I am a man of contradictions. I make rules, and then I break them.
Rule one: when using a recipe, always make it the first time exactly as written, then make changes. Unless you are me; do as I say, not as I do.
I am also a man of strong convictions. There are many things I swear I won't do, until I do.
Like the other evening... I ate raw oysters. I swore I'd never do it... Then came that moment, when I said, "Okay, we'll have a half dozen Blue Points on the half shell..." and this post was born. Born of my elastic stubbornness. (Note: this post has nothing to do with oysters!)
I distinctly remember vowing that I would never own the following kitchen items: a microwave oven, a dishwasher, a food processor, a toaster oven, a "rabbit" wine opener, an immersion blender, or a KitchenAid mixer.
Ever true to myself - I still don't have a toaster oven. Everything else, however...
And that was just the kitchen list! Outside the kitchen, I now have a television, a VCR, a DVD player, a computer (!!!!) - all things that this former minimal æsthete averred he would never own.
I can assure you that I won't ever have Apple TV, stream movies, or own a BlueRay player. Never. Ever. Well, probably not. Maybe.
Since writing this post, we now have Apple TV and are streaming movies... No Blue Ray, though. Not this week.
I've also told you that once I swore I would never write a blog. (I am such a liar.)
Never say never. Unless you mean it at the moment. As for Mark, he has had a lifelong aversion to cabbage, swearing he’d never eat cabbage once grownup and on his own, and here we are, with this recipe. It is one of his favorites.
~ David
Cabbage Soup
This is a recipe that follows Rule No. 1. I have never changed the recipe from the way Aunt Rae made it. Not yet, anyway.
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, bacon fat reserved
2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat or butter
1/4 cup chopped onion or shallot
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup sliced carrots
1 bay dried leaf or 3 fresh
sour cream and parsley for garnish
Heat bacon fat (Aunt Rae always used bacon fat) or butter in a 4-quart stock pot, and sauté onion and celery until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper and mix into a paste. Add broth a little at a time, stirring well. Add cabbage, carrots and bay, and bring to a boil Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve garnished with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkled with parsley. Crumble cooked bacon on top.
Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a starter.
Note: I made this batch of soup with some reserved bacon fat, and didn’t add any crumbled bacon to the finished soup. It was great! Labels: bacon, bacon fat, bay leaves, cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, soup
