Can the urge for certain foods be in your genes? I asked myself this when I had an urge and went looking for cabbage recipes.  Not new age coleslaw recipes, but cooked cabbage.  The old school stuff. 

Where did this craving come from?  My mother *never* cooked cabbage and avoided lots of the unsexy veggies like turnip and rutabaga.  But see, if I look at my great grand parents, nearly half of them come from Germanic or Eastern European countries.  Those folks ate cabbage, baby.  But none of those folks are on my Mom’s side and since Mom was the primary cook in our family, none of those dishes really filtered down.  

But I think the urge has been boiling in my veins and it’s taken this long for it to come into my consciousness.  This is the food of my people.  It’s in my genes to cook up the ol’ cabbage when the temperature drops. 

The key is to make a carmelized version because anything is good with enough sugar and salt right?  And combined with good sausages or ham, you get a bevy of fabulous flavour.  The combination on a lousy winter day is great.  You’ll look at this and say, Wow it’s kinda high in fat isn’t it?  And I say, sure you won’t eat this in August - it’s sustaining winter food. 

Also, think of all the cabbage you’re eating, it has nearly zero calories and will save you from cancer, so get eating. I’ve borrowed heavily from this recipe, but halved it and tweaked it so it’s quicker to make on a weeknight. Here’s my version:

Carmelized Cabbage with Sausages

Melt 1 TB butter in a pan while you chop a medium onion.  Add the onion to the pan and sprinkle with 1 TB sugar and 1 tsp salt.  Add 2-4 sausages depending on how many people you’re feeding.  It’s best to slice them lengthwise facedown so they cook faster. Cook on low to medium heat for 15 minutes stirring the onions frequently. 

While it cooks, slice up half a head of cabbage into 1 or 1 1/2 inch chunks.  Cut up a couple potatoes into big chunks and throw them in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes to get them started.

Once the onions are carmelized and the sausages are well under way, pour in 1/2 a bottle of beer, add the cabbage and potatoes.  Put a lid on the pan and cook at medium while you drink the rest of the beer and wait for the cabbage to get to the tenderness you like.  Stir the whole mess every once in a while to keep things cooking evenly.  It usually takes 15 or 20 minutes.

And then dig in to the food of the people.