Food bucket list…

Do you have a bucket list? Places you want to visit or activities you want to do before you kick the bucket? I have a food bucket list… that may sound strange, but I want to try different culinary options. Whether it is location dining (France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, etc.) or glamorous dining like the French Laundry (http://www.frenchlaundry.com/). I think it would be exciting to eat food that is famous for being the place where it all started like a philly in Philadelphia, Wings in Buffalo, Kansas City BBQ, Gumbo in New Orleans, and the list goes on.

I am so surprised by the food myths that are prolific in this country… Olive Garden is delicious, but is it really how they make Italian food in Italy (styles varies from region to region), Tacos in the U.S. are not like the myriad of taco types in Mexico and across Latin America, and do you really think that the Irish all stay home on St. Paddy’s day and have corned beef and cabbage?

This is an excerpt from the History Channel’s website:

So how did pork and potatoes become corned beef and cabbage? Irish immigrants to America lived alongside other “undesirable” European ethnic groups that often faced discrimination in their new home, including Jews and Italians. Members of the Irish working class in New York City frequented Jewish delis and lunch carts, and it was there that they first tasted corned beef. Cured and cooked much like Irish bacon, it was seen as a tasty and cheaper alternative to pork. And while potatoes were certainly available in the United States, cabbage offered a more cost-effective alternative to cash-strapped Irish families. Cooked in the same pot, the spiced, salty beef flavored the plain cabbage, creating a simple, hearty dish that couldn’t be easier to prepare.

http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/corned-beef-and-cabbage-as-irish-as-spaghetti-and-meatballs

Now that you are in on the secret… does that change your menu? Nope, not for me. I have a corned beef in the fridge and a couple heads of cabbage. It will be deliciously not original, but maybe we can elevate our notions and try something new. 

Here is what I am working on…

Corned Beef and Cabbage rolls (Rueben style) http://www.primallyinspired.com/cabbage-rolls-reuben-style-st-patricks-day/

And I will have a few beers (Irish or not) to celebrate on March 17^th. Let me know what you are doing for the holiday at www.cookingwithtrace.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cookingwithtrace

Erin go Braugh

Roasted Cabbage!

Tis the time to start thinking about green beer and shamrocks! What is better than a nice stout beer with some amazing food?  It is incredible that food can be associated with so many celebrations and cultures. St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. Corned beef and cabbage is the typical staple for this holiday and all too often it is a much maligned food. It has the ability to be awesome and it can be terrible, depending on how you prepare it. While I cannot fix all your problems this March, I hope to make you appreciate the dense, delicious vegetable a lot more.

How do Americans eat cabbage?

Boiled, Sautéed, Stuffed, Covered in sickly sweet dressing as coleslaw… yep that about covers it.

What about the rest of the world?

Asian cuisines have several varieties of cabbage showing up in all types of dishes (I even included it in my elk eggrolls a couple of months back).

Koreans ferment cabbage into Kim-chee. Kim-chee is amazing. It can be spicy or heady with the ability to make your taste buds dance like they never have.

Germans/Eastern Europeans also ferment their cabbage into sauerkraut type dishes that can be spicy, but most of the time they are a delicious tart sour (hence the name) flavor that is great as a side or of course on an amazing bratwurst.

I do love a good boiled cabbage with plenty of caraway or celery seeds, butter and salt. However if not seasoned properly, it can be bland, tasteless, and even slimy. Then there is the ‘aroma’… boiling cabbage not only depletes a lot of the cancer fighting properties, but it release the gases that cause the sometime unpleasant smell.  

Yuck… no wonder people turn their nose up at cabbage.

Well, like I said I want to change your mind. Here is a variation on cooking cabbage that it not only delicious, but very easy as well.

Roasted Cabbage

1 head green cabbage

1 medium white onion

2 tbls olive oil

Salt, pepper, celery seed

Preheat oven to 40 degrees

Wash and peel vegetables. I like to cut the cabbage and onion in half and then slice about ¾ inch thick.

Arrange on pan and brush with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and celery seeds. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Serve as a side dish or as the main dish. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The onions were sweet and the cabbage was crispy on the outside and silky on the inside. I will make this again and again and again…

How do you like your cabbage? Leave me a note at www.cookingwithtrace.com or connect with me on www.facebook.com/cookingwithtrace.

Now go cook a cabbage!