5th
Bubble and Squeak
I admit it, this is basically cabbage and potatoes sauteed in a lot of butter. You kind of can’t go wrong with that, unless you’re trying not to eat so much fat, in which case you might want to skip this one. The folklore is that the British call it Bubble and Squeak because of how it behaves while it’s cooking. (It does do those things, but there are those who have other ideas about the name’s provenance.)
If you are crazy (I am!), you can make your own butter for this. Check out this old piece in the New York Times for details. You can also email Deborah Freeman (deborahcfreeman at yahoo dot com) to take part in the Green Gate dairy coop, which would make this butter thing even better.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb potatoes, peeled (if desired) and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter or 3 tablespoons butter, 3 olive oil
- 1 lb green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
How to:
Cover potatoes with cold salted water by 1 inch and bring to a boil, then boil, uncovered, until tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Drain.
Heat butter (or butter and oil) in a 10-inch heavy nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté cabbage with salt and pepper, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add potatoes, mashing and stirring them into cabbage while leaving some lumps and pressing to form a cake. Cook, without stirring, until underside is crusty and golden, about 10 minutes.
This recipe makes one big, skillet-sized cake that you cut apart—I have also seen this done as individual cabbage and potato pancakes, which are pretty cute. To do that, saute the cabbage and mash the potatoes separately in 2 tablespoons of butter each, cool completely, mix together in a bowl, form into approximately 1/4 cup patties, and fry in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
Adapted from Epicurious.
