Sausage, Potato, & Cabbage Soup

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Today's delicious rain made me long for fall. For red leaves on trees, brown leaves crunching underfoot, and the wind that makes them skitter along pavement. For pumpkin patches and curved gourds. For days on end of rain. For caramel apple cider. For hot soup and crusty bread.

I decided that I had to get a cider from Starbucks to celebrate (almost) fall. After taking one sip of it, I knew I had to make soup tonight. There was no ifs-ands-or-buts about it. Only soup would do. Hearty, rich, satisfying soup that makes you feel warm fuzzies and want to wear every piece of fleece you own.

I found this recipe at AllRecipes. I have a problem when I make soups. I seem to somehow make about ten times more soup than the recipe says will be the end result. Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still, I feel like every soup recipe is just plain wrong. It totally can't be me screwing up each time. Nope, it's every single recipe for soup that has ever been printed that is messed up. There's a conspiracy I tell you.

I rewrote the recipe below to reflect what I ended up doing to it. I have the hardest time following directions exactly. It made a large amount, so I froze a handful of containers for lunches later in the year when we are in a hurry.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 bratwursts, casings removed
• 5 small red potatoes, cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cups water
• 1 medium head cabbage, chopped
• 3 cups milk, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS

1. In a stock pot over medium high heat, saute the sausage for 10 minutes, or until browned and crumbled. If excess fat, drain well and discard the fat.
2. In the same pot over high heat, combine the browned sausage, potatoes, onion and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage, stir to incorporate, return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups of the milk and heat slowly to just under a boil. (Note: Don't try to do this too fast, or the milk will burn on the bottom of the pot.)
3. In a separate small bowl, mix the flour with the remaining milk, and add to the pot slowly, stirring constantly, so that the flour does not clump. (Note: Make sure you get out all the lumps because they will not cook out on their own.)
4. When the mixture in the pot thickens, add the cheese and stir off and on until the cheese has melted.