Spring Cabbage Soup With Crispy Seaweed

Opening our home to others is a wonderful gift and a neglected discipline in the church. But we easily forget the whole point of hospitality. Think of it this way: Good hospital-ity is making your home a hospital. The idea is that friends and family and the wounded and weary people come to your home and leave helped and refreshed. And yet, too often hospitality is a nerve-wracking experience for hosts and guests alike. Instead of setting our guests at ease, we set them on edge by telling them how bad the food will be, and what a mess the house is, and how sorry we are for the kids’ behavior. We get worked up and crazy busy in all the wrong ways because we are more concerned about looking good than with doing good. So instead of our encouraging those we host, they feel compelled to encourage us with constant reassurances that everything is just fine. Opening our homes takes time, but it doesn’t have to take over our lives. Christian hospitality has much more to do with good relationships than with good food. There is a fine line between care and cumber. In many instances, less ado would serve better.

Kevin DeYoung

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Dairy	Irish		6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

4	T	Butter
1	c	Potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4	c	Chopped onions
		Salt and freshly ground
		black pepper
3 3/4	c	Light homemade chicken stock
3 1/2	c	Chopped young spring cabbage
		leaves stems removed
1/4	c	Cream, or half-and-half up
		to 1/2
		Crispy Seaweed
		Savoy cabbage
		Oil for frying
		Salt
		Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

The idea of cabbage soup may not thrill you, but just try this one.
Use the freshest, greenest cabbage and take great care not to  overcook
it. Cook and eat, don't reheat! The Crispy Seaweed can be  used as a
garnish or served separately, as an appetizer.  Melt the butter in a
heavy pan. When it foams, add the potatoes and  onions and turn them in
the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with  salt and pepper. Cover and
sweat on low heat for 10 minutes. Add the  stock (heat it first if you
want to speed things up) and cook until  the potatoes are soft. Add the
cabbage and cook, uncovered, until the  cabbage is just cooked - a
matter of 4 to 5 minutes. Keeping the lid  off retains the green color.
To make the Crispy Seaweed, remove the outer leaves from the cabbage
and cut out the stalks. Roll the leaves into cigar shapes and slice
across into the thinnest possible shreds with a very sharp knife.  Heat
the oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F . Toss in some cabbage  and
cook for just a few seconds. As soon as it starts to crisp,  remove and
drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and sugar. Toss,  and serve
as a garnish on the soup or just nibble; it's quite  addictive - worse
than peanuts or popcorn!  Pure the soup in a blender or food processor.
Taste and adjust the  seasoning. Add the cream before serving. Serve
alone or with a mound  of Crispy Seaweed on top.  MC formatted & Busted
by Barb at Possum Kingdom on 3/17/98  NOTES : Airdate: 3/17/98: St.
Patrick's Day Specialties, classic Irish  dishes  Recipe by: Darina
Allen's Ballymaloe Seasons  Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by
"abprice@wf.net" <abprice@wf.net> on  Mar 17, 1998

A Message from our Provider:

“A family altar can alter a family.”

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 570 Calories From Fat: 417 Total Fat: 46.5g Cholesterol: 139.9mg Sodium: 169.6mg Potassium: 429.4mg Carbohydrates: 9.2g Fiber: 1.2g Sugar: 1.5g Protein: 27.5g