Southern Style Cabbage

D-Nice ended our conversation with a story about one of those home-cooked meals that elicited a range of emotions for him.. He returned home one day to an unusual odor coming from the kitchen. The odor he remembered from the kitchen that day was wafting all throughout the house and while his first reaction was akin to — What in the heck is THAT?!? He quickly settled into a place of gratitude because what he was smelling was an act of love — the result of a mother cooking a big pot of southern style cabbage for her son.

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound bacon cooked crisp or one package of cubed pancetta cooked until crisp

• 2-3 tablespoons drippings from the bacon or pancetta

• Two tablespoons butter

• One cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth if cooking without the bacon or pancetta)

• One medium size yellow onion coarsely chopped

• Two large garlic cloves finely chopped

• One medium head of green cabbage with leaves removed 

• Pepper, Salt, Garlic Salt

• Cayenne pepper or Louisiana Creole Blend from The Spice House

• Optional: A dash of the Old Milwaukee seasoning from The Spice House. It’s a piquant take on paprika

The Steps

1. It is a good idea to chop the onions, garlic and cabbage ahead of time so you can move quickly once the droppings are heated in the skillet. Best to use a sharp knife when cutting cabbage. Hold it film and cut off the bottom and then slice into thick rounds. Cut crossways across the rounds to create long ribbons. 

2. Cook the bacon so it has a nice crisp so you can easily crumble it later or prepare the pancetta so it has just the beginning of crunch. Heat some of the drippings from that bacon or pancetta in a deep skillet or dutch oven. It doesn't matter if some of the darkened bits get transferred. That will just add flavor.

3. Next add the onions and cabbage to the drippings along with the two tablespoons of butter and stir until the onions start to become translucent and the cabbage starts to wilt. Add the chopped garlic at that point. If you want to lift up the flavor or add a bit of sweetness you could also add a little bit of chopped red or yellow pepper but I would only add a very small amount. Season with salt, pepper and a flourish of Louisiana seasoning or cayenne pepper.

4. As everything stats to wilt together add one cup chicken stock and one third of the bacon or pancetta and let simmer on low heat for 25 minutes. 

5.  Just before serving add the remaining chopped bacon or pancetta and a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. If you wanted to turn this into more of a main dish you could also add cooked sliced sausage like a Kielbasa (check spelling) or andouille to the cabbage in the reverse ratio to the bacon or pancetta. Add two thirds of the sausage while it is cooking down covered for 25 minutes and add the remaining one third of the sliced sautéed sausage before serving.