I could bore you to tears extolling the virtues of cabbage. It is a wonderful vegetable and, in my opinion, much undervalued. There are many lovely varieties of cabbage and I particularly like the crinkly green leaves of the Savoy cabbage. Essentially, the important thing is to buy the one that's in season when you are making this purée. I avoid the white cabbages, especially the canon-ball like 'Dutch' cabbage. In my opinion, it would be better used in target practice than in the kitchen. This purée is good with most meats and poultry. I sometimes serve it with venison and wild duck and it has been successful with roast and grilled fish.
Ingredients
- 1 head of cabbage
- Butter
- Cream
- Salt and pepper
Method
- The cabbage, fresh, crisp and green is the easy secret to success here.
- The cream and butter can be scant or plentiful here, though there is no point making the dish too rich as the green charm of the cabbage will be lost under the rich cream and butter.
- Remove any damaged outside leaves from the cabbage. However, don't remove any more of those nice green outside leaves than is necessary, as they are full of flavour and will give nice bright green flecks to the finished purée.
- Place the cabbage on a chopping board and cut directly down through the middle of the head, then quarter the cabbage and remove the hard core. Slice the cabbage against the grain, nice and thinly.
- Bring about 4 pints/1¾ litres of water to the boil and salt well. Add the cabbage and cook uncovered at a simmer until the cabbage is just tender. Drain the cabbage well, reserving 100ml of the cooking water.
- Place in a blender or using a handheld blender, blend to a coarse purée adding the cream and butter as you see fit. The consistency should be like that of a soft mashed potato. If the purée is a little firm, add a little of the reserved cooking water to soften it and blend briefly again. Taste and correct seasoning and serve in a hot serving dish.
- The purée can be made ahead of time to be gently reheated later. A non-stick pan is perfect for reheating it and a little of the reserved cooking water can be used here as well if it has thickened in the meantime.
