That’s quite a title, yeah?  I was trying to get all the elements of this post into one snappy, title, but I didn’t really succeed.  At least with the snappiness.

I did another pantry challenge meal the other day while simultaneously returning to my roots.  My maternal grandmother’s family was from Slovenia, and in fact, my great aunt was very heavily involved in that community– I think she ran an import store and she always sent us all kinds of information about Slovenian traditions and such.  So I have quite a few old Slovenian recipes that I go back to every once in a while.

This time, I had a head of cabbage that I meant to juice (delicious, right?  that’s why I never got around to juicing it) that was languishing in my fridge.  And, I recently read that cabbage is an up and coming superfood.  AND, then I remembered that I have a pretty good cabbage recipe from my grandmother.  It’s a dish called Galuska.  There seems to be both Hungarian and Polish versions of this recipe, so it might be a kind of Eastern European staple.  Since it’s just cabbage and noodles, that’s not surprising, I suppose.

I decided to whip up a batch of galuska.  My recipe calls for egg noodles, but I didn’t have any of those. Looking into the pantry, though, I did have some organic soba noodles that needed to be used up.  Hmmm… Slovenian-Japanese fusion?  Why on earth not?

So I created my own cuisine, making soba galuska.  Fab, right?

My recipe is quite retro– one of those recipes with no measurements, just some instructions.  Here it is in original form:

Galuska

Cut a head of cabbage very fine.  Add salt, pepper, paprika.  Cover and cook in 1/4 pound of butter (!) about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook egg noodles as directed and mix with cabbage. Fry until brown. (Add fried bread crumbs– optional). One package noodles, one head cababge.

Yes, this is the recipe I actually have on an index card in my recipe box.  Straight from grandma, doncha know.

So, I adapted it to more modern standards, adding the Japanese fusion, and here’s what I got:

21st Century Galuska

• 1 head cabbage, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 8 oz soba noodles

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium high heat.  Add the cabbage, salt, pepper and paprika and cook, stirring and tossing often, until the cabbage is soft and translucent, about 7 – 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook the soba according to pacakge directions.  When the soba is cooked, drain well and add to the cabbage. Cook both together until well blended, about 3 – 5 minutes.

I suppose you could use a mandoline to speed up the slicing process, but I have a hard time keeping the head intact while I do that, so I just went old school and used my santoku.

I reduced the amount of butter called for, but if you really love butter and aren’t worried about your arteries, you can use a full stick like my grandma used to.  Or, alternately, you can use a little olive oil, but I would recommend mixing it with butter, because the butter is really divine with the cabbage.

I know, it probably doesn’t look that appetizing.  It’s kinda all white and plain looking.  But it’s pretty delish.  The kids did not really like it, but I suppose cabbage is more of an acquired taste.  They ate all the soba out while singing “The Cabbage Song,” which was surprisingly appropriate.  The 6 year old learned this song in violin, and it goes something like this: “I don’t like that cab-bage; I don’t like that cab-bage…”  I’ll have to have him sing it and post the video, cause I can’t find it online.

Anyway, if you’re up for it, try the galuska.  It’s an adventure, folks.

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