Here's another great recipe for the New Depression. And it's healthy, too. Cabbage is one of those veggies you are supposed to eat more of. It contains sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes. Like most soups, it's open to individual interpretations. Soup broth, unlike many liquids, is immediately absorbed into your body.
2 ham shanks (not ham hocks)
1 onion roughly cut
1-2 teaspoons whole peppercorns (optional)
2 whole cloves
2-4 cups roughly-chopped cabbage
8-10 whole new potatoes, peeled (slice in half if large)
or any wax potato or turnip cut into chunks
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons caraway seed
1 can stewed tomatoes (optional)
1 cup sliced carrots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Make the ham stock:
Rinse the shanks and add to a dutch oven or soup pot. Insert one clove into an onion section and add the roughly-cut onions. Cover with water, at least 8 cups. If you have chicken broth on hand, sub for some of the water. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-4 hours. Carefully remove the ham shanks to a bowl. When cool, remove as much meat as possible and reserve for the soup. Strain the broth. This can be done one day ahead--just refrigerate the broth until ready to use. NOTE: This is the stock one should use for bean, lentil, pea soups.
Bring broth to a simmer. Add diced onion, caraway, stewed tomatoes, carrots, potatoes. Just before the potatoes are tender, add the chopped cabbage and reserved ham. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until cabbage is just tender. Taste and season accordingly.
Ladle into bowls and serve with a nice rye or pumpernickel bread. Like most soups, it's even better the next day.
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J.P. Hart
Just An0ther 2 Cents
Erica K
l'Heure Bleue
Kate O'hehir
Salon.com
Comments
Monte
Monte
bluesurly: it's funny how many people have never had cabbage soup. Enjoy!
I may attempt doing it in the pressure cooker. Just got some yummy country ham--perhaps I'll use that instead of hocks.
Joan: let me know if you make it. I'd love to know what you think.
Brenda: Oh, yea. YUM!
Verbal: you are the one who motivated me to post this. I know I sent you a different recipe. It was a bit easier but one never knows the culinary efficacy of posters. This is the one I make most often. Have you checked out Emma Peel's recipe for easy stuffed cabbage?
Yes, peasant food is the best. Last year I was too poor to buy Christmas gifts. I spent the summer and autumn typing up my favorite recipes, and my family recipes. I had Kinko's run them off and bind them. That's what everyone got for Christmas. It was a hit. I'm working on Cookbook #2. I printed your "cabbage roll" recipe. Once I get settled, I will certainly try it out.
GARY
"An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than cabbage, concludes that they will also make better soup. " H. L. Mencken
Scupper: I could live on soup. Did you know that homemade, rich broths are actually absorbed into your system immediately? Amazing.
Wayne: What a great quote! Of cabbages . . . and roses.