Deer Camp Cabbage

If you happen to know me and about my childhood, you know that I practically grew up at “deer camp”.  Now for those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, it is the place you stay when you go hunting.  Generally involves staying up late, playing poker or sitting around the campfire telling stories and looking at the stars.  These memories are some of the fondest memories I have with my family. This is my Dad and I when I was about 2 years old at our very first “deer camp” in Seguin, TX:

And I am with some of my good college friends on the back part of our “deer camp” in Rocksprings, TX.  The other side of the camera looked out over miles and miles of beautiful hillside.  (Terrible picture quality circa 6 years ago via crummy camera)  Seriously, what is not to love?

I plan someday soon of doing some delicious and easy chicken fried backstrap (venison..aka deer meat) one day for the blog. However for now I present to you my “deer camp cabbage”, or oven baked or steamed cabbage.  Simple, easy, delicious…if you love cabbage, and even if you don’t, you might like it after trying it this way.  It is soft, savory and a little garlicky. My dad would always make this for us with steaks or pork chops-whatever was on the grill that night.   We cooked ours with some delicious tuna steaks from Central Market!
This recipe is super simple and anyone can do it! (I have to stop and apologize for the bad pictures, was not sure if I wanted to blog it or not). You can either throw this on the grill for an hour at a high heat.  OR, you can preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Start with a whole head of cabbage, and remove a couple of the outer layers.  Rinse the head as best you can.  Then cut off the stem part of the cabbage and quarter up lengthwise as seen here-
Tear off 4 pieces of foil that are long enough to cover each wedge of cabbage (1-2 feet, depending on the size of the cabbage).  Place each wedge on its own piece of foil and create a pouch.

Place 1-2 tablespoons of salted butter or butter substitute in each pouch. Now, I know you are thinking the butter makes it very unhealthy…but the majority of the butter melts to the bottom and acts as a steaming agent.    Mince 2 cloves of garlic (feel free to use more if you would like it more garlicky) and put about a half a clove in each pouch.  If you are using pre-minced garlic, I would say about 1-2 teaspoons in each pouch.  Salt and pepper the cabbage up, then roll the foil pouches tightly closed.  I placed an extra layer around the other way to ensure it was creating an adequate steaming opportunity.

Place on baking sheet and leave in the oven for approximately 1 hour or until cabbage is nice and tender.

And enjoy!

Printable Recipe Deer Camp Cabbage:
Ingredients:
1 Whole head of cabbage
8 tablespoons of butter cut into tablespoons
2 cloves of garlic Salt Pepper

Directions:

You can either preheat your grill to the highest heat OR, you can preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Start with a whole head of cabbage, and remove a couple of the outer layers. Rinse the head as best you can. Then cut off the stem part of the cabbage and quarter up lengthwise.

Tear off 4 pieces of foil that are long enough to cover each wedge of cabbage (1-2 feet, depending on the size of the cabbage). Place each wedge on its own piece of foil and create a pouch.

Place 1-2 tablespoons of salted butter or butter substitute in each pouch. Mince 2 cloves of garlic (feel free to use more if you would like it more garlicky) and put about a half a clove in each pouch. If you are using pre-minced garlic, I would say about 1-2 teaspoons in each pouch.

Salt and pepper the cabbage up, then roll the foil pouches tightly closed. I placed an extra layer around the other way to ensure it was creating an adequate steaming opportunity. Place on baking sheet and leave in the oven or on the grill for approximately 1 hour or until cabbage is nice and tender. Remove from oven, add additional salt or pepper to taste and enjoy.