Good evening and welcome to What’s for Dinner! It would appear to be soup season around these parts and coincidentally January is National Soup Month (well, at least it is according to those Campbell’s ads I keep seeing)!
We had a large spiral cut ham for our big Thanksgiving feast so this provided large amounts of leftovers. Not only was there a ton of sliced ham but then there was the prizewinner for us soup fans: the ham bone! Well known for it’s power to turn cheap humble ingredients into comforting navy bean or split pea soup among others, it went into a freezer bag and was stashed away. Needless to say I was seeing lots of ham-centric dishes in our future WFDs around these parts;)
I saw a recipe online for a very simple ham & cabbage soup and my mind immediately recalled one of the soups that I’d concocted in the past:
Kielbasa, Cabbage & Potato Soup
1 large kielbasa sausage diced into bite size pieces
Half a large onion diced
2 large carrots diced
2 celery sticks diced
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2 cans of diced tomatoes
4-5 small red potatoes washed and diced
Half a head of green cabbage chopped
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven or similar pot to medium low. Add sausage and saute until sausage is lightly browned and has rendered out a bit of fat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery, season with salt, pepper, a bit of red pepper flake, and some smoked paprika, then sweat until veggies are softened. Add the potatoes, the canned tomatoes including the liquid from the can, and the stock. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender.
Toss in the cabbage and simmer gently until the cabbage is softened. Taste for seasoning then serve.
So why not do it with ham instead?
A valuable little side trip:
One of the things we have put to good use in our food prep/planning etc. is good freezing/defrosting skills. Thanks to some simple tips and methods courtesy of Serious Eats we have upped our game. In particular, the water displacement technique worked amazingly well for sealing two 1-gallon size freezer bags of thick slabs of sliced ham. This video shows it well but the linked article from Serious Eats explains it too if you want to read it. Lots of other good stuff in the article that was worth it.
I was quite pleased to find the slices of ham still tender and juicy when I defrosted one bag! As I picked through and cleaned the meat of any fatty bits I then diced it into bite-sized pieces and nibbled on a few bits. Still tasty, even cold! And I found there was very little liquid left in the freezer bag meaning there was less formation of ice crystals in the food, etc.
Ok, where were we?
Now, the recipe for ham & cabbage soup I found online seemed nice enough but I knew I wanted to put a few twists on it spice-wise. We didn’t have potatoes so I found myself thinking of the flavors in stuffed cabbage rolls and we did have rice so I went in a smoky-spicy sort of Hungarian direction with a little help from a friend’s gift of Penzey’s spices.
Spicy Ham & Cabbage Soup
1 cup diced yellow onion
2 large carrots diced
2 celery sticks diced
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp caraway seed
1 tsp mustard seed
2-3 tsp Penzey's Cajun seasoning (*see note)
1 ham bone
1 glug of white wine vinegar
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups chopped ham
1/2 head green cabbage, chopped
4 tbsp butter
1 cup of instant rice (you can easily use regular and adjust the cooking time as necessary)
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven or similar pot to medium low.
Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Sweat over medium heat until softened. Add seeds and let toast slightly until fragrant then add seasoning blend and ham bone. Deglaze the pot with the vinegar being sure to scrape up all the good bits that may be clinging to the bottom of the pot and then add the stock. Give it a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
Bring to a low boil, covered, for a good 15 minutes. Lower to a simmer for about an hour or until meat comes off the bone (if there is any). Clean bone and discard and use a small skimmer or strain the broth for seeds, etc. Add canned tomatoes and their juices, shredded/chopped leftover ham, chopped cabbage, and 4 tbsp of butter (yes, there’s plenty of liquid to cook the cabbage but using butter to help cook the cabbage is one of those little “old wives’ tales” that really does seem to produce really tasty and tender cabbage). Let simmer until cabbage is wilted down and add 1 cup of instant rice. Cover and lower heat to warm or off depending on your rice cooking time. Make ooey gooey grilled Swiss & Mozzarella cheese sandwiches (or biscuits or cornbread or what have you;) while you wait!
When rice is cooked through serve piping hot with some fresh chopped parsley to liberally scatter on top. Enjoy with your side of choice. I recommend the grilled cheese if you’re a dipper like me. The creamy salty and nutty cheeses with the spice is a good match. Try some crisp pickles on the side too!
*Ok, I know you’re probably curious how I ended up using something called “Cajun” in a soup inspired by Hungarian flavors. I was out of smoked paprika (gasp!) and I’d been doing some taste-testing of the various spice blends that came in my gift. I find that a bit of a whiff for the smell then I shake a little into my palm and just get a tiny taste on my tongue and let the spices introduce themselves. Sure the ingredients listed on the label are a guide but your taste buds will tell the story. When you look at the ingredients you can see how this blend’s story lent itself to creating mine.
Penzey's Cajun seasoning: paprika, salt, celery, sugar, garlic, black pepper, onion, oregano, red pepper, caraway, dill, turmeric, cumin, bay leaf, mace, cardamom, basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme.
What’s for dinner at your place? Now that the holidays are over and it’s a new year are you cooking anything new or differently?
Here’s our upcoming WFD schedule:
01:20: strawbale
01/27: pixxer
02/03: esquimaux
02/10: Mark Morgan
02/17: OPEN
02/24: OPEN
03/03: OPEN
Thanks for stopping by and, as always, let me know if you would like to contribute a diary for an open date!