#cayanne

T'Ngozi's parents have sent him to Townsville to broaden his horizons. While disinterested in the city, he finds an opportunity to liven things up, and make his official debut.

Imma be real with you; I have no idea what Elvis Presley has to do with this soup, but it's listed with a picture of him in my Alaska Roadhouse Recipes cookbook.

I didn't think this was going to be great, and I expected to have to up the spices at the end. I used a leftover broth packet from a boxed matzo ball soup (you can get those for less than ramen noodles on post-Passover grocery store clearance!) in place of the chicken base because that's what I had, and I omitted the salt because I knew the packet was salty. I had chopped up a whole head cabbage earlier, and 6 cups was about half of it. I cooked the soup down to about half the original volume in an uncovered dutch oven, but any good sized pot is fine, and this is definitely a recipe I'd multiply for food service use.

Reader, it was So good, no increased spices necessary! The bacon was well distributed so it felt meaty without actually containing that much meat, the cabbage was melty, and the liquid cooked down into an almost cheesy gravy. It would be an excellent sandwich accompanied, or served in mugs for mug-up. I divided my batch into 6 bowls, which were great filling lunches with a smell to make your coworkers envious rather than resentful (oh fish in the work microwave) or thinking you are a freak (peanut butter soup 😑). It kept fine in the fridge for the workweek after making it for Sunday dinner.

I'm not sure how to make it vegetarian; the bacon does a lot of work here, and I'm not sure what a vegetarian substitute for the smokiness and flavor would be. This is definitely a recipe that wouldn't mind a bit of nutritional yeast thought!