- 7 minutes ago
Forget boring slaw—this video will show you how to transform a humble head of cabbage into a decadent, knife-and-fork masterpiece. In this video, Chef John demonstrates his technique for parboiling and roasting cabbage wedges until they are deeply charred, tender, and sweet. Topped with savory whipped blue cheese, crispy fried onions, and salty bacon, this steakhouse cabbage is the ultimate "it" vegetable for your next dinner party.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Steakhouse Cabbage.
00:08That's right, cabbage is this year's it vegetable.
00:11And as far as I'm concerned, there is no better way to enjoy it
00:15than by charring a big old wedge and serving it steakhouse style
00:19with bacon, crispy onions, and whipped blue cheese.
00:23And whether you enjoy this as a side dish or a main course,
00:26you are going to love every bite.
00:27And to get started, we're going to need one medium-sized green cabbage.
00:32And when you're buying this, you want to pick a few up
00:35and find one that feels heavy for its size, since heavy means dense.
00:39And for this, dense means delicious.
00:41And to prep this, we will turn it over so we can see the bottom of the core.
00:45And we'll take a sharp knife and slice a perfect X,
00:48since we want to divide this into four equal portions.
00:52And once marked, we can take our knife and cut down in about three inches deep
00:57Okay, we don't want to go all the way through at this point,
00:59since we're going to parboil this a little bit before we actually cut it open.
01:04So we're just cutting in roughly halfway through.
01:07And once that's set, we'll head to the stove,
01:09and we will add a generous amount of salt,
01:12plus some cold fresh water into a stock pot.
01:15And we will give that a quick swirl before adding our cabbage in,
01:19definitely with the cut side down.
01:22And we'll set our heat to high, and we'll wait for that to come to a boil.
01:27And once it does, we will cover that,
01:29and we will let that boil for 15 minutes,
01:32at which point we'll uncover it and turn off the heat,
01:35and then we'll just let it sit until it's cool enough to handle.
01:39And once it is, we will handle it.
01:41And by handle, I mean very carefully cut it in quarters,
01:45which is going to be pretty easy to do now,
01:47since as you can see, that core is kind of split open.
01:50And the reason for the boiling step is to get a head start on the cooking,
01:53which is going to cut down on our roasting time.
01:56But also, salt is cabbage's best friend.
01:59So we're also getting a head start on the seasoning as well.
02:02And please be careful.
02:03A wet cabbage is a slippery cabbage,
02:05and a slippery cabbage is a dangerous cabbage to cut.
02:09So take your time,
02:10and keep your hands above or to the side of the blade.
02:13And that's it, once cut,
02:15we can pull off some of the loose leaves if we want,
02:18to make it look a little bit neater,
02:20but that is optional.
02:21And whether you do that or not,
02:23we will transfer that to a parchment-lined baking sheet,
02:26and we'll space those nice and evenly.
02:29And I do like to have the core end facing out,
02:31since I think that's going to get a little more heat.
02:34And once we have that panned up,
02:36we're going to give it a very, very generous brushing with melted butter,
02:40followed by a very generous sprinkling of salt.
02:43And then what our plan is here,
02:45is to roast this in a hot oven,
02:47until it's fully charred and tender.
02:50And for me, the more char we get,
02:52the better the final dish is going to taste.
02:55But if you're not into the golden black finish,
02:57you can if you want roast this covered in foil,
02:59for something a little less severe.
03:01But in any event, we'll transfer that into a 450-degree oven,
03:06for about an hour,
03:07depending on the size and density of the cabbage,
03:10or until it's fully charred,
03:12tender,
03:13and hopefully looks like this.
03:15And to test this,
03:16we'll poke it with a bamboo skewer,
03:18which should penetrate relatively easily.
03:21And once you have determined your cabbage is cooked,
03:24we'll go ahead and push those pieces together,
03:27and then quickly cover it with a piece of foil,
03:29to trap the heat in.
03:30And then we'll toss a towel over the top,
03:33to add some extra insulation.
03:34And we will let that rest for about 15 minutes,
03:37before we serve.
03:38During which time,
03:39it's going to soften up a little more.
03:41And all those sweet,
03:42smoky notes from the charred surface,
03:44will be permeating the inside.
03:46Oh, and while the cabbage is resting,
03:48or while it was roasting,
03:50we can prep the other components,
03:52one of which would be cutting up some bacon,
03:54and cooking it over medium heat until it's crisp.
03:57And please,
03:58do not ruin this incredible dish,
04:00by topping it with flabby bacon.
04:03Okay, so make sure almost all that fat is rendered out.
04:06But anyway, I trust you.
04:08And once it is crisp,
04:09we'll go ahead and drain that on some paper towels.
04:12And then the other thing we need to put together,
04:14is our whipped blue cheese,
04:16which we'll make by combining some sour cream,
04:18or yogurt,
04:19with some cream cheese.
04:21As well as an equal amount of blue cheese.
04:24And I'm using something called buttermilk blue.
04:27But any high quality blue cheese will work.
04:30And then we'll finish up with some cream,
04:32which we want nice and cold when we use it.
04:34So be sure to leave that in the fridge,
04:36until you're ready.
04:37Oh, and by the way,
04:38I'm only adding half the cream at this point.
04:41And we'll blend that in,
04:42and then we'll add the other half of the cream.
04:44Alright, if we add it all in,
04:46I find it can splash out when we start blending.
04:48But as you can see,
04:50by blending it in two additions,
04:52there is no way any of that's going to splash out.
04:55Whoops.
04:56Oh man, I didn't see that coming.
04:58Well anyway,
04:59still a good idea, I think.
05:01And we will blend that until everything is light and fluffy.
05:04But no further.
05:05Because if you overblend cream,
05:07it turns into butter.
05:08And this will get greasy and grainy.
05:10Neither of which we want.
05:12And that's it.
05:13We'll go ahead and clean off our blender.
05:15And we'll sneak a little bit of a taste.
05:17And you could,
05:18if you want,
05:18add a pinch of salt if it needs it.
05:20But if you use a really good blue cheese,
05:22that shouldn't be necessary.
05:24And we'll go ahead and pop that in the fridge until we need it.
05:27And that's it.
05:28We'll go ahead and uncover our cabbage.
05:29And proceed to plate up.
05:31And if you're scared of the appearance at this point,
05:34don't be.
05:35Right?
05:3595% of the wedge is sweet, pure white, tender goodness.
05:39As you'll see when we cut in.
05:41And as far as plating goes,
05:43I'm going to start with some whipped blue cheese on the plate.
05:45And yes, I went chef on this and piped it.
05:48But you could just spread with a spoon.
05:50And then we'll place one of our beautifully charred wedges on top.
05:54And then we'll apply some more of our whipped blue cheese over that.
05:57Since this is a good amount of cabbage,
06:00plus we need something to hold up our garnishes.
06:03Which for me are going to be some crispy fried onions.
06:06Which yes, I got right out of the can.
06:08Write extra credit if you do those yourself.
06:11But the ones from the can do work perfectly.
06:13And you might have some in the pantry from Thanksgiving.
06:16And that's it.
06:17We'll top that with a very generous amount of our crispy bacon.
06:21Followed by a whole bunch of freshly sliced green onions.
06:25And yes, I am fussing around a little bit with the plate.
06:27Since I have to take some contractually obligated pictures.
06:31But in real life, you can just toss things on and keep moving.
06:34And that's it.
06:35I finished up with a few sliced cherry tomatoes.
06:37For a little bit of color and acidity.
06:40And what we're calling steakhouse cabbage was ready to enjoy.
06:44Which we will do with a fork and of course a steak knife.
06:48And we will cut into that just barely tender cabbage.
06:51Alright, we do want sweet and tender and easy to eat.
06:54But I don't think we want soft and mushy.
06:56And we'll go ahead and try to get most, if not all, the components on one bite.
07:00And that, my friends, really was incredible.
07:03Right, just charred cabbage is incredibly delicious by itself.
07:07But when you're including crispy fried onions and bacon.
07:10And green onions and some tomato.
07:12All tied together with that creamy, salty, super savory whipped blue cheese.
07:17The flavor level here is just off the charts.
07:20Alright, if I went to a steakhouse.
07:22And they said, sorry, we're out of steaks.
07:24But we have something we think you'll love.
07:26And they served me this.
07:27I would have left that restaurant a very, very happy diner.
07:31I mean, I would complain a little bit.
07:33So they give me a free dessert.
07:35But anyway, you get the point.
07:37And of course, if you're not into this steakhouse presentation.
07:40And these specific garnishes.
07:42You have lots of other choices.
07:44So using the same technique.
07:45This is definitely something you can experiment with.
07:48I mean, you are, after all, the Bryce Eldridge.
07:50Of how to dress your charred cabbage.
07:53But whether you make this as shown.
07:55Or do your own little twist.
07:57It's going to be a home run.
07:59Which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon.
08:03So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts.
08:06A printable written recipe and much more info as usual.
08:10And as always, enjoy.
08:14Bye.
08:22See you soon.
08:26Bye.
08:26Bye.
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