Sauteed Savoy Cabbage with Speck and Lemon

Say hello to what might be my new favorite cabbage variety.  There are a few reasons for my changing allegiance, including aesthetic ones - Savoy cabbage is way prettier than regular green cabbage.  Plus, the leaves were much more tender than regular cabbage.  It was also pretty sweet, although the chicken stock and the speck in this recipe masked the sweetness a little with their meaty, savory flavors.  I'm sure if you simply sauteed some Savoy cabbage until lightly caramelized it would pack a lot of sweetness.  I am going to have to buy a few more heads of Savoy cabbage at the farmers' market this fall and winter to experiment.  As a side note, I know that I promised you guys that I would be making this recipe in my last post, Warm Mushroom Salad with Shallots and Sherry Vinegar, although I thought it would take me at least a few more days to get around to it.  But we decided to scrap our original plans and make this sauteed cabbage recipe last night because it was a little chilly out so the warm savory cabbage sounded delightful and (more importantly) the Savoy cabbage was taking up a lot of space in the refrigerator.    It was warm and comforting and very flavorful.  Sauteing the cabbage in the chicken stock really imparted a lot of flavor into the cabbage.  And every once in awhile you got a nice meaty bit of speck that gave the cabbage some of its smoky, porky flavor.  That generous squirt of lemon juice right at the end gives the whole dish some brightness and acidity to counterbalance the heavier, meatier flavors of the stock and speck.  Yum.

In the end, this simple little sauteed cabbage dish outshone the salmon we served with it.  In the salmon's defense - this wasn't a really nice $20+ per pound piece of wild organic salmon.  It was organic salmon, but it was farmed.  I know, I know.  It is my own fault for buying farmed salmon (which incidentally still cost about $14 per pound).  But the wild salmon at the grocery store didn't look particularly nice so I decided to be lame and buy farmed salmon.  Lesson learned - this particular salmon had literally no flavor whatsoever.  I won't stray again.
Recipe after the jump!


Sauteed Savoy Cabbage with Speck and Lemon
Cooking in the Moment:  A Year of Seasonal Recipes
By Andrea Reusing

INGREDIENTS:
1 large head of Savoy cabbage  (about 1 lb)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, cut lengthwise into thirds
4 slices of speck, any rind removed, torn into rough pieces
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade (ours was box)
juice of 1 lemon

Discard any bruised outer leaves from the cabbage.  Remove the leaves from the core and tear into rough pieces, discarding the tough central stems.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and saute until it just starts to color, about 2 minutes.  Add the speck and stir to coat in the oil.  Add the cabbage, season with salt, toss to combine, and add the stock.  Simmer until the cabbage leaves are just tender, about 4 minutes.  Stir in the lemon juice just before serving.