Bacon and Cabbage: A Taste of Ireland...

As many of you know my husband and I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend. While I was able to have a taste of home with my fresh pumpkin pie, I wanted to do something similar for my husband. He comes from a large fun loving Irish family (is there any other kind?) and one of his favourite dishes is bacon and cabbage.

Traditionally the dish calls for boiled bacon but we used some smoked back bacon rashers instead. We decided to keep this dish very simple so all we used was the bacon, some Savoy cabbage and a knob of butter. It was served as an accompaniment to roasted chicken thighs and garlicky potatoes. The saltiness of the bacon really complimented the chicken and the potatoes. The cabbage gave the whole dish a lovely texture and it soaked up some of the garlic from the potatoes – which was divine!

This is a simple crowd pleaser and a real taste of Ireland!

Luna Raye’s Bacon and Cabbage

Ingredients

3 rashers of smoked back bacon cut into bite sized pieces

½ a medium Savoy cabbage roughly chopped or shredded

1 knob of butter (approximately 1 Tbsp)

Black pepper to taste

Directions

Put the cut bacon into a pan over a moderate heat

Stir every so often until all the bacon is cooked through

Add the cabbage and give it a good mix around with the bacon pieces

When mixed add the butter and keep stirring everything until the cabbage is just wilted (not long – about 5 minutes)

Season with black pepper and serve

Enjoy!

This recipe serves 2-3 people as a side dish

Bacon and Cabbage

These Thanksgiving dishes brought back many precious memories of past experiences, our homes and our families. It provided a good opportunity to remember all that we have to be thankful for, and all that we have to look forward to.

Can Leftovers Be Exciting? The Beauty of a Hodge P...

When my sister and I were teenagers we used to dread hearing our mom say, ‘tonight, we’re having a hodge podge meal.’ I still don’t know what it was about those words that struck fear into our hearts, because the meals were always wonderful. Thinking back I guess the idea of using leftovers to prepare a main meal seemed unexciting and bland.

Of course I now love preparing my own hodge podge meals and tonight that’s exactly what I did. What’s so wonderful about using leftovers is that you can get really creative finding ways to make them extra special. It’s even better if you’re able to combine them with some fresh ingredients.

We had some roast turkey left over from Sunday and 2 rashers of smoked back bacon that didn’t get used for our weekend fry up. I combined those with some cabbage and a chopped shallot and served it over mashed potatoes. Not only did it help clear out the fridge it was also filling, tasty and comforting – a true hodge podge meal!

Here is my recipe for Hodge Podge Turkey, Bacon, Cabbage and Shallots on Mashed Potatoes.

Ingredients;

2 rashers of smoked back bacon cut into squares.

Approximately 1 cup of chopped roast chicken or turkey.

1 medium shallot finely chopped.

½ small savoy cabbage chopped into strips.

¼ cup of chicken or vegetable stock.

1 Tablespoon of olive oil.

Method;

Fry the bacon rashers and shallot in the olive oil until bacon is cooked through and shallot is soft.

Add the turkey or chicken chunks and mix well to heat through. About 5-6 minutes.

Add the cabbage and give all the ingredients a good stir in the pan.

Add the chicken or vegetable stock (this helps soften the cabbage) and let everything simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until the stock has been absorbed.

Serve at once on mashed potatoes and enjoy!