Cabbage and Sausage

The apprenticeship pilot has its first six-month review. Ada is ahead of schedule — her mentor described her as the most naturally intuitive student he'd worked with, which I'd expected after the early reports. The mentoring relationship has developed into something closer to collaboration, which is the right evolution for a student with her level of ability. I presented the review to the Montana Farrier Association board and they've approved extending the pilot to five pairs for year two. Small scale, the right scale for the first iteration.

Calving starts in two weeks. The equipment is ready, the herd records are current, the late-night schedule is already starting to reorient my sleep in preparation. This is the one thing about the calving season that I haven't fully adapted to after eight years: the first week of interrupted nights. After that the body accepts the new schedule. But the first week the body protests. I note the protest and do the work anyway. The calves don't care about my sleep preferences.

Finished the solitude piece finally. It took six weeks and four complete rewrites to find the version that didn't go soft in the middle. The distinction I was trying to articulate: solitude as a positive condition versus aloneness as absence. The person who is alone and lonely is in one situation. The person who is alone and inhabited is in another. Both can be changed. Both involve wanting. The difference is the quality of what's wanted and the relationship to the waiting. It's a subtle piece. The editor liked it and it goes in the spring issue.

Made ribollita again — the Tuscan bread soup that belongs to the end of winter. The bread from the end of last week's loaves, the white beans from the pantry, the kale from the freezer. February food. The last week of real winter before March starts its slow transformation.

The ribollita was already made by the time I sat down to write this, but it got me thinking about the broader category of food it belongs to — the end-of-winter stuff, the meals that use what’s been sitting in the pantry since November and ask very little of the cook. Calving prep doesn’t leave a lot of room for elaborate dinners, and the cabbage and sausage I came back to later in the week is exactly that kind of meal: heavy enough for cold nights, fast enough for a schedule that’s already being rearranged around something else. It’s February food in the same spirit as the ribollita — purposeful, unfussy, and right for the moment.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1 small head green cabbage (about 1 1/2 lbs), cored and roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Brown the sausage. Heat a large heavy skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage slices in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, for 2–3 minutes until browned on one side. Flip and brown the other side, then transfer to a plate.
Soften the onion. Reduce heat to medium. Add the olive oil to the same pan. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until softened and beginning to turn golden at the edges.
Add garlic and spices. Stir in the minced garlic, smoked paprika, and caraway seeds if using. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the cabbage. Add the chopped cabbage to the pan in two or three batches, stirring each addition until it begins to wilt before adding more. Season with salt and pepper.
Deglaze and simmer. Pour in the chicken broth and apple cider vinegar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the sausage to the skillet, nestling it into the cabbage.
Finish cooking. Cover loosely and cook over medium-low heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the cabbage is fully tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve. Spoon into bowls or onto plates and top with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cabbage and Sausage — The Last of the Winter Pantry