Braised Cabbage & Beef Soup

Cabbage: Is there  any better value for your money. It is a very low calorie food and contains a good amount of protein.

I bought a cabbage last fall. I don't know how much it weighted then but I have bee gnawing at it and I took off over 1kg for this recipe and there is still a significant amount of cabbage left

This recipe is based on the Braised Cabbage soup with beef from the book "best-ever SOUPS" by Anne Sheasby, pg 193. I found that recipe lacking in liquid so I added 2 litres of chicken stock at the end to create a more soup like dish

Ingredients

Ingredients	Calories	Protein
1.26kg cabbage, shredded	279	16.7
1 large onion, diced (495g)	208	4.6
1/2 cup apple juice	53	0
43g brown sugar	162	0
20g garlic (4-5 small cloves)	30	1.3
1/4tsp grated Nutmeg	0	0
1 tsp caraway seed	0	0
1/4 cup red wine vinegar	0	0
4 cups beef stock	125	18.9
2 litres chicken stock	133	13.3
750g extra lean ground beef	1613	139.4

Yield 9 two cup servings
Total calories: 2603, Total Protein: 194.2g
Per serving: Calories: 289, Protein: 21.6g

What remains of the cabbage!

1.126kg of shredded Cabbage

1. Pre heat the oven to 300F. Combine the cabbage, onion, apple juice, brown sugar, garlic, nutmeg, caraway, and vinegar. Put in a large roasting pan, cover and bake for 3 hours. Periodically stirring the mixture.

Cabbage after braising

2. Fry the ground beef in you soup pot. Adding some salt and pepper to season the beef while it cooks. Fry the beef until it starts to brown a bit.

3. Add the beef stock and de-glaze the pan. Add the braised cabbage and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30min to allow the flavour to develop. Taste and season as needed.

Final pot of soup

A bow of Braised Cabbage Soup

I found the flavour reminiscent of borscht, without the beets. On the whole a good soup.

Pork braised in cider

It's been a while since I have posted anything. Here is my interpretation of Braised Pork Shoulder by Cristine Cushing

The adaptation has more to do with what I had handy in the kitchen. I used a piece from the pork leg I bought a few weeks ago and de-boned. So the piece was from the other end of the pig.

Ingredients
3-4lb boneless pork roast
3-4 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper for seasoning the roast
2 tbsp oil
2 leeks, halved and sliced into 1/2" pieces
1 tsp whole cumin seed
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp whole coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
4" cinnamon stick
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup sauvignon blanc
1 litre of hard apple cider
2 fuji apples, cored and sliced

Slice the garlic into slivers. cut slits in the pork and insert the garlic slits, randomly located around the roast

Heat the oil in a large pot. Sear the pork on all sides, remove and set aside

Add the leeks and cook until wilted and slightly browned. Add the spices and continue to cook for a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine.

Add the pork back to the pot. Pour over the cider and add the apples. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 hours.

Remove the roast from the pot and cover with foil to keep warm. Strain the liquid and return to the pot. Boil the liquid until it has reduces by 1/2 or more to make a sauce.

Serve with scalloped potatoes, roasted cauliflower and sauteed mushrooms

Scalloped Potatoes - My style
5 medium potatoes
1c grates cheddar cheese
1c grated asiago
1/2 c graded parmesean
granulated garlic
salt & pepper
skim milk - enough to fill dish.

Thinly slice the potato one at a time. Create a single layer of sliced potato in your casserole dish. Season the layer with salt, pepper and garlic. Sprinkle some of the cheese mixture over the layer. Repeat with enough layers to fill the dish. Make sure you have enough cheese for the top layer. Gently pour the skim milk into the dish until the level is a little below the top. Bake in a 400 F oven for 45 minutes. You will should place a pan underneath to catch the stuff that will drip out of the dish.

Sauteed Mushrooms
1 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
3 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 tsp oil
salt & pepper

In a large pan heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, peppers and garlic. Season with salt & pepper. Fry until the moisture evaporates and the mushrooms brown slightly.