RED CABBAGE SCHNITZEL WITH ANCHOVY & BITTER LEAVES

SERVES 4

In Hobart, I’ve always bought cabbages from an organic farmer named Tony Scherer. He knows how to grow a great cabbage. After glamour cabbages like the sugarloaves are all finished, there’s always some dense red cabbages right at the end of the season that require a different method of cookery to really shine. So I came up with this cabbage schnitzel, where you braise the cabbage in roast chicken stock, thyme, butter and anchovy, then crumb and deep-fry it, and serve it up with an addictive anchovy mayonnaise.

½ red cabbage

120g butter

4 anchovy fillets

150ml brown chicken stock

2 garlic cloves

4 thyme sprigs

1 egg

50ml milk

100g plain flour

250g panko crumbs oil, for deep frying

1 bunch young radicchio or similar bitter leaf

ANCHOVY MAYONNAISE

2 eggs

15g Dijon mustard

25g anchovy fillets

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 230ml grapeseed oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Clean off the outside leaves of the cabbage and season them with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven or large saucepan with a lid, let the butter melt over a low heat. Add the cabbage, cut side down, and let it cook for a few minutes, then add the anchovies, chicken stock, garlic and thyme. Cover and bring to the boil, then roast in the oven until fully cooked, about 40 minutes. Drain the cabbage, reserving the cooking juices, and chill overnight in the fridge, being careful to keep its original form as much as possible. Reduce the cooking juices by two-thirds and reserve for dressing.

The next day, cut the cabbage into four wedges. Gently whisk the egg and milk together to form an egg wash. Dredge the cabbage segments through the flour, keeping them whole, then the egg wash, then the panko crumbs. Arrange on a tray lined with baking paper and chill until needed.

For the anchovy mayonnaise, combine the eggs, mustard, anchovies, oyster sauce, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a blender and whizz until smooth. With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the oil a little at a time, making sure each addition is completely blended before adding any more. The sauce will thicken and lighten as you add the oil. At the end, it should be thick, shiny and fully emulsified.

Preheat a deep fryer or pot full of oil to 170°C. Deep-fry the cabbage until golden on the outside and hot in the centre. Drain each wedge, then season with salt and some lemon juice. Carefully cut each wedge in two.

Arrange the cut wedges on plates with a pool of anchovy mayonnaise and the bitter leaves. Warm up and spoon over the cooking juices from the day before.