Cabbage

This year for the Fourth of July, we'll be visiting a friend in Maine for a few days. Although we'll be house guests, I know I will help our hostess, a talented cook, prepare the meal for this holiday. I'm planning to bring a new recipe. This particular creation, called Salade Auvergne or sometimes Salade Auvergnate, is one I enjoyed in France this past spring while living in Paris. Made with ingredients redolent of the Auvergne, a region in the central part of France, it includes sliced cabbage, ham and Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese, all tossed in a vinaigrette dressing and combined with chopped walnuts and golden raisins.

FiresMount Airy: Firefighters responded to a brush fire in the 5400 block of Cabbage Spring Road at 8: 10 p.m. Monday. Units were out 30 minutes.Winfield: Firefighters responded to a woods fire in the 4500 block of Old Washington Road at 2: 01 p.m. Monday and were out 71 minutes.Pub Date: 4/01/98

Pat Masiack of Hill City, S.D., says she has searched for her mother's coleslaw recipe for years. "As I recall, Mom cooked it, and I think she folded in whites of eggs. The slaw was yellowish in color and had a pleasant sweet/sour taste." Helen Griffin of Clinton, N.C., responded with a "cabbage salad with hot dressing from the 'Hopeful Workers Cookbook' from Sioux Falls, S.D. My grandparents used this recipe book, which is from the early 1900s, but the recipes are tried and true."

When many people think of green vegetables in the cold-weather season, the image often is of simmering pots of collards, kale, mustard greens or turnip tops flavored with salt pork or smoked ham. A poor person's dish, many of us think.Greens have long carried with them the stigma of poverty, anthat has kept them from being universally appreciated. Fortunately, the recent interest in American regional cooking and in ethnic cuisines has brought greens onto the menus of chic restaurants and into the kitchens of experimental cooks.

I woke up this morning hungry for some good homemade Corned Beef and Cabbage. I found this one in the old Meal Planner archives. Looks easy enough. Who makes a good corned beef and cabbage around town? If you have a good homemade corned beef recipe, or can vouch for a good restaurant version, let us know about it. Corned Beef and Cabbage      Preparation time: about 30 minutes     Cooking time: 3 hours and 15 minutes        1 3 1/2-pound flat-cut and well-trimmed corned beef brisket     1 onion, studded with 10 whole cloves     3 large cloves garlic     3 each large sprigs fresh thyme and flat-leaf parsley, tied together     1 large bay leaf     1 teaspoon mustard seed     1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns     12 small white onions (about 2 ounces)

What's the definition of eternity? A ham and two people. I love that line from Joy of Cooking authors Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker. On more than one occasion, I've baked a glorious ham for entertaining a crowd, only to discover the next day that there was enough meat remaining on the bone to feed my husband and me for an entire week. Take, for example, the fall dinner party I held several days ago where a large glazed ham was the star attraction. Even after all the guests had helped themselves to seconds and some had even left with doggy bags, there was still a shocking amount of ham on the platter when I opened the fridge the following morning.

Remember cousin Effie? She's the good-hearted relative who sends birthday cards, teaches Sunday school and volunteers as a crossing guard. At family gatherings she's the one who brings the coleslaw.Ah, tradition.The cabbage mixture sinks in the middle. The milky dressing floats loosely to the top, surrounded by cabbage haystacks.Sure, it's tasty. Traditional cabbage, mayo, vinegar and sugar make great culinary comrades. Celery seeds, too.But it might be time to establish new coleslaw traditions.