Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Of Cabbages And Rings

Since the snow flurries Friday night, and the colder temps over the weekend, I whipped up a big pot of sausage, potatoes, and cabbage. Mmm. So delicious! However... there was an anomaly with my cabbages! Both bought at Save A Lot on the same day, from the same bin. I always need a big cabbage and a little cabbage. Two large ones are too much, and two small ones are not enough.

The first cabbage I carved was the large one. I avoid the core, and slice off about half from one side. Then I again avoid the core, and slice off the about-half from the other side. That leaves me with a flat piece that has the core in the middle. I cut off the remaining small sides, and use the top part of the core area, where it's still leafy.

This was a very strange cabbage!

 
The whole cabbage was the consistency of the core! Very dense. One big core! The actual core area is at the bottom of the picture. Not that you can tell. I still cut it up, and pulled apart the dense layers to put in my pot. I left this disk, to see how much room I'd have in the pot with those hard pieces.

On to the small cabbage. Which had its own irregularities:

 
THIS cabbage was almost all leafy! Barely a core at all! Loose rings, not dense thick non-leaves. I cut it up and used the whole thing.

Even though I have a degree in biology, I am not well-versed in vegetable husbandry. Was one of my cabbages not ripe enough? Have scientists developed both core-less cabbages, and all-core cabbages? I don't care enough to consult my estranged BFF Google. All I know is...

THE RESULT WAS DELICIOUS!

 
This concoction contained sliced smoked sausage, sliced Polish kielbasa, and Little Smokies. My Smokie is broken in that photo! Also, golden potatoes, and the two cabbages. That's a corn muffin top balanced on the bowl for a photo op. I also ate the muffin stump, by crumbling it in the juices at the bottom of the bowl. 

We will be eating it for four days. The Pony had only meat and potatoes the first night, and declared that he would be picking up pizza for himself the next night. I'm surprised he even tried it.

8 comments:

Rae said...

Yum. Sounds and looks pretty tasty. I might have to give this a try this winter. Definitely a nice warm comfort meal. I'm always looking for easy, hearty meal ideas. Ranee (MN)

Unknown said...

You were forced to eat the stump? Obviously you're not Rebecca DeMornay...

River said...

Meh, cabbage is cabbage. As long as it is edible, who cares what it looks like?

Hillbilly Mom said...

Rae,
I first had it when we visited my sister the ex-ex-mayor's wife, when they were camping up at the state park. I would have just been roasting hot dogs, but apparently cooking is a big deal for them when they go camping.

It's so simple! Peel and cut up the potatoes. Put them in the bottom of the pot, with just enough water to ALMOST cover them. Then put the sliced sausage on top of the potatoes, so the meat isn't in the water. Slice the cabbage into squares, and fill the pot with it. Sprinkle in a tablespoon of sugar on top of the cabbage (or a sugar-free substitute like Splenda), and simmer until the cabbage is as tender as you like it. My corn muffins were just from the Jiffy box. I'm not a gourmet! But the corn muffins definitely add to the enjoyment of this rib-stickin' meal.

***
Unknown ;)
Yes, I had to eat the muffin stump. But at least I also got the muffin top, and was spared the chicken skins and lobster shells!

AND I didn't have a $200 TOILET BOOK that I was trying to return to Rebecca!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqYZIxxCEzM

***
River,
I don't care what it looks like. I care about the texture! That thick part takes a lot longer to cook than NORMAL cabbage, and the all leafy kind takes a lot less time to cook than normal cabbage.

River said...

You sprinkle sugar on top of the cabbage in the pot? WHY??
The thick part should get sliced very finely to cook at the same speed as the rest of the cabbage.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
It cuts the acidity of the cabbage. That amount in such a giant pot is not even tasted. It's a bazillion times less sugar than is included in packaged foods that we don't even think about. I also add a dash to tomato-y sauces and soups. Though I generally use the Splenda due to Farmer H.

To cut that thick cabbage finely would take infinite time, and result in spaghetti-like strips, which would not be enjoyable at all when eating this dish. There's no way to still cut it in squares, and then cut through the thickness part.

Hillbilly Mom said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hillbilly Mom said...

Stupid BLOGGER is now eating my comments, and then regurgitating them so they're double! Gotta keep an eye on these shenanigans...