The Sad Demise of Cruella Cabbage

Last evening the world lost Cruella Cabbage.  Oh, Cruella we barely knew you...but if it is any consolation,you were delicious.

Yes, friends I used the cabbage from this week's share for my newest culinary adventure!

My original plan was to stick with my good old fashioned Irish heritage and make Corned Beef & Cabbage, especially since my share this week came with carrots, but all the recipes I found called for cooking times from 2-40 hours!  I wanted dinner and I wanted it in a reasonable amount of time.

I went to graduate school in Pittsburgh, PA and had the opportunity to really enjoy great Polish food (OMG  homemade pierogi) so I knew I could find a good cabbage recipe if I did a search for cabbage and kielbasa..and boy was I right!  I found my recipe - Kielbasa and Cabbage Over Mashed Potatoes - through Epicurious.  It sounded delicious and the prep/cooking time was approximately 45 minutes - right what I was looking for.

Unsurprisingly, the part of the process that took the most time was the prep.  I've been doing a lot of cutting and slicing since I started this blog, but I don't seem to be getting any faster at it.  My boyfriend can cut things so fast I'm afraid one day he's going to lose a finger, but at my pace I figure all of my precious digits are safe. I must at least be starting to build some defenses around "onion tears" since I only had to stop once this time to grab a tissue! Yay for small victories!  (Don't worry...I always wash my hands after a tearful onion induced episode).

There was nothing particularly challenging about this meal - add some vegetable oil to a skillet and brown the kielbasa, add the sliced cabbage and onions until the cabbage starts to brown, add 1.5 cups of water to the pan and let the water boil down until the cabbage softens. It's the second half of the recipe I changed...but just a little.  It's also where I cheated a bit...don't judge me!!!

The recipe calls for peeling and cutting up 3/4 lb of russet potatoes...which I did...but then calls for steaming them until tender before mashing.  Instead, I just boiled them like I normally would to make mashed potatoes.  This is also where I cheated a little.  You see, my boyfriend - who was sitting on the couch watching TV - makes really really good mashed potatoes so when the boiling was done I basically made him add all the goodies to it and mash them up for me.  His "technique" involves adding some milk (or cream), cream cheese, salted butter (not unsalted like the recipe calls for), and shredded cheddar cheese.

I decided it technically wasn't a big deal to ask him to do the potatoes since they didn't come in the share and the point of my blog is to use the items in my CSA share...which I did...by myself.  Sometimes, technicalities can be a wonderful thing (or excuse).


THE RESULTS 

The final meal was REALLY FLAVORFUL...and really simple...and really cheap (I think I spent about $6 at the grocery store on the kielbasa and potatoes since I had everything else at home). It made just enough for two people and wasn't as heavy to eat on a hot day as I expected it might be.  We'll be making this again in the future...particularly when the fall and winter come around.