Five Years Later

Today I'm cooking with help from Claude Monet.

In 2019 I had some time to kill before an event on the West side and decided to pass it pleasantly at Rhino Booksellers. It’s the best type of used bookstore— multiple rooms filled to the brim, a bit dusty, big rugs, with a friendly cat here and there. I made my way to the cookbook section and was particularly mesmerized by a copy of Monet’s Table, a collection of recipes compiled from the painter’s original journals. Time slipped away from me and before I knew it, I was late. I left the book behind and have been thinking about it for years.

Then last week I saw a video of Corre Larkin making a recipe from that very book! Obviously I have to make it too. The dish is called garbure, and Monet’s version is quite different from what you’ll find if you google it. Not quite a soup and not quite a bread pudding, Monet’s garbure is simply layers of shredded cheese and blanched cabbage baked over stale bread with a bit of chicken stock. Corre followed his exact method, but being me, I have made alterations and additions.

First of all, I needed to use up some mushrooms so I sauteed about four ounces thinly sliced until GBD and set them aside. I deglazed the pot with medium dry sherry, then poured in 3 cups chicken stock. When it was simmering, I added 1/4 head cabbage roughly chopped and cooked for 10 minutes with a generous amount of kosher salt. I strained the cabbage out and reserved the chicken stock.

Later I’ll butter a baking dish (eep! I haven’t decided which one yet!), line the bottom with thick slices of toasted sourdough I made last weekend. I think I’ll fold lots of scallions from the yard into the cabbage and mushroom mixture before layering it in with Cheddar & Gruyere Mèlange Cheese. I’ll pour over the reserved chicken stock and bake uncovered at 400F for about 40 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the all the little frilly cabbage edges are beautifully brown.