So….Dark Days Challenge Week #2. What is the Dark Days Challenge, you ask? Here’s a reminder. Essentially from December 1 through April 15, I’m making a big ole effort (or not? we’ll see how hard it is…) to cook one meal each week made from food that is SOLE (sustainable, organic, local and ethical).
I decided I would make this meal on Tuesday, hopefully from ingredients I already had in my kitchen. I knew I was going to use pork. I recently bought a pig from TLC Ranch so I have a bunch of local, organic, ethically-raised pork. I opted to use kielbasa and bacon. Because, well, wouldn’t those be the cuts you went for? I thought so.
I also had some green cabbage I had already cut and bagged, in my fridge. Check out the date on that post – November 12. YEP. I got that cabbage from my CSA (back in early November. I chopped and bagged it November 12, and used it on December 14! And it was in great shape. Cabbage lasts, man. So…cabbage, bacon, kielbasa. What else? How about some potatoes? Yep. Had a pound of those from my CSA. Add in some onion, garlic and spices and we are ready!
Kielbasa, Cabbage and Potatoes
Ingredients
6 slices bacon – TLC Ranch (Aromas, 49 mi.)
1/4 cup water
2 TBSP sugar – exempt
1 onion, thinly sliced – Live Earth Farm (Watsonville, 55 mi.)
5 cloves garlic, sliced – (Gilroy, 35 mi)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt – exempt
2 tsp anise seed – exempt
1/2 large head green cabbage, sliced – Live Earth Farm (Watsonville, 55 mi.)
1 pound kielbasa – TLC Ranch (Aromas, 49 mi.)
1 pound new potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks – Live Earth Farm (Watsonville, 55 mi.)
Directions
In a large skillet, fry bacon until browned, turning once. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings, and place on paper towels.
Stir water, sugar, onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and anise seeds into drippings. Add cabbage and potatoes, and gently stir. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, brown kielbasa in a separate pan. Slice kielbasa and add to vegetable mixture.
Cook, covered, for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Crumble bacon over top, and serve hot.
This meal is deceivingly delicious. It’s the anise. OK, and the bacon. Really, the flavors just combine in such a yummy yummy way. But…it’s not terribly pretty. Bacon drippings makes everything look all brown and not very photogenic. So it turns out I wasn’t terribly heartbroken when I realized my husband had taken the sandisk from the camera and I was shooting blanks.
So…no photo for you. But you’ll have to take my word for it. This meal was to die for.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a meal for one. I forgot my husband and son had Cub Scouts that evening. But heck, I enjoyed it. And my husband said it made for a tasty lunch today.
This meal will go in the file of “local, sustainable, organic, ethical food is cheap and easy to cook.”
Faster than a drive-thru! Suck it, McDonald’s!
