Red Cabbage, Apples & Onions with Cottage Cheese Dumplings

Cook with the food on hand, that's my motto. So, here's what was hanging around from last weeks share on the day before the new share was due to be picked up:

a little more than 1/2 a small head of red cabbage

1/2 a large white onion

2 summer apples (actually left from a couple of weeks ago)

What to do...

I used a slightly modified version of Mollie Katzen's Sweet & Tart Cabbage with Cottage Cheese Dumplings from her Still Life With Menu Cookbook.

1. You should start by putting a big pot of water up to boil for the dumplings. I used my soup pot, filled a little more than half way. You need a lot of room for the dumplings to bump and boil.
2. I sliced 1/2 of a white onion thinly and began to saute the slices in 2 tsp of Olivo margarine (you could use butter here, or olive oil - butter gives the best flavor).
3. While the onions were cooking I cored and quartered the cabbage and used the thin slicing blade on the food processor (savior of those who live with RA) to slice it.
4. I added the sliced cabbage, about 1/2 tsp of whole cumin seeds, some freshly ground black pepper,  and a sprinkle of salt to the  pan with the onions and continued to cook that mixture.

1. While the cabbage and onions were cooking, I cored the apples and put them through the thin slicing blade on the food processor as well (I did not peel them - mostly because I was feeling lazy, but it did not matter. After they cooked down, we did not even notice the peel).

1. I added the apples to the pan, plus about a teaspoon of sugar, covered the pan and let everything cook together while I made the dumplings.

1. I beat 2 eggs with 4 oz of cottage cheese, then added 1 cup of flour (I used unbleached white, you could use any kind you like I think) and a teaspoon or so of chopped dried dill (fresh is better, but I haven't got a dill plant on my deck this summer). I also added some salt - although I couldn't bring myself to add the full teaspoonful recommended in the original recipe.
2. I had my usual hard time getting the dumplings to be uniform in size and shape. I dropped them by teaspoonful into the gently boiling water. Too much handling of the dumpling dough makes tough dumplings, but I may try forming them into balls with floured hands next time to see if they I can get them a little more rounded.
3. The dumplings must boil gently for 15 minutes. They almost double in size. Then you scoop them out with a slotted spoon. I let mine rest on a linen towel while I removed the cabbage mixture from the pan to a serving dish, wiped out the pan, and melted another 2 tsp of Olivo. 
4. Then I sauteed the dumplings on med-high heat for a couple of minutes to give them a nice golden-brown crisp.

 

And the finished dish...