Winter Warming Food - Medisterkaker

Cabbage is on the menu for dinner today. As it has been at least once a week for the past month. Before we had our weekly Riverford deliveries I didn't really think about what was in season, but now I know that cabbages and brassicas plus root vegetables are the backbone of a homegrown winter menu. Pork is a popular meat in Scandinavia, and I think it's the best to accompany cabbage. Lightly steamed Savoy cabbage with a bit of lightly salted butter melting on top - who can resist that? English quality sausages (such as the coarse ones you can buy from a traditional butcher, Sainsbury's, Waitrose or Duchy Originals) go exceptionally well with cabbage, as do succulent pork shoulder chops. However, it's time we varied our repertoire a bit, so tonight I am making grove medisterkaker. These are little meat patties made with coarsely ground pork meat - you can use pork mince, or the pork stuffing meat you find around Christmas time. In fact, grove medisterkaker are a big part of a traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner if you come from a region where pork is on the menu. I try to eat a low-carb diet, so I will use the following recipe which uses an egg as a binding agent instead of potato flour.

Ingredients:
400g pork mince
1 egg
2 dl cream (1 dl = 100 ml)
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground or grated muscat
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger (from the spice rack, not fresh)
pepper

Mix the ingredients well in a bowl using a fork. Scoop out a tablespoon of the mixture and shape it into a ball with your palm (or use a second tablespoon if you prefer, rolling the ball between the spoons). Place it in a hot frying pan with melted butter or oil and press it down slightly with a spatula to flatten it. Brown the medisterkake for a few minutes on each side. When it's cooked through have a taste - you might want to add a bit more seasoning. If you are happy with the flavour and texture proceed with spooning out the rest of the of the mix in the frying pan. When the patties have browned a few minutes on each side lift them out and transfer them to a wide casserole with a bit of butter and a shallow amount of water which you leave on a low temperature. If you find that the frying pan accumulates a lot of melted fat as you fry your patties you simply pour the fat over the patties in the casserole as this will make them more succulent. Once you have finished the mixture leave the patties to simmer on a low heat under a lid in the casserole while you prepare the vegetables to serve with it. All winter vegetables go well with this dish, but if you low-carb or LCHF then stick to vegetables growing above ground and leave root vegetables out.