Cheese Soup and Breadsticks, Awards!

We've had a little blast of colder weather in the Smokies this past weekend. Just another excuse for me to make soup. Even though it's Spring, I still love soup.

This is a basic cheese soup that I've tweaked it beyond recognition, except that there's cheese in it. The calories and sodium have been lightened up considerably. Despite removing all the fun stuff, the replacements are packed full of flavor and guess what? This soup can be ready in under one hour!

I borrowed the bread stick recipe from Priscilla at Priscilla Bakes. I tweaked this just a tad too. The bread sticks were the perfect partner for the cheese soup. The homegirlz were filling up on breadsticks and dough.

Chop one medium onion, 2 carrots and 2 stalks of celery. Melt 1 tablespoon of margarine or lowfat margarine in a stock pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Blend in 1 tablespoon of flour with the veggies and cook for one minute. Be careful because depending on your pot, the veggies will start sticking when you add the flour, add in a dash of nutmeg, a dash of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and 1/4 teaspoon of white and black pepper.

Stir in one 12 oz. can of skim evaporated milk and 2-1/2 cups of 1% milk. Add in 2 low sodium beef boullion cubes, 2 cups of water and about 3/4 of a cup to 1 cup of frozen green beans or broccoli. Let soup simmer for 30 minutes; don't let it boil. Stir in one 8 ounce package of light velveeta cheese, cubed. Simmer soup until cheese has melted and serve.

Bread Sticks -


2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic smashed.


In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups flour, and remaining sugar and water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a small sauce pan. Turn heat on lowest setting. Place 2 cloves of smashed garlic into pan and let them hang out for about 30 minutes so the garlic can infuse the olive oil.

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a 6-in. rope. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets, sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly brush garlic infused olive oil each bread stick. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly brown. Makes about 3 dozen breadsticks.


Ok, I guess this is an oxy-moron, low cal soup and bread sticks. I promise you this, as long as I was feeding the homegirlz baked goods, they were walking the dog, folding laundry, setting the table...


Kaylee from Not Another Omnivore gave me The Adorable Blog Award. It is my honor to pass this award on to 5 of my fellow bloggers. It is very hard for me to pick only 5 bloggers there are too many adorable blogs!




1. Priscilla from Priscilla Bakes
2. JenJen from Tater Tots and Jello
3. Debbie form Suburb Sanity
4. Sam from My Carolina Kitchen
5. Selba from Selby's Food Corner


I received the Sisterhood Award from Sam at My carolina Kitchen and from Selby from Selby's Food Corner. In keeping with the tradition of passing this award forward, here are the rules. The Sisterhood Award is an award from bloggers to bloggers in recognition of a blog spot which shows attitude and/or gratitude.




1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog, or sending them an email.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

1. The Blond Duck from A Duck in Her Pond
2. Kaylee from Not Another Omnivore
3. Gigi from Afterthoughts
4. Reeni from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
5. Marjie from Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet
6. Tamilyn from Butter My Kitchen
7. Cathy from The Tortefeaser
8. Natasha from 5 Star Foodie
9. Donna from My Tasty Treasures
10. Debbie from Mocha Me

This is my gift to you for taking the time to visit my kitchen and leave your comments. Enjoy the Sisterhood Award, post it on your blog and pass it on to your blogger friends.

Savory Rice Casserole

My husband is a rice man. He loves rice and can eat it three times a day. The homegirlz are rice girls. If they know there's left over rice in the fridge, they will ask for rice and eggs, yes I know, it's gross but not lethal. Rice is ok, but I'm a pasta girl. I just like it for lunch or dinner, I wouldn't eat with eggs for breakfast - ever! So you see, I'm the odd person out.


To keep a somewhat even balance in our home I have to cook rice as a side dish occasionally. I came up with this easy and VERY tasty side dish. Spinach or broccoli can easily be added to adapt this dish to your taste.


Cook 3 cups of white white and allow to cool slightly.


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.


Melt 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted, saute 1 onion chopped and 1/2 green bell pepper chopped. Season the onions and peppers with cayenne pepper. Add in 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomato pesto. Stir to combine and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk 2 eggs and 1 cup of milk. Add cooked rice and 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Stir to combine. Fold in the onion mixture and turn into prepared casserole dish.

Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Grilled Pork Chops and Pineapples

I won two bottles of Bob's Country Sauce in a giveaway from Michele from Life Lightly Salted

If you haven't visited Michele before, stop by her blog, I promise you will drool over her recipes and I believe she is having another giveaway.

Every time I opened the pantry door, these two bottles were staring me down. I really wanted to use them, but I hadn't figured out exactly what I wanted to do with them. So I moved them to the back so they'd quit looking at me.

Monday, I had planned on cooking pork chops, but I hadn't figured out how I was going to cook them. The weather was so beautiful, and I love being outside, so grilling was the obvious answer.

I had some pineapple chunks in the fridge and thought they would go great with the chops. How good are grilled pineapples? YUM! The heat cooks the sugar in the pineapple and the taste is amazing. Pair them with grilled pineapples and you'll feel like you're on vacation in your own backyard.

4 center cut pork chops

1 small can of drained pineapple chunks

1 bottle Bob's Country Sauce

Salt

Black Pepper

Garlic Powder

1 foil pan - brownie size

Season chops on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Arrange pineapple chunks in foil pan and place on grill. Sear chops on pre-heated grill, 5 minutes each side. Move chops to foil pan and place on top of pineapple. Drizzle Bob's Country Sauce on one side of chops, close lid on grill and allow to cook for about 10 minutes, turn chops and generously drizzle more Bob's Country Sauce over chops, close lid and cook ten more minutes.

Remove chops and pineapple, plate and serve. Allow family to worship you as a domestic grilling goddess!

Peach Smoothie and An Award

My oldest daughter asked me the other day if I "was going all organic and crazy". Organic and crazy, like they go hand in hand. I looked at her with a crazy gleam in my eye and told her I wasn't going ALL organic and crazy is a matter of opinion. Lauren became concerned when she found not one, but two containers of non-fat, organic yogurt in the fridge. She's my big time picky eater. The only green she eats are M & M's, and Jolly Ranchers. She could live off of pizza, chicken nuggets, tacos and meatball subs. Oh the evil grin that crosses my face each and every time I sneak vegetables in on her and her sister. Beautiful moments.

I thought smoothies would be a great alternative to some of our snacking habits. This smoothie recipe is adapted from Ellie Krieger. It's a great base for smoothie making, the possibilities are almost endless. My husband and I liked this smoothie, the homegirlz were good sports and gave this a try, but they don't like peach and they did not like the peach smoothies. We have had good luck with banana and strawberry.

1/2 cup nonfat or 1 percent lowfat milk
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup unsweetened frozen peaches
1 tablespoon honey, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch ground ginger

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Several pluses to smoothies, seriously tasty, healthy, VERY filling, and easy on your wallet!

I was just given the Friends award by Mary Beth at Dunkin Cooking the Semi-Homaemade Way. Mary Beth has a very addicting blog with gorgeous pictures. Make sure you aren't starving when you visit! Along with this award comes this message:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."I am passing this "Friends award" to all of you! I cherish the friendships I have made through blogging. Please take this award and post it on your blog and spread to all of your blogging friends!

Supernatural Brownies

Since we've been eating a little lighter and healthier the past few days, I think it's time to reward ourselves with a decadent dessert. Who's in?

Reeni from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice posted this recipe a week or two ago and I was ga-ga. Reenie makes the most incredible confections and pasta dishes; I heart Reeni's blog.

I am a fan cake and cupcakes and yes Blonde Duck I like pies, but there's just something so satisfying about a moist, chocolaty brownie that makes you feel all is right with the world.


Supernatural Brownies by Nick Malgieri

16 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1⁄4" pieces
4 eggs1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1⁄2 tsp. fine salt
1 cup flour

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper; grease paper. Set pan aside.

2. Pour enough water into a 4-quart saucepan that it reaches a depth of 1". Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Combine butter and chocolate in a medium bowl; set bowl over saucepan. Cook, stirring, until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

3. Whisk together eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt; whisk to combine. Stir in chocolate mixture; fold in flour. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30–35 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Cut and serve.

Chocolate Frosting (by Reeni) -

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 cup to 1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Melt chocolate and butter together over low heat. Pour into a medium sized mixing bowl and beat in powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Add confectioners' or milk if needed to get the right consistency.

Make these brownies today, I know you will heart them!

Turkey Pannini with a Citrus Balsamic Salad

You can have so much fun being creative when it comes to making panninis. You are only limited by your imagination. Another selling point to panninis, you can custom make each sandwich. This is a cinch in a house full of picky eaters!

This pannini started off with sliced red onion, minced garlic, chopped scallions and sliced roasted red peppers.

I was able to get my hands on a loaf of sun-dried tomato foccacia.

After slicing up the foccacia, I piled on the veggies with a little smoked turkey, a little smoked gouda and a sliced black olive or two and put them on the pannini press. Is it bad manners to stand in front of the pannini press and yell, "HURRY!"?

Oh, the smell and look at the grill marks! I don't know why, but grill marks make me drool.

I may not make the prettiest pannini on the block...talk about good!

Accompany your sammich with a crisp romaine salad sprinkled with a little crumble feta cheese and a couple of sliced black olives and crunchy croutons, then drizzle a citrus balsamic vinaigrette on top and you have a satisfying meal!

Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar

Juice of one orange

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Juice from one lime

Coarse Sea Salt to Taste

White Pepper to taste

1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a measuring cup except the olive oil. Stream in the olive oil while whisking.

Fish Tacos

Last week Cathy from The Tortefeasor posted an Ellie Krieger recipe for Fish Tacos. The name Fish Taco is just a big turn off to me and I don't know why. I read her post, yes I do read what everyone writes, I don't just look at the pictures; and got really intrigued when Cathy wrote about the Chiptole Cream Sauce she made for the tacos. After I read that you could have stuck a fork in me because I was done and couldn't wait to make these tacos.

Cathy was so right, the Chipotle Cream Sauce could be a dip on it's own. These best part of it is it's made with non-fat yogurt, so you can get busy with this as a dip or sauce and not feel the least bit guilty.

Truth be told, my husband is kind of picky about fish and how it is prepared. He ate three tacos and loved the Chipolte Cream Sauce. I made these tacos in a snap, they were light, healthy, economical and tasted fantastic!

Fish Tacos (adapted from Ellie Krieger) -

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed line juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound white flaky fish fillet, like tilapia or halibut (3 to 4 filets - we used tilapia)
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 chipotle peppers, in adobo sauce, chopped very fine
8 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Lime wedges

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour over the fish fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes.

Put the yogurt into a strainer lined with a paper towel and place over a bowl to drain and thicken for 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on a preheated grill or nonstick grill pan over a medium-high heat until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Set the fish aside on a plate for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the thickened yogurt, mayonnaise, and chipotle pepper.

Heat the tortillas on the grill or grill pan for 30 seconds on each side OR place the tortillas on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute.

Flake the fish with a fork. Top each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of the chipotle cream. Top with fish, lettuce, and cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, I want to wish all of you Happy Spring. Daffodils in our front garden.

Bradford Pear trees in bloom at our church parking lot.

Scout's 3rd birthday was Tuesday. Lauren and Scout are playing with Scout's new toy.

The ol' girl is resting after an intense game of tug-o-war.

Marble Pound Cake and Awards

Many of you commented on the blossoms shown on my Monday post. This is the itty bitty tree they came from. This is a Bradford Pear tree we planted two years ago.

Debbie from Mocha Me posted a Marble Pond Cake last week that really had me drooling and I had to try it.

The cake was very easy to make and the homegirlz begged me to let them eat the batter and forget the baking part. They reasoned it would save energy and I would have less clean up. They lost the argument.

The batter was very light and buttery and the cake tasted great. Thanks Debbie for posting this recipe!





Marble Pound Cake - adapted from Debbie at Mocha Me


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Working with a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 or 2 minutes after each egg goes in. As you're working, scrape down the bowl and beater often. Mix in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated, don't over mix.

After the batter is fully mixed, transfer half of it to another bowl and gently blend in 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled.

Alternate large spoonfuls of the light and dark batters in the pan, then run a kitchen knife in a zigzag pattern through the batters to marble them.

Put the cake into the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes. If it's browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. This will need to bake in the 9 x 5 pan for about 70 to 75 minutes. The cake is done when a thin knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove cake from oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 30 minutes.

Run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.

Now for the important stuff - Awards:

I received this Friends Award

from Donna at My Tasty Treasures. Donna has an amazing cooking blog that's a tad bit on the naughty side. How can you not go visit Donna? She is such a talented cook and an extremely fun blog to read! Check it out. Donna, thank you so much for the award!!!

Along with this award comes this message:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award." I am going to pass this award along to:

Miranda from A Duck in Her Pond
Sophie from Sophie's Foodiefiles
Gladys from Gladys Tells All
Marjie from Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet
Elra from Elra Bakes
Gigi from Afterthoughts
Laurie from That's Not What the Recipe Says

Selby from Selby's Food Corner

Stop by and visit these wonderful blogs; you will be so glad you did!

Sophie from Sophie's Foodiefiles sent me the Excellent Blog award! You will be so inspired after visiting Sophie's blog!

I am passing this on to 5 other bloggers.

Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies
Pam from For the Love of Cooking
Sophia from Burp and Slurp
NAOmi from Not Another Onmivore
Andrea from Finding Sirrius

There are so many blogs I would love to pass these on to, but please visit the blogs listed if you have visited them before, you will be so glad you did!

Round Steak with Fetuccine

Giada DeLaurentis cooked a dish last week on Everyday Italian that really made me drool. It was called Beef Shortribs with Tailigatte. I penciled this in to prepare on Sunday.


There are a few of you who read this blog regularly that live in the Knoxville area. We have commented to each other what a pain grocery shopping is here. Often, it's difficult to get some basic items. Well, difficult is putting it mildly! I went to three grocery stores to try and find beef short ribs; I was told at all three stores that beef short ribs had to be special ordered! Is that crazy or what? There is a well known specialty market that I sent my husband to; I figured no problem, this places carries what you can't find elsewhere - WRONG! They don't carry beef short ribs either.

So what's a girl to do? Evidently the grocery powers that be have deemed beef short ribs illegal here or something. I was forced to do my thing. I am so glad I did. This was a fantastic meal bite after bite.


Round Steak with Fettuccine -

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 strips smokey bacon, cubed
2 lbs. bottom round steak cut into 3" x 4" pieces
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
4 cloves garlic
1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes (whole or diced)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 crumbles, dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine
1 lb. fettuccine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano


Place the olive oil in a large heavy stock pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon until golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, season the steak with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour.

Use a slotted spoon, remove bacon from the pot and set aside.

Add steak to the pot and brown on both sides.

While the meat is browning, combine the onion, bell pepper, parsley and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse.

Once the steaks ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot.

Return the bacon to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta liquid 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls, top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of Parmigiana-Reggiano. Serve immediately.


This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes.

Grilled Citrus and Balsamic Chicken

We had a couple of days last week that were absolutely gorgeous. Those warm days necessitated grilling. This was one of those days when I started pulling stuff out of the produce drawer in the fridge and out of the pantry.

I used bone-in skin-on chicken thighs; however, I would think you can use any cut of chicken you prefer and it will be just as delicious!

In a medium bowl combine 1 teaspoon orange zest, the juice of one orange, the juice of one lime, 3/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Whisk to combine and place in a large resealable plastic bag. Place 4 to 6 chicken thighs in the bag and seal it. Turn to ensure that the chicken is evenly coated, then refrigerate, turning occasionally, for 2 to 4 hours.

Preheat a grill to medium-low and spray the grates lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on grill skin side down. Season the underside of the chicken well with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken about 8 to 10 minutes, turn over and continue to cook an additional 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove from the heat and serve while hot.

Smothered Cabbage

My Dad's birthday was on St. Patrick's Day and he really enjoyed corn beef and cabbage as his birthday meal. I couldn't stand the cabbage. Don't tell my Mother this, but I REALLY didn't like the way she prepared the cabbage. Not only did the whole house smell terrible, but it tasted as nasty as it smelled.

One day I was invited to a friend's home for dinner and they were having cabbage. I was taught to eat what I was served, especially if you're dining at someone's home. NEVER tell your host that you don't like what they are serving. You can't even imagine how sick I felt before we sat down to dinner.

When dinner was served, the cabbage looked nothing like the kind my Mother had tortured me with; in fact when I put a forkful in my mouth, it even tasted REALLY good.

A.J. does not like the smell of cabbage cooking. He thinks he cleverly banned the cooking of cabbage in our home into our wedding vows! To this day he thinks I had our wedding video edited for "cabbage" and the "obey" portion of the vows.

Although this is not a pretty dish, this cabbage is the bomb, do you hear me, I mean it rocks and it does not, I repeat does not stink up your house. So get a little Cajun-y for St. Patty's Day and enjoy a portion of smothered cabbage!


Smothered Cabbage - adapted from John Folse

Cut 1 large head of cabbage into quarters and discard the core and the large exterior leaves. Chop the quarters into 2 or 3 pieces, then separate the leaves.

Wash and drain the cabbage leaves.

In a large stock pot, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil over medium heat, add 1/2 lb. of smoked sausage or andouille sausage, 1 medium onion chopped, 3 stalks of celery chopped, 1/2 green bell pepper chopped, 4 cloves of diced garlic and 4 scallions, sliced. Saute for about 7 minutes, until the vegetables are wilted.

Add cabbage to the pot and thoroughly blend into the vegetable mixture. Continue to stir fry the cabbage until the cabbage leaves are wilted.

Add 1-1/2 cups of chicken stock and reduce heat to simmer. Cover pot and allow to cook for approximately 45 minuted, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper and continue cooking until cabbage is well smothered.

The cabbage will seemed overcooked but it actually gets a savory flavor with a slight hint of sweet going on in the background. This is the way Cajuns like their cabbage; I know you will too!