Ronnie's Cabbage Soup

Ronnie's was a great Jewish type deli restaurant on Highway 50 on the east side of Orlando. I have fond memories of it from the early 80's on. Sometime in the 90's, I think, it closed. They used to have stainless bowls on the tables with pickles, sauerkraut, pickled beets, etc. I don't live in the Orlando area any more, but my mom does and she cut this recipe out of the Orlando Sentinel for me from a column they have called "Thought You'd Never Ask" where they get recipes from local restaurants. I haven't made this myself yet, but I thought I'd put it here for safekeeping. I will also add this Test Kitchen note: "We used only 1/2 cup sugar preparing this recipe. That amount could even be cut back to 2 tablespoons."

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients

• 8  beef short ribs
• 3  medium onions, chopped
• 1  small  head cabbage, cut into pieces
• 4  medium tomatoes, chopped
• 6  cups water
• 1  cup sugar (or to taste, see notes)
• 4  teaspoons garlic powder
• 4  tablespoons lemon juice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 4  ounces tomato ketchup

Directions

1. In a large pot, sear ribs. When well seared, remove from pot.
2. Add onions, cabbage, and tomatoes to drippings in pot. Cook vegetables until soft.
3. Put meat back into pot and add remaining ingredients. Simmer over medium heat for 2 1/2 hours.