Rustic French Food,
Cabbage
and
Galette au Chou
Off My Bookshelf
The French Kitchen
Cookbook
By Joanne Harris and Fran Warde
Thursday 18th August 2011
Jeudi 18 Août 2011 ~ Ste Hélène
I have been a bit frivolous in the kitchen lately, too much prancing around with fairy cakes and dainty little Madeleines, and I need to start taking a leaf out of Dolly Parton’s book and stand by my man, as he his craving some real bloke’s grub and none of this airy fairy cake stuff! Well as it happens he is in luck, as I quite fancy a good honest rustic meal too, so it was to my cookbook The French Kitchen that I turned once again, you may remember I cooked a great veggie meal last week from the same book ~ Baked Red Peppers with Fennel and Goat’s Cheese.
Now this is not a pretty dish, but it is VERY satisfying and also very easy to prepare too……..and the book even goes so far as to suggest that children will love it, even cabbage haters ~ so it must be good ~ although I am no longer a child (I like to think that I am fairly adult most of the time!) and I love cabbage, so we are on safe ground there. For those of you in the know, this is not a galette in the Breton pancake or cake-cum-biscuit sense, but is more like a savoury batter that is baked with the cabbage sandwiched between…….think crust-less pie and you are nearly there. It’s what I call an “In-between” dish, it sort of spans the end of Summer and the advent of Autumn…..
The recipe originates from the Auvergne region of France known for its hearty peasant style cooking, which seemed to fit the “proper bloke’s food” bill. So I prepared it for supper last night ~ served it with acres of baguette and some Dijon mustard, and it went down a veritable treat. I thought that the galette batter was wonderful, studded with smoked lardons and fresh parsley, as well as fresh garlic and shallots ~ a real hail and hearty type of savoury pie without the hassle of making pastry. I can see this working with all sorts of other fillings, not just cabbage, and I am going to try this out again throughout the cooler months.
And, yes, if you have children I am sure they would love this! I wanted to use savoy cabbage, but I only had a white cabbage handy ~ this would have been much better with a savoy cabbage for looks I am sure, with lots of deep green layers peeping through. The recipe calls for thick cut smoked bacon, I used thick cut smoked lardons; I upped the garlic a bit and used 3 small eggs ~ the recipe says 2 eggs but my wee hen lays small eggs, so 3 seemed better! It was detectable and also just as nice next day when it was cold ~ it would make a great picnic dish actually.
I have copied the recipe exactly as it was printed in the cookbook, but I am sure that you can tinker with the ingredients a wee bit! A wonderful Autumnal dish that would also be good as an accompaniment to pork minus the lardons in the batter mix…..just a thought!
~ Galette au Chou ~
French Cabbage Galette
Recipe:
(Serves 4 to 6)
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g (7ozs) thick cut smoked bacon, cubed
2 eggs
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
bunch of parsley, finely chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
200g (7ozs) plain flour
250ml milk
METHOD:
Heat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Steam cabbage for 3 minutes, drain and put to one side. Smear the olive oil over a deep pie dish and place in the oven.
In a bowl, mix the eggs, bacon, shallots, garlic, parsley and seasoning together. Add the flour and milk and blend to a smooth thick batter.
Remove the hot pie dish from the oven and pour half the batter in to the dish, then pile on the cabbage, packing it down with your hands before pouring the remaining batter over the top.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and firm.
Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
Pukka bloke’s grub done, next challenge follows on tomorrow! See you then.
Karen
Zoe says
I would love this for a pinic. I feel very relaxed seeing your delicious cooking presented in a nice country setting.
A Trifle Rushed says
Karen, this just looks superb. I do love this book, it's very reliable, have you got the other book French Market? Also great.
I'm so impressed at you posting every day, this really is a super blog.
Marie says
Have made this many times Karen from that same book. It's a keeper! Yours looks wonderful.
Irma says
Oh. I have a Savoy cabbage in the fridge, I'm going to steal this recipe for this evening! Thanks for sharing!
Annie says
That looks so yum! We are not huge garlic fans here but I can see me cooking this with lots of chives and chopped up Polish sausage instead of bacon … what a brilliantly versatile recipe 🙂
La Table De Nana says
Cabbage is so flavorful..I've made little bundles.. we put it in stews..soups..the proverbial ROLLS:)
Great taste..
That book looks like a keeper!
Karen S Booth says
Zoe ~ many thanks,it would make a great picnic dish!
A Trifle Rushed ~ I DO have the other book, The French Market, they are both wonderful sources of inspiration.Thanks for your kind comments, I do my blog in the quiet of the morning or late evening with a wine!
Marie ~ thanks, it is a keeper I agree, and such a simple recipe too!
Irma ~ glad to share! Let me know it turns out.
Annie ~ chives and Polish sausage would be great subs, I may use that myself next time.
La Table De Nana ~ I LOVE chou farci, I may make that with the rest of the cabbage! Thanks for the idea!
Thanks all!
Karen
Corina says
This looks lovely – a little bit like a quiche without the pastry.
Janice says
Love the look of this. I love cabbage too and must admit to being a bit of peasant too! One of the recipes I used to make when I was first married (and very poor) was cabbage and blue cheese, it was great, but I do like the cake/pie look of your gallette.
Inspired by eRecipeCards says
Good for your mister! Got to feed the audience sometimes.
Looks wonderful BTW, I am guessing this is a difficult subject to make look good and you certainly nailed the photo
Karen S Booth says
Corina ~ thanks, it is like a crust-less quiche, yes!
Janice ~ Thanks ~ I love the idea of cabbage and blue cheese, what a great combo! You and me both, peasants that is!!
Inspired by eRecipeCards ~ Yeah, I need to feed him real rib sticking stuff some time! Thanks Dave!
Jenny Eatwell says
Wooo! Another use for my Butcher's fabulous bacon. 🙂 Thanks!
Karen S Booth says
Yes this would be great for your butcher's bacon Jenny! Hope you like it as much as we did!
Karen
JostLori says
Made this for Culinary Quest 2015, but I totally goofed when cutting the recipe in half! Mine didn’t look nearly as good as yours did – as it never got brown on top (needed more of the batter). Will try again! Thanks for posting into play!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Glad you enjoyed it though Lori!
FinFam says
Hello,
This look like a lovely recipe. Just wondering if the bacon needs to be cooked first please? I’m going to try it today!
Thank you for any advice on this!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Sorry I am later coming back to you, but I have been away! No, the bacon is not cooked beforehand, Karen
Graham says
Found this recipe in Keith Floyd s French cooking over 30 yrs ago and still using it tho I never tried it cold with ketchup as he suggested
Karen Burns-Booth says
Never had it cold with ketchup either!
Tiah says
I made this today for dinner but a bit different. I upped the bacon to 250g because my brother and father are major carnivores. I also used whole wheat flour, with around 40g each of white and semolina. I also used four cloves of garlic and a pinch of dried thyme.
It took longer to cook because of the extra fat from the bacon, but it was delicious. Also my first time having Savoy cabbage, you don’t see it too often in the grocery stores here (mid sized town Canada.)
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much for your comments Tiah – I am glad you enjoyed it! Karen