cabbage

Only random thoughts today, having published ten themed piques in one shot last night (right, below). Raked the house, picked up the lawn- I see now the kind of thing that slips past you once this audience of so far no one begs your attention.

la, la, la, good buys on pork these days. Oh yeah, cabbage! Cheap, filling, great for a low carb diet, goes with pork! Lots of Vitamin C if you don't boil it, here's my favorite method. Large frying pan, Stainless not No-stick. Before there was No-stick there was 'deglazing', works like a charm. Fry up some bacon and set it aside. Dump all but about three tablespoons of the fat, and sautee a coarsely chopped medium-sized onion, reducing the heat a bit. Add a few finely chopped cloves of garlic, giving it all a good toss- if the garlic is browning too quickly, take it off the heat. . Aside from the bacon, this is not really a cooking step, per se. You're actually priming the smell of your dwelling with a heavenly aroma that will make it nearly impossible to detect the smell of cabbage. Add a half a medium sized head of cabbage, eighth inch slices, enough to make a nice pile above the lip of the pan. Increase /regulate the heat and toss every couple twenty seconds or so until the volume decreases enough to get a lid on the pan (without terribly scorching anything). Add a splash of liquid- water, stock, beer, just nothing acidy or you'll have hot cole slaw. One last good toss to clean the bottom of the pan ( ta-da, deglazing), reduce the heat to a low flame (sorry, I'm too visual for electric ranges) Cover tightly, and do an occasional check and toss until everything is un-crisp. Remove from heat, crumble in the bacon and add about a quarter a cup of sour cream ( or somewhat less of some non-cirtusy pre-prepared asian sauce, if that's where you're going with it [I'd balance the sweet out with a little Dijon]) and ground pepper (til your arm gets tired). Ready to serve. A variation on the same recipe will turn this into a one pan dinner- Substitute country style pork ribs for the bacon ,except; boil them first for a minute or five to remove some of the fat and tenderize them, brown them quickly at a high heat, and then return them to the pan when you add the liquid, with juices, increasing the amount of liquid somewhat but leave the lid cracked for steam to escape. They're done when you can't get triginosis from them. FYI- salt cures many things, but not high blood pressure or overcooked meat ( it will draw out the juices you are trying to keep in {unless you are rubbing it onto the skin of something [to make it crispy]}), tenderizing is best accomplished by boiling or with a tenderizer (read; hammer)-also more fun., so add salt after you've taken the dish off the stove.

It's a bit sad to think that even if I where invited to smart cocktail parties these days, this is how I might be regaling someone. Storys of trading spittle with 'The Cramps' at CBGB's in 1977 replaced by my favorite cabbage recipe. Yeah, that's what I was worried about in 1977, low carbs & high blood pressure.