Napa Cabbage, also called Chinese cabbage, is used lot in East Asian cuisine. It is a main ingredient of kimchi and it is also used raw in wraps and the outer leaves are sometimes used in soups. I decided to shred the Napa Cabbage along with apple and carrots and season it with Meyer lemon juice and soy-based mayonnaise. The resulting slaw was very refreshing and delicious.
The baked lobster was just excellent with a very simple preparation. The chunks of lobster meat were first simmered in butter, Savignon Blanc, and marjoram for just about a minute and then baked in ramekins for another 6-8 minutes in the oven, sprinkled with panko breadcrumbs on the top.
For our dessert, I made a Brown-Butter Almond Cake from a wonderful cookbook "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey" that I recently received from a giveaway at Bread and Jam. The cake turned out really moist, with a wonderful nutty taste from both brown butter and almonds. In the original recipe, the cake was served with caramelized apples, but since I had a lot of cherries at that time, I made a cherry compote instead and it was just a perfect combination with the almond flavor of the cake. Of course, a scoop of vanilla ice cream was a necessary addition as well. This was a wonderful sweet end to 2009 and a fun celebration of the New Year.
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Napa Cabbage Apple Slaw with Meyer Lemon Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
5 cups shredded Napa Cabbage
1 large Gala apple, cored, peeled, shredded
1/4 cup carrots, shredded
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons of soy-based mayonnaise (Nayonnaise)
Salt, pepper to taste
Directions:
Combine cabbage, apples, and carrots together in a large bowl. Season with Meyer lemon juice, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper.
