From Cabbages to Kings

If your mother offered you creamed cabbage, you'd probably gag.
If Molly Wizenberg suggested cream-braised cabbage, you'd sit up and listen.
Molly creates relaxed, long-cooked recipes that — well, I think I'm trying to say that time is one of the important ingredients.
We had a green cabbage, just the normal shiny round kind, in the fridge. I recalled that Molly loves a cabbage dish her husband invented, so I grabbed her book, A Homemade Life, and searched the index for cabbage.
Bingo! Cream-Braised Green Cabbage. (But it wasn't the one I thought I was looking for. Turns out the Brandon recipe was different; it uses sambal oelek and soy sauce. I made a lucky mistake.)
I'm sorry this isn't a recipe blog, because I don't think the recipe appears on Orangette. But I can tell you how simple it is: You slice the cabbage into thin wedges, brown it on both sides in butter with some salt, then douse it with cream, cover, and cook 20 minutes before turning with tongs and cooking for another 20 minutes, then apply a squirt of lemon juice.
It turns into silk. Where did all that flavor come from? That color?
I'm trying to choose my favorite description, but I'll have to settle for three. Silky, deep-tasting, brown mouth yum. It's really amazing. Total transformation with such simple ingredients and technique.
Yet, I'd say the best ingredient was the time.
You really have to try this. I really mean it.

Bonus! If you visit Amazon to see this book, you can search the pages and find the recipe. Pages 186-187.