I have to tell you that I've been feeling a little bit off my game lately.  I have been having what I consider to be some misses in the kitchen department.  Aside from the Lime Cupcakes (which I made as much - or even more - for me as for my kid) I haven't been wowed by anything recently.  Ho-hum.
Winter Blues?
No sure... What I do know for sure... without one shadow of a doubt... not a question in my mind... is that this soup has come damn near changing my life.  I had to make this soup twice just to get pictures before it got eaten.  That means everybody else loved it too.  However, I wasn't expecting to L O V E cabbage soup and here's why.


You see, I have these memories from the seventies and eighties.  Yup, I just said that in public.  What the hell.  In the seventies, although my memories are pretty dim, I distinctly remember eating AYDS weight loss caramels while my Mom was teaching piano in the other room.  Guess why they stopped making them????  In the eighties the cultural zeitgeist was just as obsessed with dieting and weight loss as it is now.  So we ran the gamut in our house.  No carbs.  The grapefruit diet.  And the Cabbage Soup diet.  My brother and sister and I didn't know what Mom was doing (I think that my brother came home from school and gobbled about half of her first batch of soup while she was out of the room - she wasn't happy) but it smelled good and I decided that although grapefruit 4 times a day made me want to hurl that this cabbage soup thing mightn't be bad at all... that is until day 5 or something when you're supposed to continue eating this stuff for another month or something and all you want to do is eat something... anything else but cabbage soup.  I think I just sneaked french fries and gravy at the school cafeteria instead.


So me, seeing this cabbage soup receipt from Louisa, had to first get past the fact that this cabbage soup was, well... cabbage soup.  If you know what I mean.  I'm so glad that my yearning for soup superseded my history with cabbage soup because this is a soup that you need in your life.  This soup isn't about weight-loss or anything other than tasting good.  I've added bacon to my soup - you can leave it out if you like.  I've skipped the raisins... what?  Raisins in soup.  Ew.  But if you think it's an amazing idea then by all means throw them in.  A dollop of sour cream on top certainly wouldn't be out of place here but I can't tell you for sure because it didn't last long enough for me to try it.  As I'm typing this I'm wondering what it says about me that cabbage soup has changed my life but there it is.  The bright food light in my Jan/Feb 2012 has been a meek and homely cabbage soup.


Cabbage Soup adapted from 'The Wednesday Chef'

4 cups green cabbage (not savoy) thinly sliced
1 med/sm onion, diced
1 cup (or so) carrot thinly sliced
2 lg cloves garlic, minced
3 rashers bacon diced
400ml diced tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup sugar
juice from 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 - 3 pinches pepper
1 bay leaf
dash of cayenne


Heat a Dutch oven or soup pot over med. heat.
Add the diced bacon and cook until it's browned.  Add a little bit of extra oil if necessary.  Turn the heat down to med/low and add in the onion, cabbage and garlic.  Cook together for about 15 - 20 minutes, stirring regularly.  The cabbage should be nicely browned and wilted.
Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, ketchup and just enough broth to cover everything.  Stir well and continue to heat over med/low heat.
Add in the sugar, lemon, salt, pepper, bay leaf and cayenne.
Stir well and check the tastes.  Adjust if necessary.
Simmer at low heat for another 15  - 20 minutes.
Serve with a little sour cream on the side.