From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I had a sense at breakfast this morning that this probably wasn't the day to suggest soup and salad for supper. The Silver Fox, who is not normally a breakfast person, was eating like there was no tomorrow. I made a mental note regarding dinner and then dashed out to complete my chores for the day. The weather here was dreadful. It poured and by the time I made it home I was drenched and cranky and needed a timeout. I curled up on the sofa with the intent of reading, but promptly fell asleep. I don't know if it was the noise or the smell that first got to me, but banging pots and the overwhelming smell of cabbage certainly disturbed my sleep. Our first apartment was a basement flat in building so old it probably housed someone's immigrant ancestors. Over time, cooking odors had settled in the walls and hall runners and I suspect that no amount of paint or shampoo could ever rid the smell of cabbage from that building. Talk about déjà vu. At any rate, the Silver Fox, who doesn't do a lot of cooking, had taken over my kitchen and the odors of bacon, cabbage and onions were a sure clue that "guy" food in the wind. Strangely enough, his appetite had taken him back to a meal we both learned to cook in that old tenement building almost fifty years ago. Our landlords were a wonderful old couple who thought we were too young to be on our own. We were taken under their wings, despite protestation, and that's how it happened that two Catholic kids from the South side of Chicago ended up with a Jewish mother who taught them how to cook dishes from the ghettos of Eastern Europe. My Fox was making a version of Haluski, a somewhat heavy dish that combines noodles with copious quantities of cabbage and bacon. It is not a dish for the faint of heart or those with peckish appetites, but it is delicious and really easy to make. So easy in fact, that I'll let the recipe speak for itself. Nowadays folks make this dish with bow tie pasta. There wasn't a lot of farfalle floating around the Warsaw ghetto, so if you'd rather make the dish with noodles feel free to do so. It will be more authentic and in keeping with tradition. Here's the recipe for those of you who are really hungry.
Haluski - Polish-Style Cabbage and Noodles with Bacon...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
Ingredients:
1/2 pound bacon, ham or Polish sausage, diced
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
8 cups cabbage, sliced
1 pound bow tie pasta, cooked
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1) Fry bacon and onions with butter and garlic in a large deep skillet.
2) Add cabbage, stir to combine and continue to saute in covered skillet until cabbage is cooked through. Add water as needed to keep cabbage from browning as it cooks.
3) Add cooked bow tie pasta and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until warmed through. Yield: 4 to 8 servings.
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