Beef & Cabbage Soup, Oh Lawdy!
I was yearning for some good old hearty beef and cabbage soup today. So, I thought of one that my mother made, but I used a simpler method. It was good, and it was easy. No mess, no fuss, a few good ingredients and that was all I needed to make this delicious soup and a pan of cornbread. Pure country, pure Alabama. Believe me when I say that I enjoyed every bite.
My mother told me that my great-granny, Laura Ann Davis Reid Johnson, used to make this soup, but she used canned corned beef. When you think about it, in the early 1900's, that would have been fast food. There were few homes with electricity in the rural area that I came from, and no freezers, so there wouldn't have been that pound of ground beef in the freezer to thaw and use. The cabbage wouldn't have been from the store but from the winter garden. There may have been onions but maybe not, so people back in the country at that time used what they had.
It was pretty easy for me this morning as I drove over to Publix and bought a pound of ground sirloin, a head of cabbage, some beef broth, and some red beans. Yep, well, I thought I was buying kidney beans. I seem to do that a lot lately, but the red beans worked out just fine, and were actually a little softer and more flavorful. The rest of the ingredients, I had here already. So, let me recap and hope I don't forget anything, because this was not a real recipe written down, it just so happens that I remember what went into the soup pot.
By the way, this soup freezes really well. I took out 4 cups to serve for supper and put the rest into freezer bags and those will go in the freezer for later day suppers. You can do the same with your cornbread if you have any left over, just place in individual bags, and store in the freezer.
This was the perfect supper to end with a piece of apple pie, and whipped cream or ice cream.
Beef Cabbage Soup
1 pound ground sirloin
1 small head of cabbage- you will need 8 cups of one-inch cubes
6 cups beef stock
1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (15.5 ounce) can red beans, or red kidney beans
1 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup green pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups cubed and cooked potatoes
In a large Dutch oven, brown the beef. Add the beef stock, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, onion, pepper, thyme, chili powder. Cook covered on a strong simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. When the cabbage has cooked, put the potatoes in the soup, check your seasoning for salt and pepper and adjust at this time, and cook another 5-10 minutes until the flavors have had a chance to mix. Serve with your favorite cornbread. Makes 13 cups of soup.
Crispy Cornbread
I love a crispy cornbread. All you have to do is put about 1/3 cup oil for an 8-inch skillet. Let the oil get really hot. Put half of the oil into your favorite cornbread batter, and then dust the remaining oil in the skillet with raw cornmeal or mix. Let it start to get slightly golden and then pour your batter on top of the meal. Bake as usual for your recipe. When the bread is done, flip the cornbread out upside down on a plate, as the photo above. The bottom becomes the top.
For more recipes, please see my other blog, https://southernsundaydinner.com
