Molly Stevens, mon petit chou

I am not alone in saying that Molly Stevens' book "All About Braising" is one of the best cookbooks produced in the last decade. It's a teaching compendium, true, but she is a also very kind cooking teacher and cheerleads the reader usefully through recipes. The very nature of one-pot cooking means that nothing is very complicated or requires too too many ingredients.

This morning I woke up and was determined to make use of the head-sized green cabbage I bought at the green market on Sunday. I've been wanting to make kimchi, but realized it requires Napa cabbage not the hard, green variety. I flipped open Stevens' book to the index: Cabbage, world's best, page 57. I have to say I was almost miffed at how simple it would be –– the hardest ingredient being patience. And that is my worst attribute. I am a stove-top, whiz-bang wok queen all the way. All I needed was a braising dish (finally a use for the 20-pound Le Creuset wedding present), salt, pepper, hot chilies, water, olive oil, carrots, onions et mon chou. Chop chop, grind grind, in it all went. Covered and braising at 325 for the next two hours.

I don't know what I was expecting as the apartment filled up with a homey, sweet smell. At the hour mark I turned the cabbage wedges over. At hour 2, I took the lid off, cranked the heat and sprinkled a few shakes of balsamic over the top. What emerged at the end of my wait was — is — a vote-winner for world's best. There is very little oil and the sweetness of the vegetables, so soft you can eat with a spoon, is practically dessert-like. I am very impressed with this recipe and recommend it. As I am too lazy to type out the recipe, you can find it here.