Don’t let gas or being single keep you from making cabbage. It’s good for you, (can help to lower cholesterol along with about a billion other things) and if you know how to cook it, it’s delicious.
The trick is to start with a water with flavor. Think about it like the posse of a superstar. Have you ever seen those before and after pictures of famous people? Some of them look worse than I do without hair and makeup. But throw some Maybelline on those faces, zip them into a dress that sparkles and finish it with hair that shines and you have what equals tasty cabbage.
Add a hunk of leek, a piece of celery, a little piece of carrot, some fresh thyme, fresh parsley, a knob of butter and grey sea salt from Brittany (this is the Prada shoes–you can try to find a substitute or you can beg, borrow and steal to know what it tastes like to have the real thing. Any sea salt is fine.) Let that go for a while til it’s all happy and singing in there. Finely slice up savoy cabbage. Add it to the water and simmer til tender.
In a separate saute pan add bits of lardon or bacon. Remove and keep to the side. Saute a finely chopped onion with a few cloves of garlic that have been cut in half. Drain the cabbage. Save some of the cooking liquid. Reduce a bit with a spill of white wine until it tastes delicious. Reserve. Stir in the onion and the bacon into the strained cabbage, and if the bacon was really good, a little of that bacon fat. Taste for salt, freshly ground pepper and more butter. Don’t hold back.
Get your hands on Toulouse Sausages. They’re good. You may have to go to France to get some, but it’s worth it. Gives you something to live for sometimes to dream on something. Bring a pot of water to the simmer with a pour of red wine, a few bay leaves, and a garlic clove. Add the sausages and simmer until they looked like they have cooked through, about 12 minutes. Strain and saute with a spill of olive oil until browned on all sides.
Plate the cabbage with the sausages on top and serve with the reserved cooking liquid.