Albanian Mish Me Lakra

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Welcome back for the next stop on our "around the World in 196 Plates" tour! This weekend we had a "snowstorm" which ended up only being about 3" of snow. Either way it was a cold, snowy day and ended up being perfect for the meal from our next country, Albania. A warm, filling cabbage based soup, mish me lakra was something I learned a little about and will make again, although I will make a few changes which I will go over after I give the directions. I hadn't really heard much about Albania, and discovered it is a coastal country in the Balkans, with the Adriatic and Ionian seas on one side, and Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro on the others. Over 2.9 million people reside in Albania.

Ingredients

* 1 cabbage (1 lb give or take)

* stew meat, 1 lb

* 6 oz tomato sauce

* 1 large onion, sliced

* 1 tsp black pepper

* Olive oil

* 2 tsp paprika

* 2 tsp crushed red pepper

Directions

Preheat skillet and coat with a little olive oil. Once pan is hot add in beef and fry until almost done. Add onions and continue until onions are golden brown, stirring frequently. While meat is cooking, cut up a washed cabbage into bite size pieces. place beef and onion mixture in crock pot, add spices and cabbage. Fill with water until cabbage is just covered. cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5.

This soup was favorful and filling, however a bit too watery for me. i would not fill it to cover cabbage next time, instead letting the cabbage cook down into the soup. This is definitely worth a try though, and I will be making it again, with less water. Give it a try and let me know what you think!!

#cabbage #soup #cabbagesoup #beef #mishmelakra