lacy in terms of holey lace. It’s the veins of the cabbage leaves that’s different. It has a webbed look. A bunch of webs.

Savoy, itself, has a mild taste, says Craig. And it’s great it cole slaw.

Craig said he likes it and that was all the endorsement I needed. Into my Farmers Market bag it went!

I like cole slaw, but I wanted to try it in a few other recipes, too. I halved the cabbage and made half into a deconstructed or unstuffed as the recipe says, cabbage roll.

In the past, we’ve steamed cabbage or boiled it and eaten it with butter. YUM!

We’ve made cole slaw or added it to a hot dish. (That’s casserole to most people, but I live in Minnesota and I am German-Norwegian. We cut to the chase. to us it’s a hot dish because it is, well, a HOT DISH!)

But I recall one recipe I’ve made in the past that the kids liked. It was a hamburger-cabbage hot dish. The ingredients are pretty simple and it can all be made in a skillet.

Hamburger-Cabbage Hot Dish (casserole)

Ingredients:

small onion, diced

garlic clove, diced.

1 lb. hamburger

tomato sauce

1 c. chicken broth

Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Cabbage, diced one-half inch

Olive oil

Directions:

-Put olive oil in skillet and heat, add onions and garlic and saute.

-When onions began to get translucent, add ground beef. Break it up and cook with onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink.

-Add cabbage, salt and pepper, tomato sauce and 2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce, stir and add half cup of chicken broth. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until cabbage is done, stirring occasionally. Add more broth as needed.

Note: Some people add a pinch of nutmeg which gives the dish a more earthy flavor. Other additions are red pepper flakes or a dash of hot sauce.

Personally I find the tomato sauce, as it simmers with the cabbage and hamburger, reduced down giving it a neat flavor.

It has a deconstructed cabbage roll flavor.

And here’s another

Skillet Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

1 small onion diced

1 clove garlic

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)

Tomatoes

8 oz jar of marinara

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 c. cabbage

Directions:

Saute onions 2 to 3 minutes then add ground beef. Once beef is cooked until no longer pink, add can of tomatoes, marinara sauce and spices. Stir

Add cabbage and stir again, cover and simmer until cabbage is tender.

And a third recipe!

Easy Savoy Cabbage

1 head savoy cabbage

3 Tbsp butter

1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

Salt and pepper

1/3 tsp ground nutmeg

Place cabbage in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minutes, remove from heat and drain, Rinse under cold water and dry as much as possible with hands.

Melt butter in pan, add savoy cabbage, cream, salt and pepper and nutmeg. Cook until cabbage is soft.

Savoy thoughts

The fun part of any recipe is you can add whatever to make the meal your own. Got some fresh tomatoes? Add it. Got some carrots? Yum, what a neat addition! Don’t like nutmeg? Leave it out. Taste as you go, but keep in mind what you add or subtract for future reference. It’s fun sharing recipes and to find out what others have done to enhance the dish!

I found savoy cabbage to be firmer than other cabbage varieites. In fact, when doing a Google search on savoy cabbage, it mentioned, as an attribute, that it IS firmer and doesn’t turn to mush while cooking it.

Enjoy and let me know what you think….