What I'm Bummed Out About This Christmas

Plus: A Fab Pasta-Free Stuffed Cabbage Lasagna Recipe and How to Add Un Petit Peu de French Flair to Your Holiday Gatherings

Salut les cuties !

If you’re new here, Bienvenue ! I’m Karen, a former New Yorker (by way of Dayton, Ohio) who had always loved France. And who met a man in the middle of the pandemic in Paris and blew up her life to move to France at age 54. Here, we laugh and tell stories, share recipes and talk about what it’s like making huge life transitions and following our creative dreams.

Thanks to everyone here. In this season of gratitude, I must tell you over and over again—you are my favorite thing. I just love the jokes, the pictures, the comments and the notes you all send me. You’ll never know how much it means to me. Merci merci !

Now, if you’re not too sure you care what is bumming me out, but you would like to get your hands on that intriguing Pasta-free Stuffed Cabbage Lasagna Recipe, pas de soucis (no worries)—just scroll it down to the recipe!

What’s Bumming Me Out at Christmas in France?

How can you possibly be upset if you live in France? We’ll I’ve answered that one before. It’s because wherever you go, there you are ha! But in this case, it’s not that.

It’s that, as I’ve mentioned before, I love to run.

I’m a 4-time New York City Marathoner, 2-time indoor triathlon champion at my NYC gym (they gave me a trophy that literally said “Overall Female”—hahaha), and occasional Turkey Trotter. Maintenant, je cours juste pour le plaisir (now I just run for fun).

When I moved to France, I joined a local running club to do weekly workouts in a group and also apparently to get mocked by my French club mates who laughed at how little vocabulary I had then about des ischio-jambiers (hamstrings) and des fractionées (intervals).

But actually, I loved it. That is until one mercredi soir (Wednesday evening) when we were doing des fractionées sur la piste (intervals on the track) and tout à coup (all of a sudden), I felt something very bad happen in l’ischio-jambier (the hamstring) of my left leg. Over time, despite my efforts—and probably because I stupidly kept running on it—the problems have multiplied and now my husband calls me “kaput.”

It started more than a year ago, and I’ve tried everything. Massage, chiropractic, X-ray, anti-inflammatories, kiné (short for kinésithérapeute, or physical therapist) even a sports medicine specialist who routinely works with all the footballers here. This guy actually stuck a needle directly into my butt cheek—more than once—with the aid of ultra-sound. Ça a fait zéro (it did nothing).

So what is bumming me out at the Most Wonderful Time of the Year is that right here in our neighborhood, we have a truly festive course à pied (foot race) called La Corrida de Noël. It’s my favorite. It’s this Sunday and I’ll just have to cheer from our balcony when all the able runners fly by below, decked out en déguisement (in costume).

Can't you feel my pain? My Mère Noël costume will just be sitting in the closet this year. Sigh...

I’m working really really hard to get back in shape and to feel stronger (and frankly, less bummed out). And I’ll be back next year with a vengeance, j’espère (I hope).

Now What’s This You Say About a Pasta-free Stuffed Cabbage Lasagna?

When the autumn chill rolls in, I always get a hankering for stuffed cabbage. Like my marriage, this was a delicious later-in-life love affair that started in New York with my former Belarusian bookkeeper Larisa, who would bring a week’s worth of homemade little bundles for me, all chubby and nestled in an oversized plastic wonton soup container.

Here in France, we already have délicieux prepared chou farci (stuffed cabbage) at almost every good boucher (butcher), du coup, d’habitude je l’achète (so I normally just buy it). But a couple of weeks ago, I was meandering around on Substack when I came across Paul Bertolli’s mesmerizing Whole Stuffed Cabbage recipe thanks to a note by

The Camont Journals with Kate Hill

.

Si tu t’en fiches (if you don’t care) about stuffed cabbage in any form, just scroll down for some great astuces (tips) on how to easily inject un petit peu de French flair into your holiday gatherings

In Chef Bertolli’s version, the farce (stuffing) is laced among the leaves of a whole cabbage (rather than stuffed inside), and then the whole shebang is covered in farce and wall-papered in more cabbage leaves to look like a “regular” cabbage that is hiding secrets. It is a thing of beauty—although somewhat daunting as a project—and I just had to try it.

This is the happy result of a last-minute kitchen inspiration

So there I was, in the kitchen chopping up my mise en place (ingredients), a giant head of cabbage boiling in the biggest pot I have, when Monsieur B walked in from work.

“Mais qu’est-ce que tu fais, mon amour ?” (What are you doing, my love?)

I started in with the whole story and all the steps and I think he saw that at 19h30 —pronounced deez-nuv-urr-TRAHNT— (7:30 PM) I was still in the beginning stages of this rather complex cabbage caper. But as he has a habit of doing, my sweet husband (who happens to be a great cook) stepped in with a brilliant idea.

He said (not discouragingly, but as if to allow me a way out of my cruciferous quandary), “Si j’étais à ta place, je ferais une sorte de lasagnes en utilisant des feuilles de chou à la place des pâtes.” (If I were you, I’d make a kind of lasagna using the cabbage leaves in place of pasta.)

Side note for all my French language lovers: I struggled so long with this type of classic sentence structure (“if I were…then I would…”), that I actually first stopped to repeat after Monsieur B to help reinforce this construction in my constant learner’s brain ha! Then I thought, “He’s cute. And by golly, he’s got something there!”

Is it son doctorat (his PhD) in engineering that grants him this talent for optimizing? I know not. All I do know is it felt right to me, so I instantly agreed, as I almost always do when someone has a better idea. Et tu sais quoi ? (And you know what?) It turned out to be a revelation.

Much lighter than a traditional lasagna, but the cabbage holds up its layers like a champ and absorbs the flavorful sauce beautifully. Undoubtedly less visually impressive than Paul Bertolli’s concealed cabbage chef-d’ɶuvre (masterpiece) but perfect for a chilly night between big holiday meals or when you want something cozy without all the carbs. I hope you’ll try it and tell me what you think.

This Stuffed Cabbage Lasagna also makes a luscious lunch, side dish or first course for a festive dinner. Check out the little video below. Plus you can make it the day before your gathering and you know what? It will be even better. Bon appétit !

VEGETARIAN ALERT: Si j’étais à ta place, je ferais cette recette avec des petits veggie crumbles à la place de la viande hachée (if I were you, I’d make this recipe with veggie crumbles in place of the ground meat. See what I did there? Anyhow, Try it and let me know?

STUFFED CABBAGE LASAGNA

Serves 6 and is great as leftovers

Preparation time: 30 mins. Cooking time: 50 mins — 1 hour

Enjoyment Time: Whenever it’s in your mouth!

Pairs well with: a cru Beaujolais

INGREDIENTS

1 lb (500 grams) Ground Meat. This recipe works great with all beef or all turkey, for example, but I sometimes like to blend meats or use what I have. It’s not always easy to get ground turkey or ground chicken in France. The version in the photos is du boeuf (beef).

• 1/2 head of Cabbage

  • Curly or not—the flat version takes longer to cook

  • Depending on the size, you’ll likely need 9-12 leaves for 3 layers

• 2 medium Carrots, diced

• 1 stalk Celery, chopped

• 2 cloves Garlic, minced

• 1 Shallot, minced

• 1 can Crushed Tomatoes (400g/

• 2 cups Shredded Cheese

  • I like Gruyère or Comté, but you could also use goat cheese

• 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano (optional)

• 1/4 cup fresh Parsley, chopped finely

  • I didn’t have any today so I used dried herbes de Provence which is great too.

• Salt to taste

• 1 handful fresh Basil leaves (optional for serving)

Optional: I sometimes add a pinch or two of some or all of the following to the sauce while it’s cooking, just depending on my mood! Together they add just a hint of sweet earthiness.

• Cumin

• Brown Sugar

• Cinnamon

PREPARATION

STEP ONE
Steam or boil your cabbage. The key is to end up with tender leaves that are not completely flaccid (what a great word!), as they will continue cooking in the oven. Steaming takes longer and I don’t have a steaming pot in Paris, so I just pull off leaves and place them gently into boiling water. For curly cabbage (as in the video), generally 8-10 minutes. For the flatter white cabbage, approximately 15 minutes, or until the stems are a bit tender.

A curly cabbage softens up faster than a standard cabbage, and outer leaves take longer than inner leaves, but your sign will be when the core gives way to your knife or when you can easily tear a leaf.

Hint: If your cabbage has very tough central stalks, you can cut or tear around them and use just the softer leaves.

STEP TWO
Make the sauce. Your sauce for this recipe will be la farce (the stuffing) you would normally put inside your cabbages, minus the eggs that would hold it together.

In a big skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, add your ground meat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add in your carrot/celery/garlic/shallot mix. Stir every few minutes and let the vegetables soften up just a bit.

STEP THREE
STIR in the crushed tomatoes. Add the parsley or herbs de Provence and let the mixture cook for another 5-7 minutes. Your carrots and celery should be tender but not overly soft, since they’ll continue to cook in the oven.

STEP FOUR
Layer your lasagna. In a rectangular baking dish (mine is 2 quarts or 7”X11”), start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Next, arrange a layer of cabbage leaves and top it with one third of the sauce (you can absolutely tear the leaves to make the pieces fit). Finish the layer with the shredded cheese and parmesan (if using). Repeat until you have three layers of cabbage and a final topping of sauce. Finish the final layer with the cheese.

STEP FIVE

Bake the lasagna in a 375 degree oven for 50 mins — 1 hour. Cooking time will vary according to your cabbage type, so keep an eye on it. If it starts to brown too much, cover it with aluminum foil. The test for doneness is that the topping is crispy, the cheese is melted, and the cabbage gives easily when you cut into it with a knife.

If you like, you can finish with a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh basil leaves, but that’s optional.

Bonne dégustation les ami(e)s !

Bisous de Paris,

Karen