Great Summer Recipe – Chuck Vaughn’s Ham and Cabbage Soup

This is one of the most awesome soups I’ve ever tasted. On New Year’s Eve day, Win and I were delivering our last Chameleon Fine Furniture piece of the year. Jean and her family invited us to have their traditional New Year’s Eve dinner, “Chuck’s Cabbage Soup”. Knowing Win loves cabbage and I don’t, I accepted the invitation but tucked dinner rolls in my purse so I would not go hungry on the way home. I politely tasted the soup, but two bowls later couldn’t get enough!
Chuck passed away a few years ago (He was a great attorney and a great chef). His wife Jean, gave us permission to forward it to our readers.

Ingredients

¼ cup green pepper diced
¼ cup celery diced
½ cup onion diced
2 Tbsp parsley chopped
3 Tbsp butter
2 cups cooked ham diced
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp flour
2 cans condensed chicken broth dissolved with 2 cans of water
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 Tbsp water
1 cup sour cream (optional)

Instructions
In a 3 qt. Saucepan, cook the green pepper, celery, onion, and parsley in 2 Tbsp of the butter until soft but not browned. Add the ham and bay leaf; cook until the ham is heated through.
Blend the flour with the chicken broth and add with the ham. Bring to a boil stirring for a minute or two.

In a wide skillet, melt the remaining 1Tbsp butter over high heat.
Add the cabbage and 1 Tbsp water.
Cook stirring until the cabbage turns bright in color and softens slightly.
Mix the cabbage into the soup.
Pass the sour cream and spoon some into each serving.
Enjoy!