Hot Pot for a cold day!

Well, last night (and all day today) we had our first snowfall of the season. Mind you, it is all melted now, but it was coming down fairly heavily last night and today. When my husband came home from work (yes, he worked Saturday) he declared how cold it was outside. You can imagine he was very pleased to find hot pot simmering on the stove. This hot pot is served in individual nabe bowls and you eat directly from the pot it was cooked in (saves on dishes!). Basically it is a thick chicken rice stew/soup with egg on top. Using leftover chicken, I prepared a broth and added some vegetables. Then I added rice before pouring egg on top. It warms you right to the core!

One of our side dishes was potato cakes. I boiled some potato, onion and sausage together in a pot. After draining, I mashed them together, added a bit of egg, shaped them into patties, coated in bread crumbs and fried. They were nice served with a bit of ketchup.

What is this strange looking blob, you may ask? Though it doesn't look like much, it is actually a nutritional powerhouse, all the while being delicious. This is a ham and cabbage casserole. It combines shredded cabbage, onions, garlic and ham, in a thick creamy saucy. The sauce is very very basic: milk and minute tapioca! First you shred and boil the cabbage...drain. Then you fry the onion, garlic and ham in soft margarine. Remove the ham mixture and add milk and minute tapioca to the same pan. Once that is thick, add the ham mixture and cabbage. Let it boil for a bit and then pour it into a greased casserole dish. Mix a small amount of bread crumbs with margarine and sprinkle on the top. I should say that black pepper can be added to taste. Salt is not necessary considering the ham. I baked it in the oven for about 40 minutes. It was really great! Nothing to look at, but quite good. It tastes richer than it really is. The tapioca is deceptive in that it mimics cream without the calories. I guess you could say it was comfort food for a cold day!

There you have it! Cold weather fare!