b"Elegant and Impressive, yet Secretly Simple A holiday centerpiece and irresistible cookies to match BY OLIVIA MACK MCCOOLIthe notion that so manyveal, pork or even sausage all work really just love of the foods we love (think boeufwell. Its only half a pound for the whole bourguignonorpastaefagioli)recipe,whichlendsdeliciousflavorbut startedoutaspeasantfoodmadedoesnt weigh down your guests in prep-withleftoverbitsthatwereavail- aration for the main event. With that in ableandthentransformedintomind, it also makes a lovely side dish or an somethingspectacular.ChouFar- elegant lunch. ci,whichmeansStuffedCabbageinA few tips on ingredients and equip-French, is exactly that kind of dish. Thement: Savoy cabbage is used here because ingredients of ground meat, cabbage andof its stunning lacey texture. It also holds vegetables are as humble as it gets but it's the way they are layered together thatup a little better than traditional green cabbage. If youre having a hard time make this a showstopping dish.finding it, simply ask the produce department at your preferred supermarket or Every year for the holidays I make this as an appetizer. The instant you placebetter yet, one of the vendors at the farmers market. I love the meat (and the it down on a table you start to hear the oohs and aahs. It looks extremelyservice!) at N&K Prime Marketplace on Springfield Avenue. Not only do they impressive with its beautiful cabbage leaf display on the top. But only you andhave excellent quality ground meat for this dish, they also make their own beef I know the secret of how easy it was to put together. There are a few steps, butstock that is both rich and flavorful. I highly recommend buying a quart of their none of them require great culinary skill. After you make this once, youll barelystock to use in this dish. You can freeze any unused stock to use later in any of have to look at the recipe the next time.your holiday dishes that need that extra boost of flavor. Granted, you probably have other things youre making for the holiday meal.I call for a 9-inch springform pan because in the event anything sticks, its Fortunately, you can make this one in stages. I like to chop all the vegetableseasy to pop the sides off. But if you dont have one, you can also use a cake pan two days ahead and store them in the refrigerator, then cook the filling one dayor a souffl dish of a similar size and butter it really well. A pan that is 8 inches ahead. And, finally, the morning or afternoon of the day I plan to serve, Ill cookwill work fine; your cake will be slightly taller. the cabbage and assemble the whole thing. Then the only remaining step is toOlivia Mack McCool is a recipe developer, cookbook author, food stylist and lo-bake it later that evening.cal mom who lives in Maplewood. For more of her work and recipes, check out her This recipe can be made with almost any kind of ground meat: beef, lamb,website oliviamackmccool.com and follow along on Instagram @oliviamackmccool. 28/ matters magazine / holiday 2021"