Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Cooking with cabbage

We talked about late winter vegetables this week on the Calgary Eyeopener like potatoes, onions, cabbage — those items that historically were the last remnants of the harvest, squirrelled away in the root cellar.

Cabbage is far more versatile than many of us give it credit for — and of course it's a staple of Ukrainian cuisine, deeply rooted in culinary traditions across the prairies.

Around the world, people have been cooking Ukrainian dishes as a way of keeping the people of Ukraine in their hearts and minds.

I pulled out my copy of The Ukrainian Daughters' Cookbook — a classic Canadian cookbook published by The Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada in Regina in 1984 — as well as one of my longtime favourite books, Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine and Eastern Europe, by Olia Hercules.

Olia is a Ukrainian chef and food writer living in the UK, who recently launched a #CookForUkraine campaign to raise funds to aid families in Ukraine.

LISTEN | Julie Van Rosendaal talks cooking with cabbage:

Because one of my favourite ways to eat cabbage is to roast it, I roasted a sheet of cabbage and onion wedges and turned them into two things I haven't made before — a Georgian warm red kidney bean salad, and pyrishky, Ukrainian stuffed buns that I fried in a skillet as per Olia's recipe, giving them a savoury doughnut quality.

To roast, cut a head of green or savoy cabbage into wedges (no more than about 2 inches on the thick end), keeping the stem intact so that the wedges stay together, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and roast at about 425 F for 20-30 minutes, turning them if you like, until deep golden and getting dark and crispy on the edges.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes.

To speed things up, you could chop cabbage into about 1-inch chunks, toss with oil and roast — it will cook more quickly, and you'll wind up with more crispy bits. Stir the pieces around once or twice, as the bits around the edge of the pan will darken more quickly.

Georgian Kidney Bean Salad (Lobio)

Lobio means "beans" in the Caucasus region, Olia writes.

She calls for a can of red kidney beans, which would certainly streamline the process, but I had some dried on my shelf and so simmered them with salt and a bay leaf until they were tender.

This salad was wonderful warm, but is equally delicious cold — and beans always benefit from some time in the fridge to marinate.

As I was out of fennel seed, I used a small-batch spice blend that included coriander and fennel from Kelowna chef Aman Dosanj — if you don't have these, feel free to adjust the spices to use what you have.

This would be wonderful with some crumbled feta too, I think.

Adapted from Mamushka, by Olia Hercules.

Ingredients

• 1/4 head savoy or green cabbage
• 1 onion (yellow, white or small purple)
• canola, olive or other vegetable oil
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1½ to 2 cups cooked or canned red kidney beans, drained well
• ½ bunch cilantro, chopped (optional)
• a few sprigs of parsley, chopped
• a few sprigs of dill, chopped
• 1 Tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Cut the cabbage and onion into wedges (no more than about 2 inches on the thick end for the cabbage, an inch for the onion), spread out on a parchment-lined sheet, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt, and roast for 20-30 minutes, or until deep golden and getting dark and crispy on the edges.

(Alternatively, chop the cabbage into 1-inch pieces to roast, and caramelize the onion on the stovetop after toasting the spices.)

Toast the spices in a dry skillet, then grind in a mortar and pestle or spice mill.

Put about a tablespoon of oil into the skillet. (The original recipe instructs to caramelize a thinly sliced onion here for the salad, but we have it in the oven with the cabbage. You could do it on the stovetop instead, if you like.)

Add the beans and spices and warm them through. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine the herbs with the remaining oil and vinegar, then toss in the beans, and chop and stir in the cabbage and onions.

Sprinkle with more fresh herbs, if you like.

Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cold.

Serves: 2 as a main, 4 as a side.

Ukrainian Stuffed Buns (Pyrizhky)

Olia has a few stuffing variations in her cookbook — hard-boiled egg and green onion, potato, heart and liver — but I did equal parts mashed potato (2 large-ish Yukon Golds) and chopped roasted cabbage and onion, with some creamy Macedonian-style feta stirred in.

Pyrizhky are versatile enough that you can do what you like with your filling — it's a great way to use up leftovers — and if you have surplus dough, it freezes well.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 cup milk, at room temperature or slightly warm
• 2 tsp active dry or instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for cooking
• ½ tsp fine salt

Filling:

• mashed potatoes, caramelized onions and chopped roasted cabbage
• crumbled feta (Macedonian is nice and creamy)

Preparation

To make the dough, put the milk in a large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast and sugar.

Let it sit for a couple minutes to allow the yeast to dissolve. (This isn't as important if you're using instant yeast, but doesn't hurt.)

If you're not sure your yeast is fresh, let it sit for 5-10 minutes to make sure it gets foamy — if it doesn't, you may need fresh yeast.

Add the flour, oil and salt and stir until the dough comes together. (If you're using a stand mixer, use your dough hook.)

Turn out onto the counter and knead, or continue to mix with the dough hook until the dough is more smooth and elastic — it should still be quite tacky.

Cover the bowl and leave it for 45 minutes to an hour, until it about doubles in size.

Meanwhile, make your filling — you should need about 2½ to 3 cups' worth.

When you're ready to stuff your buns, roll and stretch your dough out into a long log and cut it into 10 pieces.

On a floured surface, roll each piece into a 4-inch circle and place 1/4 to 1/3 cup filling on top.

(Olia suggests dividing the filling into 10 balls, which works really well if you have a fairly precise quantity of filling.)

Pull the sides up to enclose the filling and pinch together to seal, then flip the buns seam side down and gently flatten with your hand.

Heat a generous pour (Olia suggests 6 Tbsp) oil in a large skillet until very hot, and depending on the size of your skillet, fry the pyrizhky 3 to 4 at a time until golden all over, about three minutes on each side, lowering the heat as needed.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to cool.

Makes: about 10 pyrizhky.