Al's Sweet & Sour Cabbage

Al and Cathy had us over for dinner and Al was in a cabbage mood (well I'm not sure he called it a 'mood' hahah, maybe more like he just felt like making cabbage dishes!); fortunately we love cabbage and all 3 dishes he made were great. He was nice enough to share the recipes - I haven't made them yet but I definitely will, Dave especially liked the nappa salad - but first up is this delicious recipe for sweet and sour cabbage that is making my mouth water just thinking about it:

3-4 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 Red Delicious apples - peeled, cored, diced
1 medium head of red cabbage, sliced into 1/4-1/2" strips
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock

1. Sauté bacon, until browned – remove some of the grease leaving some in the pan

2. Sauté onion and apple until tender

3. Add cabbage to pan cover and cook on low for about 20 min.

4. Add brown sugar, vinegar, chicken stock and mix, cover and simmer until cabbage is tender.

1.10.19: happy moments (I completely forgot about this!)
1.10.18: savory monkey bread
1.10.17: kitchen tip: dating spices
1.10.16: bean and vegetable soup

Tomato Week: BL(A)T Sandwich

Last day of 'tomato week' - hope you've enjoyed a few different ways to use up too many tomatoes! I've found some new recipes in addition to my tried and true roasting method, especially the stuffed tomatoes and tomato tart,  I'll be making those again for sure...

I can't leave tomato week without mentioning the most classic of what-to-do with fresh-garden-giant-juicy-ripe just-picked gorgeous tomatoes -  Dave wished for it right from the beginning of my complaining about too many tomatoes - a bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich. Not much I can say other than 'just about one of the best things ever'...unless you don't like bacon in which case I'm not talking to you - look away. Oh wait, I know, just eat an LT and it'll still be fabulous. You could even do a T sandwich - mayo and tomato with salt and pepper on lightly toasted bread, yep I'd love that too!

I cook the bacon in the microwave and it's waaaaay less messy - do you do that? Put a couple/three paper towels on a microwavable plate (or a big Chinet paper platter, then you can throw the entire thing out!), lay bacon slices (not touching, leave space between the slices) on the towels, cover with a couple more paper towels and micro on high. To do 8 thick slices at once I micro for 3 minutes, turn the slices on the towels, and continue microwaving in 30 second intervals until it's cooked thru.

The other thing I just did this week is spread ripe avocado on the toasted bread and use a bit less mayo - you don't really taste the avocado with everything else that's going on but it does add a nice creamy texture that we both really liked. Avocado is high in fat of course, but better for you than mayo!