Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

Cabbage and Kielbasa Sausage Soup
Mom's Tray

This is something I sort of made up but it is based on the principles my husband taught me so he gets at least half the credit.  Especially for the saute instructions.

But essentially this was my answer to my sister's question: Would cabbage and Kielbasa make a meal somehow and what else would you put with it?  

It is time to grocery shop again so we were needing to make something out of odds and ends.  This is what we came up with when we put our heads together.  But she wasn't here for the payoff as she had made plans with a friend for the afternoon and evening.

The Saute Soiree

 Two medium sized onions chopped (approx 1.5 cups)
Several large cloves of garlic, minced.  (aprox 1/3 cup, or to taste)
1lb of Kielbasa sausage diced. (shown as coin slices here but cut them in quarters before putting in skillet)
approx 1 cup of mushrooms

Heat a skillet on medium with about 1/8 inch or olive oil covering bottom.  when hot enough to sizzle water drops add onion.  Season with fresh ground black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Stir frequently until onions start to brown.  Add garlic and turn heat down a notch stirring constantly now as it is very important not to overheat the garlic as it will turn bitter.

As soon as the garlic turns transparent add the mushrooms and continue to stir.

Soon after I had added the mushrooms the oil I'd started with was no longer coating the bottom as it was now coating the onion and mushrooms so to prevent scorching I added a couple tablespoons of the broth from the cans I had just opened.  I had to do this again after half of the Kielbasa had been added.

As soon as the Kielbasa was browned, I poured the mixture into the soup pot that already contained the remaining ingredients as described below.  The Kielbasa was already cooked out of the package so the purpose of browning it was to mix the flavors with the others in the saute soiree.

Cabbage Cranium

Chop a moderate sized head of cabbage.  Or as in this case, this half of a very large head that was given us by our neighbor.  It was the size of a 12 year old's bike helmet.  That's a 2 cup Pyrex sitting beside it.

 I believe this is a 5 quart pot.  I'm sure a gallon milk jug would fit inside with a bit of room around the edges.  The chopped cabbage by itself took a third of the room.

To this I added:
4 cans of broth--3 chicken and 1 vegetable.
1 can of diced tomato
1 can of tomato sauce

I'm sorry but I've forgotten the ounces on each of them and am too tired to go look.  But the cans were all approximately the size of a regular coffee mug.

 Meanwhile, because this was not going to simmer for hours, I pre-cooked the baby carrots in the microwave and the chopped them up with scissors.

Once I'd added the contents of the skillet and the carrots to the soup pot the broth was nearly two inches below the top of the solid stuff.  It needs to cover so I added two cups of water.  The put the lid on and brought to a boil while on medium and then turned down to low for 30 minutes.

I served Mom's with cornbread left over from the other night.  I preferred to have two servings of the soup instead.

I put a dollop of sour cream on both of ours though.

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Wilted Spinach and Mango Salad

Wilted Spinach and Mango Salad served with Tuna Melts

This was what I fixed for my dinner tonight on my third night home alone.  The spinach salad was mostly my husband's recipe which he coached me through during out video chat this afternoon.  The mango was my idea but he gave his exuberant blessing.

It was a success and now that I know how to do it I'm going to make it for my Mom and sister soon.

 You must have all ingredients prepped ahead of time and ready at hand because once you start sauteing the onions you must stay with the pan and stir.  Especially once you add the garlic because burnt garlic will ruin anything.

Coat skillet with olive oil and a tad bit more then add a pat of butter (optional but it enhances flavors) turn burner to medium.

Once hot add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of diced onions.

Spice to taste.  I added a little sea salt, ground pepper and lots of red pepper flakes.

Once onions are transparent add garlic.  Now stir constantly until onions begin to caramelize.

 Then quickly add full bag of baby spinach and toss until coated.

Then dump in 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.  I used the vinegar this time.

Now turn off heat and pop lid on skillet.  Leave on burner and do not lift lid for at least five minutes.

While the spinach steamed I turned broiler on the tuna melts which I had prepped and in the oven ahead of time.

When I dished up the spinach I put in in a strainer first to drain off the excess vinegar and oil.

Once on the plate I sprinkled more red pepper flakes on and then a tablespoon or so of ground nuts.  I think it is pecans in the grinder right now but am not sure.  Might be walnuts or even almonds.

Then I topped it off with a quarter cup or so of mango cubes.

I can already think of half a dozen variations on this.

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The Last Supper

Salmon Steak on Bed of Romaine Lettuce with Mandarin Orange Slices and Sunflower Seeds and Honey Mustard and Lemon Dressing

This was the Salmon plate Ed made and served me last Wednesday.  One of the things I'm going to miss most about not living with him is his cooking and especially these salmon platters he make me on the nights he wants hot dogs.  They are never exactly the same twice.  He might use something already on hand or he might shop special for a flavor combo.  This one was the former and it was excellent.  He made the dressing himself too.

One of my favorites is when he substitutes jicama for the lettuce and uses two or three of the following fruits: passion fruit, mango, papaya and/or peach.  Another one I like is spinach with tomato and avocado.

His cooking is on my mind tonight because we just used the last of the spaghetti sauce from the dinner he made for me and Carri before she left me there for a week.  We had frozen the leftovers down and he sent them home with us.

He also sent the leftover burrito makings from our last meal together last Thursday night.  He makes burritos by mixing the refried beans, meat, garlic, onions, bell pepper and occasionally precooked rice all into one large pan then setting up a salad bar type thing for the tomatoes,  salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, green onion and olives.  We finished up the burrito stuff here Tuesday evening.  Ed had not added rice this time but Carri stretched the leftovers for the four of us by adding it herself.

I had been making a point of joining the family here for the evening meal most days but as I dished up my spaghetti tonight I knew I needed to be alone with it to savor it and think about him and, yes, cry if I wanted to.  So I took my plate in to the room that has become my hangout--combination office, workout room and closet.  I sat on the mini-tramp which is where I've spent the majority of my waking hours since Monday.

I was realizing that I needed to do something to snap out of my funk soon and as I ate the concept of comfort food crossed my mind and instantly translated into the idea of comfort activities.  I started listing some of the things that I like to do with the intent to start adding them back.  Starting with the tramp workouts which I've not done once since leaving Phoenix last Friday and I had been on the tramp down there for one to two hours every day and that was on top of the walk to the library.

Speaking of library visits.  That went on the list and I've asked Carri if we can fit one in this weekend as she is going to be without the car all next week while it is having the driver side door and mirror repaired from her encounter with a pole in a parking lot the week before we left.  We are going to try.

There were quite a number of things that ended up on my list but I guess I will save the rest for when they actually happen.

I've given myself one solid week to mope and wallow.  It is time to reengage with the NOW, with what IS.  Baby steps tho.  I"m sure it isn't going to be like flipping a switch.

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A Very Green Salad

Green salad by Joy & Cukes in Spicy Vinegar by Ed

Ed and I worked together at making dinner tonight.  First by walking up to the store after fresh ingredients.  This gave me some insight into all those scenes in historical novels or novel set in countries that still depend on daily excursions on foot to the market after that day's meal ingredients.  It can have its charms.

But I'd still prefer to have a kitchen stocked with a month's worth of staples and a week's worth of perishables and several months worth of frozen and canned.  That will take us some time to accumulate so we're shopping a few meals ahead and still usually find an ingredient missing for this or that.

Today Ed wanted mac and cheese and hotdogs which I did not want to fill up on though I do love mac and cheese especially when Ed makes it with real butter and half and half.  Sometimes with several kinds of cheese.  But that's got to be a side dish for me so I wanted a salad and one with substantial bulk, varied texture and flavors I liked.

So I walked up to Ray's market with Ed to pick out my ingredients in their produce aisle while he shopped for everything else.  They have a special section where you can get small 'servings' of the things you want.  A bit like a salad bar in a restaurant.  I selected a fistful each of snow peas, bean sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower from that salad bar and a bundle of green onion and a Romano tomato.  I already had avocado at home.

I also asked for a cucumber but not for the salad.  I wanted Ed to put together his cukes in spicy vinegar for me as a between meal munchie.  Not only do I love them but they are an appetite suppressant for me.  I can eat a couple of cuke coins and not need another thing for hours. I think it's the vinegar responsible for that but it helps to have to have chewed on something as well.

He spices it differently every time and its not pure vinegar but some ratio with water. As in tablespoons to cups or  something like that.  Salt and pepper are the base spices and sometimes the only ones.  Tonight he added garlic powder.  And the bowl was sitting there as I put together my salad and I got the idea of testing whether other veggies would be good after soaking in a vinegar bath so I tucked in a few snow peas and bean sprouts.

If I like them I'll start having him make for me or teach me how to make a vinegar bath with a variety of veggies.  I'd like to try radishes.  Because I don't care for radishes but I didn't care for cucumbers before I tried Ed's vinegared version.  Radishes would add some interesting color to a salad like the one I made tonight which was all green and white with a hint of purple in some of the lettus leaves before I added the tomato.  I meant to add some baby carrots which I already had in the fridge but they slipped my mind.  I wonder what carrot would taste like after a few hours in the vinegar?

I nibbled on the cuke while I made my salad (big enough for several meals as you can see as Ed isn't big on salad) and in the end I had a large serving of salad with Ed's honey-mustard vinegar dressing and a small serving of mac and cheese and turned down the hot dogs.

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Ed's Easter Breadpudding

My husband just made this for our family Easter dinner. I can't tell you how it tastes yet but it smells heavenly. And if his past creations are anything to go by, this is going to be ambrosia.

He is a dump and stir cook so I can't give you a conventional recipe. But I can give you the list of ingredients and point you towards the correct ratios.

1. One large loaf of sourdough bread cubed.
2. 8 large eggs
3. about 4oz of milk per egg
4. 1/8th cup sugar per egg (or sugar to taste)
5. Cinnamon to taste
6. Salt to taste
7. Vanilla to taste
8. One can fruit cocktail drained
9. Two large handfuls of raisins (he has very large hands)

For anyone uncomfortable with the ambiguousness of the above, consult your favorite breadpudding recipe and adjust the ratios accordingly.

Following is the step by step instructions:

1. Beat eggs, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt until smooth and creamy
2. Add milk, stir until blended
3. Fold in bread until bread is submerged and wet
4. Fold in raisins and fruit cocktail
5. Let soak for 15 to 30 minutes (until most liquid is absorbed by bread)
6. Dump into cassarole dish or baking pan (treated with butter or non-stick spray like Pam)
7. Place in oven pre-heated to 375
8. Bake for 45-50 minnutes or until golden brown
9. Remove from oven and cool
10. Serve with topping of choice

Enjoy!

Happy Easter.

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