Cabbage Challenge

This week's ingredient for Chic Life's challenge is cabbage. Sky's the limit on dishes for that simple ingredient.... and so many of them are soooo tasty. I decided to do a soup, because when I looked in my 'fridge I spied some perfect little leftovers. Soups are such a great way to use them up and at the same time get plenty of nutrition.

A handful of parsley, a small half head of cabbage, one silly sausage .... .. some sprout water that I saved just for this...I added it to the chicken stock because I only had about two cups of stock ...all needed to be used ..... and soon. A big part of being frugal with food is never wasting it. Never leaving things in your fridge 'til they resemble school science experiments...











don't forget.... a recipe is not a code... "it's more like yer guidelines" .....
where have we heard that one? oh, yeh.... Pirates.... the code.... one of my fav lines.. soooo,,, along those lines....this is my soup adapted from Cabbage Soup in the Encyclopedia of Creative Cooking. I call it....

(More than) Cabbage Soup

1/2 to 1 cup cabbage (I shred and dice mine into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces)
2 slices bacon (chopped) or a large spicy sausage (or two) diced
1 small onion (or to taste)
1 or 2 carrots
1 stick celery
1 medium potato
1 tablespoon flour
4 cups stock ( I used chicken)
1 or 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper or (I used a small red pepper instead of black)
pinch of nutmeg
can of creamed corn (optional)
cup of milk (optional)

Heat bacon for some fat or use 2 tablespoons of butter, or..... a tablespoon of each of butter and vegetable oil (I prefer this as the veggies are less inclined to brown too quickly and I'm always trying for less butter anyway because of cholesterol) Add onion, celery, carrot and potato..... ... cook gently. Add cabbage and continue to cook gently. Don't let cabbage get brown. After about 10 minutes, sprinkle on a big tablespoon flour and mix well. Pour in about 4 cups stock. Mix well, add diced sausage, bay leaf, parsley, (salt if using) pepper, any other spices of your choosing and bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or so til veggies are tender but not mushy. Adjust seasoning; add nutmeg and tin of creamed corn. Simmer for about half an hour. Add a cup of milk and continue to heat, but be careful not to let come to boil after adding milk. ( It may separate if boiled ..and even if it tastes okay..it does not look as nice.)

If it has to sit longer than the times stated ...not to worry... .mine was ready and re-heated several times.... it just gets better..... though some of the potatoes get a bit less firm. We had it with some fresh home made bread, toasted.....oh, YUM! .... And, today....leftover soup for lunch.... mmmmmm......