Cooking with Chef Jo: Cabbage- Use It or Lose It

Now, if you're like me, I've got whole heads of cabbages in my cold storage bins leftover from my late fall harvest. But after four months, they are looking a bit rough.

I could have dug a hole, placed my heads in them, and covered them with heavy mulch. They probably been good for a few months buried like that. But I didn't. It's one of those would of, should of, could of things. The one where you make the best choice at the time.

 

I haven't found an old, broken freezer to bury in the ground like I describe in my book, Are You a Survivalist or a Prepper? Shameless plug (grinning).  I had this set up on my old homestead. Instead, I've got a well insulated storage building. It stays cool during our extremely hot summers and well above freezing during long, cold winters. I can run the small AC unit or plug in a small heater if I need to, but I haven't had to yet.  

Even though it sounds like an ideal situation, it's not. We've had periodic rodent infestations and maybe a snake or two with food supply to boot especially winter. They are enjoying the climate controlled, dry haven we built. Though we are diligent, with ugh- poisons and traps, we still have losses due to this. Bins of over wintering fruits and vegetables are a prime target. I've lost an entire case of sweet potatoes due to this in the past.

I was going through my cold stores this week, when I noticed greater interest (droppings and chew marks on the plastic bins) around my container with my four remaining heads of cabbage. It's a use it lose it situation. You know me, I chose use it.

I detest the taste of boiled cabbage. So I never can it. I've never frozen just cabbage before. Mel will only eats cabbage in eggrolls or spring rolls. I peeled the wrinkly unappetizing leaves away (the rabbits will love them) and gave them a good soaking a brine solution just in case there was any dirt or creepy crawlies alive in them.

My first though was to make cabbage rolls and stick them in the freezer. Mel could always unwrap them before eating them. I found these foil tins in my Dollar Tree that made for a perfect serving for two and there are 3 tins for a buck. To me it makes cents.

If you've ever made cabbage rolls before, you only use the larger outer leaves to make them. That leaves the inner portion of the cabbage in tact. I made up nine pans. Once cooled, I put them in the freezer for three hours. As an extra measure, I vacuum sealed each container. I used ground lamb and beef as the meat filling in these because that's what I had on hand.

Next, I took one of the leftover cabbages and corded it.  I mixed 3 Tbs of soft butter, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp black  pepper , a pinch of red pepper flakes , and a splash of Worcestershire sauce and stuffed the core space with the mixture. I wrapped it with foil leaving a quarter sized vent hole. I baked this in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes a pound. I let the cabbage rest for 5 minutes, and then cut into serving  size wedges. I poured the cabbage/butter mixture over top of each wedge. I froze the wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet for an hour, and then vacuum sealed them. Now I can nuke and eat them whenever I want.

The other three left over cabbages I shredded into fine pieces. This was destined to be half eggroll and spring roll filling. 

Jo's Fancy Eggroll/ Spring Roll Filling

4-6 cup finely shredded cabbage

6 pieces of shrimp, deveined and minced tossed with 2 Tbs corn starch

4 boneless chicken thighs, fat removed ground

1/4 lb red meat,(lamb, beef or pork) ground

3 garlic cloves, minced. Can substitute 2 tsp garlic powder.

1" knob of ginger, minced. Can substitute 2 tsp dry ground ginger.

6 green onions, chopped fine

1/2 medium onion, chopped fine

 1 cup mung bean sprouts
1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup carrots, shredded

1/8 cup soy sauce

 2Tbs oil

Salt and pepper  to taste

• Prepare meats and vegetables.
• In large wok or pan, heat oil. Add garlic and ginger.
• Add meats in the following order: red meat, chicken, shrimp. Stir fry until no longer pink (except the shrimp) about two minutes for each meat. Remove meat from pan leaving oil and some garlic and ginger in the pan. 
• Add vegetables in the following order: carrots, onions, mushrooms, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onions. Stir fry about two minutes after each addition. Do not wash the pan after cooking the vegetables.
• Add soy sauce, salt and pepper.
• Cover and let cook for three minutes.
• Return meat mixture to the pan. Mix well, cover, and remove from heat.

When the mixture is cool enough to handle, Place a 2-cup measured scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 2 hours. Place each mound in a vacuum seal bag. A 2- cup mound will fill 4 eggrolls or 8 spring rolls.

This mound of vegetable meat mixture can be added to three store bought ramen soups packages for a tasty dinner or lunch.

So that's how I handled my use it or lose it cabbage scenario. How about you? What dishes would you make?

Have a blessed day!

Jo