Cabbage and Ricotta Timbale

I first made "Cabbage and Ricotta Timbale," from NYT Cooking (subscription required), about a month ago, and the initial results were dubious.

I noted to myself at the time: "I used dried thyme instead of dill, and threw in a dash of nutmeg. It all had a very mild flavor that could be souped up a little (including with some chili heat, perhaps!), but everyone liked it well enough. The water I put in the baking pan was not hot, and I don't think it was set to the point it should have been after an hour of cooking. So: heat the water. I used a casserole dish, lacking shuffle dish or ramekins. I'm not even sure what texture was expected but would like to try again."

Today, ladies and gentlemen, I did try again, and the results were....

Better! Although I must acknowledge that Emma declared she did not like this improved version.

This time, I again used thyme, and a dash of dried basil, and about a teaspoon of sriracha to see whether I could kick this dish up a notch. It helped, but I still think more flavor of some sort would be nice. I used a pound or so of cabbage (Napa, this time), and shredded it in the food processor rather than by hand as I did last time. The food processor may have overdone the job, but you can't argue with decent results.

This was one big cabbage, even after I pulled off the dirty outer leaves. I used about 2/3rds of it.

Shredded cabbage

I added sriracha, herbs, and chopped hard-boiled egg to the cabbage and onion mix

This is how it looked going into the oven...

...and this is how it looked when it came out. I made no attempt to invert it out of the dish, as the recipe stated. That would have been foolhardy.

Then I did something weird: I also made "Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic" (again NYT), which are basically mini-cabbages. Why would I serve cabbage with mini-cabbage? I don't have an answer.

Regardless, this is my go-to Brussels sprouts recipe, easy and excellent. The recipe is Mark Bittman's, of course. Have I told you yet about how Bittman is one of my two gurus? The other one is Billy Joel, but that's a story for another time.

Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" was the first cookbook I ever bought, in grad school. I have used it so often since then that it is totally falling apart, and I gather the pages together between the covers to mimic the robust book with a spine that they once constituted. I cannot replace this copy, because it has years of notes in it. I am stuck with it, but that's okay. Bittman once spoke at my local bookstore, and I related that story to him after his talk while he signed my decrepit book as well as a copy of his new one, which I had bought for my sister. Not until I got home did I realize he had inadvertently written my sister's name in my book!

Mark and me in 2016

"For Amy, Keep cooking! Mark"