Sausage and Cabbage Stew

I've been cooking Richard Nikoley's comfort food, a stew with cabbage and sausage since I first saw his recipe. It's a favorite at our household. This time, my wife did the cooking. The results were great. Here is her recipe:

• 1 pork/venison smoked sausage link (any kind of sausage meat will work), U shaped, cut diagonally into1" long and 1/4" thick wedges


• 1 head of green cabbage, diced into 1" to 2" pieces


• 1/2 yellow onion, diced to 1/2" pieces


• 5 fresh medium sized tomatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes


• 1 Calabaza Squash, cut into 1" triangle shaped cubes


• 2 cups of water


• 2 teaspoons minced garlic


• 1/3 of a piece of fresh 2" long ginger, minced


• 1 teaspoon coconut oil


• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence


• 1/4 tsp ground coriander


• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds


• 1/4 tsp ground cumin


• 1/4 tsp ground curry


• About 10 fresh Rosemary leaves, pinched into tiny pieces


• 1/4 tsp black pepper


• 1/2 tsp salt

Put the coconut oil and olive oil into the dutch oven on the stove. Turn stove to low-medium heat. Add the spices/ herbs (minus the rosemary leaves, pepper and salt) and marry them for a couple minutes, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Add all the cut up veggies, meat, rosemary, salt, pepper and water. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and put lid on and cook for about 20 minutes or so. You want the cabbage to have a little crunch to it. I measured out the Herbs de Provence but all the other spice amounts I used in this recipe are approximate, as I didn't measure them. So you can adjust according to your own liking. You can even add more fresh ginger or add in Tabasco sauce if you want it hotter.

*The Calabaza squash is a Mexican/South American/Carribean squash that is similar to Zucchini Squash in size and color but has a lighter fresher taste to it. You can usually find it in the store right next to the Zucchini. Get the ones that are green and are about 6 - 8 inches long and as big around as an average zucchini. Some stores sell them when they get really big around like a cantaloupe, but don't use that size. It is sometimes also called Calabash. If you can't find it, you can use any kind of squash you want. : )