Sunday, February 4, 2018

The Cabbage That Wasn't


Dave bought a cabbage last week and has been mulling over how to cook it. His initial plan was to make kimchi, but I wasn't too keen -- I've had kimchi in restaurants and the pickled, spicy combo is not my favorite. Besides, he was looking for a main course, and it's kind of a side dish, isn't it? I suggested we make it into a stir-fry or stuff it somehow, but after seemingly inexhaustible deliberations Dave decided to make cabbage soup.

And then he opened the plastic around the cabbage and discovered -- it was a cauliflower! It turns out when cauliflower leaves are kept intact and the whole head is wrapped in plastic, it does look a heck of a lot like a cabbage. (As we recently learned, they're basically the same plant.)

Yes, indeed, this man received training as a professional chef from the French Culinary Institute. I'm going to tease him about this forever.

To his credit, though, he pivoted and made an excellent cauliflower-and-garbanzo-bean soup last night.

I got some small things done yesterday, like repotting the rosemary in its new, larger flowerpot. I also got online and bought tickets for a trip to Budapest during Spring Break in April. Woo hoo! It's good to have a plan! I took the hotel recommendation of blogger Allison and booked a very promising-looking place overlooking the Danube, with a view of the Parliament building that she pronounced "incredibly beautiful at dawn and at night." Let's hear it for the Blogger travel network!

It was pretty rainy all day so Olga and I only took a single, long walk in the morning. We found some interesting graffiti along the train tracks. (We were on a trackside walkway, not on the tracks themselves!) Only after I uploaded the topmost photo into my computer did I notice that Dave, perhaps on some medication-induced nocturnal rambling of which I was completely unaware, had visited there before us.


Here's Olga on the pedestrian walkway over the train tracks, wondering once again why I'm stopping and calling her name and pointing that black box at her. So patient! Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative today and we can get out for a longer walk in a place with some squirrels.

12 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

"Brave Dave" was brave to make cauliflower-and-garbanzo-bean soup. He should have used chickpeas instead!

Ms. Moon said...

I love it! Buy a cabbage, get a cauliflower! Ask Brave Dave if he's ever made a garbanzo bean soup with sweet potatoes in it. Delicious!
Last night we were watching a British family cooking competition show and a woman PEELED her chickpeas after she'd cooked them and before she put them into the dish she was preparing.
The judges were impressed!
Budapest?! That's awesome.

Linda Sue said...

Excited about your springtime trip! Beautiful city and the people are so nice! Jealous, of course. as always...I would say that cauliflower was a surprise gift!

ellen abbott said...

OK, well, that made me laugh out loud. cauliflower makes a good soup. and Brave Dave!

Red said...

Well, I bought a cabbage one time instead of lettuce but then I'm not a cook either!

Sharon said...

I will be looking forward to photos from Budapest in the future. That should be a very nice trip. Cauliflower soup sounds delicious. I have a recipe for a cauliflower soup with curry added but, I haven't made it yet. I haven't had a good cabbage soup in a long time and that sounds good too.

Anonymous said...

Cauliflower and garbanzo bean soup sounds yummy! I may have to try making that. Hope the weather clears up for a nice long walk with Olga. It's been crazy hot here in California. 80 degrees in February on the central coast... good thing there's no climate change, otherwise I'd be worried!

Catalyst said...

The graffiti artists(? certainly seem to be busy over there.

crafty cat corner said...

Actually, it looks like Olga is well peed off with you. lol
Briony
x

jenny_o said...

Too funny about the cabbage/cauliflower! I wonder if the price would have been a clue. Here cabbage is much cheaper than cauliflower. But in the rush of shopping that can slip right past a person.

The "Brave Dave" comment was funny, too, but you know, maybe it was YOU in a medication induced haze who put that there. We all know how keen you are on ibuprofen now! ha ha

The Bug said...

I don't really like cauliflower OR cabbage, so I'm not likely to make that error. I'm glad he was able to make something with it though.

I really need to start walking again, but we had freezing rain today. Maybe in April?

Blondi Blathers said...

I love cabbage. There's a simple "classic cabbage stew" on my recipe collection blog (stubblejumperscafe.blogspot.com) -- I think the secret to this turning out as it's meant to, though, is sauteeing the veggies as directed. If you skip that part, it's just not the same!

There's also a fine "curried cauliflower" recipe there; it's now one of my favourites and, again, super simple and you can use any sauce you prefer.

-Kate