Dominique Crenn’s Roasted Cabbage Recipe
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Aug 15, 2023 • 8 min read
“Cabbage is one of the most underestimated ingredients,” says Chef Dominique Crenn. “It’s one of the staple ingredients in Brittany where I grew up, and I love it.” Chef Crenn’s elevated take on roasted cabbage proves that the cruciferous vegetable isn’t just for slaw.
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Meet Dominique Crenn
Dominique Crenn is an award-winning chef and advocate for sustainability and equity in the culinary world. Though she is now among the world’s most celebrated chefs, her path to culinary greatness was not without its challenges. After being turned away from many French culinary schools due to antiquated opinions about female chefs, Chef Crenn set out for California, where she forged her own culinary identity rooted in personhood, memories, and mindfulness.
In San Francisco, Chef Crenn opened Atelier Crenn, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant where diners receive a poem instead of a menu, with each dish represented by a line of poetry. Chef Crenn describes her food philosophy as “poetic culinaria.”
About Dominique Crenn’s Roasted Cabbage Recipe
Cabbage is a bit overlooked in the rarefied world of haute cuisine, but as Chef Crenn says, “The cabbage will always be the queen.” In addition to searing and roasting the cabbage at the center of this dish, this recipe teaches you to honor the cabbage by preparing your own sauerkraut, allowing the natural flavors of the cabbage to mature over time during a fermentation process. The technique demonstrated here is called lacto-fermentation, which helps the lactobacilli ferment the raw vegetables, while salt discourages other microorganisms from flourishing. If you want, experiment with making other fermented vegetables by adding 2.5 percent of the vegetable’s weight in salt.
4 Tips for Roasting Cabbage
For easy roasted cabbage that’s full of flavor, focus on increasing the surface area to achieve layers of caramelization. Here’s how to pull off this low-carb dish:
- 1. Choose your color. Green cabbage and red cabbage taste nearly identical, so the choice comes down to appearance. When deciding, think about the other dishes you plan to serve alongside the green veggie. For example, green roast cabbage contrasts nicely with pink corned beef. Red cabbage complements orange sweet potato purée. Brussels sprouts are essentially small cabbages, so you can apply the same techniques to them. (Oven-roasted brussels sprouts will cook quicker than a medium head of cabbage.) All cabbages are high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and dietary fiber.
- 2. Increase the surface area. More surface area means more crispy edges. Instead of roasting a whole head of cabbage, which will only brown the outer leaves, cut the vegetable into wedges or thick slices to make cabbage steaks.
- 3. Sear before roasting. For roasted cabbage wedges that are tender, golden brown, and crispy, try searing the cabbage on the stovetop before transferring it to a preheated oven to finish cooking. Learn more about searing.
- 4. Give it space. Cabbage has a high water content, and crowding the vegetable can cause it to release moisture, steaming rather than roasting it. Arrange your cabbage wedges or slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan with plenty of space in between pieces.
How to Make Dominique Crenn’s Roasted Cabbage
Sear the cabbage, occasionally spooning oil from the pan over the wedges.
Make parsley oil by combining grapeseed oil and fresh parsley in a blender, then straining it through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter.
Squeeze the liquid from four tablespoons of sauerkraut, then bring the liquid to a simmer before whisking in crème fraîche, sherry vinegar, and lemon juice. Warm the sauerkraut in a separate pan.
To serve, place the roasted cabbage and warmed saurkraut next to each other in the center of the plate. Pour the parsley oil crème fraîche sauce around one side of the roasted cabbage.
Recipe: Dominique Crenn’s Roasted Cabbage with Sauerkraut, Pickled Mustard Seeds, and Parsley Cream Sauce
makes
prep time
1 hr 30 mintotal time
3 hr 30 mincook time
2 hrIngredients
For the sauerkraut:
For the seared and roasted cabbage:
For the parsley oil:
For the pickled mustard seeds:
For the parsley oil crème fraîche sauce and assembly:
Note: The total time does not include up to 2 weeks of inactive time.
Make the sauerkraut:
- 1
Two weeks before serving, ferment the cabbage: Put on gloves, slice the cabbage into quarters, and julienne each quarter as finely as possible.
- 2
Use a kitchen scale to weigh the shredded cabbage, then use a gram scale to weigh out 2.5 percent of the cabbage’s weight in kosher salt (i.e., 2.5 grams of salt for every 100 grams of cabbage).
- 3
Put the cabbage and salt in a large bowl, and massage the shreds with gloved hands for 10 minutes.
- 4
After 10 minutes, transfer the salted cabbage to a tight-sealing ceramic or glass container.
- 5
Weight the cabbage down inside the container with glass or ceramic lids, then cover the container tightly.
- 6
Store the sealed container in a cool, dark place (55–65 degrees Fahrenheit).
- 7
Check on the cabbage every three days to confirm that mold has not contaminated it. If there are any off colors or textures, discard the sauerkraut and try again. Once completed, you can store the sauerkraut in the refrigerator in liquid for up to 3 months.
Make the seared and roasted cabbage:
- 1
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2
Slice the cabbage in half, then slice each half into 4 wedges. Slice smaller wedges if your cabbage is larger or if you’re serving this as a side dish.
- 3
Coat a large wide-bottomed pan with a layer of grapeseed oil.
- 4
Warm the grapeseed oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
- 5
Once the grapeseed oil is hot, remove the pan from the heat.
- 6
Place a batch of cabbage wedges in the pan (be careful not to overcrowd the pan), then return the pan to the heat.
- 7
Sear the cabbage, occasionally spooning oil from the bottom of the pan onto the wedges to baste them as they cook, for about 7 minutes.
- 8
Add the garlic and thyme to the pan.
- 9
Using tongs, turn the cabbage wedges once you’ve achieved a nice sear.
- 10
Add additional grapeseed oil as needed to the pan, and continue to check the cabbage every 10 minutes, until all the edges of the wedges are brown.
- 11
Once you’ve finished searing the first batch of cabbage, transfer the wedges to a roasting pan.
- 12
Repeat this searing process with the remaining batches of cabbage wedges.
- 13
Once all of the seared cabbage is in the roasting pan, roast the wedges in the oven, uncovered, until the pieces are thoroughly cooked but not mushy, 20–30 minutes. Smaller wedges will cook more quickly, so check on the cabbage’s texture every 10 minutes or so.
Make the parsley oil:
- 1
Pour 50 grams of grapeseed oil into the canister of a blender, then add all of the parsley.
- 2
Pour the remaining grapeseed oil on top of the parsley.
- 3
Start the blender on a low speed, then gradually bring the speed up to high until the parsley breaks, about 5 minutes.
- 4
The parsley particles should separate within the oil.
- 5
Line a chinois or fine-mesh strainer with a coffee filter, and set the chinois or strainer above a large bowl.
- 6
Slowly pour the parsley oil into the coffee filter, and let the oil sit until all the liquid has been strained.
Make the pickled mustard seeds:
- 1
In a large pot set over medium heat, cover the yellow mustard seeds with cold water.
- 2
Simmer for 5 minutes.
- 3
After 5 minutes, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer.
- 4
Repeat this blanching process with fresh water until the mustard seeds have softened and lost their bitterness, at least 10 times.
- 5
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, whisk together the champagne vinegar or rice vinegar, sherry vinegar, sugar, and kosher salt.
- 6
Add the softened mustard seeds to the pan, and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed by the mustard seeds, about 15 minutes.
- 7
After 15 minutes, transfer the mixture to a sealable jar or container, and chill it in the refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours. Pickled mustard seeds will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Make the parsley oil crème fraîche sauce and assemble:
- 1
Squeeze the liquid from 4 spoons of the sauerkraut into a small bowl, and set it aside. (You’ll need this fermented cabbage juice to make the parsley oil crème fraîche sauce.)
- 2
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, pour in the sauerkraut.
- 3
Simmer until the sauerkraut becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Keep the sauerkraut warm over low heat while you prepare the other components.
- 4
In another medium saucepan set over low heat, bring the fermented cabbage juice to a low simmer.
- 5
Whisk in the crème fraîche, and cook only until the mixture is hot.
- 6
Add the sherry vinegar and the juice of 1 lemon wedge.
- 7
Season, to taste, with fleur de sel or kosher salt and black pepper.
- 8
Once the oil has been mixed, remove it from the heat and let it sit until serving.
- 9
Season the cooked sauerkraut with sherry vinegar, lemon juice, fleur de sel or kosher salt, and black pepper.
- 10
Add 2 tablespoons of parsley oil to the crème fraîche sauce, and whisk quickly, but do not fully mix the two together. The oil should be speckled throughout the sauce.
- 11
To serve, place a piece of seared and roasted cabbage onto the center of each plate.
- 12
Add a large spoonful of the sauerkraut near one end of the roasted cabbage, and spoon 2 teaspoons of pickled mustard seeds on either side of the cabbage.
- 13
Pour a half-circle (about 2 tablespoons) of the parsley oil crème fraîche sauce around one side of the roasted cabbage.
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