Kingly cabbage

The January King cabbage is a magnificent vegetable and worthy of its royal title. The outer leaves of the heart are lightly crinkled and coloured in a purple-red hue that is just so glorious to the eyes. It kind of reminds me of a crown.

I actually found it really hard and heart breaking (well almost) cutting into this king of cabbages, but it had to be done. As admiring it in the vegetable rack was not going to stop my belly from rumbling. It was time for it to go into the cooking pot and feed me and my husband.
In the past and due to my naivety, I used to believe that January King was so called because it only grew in January, but of course that was not the case. Later I learned this cabbage earned its name because of its ability to remain hardy and hearty in cold environments. Its certainly a good variety to grow in Scotland (this one came from Fife) as not even severe frost seems to bother its leaves that look deceptively fragile.
In this recipe the cabbage is treated like tagliatelle and served with a creamy sauce with garlic and herbs. Unfortunately the beautiful purple tinge disappeared on cooking, but the cabbage itself was crisp, crunchy and flavourful.

Cabbage tagliatelle with cream cheese and mushroom sauce

Ingredients
Serves 2 - 3 with accompaniments

450g cabbage such as January King or sweetheart
125g button or chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
90g Bouisin cream cheese with garlic and herbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Shred the cabbage into fine, long strips, like tagliatelle. Cook in boiling water, about four minutes or until done. Fry the mushrooms in the oil for about five minutes, until tender. Drain the cabbage and add to the pan wit the mushrooms. Stir in the Boursin and add to the pan with the mushrooms. Stir in the Boursin and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve immediately with some potatoes. Recipe adapted from Rose Elliots Low Carb Vegetarian Diet.