Fried Cabbage and Corned Beef
My dad's mother, my grandma, used to fix Corned Beef and Cabbage with cornbread for him when he was younger, one of his favorite meals. I took the recipe and changed it up a little and my dad, my family and friends love it. Hope your family and friends love it too. This recipe is a good stick to your ribs meal. The cook time on this recipe is more of a long term simmer, over a long period of time.
My dad's mother, my grandma, used to fix Corned Beef and Cabbage with cornbread for him when he was younger, one of his favorite meals. I took the recipe and changed it up a little and my dad, my family and friends love it. Hope your family and friends love it too. This recipe is a good stick to your ribs meal. The cook time on this recipe is more of a long term simmer, over a long period of time.
- Carbohydrate 0.199830833727801 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.0100516666865087 g
- Fiber 0.0817083334946262 g
- Protein 0.0337625000666474 g
- Saturated Fat 0.00302166667263146 g
- Serving Size 1 1 (5g)
- Sodium 1744.24567020546 mg
- Sugar 0.118122500233175 g
- Trans Fat 0.00043166666751878 g
- Calories 1 calories
Step-by-step
- Chop both heads of cabbage into bite size squares. On high heat, in large electric skillet or deep cast iron pot, melt butter (get it sizzling), then add cabbage, stir to coat cabbage with butter, add salt, pepper and sugar. Stir and mix seasonings in well.
- Lower heat to Med/High, let the cabbage start to brown and some of it will even start getting a little burnt looking and that is ok, it adds to the flavor of the dish. Get as much of the cabbage started to fry and get translucent and brown.
- Partially cover, turn down heat by half, almost to low, let simmer, stirring occasionally to reduce burning and sticking. I usually let the cabbage simmer and brown for an hour or so. I let as much of the water cook off of the cabbage as possible.
- Taste test it to make sure you have just the right amount of salt, pepper and sugar. The taste should be more cabbage flavor than seasonings.
- Push all the cabbage out to the edges of the pan/pot and put the canned corned beef in the center. Break up the corned beef, cover and let heat and simmer for a few minutes. Mix cabbage and corned beef together and let slow simmer while you are mixing up the cornbread and baking it. Once the cornbread is done it is dinner time. Enjoy!!
Canned proteins and raw heads of brassica require completely different approaches to heat management. While canned corned beef is fully cooked during processing and only needs reheating, raw cabbage contains high water content that must evaporate before true browning can occur. Treating them as equals results in either scorched meat or soggy vegetables.
High initial heat is necessary when introducing the chopped leaves to melted butter in a deep cast iron skillet. Sizzling temperatures drive off surface moisture rapidly, allowing the edges of the cabbage squares to turn translucent and develop dark, caramelized spots after roughly an hour of combined frying and long-term simmering. That controlled scorching creates essential depth of flavor.
Texture depends entirely on managing moisture release during the extended cooking phase. Covering the pan partially traps steam to soften the fibrous structure, but uncovering it during the final stages lets residual liquid escape so the leaves fry rather than boil. Too much trapped water yields a mushy consistency that ruins the dish.
Integrating the preserved meat happens late in the process to prevent it from dissolving into the greens. Pushing the vegetables toward the perimeter creates a central well where the beef can warm through before the entire mixture combines for a brief, final meld alongside freshly baked cornbread.
