Savoy cabbage and peas in a mustard cream sauce

I had some gorgeous pork tenderloin steaks to cook the other night and was in search of a vegetable partner for them when I was seduced by the neat little heads of savoy cabbage lined up in the organic section of the Overwaitea. The savoy sat there and taunted me for a full 2 days while I thought and thought about a treatment that would afford these tight and wrinkly little cabbages the respect they deserved. Larousse wanted me to braise them. Nigella wanted me to boil them and serve them with balsamic vinegar.

I wanted something more.

Which put me in mind of the corned beef, cabbage and mustard phase I went through about 18 months ago after having it for the first time at Gluttony (it`s a Sin)! In Melbourne. And it struck me. Mustard sauce. With cream. My husband (whose judgement I sometimes question, as I have seen him eat the better part of a pound of raw plum pudding dough just because it was there)  Swears that if he had to give up sex for cabbage, this would be the exact cabbage. I have to kind of agree. Although I am a bit miffed that he considered imposing his preference for cabbage, even divinely drool-inducing cabbage, over sex, without consulting me.

You may very well have to substitute lemon juice and rind for the Greek lemon salt in this recipe. I say this because, although I lived for 5 years in the largest Greek city outside Athens (that`s Melbourne for all you non-Melbournians out there) I had never, ever seen it there. I did not discover this stuff until I popped into a tiny little Greek dry goods shop in Edmonton, of all places, and found this AMAZING stuff in a clear plastic baggie with a hand written label. First off, it`s not salty at all. It looks like salt, but lick a little off your finger and you`ll know it is not salt. The tiniest little bit on my tiniest little finger tastes powerfully of lemon. If you can find it near where you are, lucky you. If not, you`ll have to make do with lemon juice and rind.

Savoy cabbage and peas in a mustard cream sauce   

                                    

• ¼ cup butter
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 170 ml thick cream
• ¼ C mustard
• Salt
• Pepper
• ½ tsp Greek lemon salt (or ¼ C lemon juice, plus ¼ tsp very finely grated rind)
• 3 small pieces lemon rind
• Small head (about as big as a small cantaloupe) of savoy cabbage
• 1½  cups of peas

Core and slice cabbage into small wedges.  Boil 10 minutes in salted water, breaking up with the back of a spoon.  Strain and set aside. 

In a large non-stick pan (I use my anodized aluminium stir-fry pan) make roux with butter and flour, and allow the roux to brown to a nice caramel colour.  Add milk, whisking, and then add mustard, cream, salt and pepper.  Whisk until smooth.  Add cabbage and peas to roux and toss to coat. Serve with pork, ham or of course, corned beef.

Comments

[DonnaLee]

Hi
Whoops...where and when is the Greek lemon salt added?
Thanks

[Lyn]

sorry donnalee! Add it in when you add the cream, milk and salt and pepper!

[Rufus]

Horseradish Sauce Recipe:
Ingredients: sour cream, grated onion, prepared horseradish, salt... view the recipe

[Niya]

What you call lemon salt can also be purchased as citric acid crystals in some pharmacies. You might also want to try east indian grocery stores. I forget what my grandmother uses it for...but she does.

[Buy Propecia]

yummy looks pretty tasty!!!