A day for the ducks...

It has been raining for 24 hours non stop now... rather remarkable, even for Ireland.

Today we went to 'Art in Action' at Townley Hall near Drogheda in Co. Louth. This is a truly wonderful annual arts and crafts fair. There are stalls selling and also many active workshops and talks. It was great to see it all and to speak with the many artists there but the rain did spoil things a bit - the event is held in several marquee tents on the grounds of the estate and with so much water falling even the ground inside the tents was waterlogged. Still, it was fun.

We saw fantastic ceramic sculptures by well known artists such as Ayelet Lalor and Brendan Hesmondhalgh. We were treated to a demonstration of glass bead making by Ruzica Ruane and I also got into a very interesting discussion on glass fusion with one of the stall holders.

The food was largely vegetarian and very very good. Plus the coffee kept us warm. One of the food stalls was covered by the owners of Cafe Fresh, one of the top vegetarian restaurants in Dublin. As it turns out the owner of Cafe Fresh, Mary Farrell, has recently published a cookbook featuring some of the top recipes from her restaurant. So, naturally I bought it.

After wandering about the estate for a while we headed back to Dublin and home. After all the rain and despite wielding the world's largest umbrella we were quite damp so fired up the gas fireplace in the living room to thaw out.

Being the day that it was I was in the mood for some true comfort food. Taking stock of what was in the fridge I ended up making stuffed cabbage rolls. This recipe was an amalgam of South African and Italian techniques and the end result was very tasty indeed. I must apologise for not including a photo.

In Afrikaans we refer to dishes like this (cabbage leaves stuffed with various things) as Oumens onder die Kombers (Old person under the blanket). I decided I wanted to make use of the small cabbage that has been hiding in the back of the fridge for nearly 3 weeks (they do keep for ages, dont they?) so stuffed cabbage rolls seemed the best way to use it up.

It is easy food - prep time is not long at all, though it does have to simmer for about 40 minutes in total.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

1 head white or savoy cabbage (or 6 to 10 whole cabbage leaves)
650g lean mince
2 red onions
4 cloves garlic
2 handsful fresh basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper
zest of half a lemon
1 tin (400g) whole plum tomatoes
Pecorino Romano cheese (Parmesan or Grana Padano can also be used)
ground flaxseed (or ground almonds or fresh breadcrumbs)

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. When boiling add a pinch of salt then the separated and washed cabbage leaves. Boil for one to two minutes, drain then leave on a clean tea towel to cool down.

Break up the mince in a large bowl then add 1 onion that has been grated on the fine setting of the grater (will be mushy) and two cloves of garlic (minced). Mix well then add the lemon zest, dried herbs, a handful of fresh basil leaves that have been finely chopped and a good handful of the Pecorino Romano cheese. Mix well then add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed (or almonds or breadcrumbs). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix to combine then separate into thirds. Set two-thirds aside.

To prepare the sauce, heat a little oil in a deep sided pan, chop the remaining onion and fry for five minutes then add the chopped garlic. From the one third of the mince, add a third to the pan and fry off. Add the tin of plum tomatoes plus half the tomato can of water. Bring to a simmer. After five minutes start to break up the plum tomatoes. Add the remaining mince (from the third you started with). Once the mince is cooked taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Lower the temperature, place a lid on the pan and move on to preparing the stuffed cabbage rolls.

To prepare the rolls, cut out the hard midrib from the cabbage leaves (if any). Place a generous portion of the mince at the base of a cabbage leaf and roll up the leaf, tucking in the sides as you go. Continue until all the cabbage and mince has been used (I made 6 large rolls but you can easily make 10 with this quantity of mince).

Place the cabbage rolls seam side down into the simmering tomato sauce, replace the lid and leave to simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the cabbage rolls (they should be quite firm), add a handful of grated Pecorino Romano and a handfull of chopped fresh basil leaves and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to your liking.

I served this over penne pasta in a deep bowl with grated Pecorino Romano and two of the stuffed cabbage rolls per serving.