I rearranged my kitchen cabinets on Thursday, taking note of what I had on hand to make dinner with.
I discovered I had a ham which I needed to use, and I knew that I wanted something I could put in the crock pot.
On Friday I did a search, and Google lead me to http://www.kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/. I saw that Kalyn had a recipe for this soup, and it would use half of the ham I had. Hooray! (Click here to see Kalyn's original recipe at her site.)
I went to the grocery store this morning to get the two ingredients I didn't have, and then started the soup.
Here is the recipe. As of right now, I am typing this from my phone, so I can't put links in. Once I get to a real computer, I will.
INGREDIENTS:
1 head cabbage, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 large or 3 small carrots, cut into small rounds or chopped
2 cups diced lean ham
1 teaspoon Spike Seasoning (or use other all-purpose seasoning mix if you don't have Spike)
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon Vegeta Gourmet Seasoning (if you don't have this, just use a bit more of the other seasonings ot a tablespoon of another type of soup flavoring)
2 bay leaves
Course ground black pepper to taste
6 cups ham stock (you can use chicken or vegetable stock)
2 cups water
Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
My notes on the ingredients:
I didn't have the Spike, Vegeta Gourmet, or soup seasonings mentioned by Kalyn, nor were they available at my Kroger. I used two teaspoons of the Kroger brand seasoned salt.
When it came to the stock, I used half chicken, half vegetable. I use the Better Than Bullion brand of stock.
Additionally, I forgot to add the black pepper. I'm personally not a fan of a lot of it, so I didn't notice.
What I did notice is that I could have used a little more salt. I personally tend to under-salt dishes, because who likes over-salted food?
METHOD:
Chop cabbage, onion, red bell pepper, carrots, and ham.
Add to slow cooker.
Add Spike Seasoning (or substitution), garlic, parsley, Vegeta (or substitution), bay leaves, and black pepper.
Pour in ham, stock, and water.
Cook on high for 4-6 hours, until cabbage is meltingly soft and the carrots are tender. Serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan (if desired).
My notes on the method:
The chopping of the ingredients took me 45 minutes.
Just now I realized I added the water for my stock mix, but not the two cups of water. This made my finished product a little more stew-ish, but I don't
I cooked it on high for five hours, and then kept it on warm for another two.
Overall impressions: I fed this to a 5, 3, and 2 year old for dinner (I'm babysitting) and they liked it.
Substitution ideas:
I could see this working well with some heat to it, like garnishing with red pepper flakes or adding a dash or two of tabasco. Maybe even substituting the ham with some spicy sausage.
If you are pressed for time, you can buy pre-shredded carrots and cabbage (for making coleslaw), cubed ham, and used dried onion flakes. Then all you'd have to chop would be the red bell pepper.
No comments:
Post a Comment