Sauerkraut, Root Vegetables and Ham Soup

Depending on quantity of ham and vegetables, this soup can be complete meal. I personally prefer 2 to 1 ratio of stock to solids. I will not give quantity of each ingredient since everybody has a different preferences or availability. I am using my own home cured sauerkraut. Recipe is here. There is vast difference between homemade and store bought sauerkraut. Commercial kraut just doesn’t have enough crunch; they tend to be mushy.

Ingredients (all chopped)

Shallots or onion

Garlic

Carrots

Parsnip

Celeriac
Potatoes
Sauerkraut, divided into 2 equal portions
Cabbage (optional if using store bought sauerkraut)
Ham
Chicken stock
Caraway seeds
Pepper
Butter
Olive oil

Directions

If you are using store bought kraut, wash under cold running water and drain.
Sauté shallots and garlic in little bit of butter and olive oil until soft. Add all the vegetables, 1 part of sauerkraut, ham and stock and bring to boil. Season with caraway seeds and pepper and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove cover, add remaining sauerkraut and simmer additional 15 minutes. Serve hot with dollop of sour cream on top.

Home Cured Sauerkraut

Since I have discovered this recipe in Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn book “Charcuterie” (must read for any serious cook) and made my first batch, I have not bought single jar or can of sauerkraut. The difference is amazing and it is so easy to make! I strongly recommend that you weight the salt rather than using volume measure.

Ingredients

4 liters water (4 quarts)

200 grams (3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs.)  Kosher salt

1 Green cabbage, about 3 pounds cored and finally shredded

 Directions

Combine water and salt in pot and bring to simmer, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat, let cool and then chill.

Combine the cabbage and brine in non-reactive container. Cover the cabbage with piece of cheesecloth, place a plate on top pressing it down so that all the cabbage is submerged.

Cover container loosely with plastic wrap or container’s cover and set in cool place for 2 weeks (no warmer than 70°F – 75°F).

After 2 weeks drain the cabbage reserving the brining liquid. Refrigerate the cabbage while you prepare the brine. Bring the brining liquid to a boil, remove from heat, cool and then chill.

Pour enough of the cold brine over the sauerkraut to cover it completely; discard the extra brine. Store, covered, in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Note: I find it better to cut the recipe in half unless you use a lot of sauerkraut. It does go mushy after 4 – 5 weeks.

Sauerkraut Soup

Yes, you have read it right: this soup is made with sauerkraut as a main ingredient. As far as I can tell, it is of Slavic countries or Central Europe origin and there is no need to say that it is a comfort food. My version is more robust then simple soups that use just sauerkraut, potatoes and stock. Again, just use your imagination like I did.

I think that the key in making this soup taste great to unaccustomed taste buds is to soak, wash and drain the kraut in cold water. I dumped the whole jar of sauerkraut into large and deep bowl, filled with cold water and let sit for an hour. Then I drained it in strainer and washed it under running water for half a minute. I let it drain and run it in my lettuce spinner to remove as much water as possible. This was important step for me because I like to chop the long strands of sauerkraut into a size that will stay on the spoon and not hang over like spaghetti.

My soup was fortified with addition of carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, garlic and smoked kielbasa. For the base you can use any stock you have on hand. Ham stock would be ideal but I didn’t have any. Next time I’ll cook smoked Schweinshaxe or Eisbein (pork hock) I will keep this recipe in mind and keep some meat and skin (for me only) for the soup.

 Ingredients for my version of Sauerkraut Soup

2 cups of German wine sauerkraut

1/3 cup water

3 slices bacon, chopped

1 onion, sliced

1 tsp. caraway seeds

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp. hot Hungarian paprika

1 small carrot, chopped

1 small parsnip, diced

1 stalk of celery, chopped

2 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup diced smoked meat or sausage

3 cups stock

4 cups stock (ham, chicken or beef)

Soak the sauerkraut in cold water for about 1 hour. Drain, squeeze dry and roughly chop.

Crush caraway seeds with garlic in mortar, mini-chopper or chop with knife.

Mix 1/3 cup water with chopped bacon and place in a heavy bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven. Turn the heat on medium high and render the bacon fat. When bacon starts to get crispy and light brown add onions and garlic-caraway seed mixture and cook until onions start to have light color. Off the heat mix in paprika and stir till onions are coated.

Put back on heat and add carrots, parsnip, celery, potatoes and smoked meat or sausage. Mix for few seconds and then pour in stock. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add sauerkraut and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Soup is ready to be served as is but if you like soups with more body, run about half of the soup in blender, return to pot to reheat and serve. Another option is to liquefy the leftover soup in the blender, add some 35% cream and simmer for few minutes. Sinfully good!

Cream of Sauerkraut Soup

Ham, Sauerkraut and Potato Dumplings

Chlupaté Knedlí s Uzenou Šunkou

This is a true comfort food and once you have made dumplings it is a cinch to put together. Just cook ham any way you prefer, boil, bake or braise, cook sauerkraut and serve with potato dumplings.

I bought shank end of bone-in smoked ham that came in at 4.5kg or 10lb, put it in large cast iron Dutch oven and poured in water about half way up the meat. It took 3-1/2 hours at 350°F to braise, covered, for a fall-off-the-bone done. Nice no-work method. Not only did I end up with great, tender ham, but now I have 2-1/2 quarts of fantastic ham stock for pea soup as well. Nice bonus. One thing I will change next time is that I will not cut the skin in diamond pattern, I will leave the skin whole. Since I like the nice chewy texture of the pork skin but not all that fat underneath, it will make the job of removing extra fat much easier.

Even though this meal looks fairly light, is quite filling. It will become a Winter standard.

Pork Roast, Wine Sauerkraut and Dumplings (Czech)

This is a King of Czech Sunday dinners. Without doubt, only competition is Svíčková, loosely translated as “Roasted beef tenderloin with root vegetable and sour cream sauce” which is quite complex to prepare. Pork roast is so simple: just rub a pork butt, preferably with skin on, with mixture of kosher salt, crushed garlic (I like a lot of it) and caraway seeds, place in roasting pan, pour about ½ cup of water in a pan, cover and place into 375°F preheated oven for ½ hour then lower temperature to 325°F and roast, still covered, for 2 hours turning and basting once halfway through. Increase temp to 375°F, remove cover and roast another ½ hour or till meat is golden and skin is crisp. It is traditionally served with hot sauerkraut and bread dumplings.

Note: Notice the perfectly roasted and crunchy skin at top of plate! Is it ever good!

The King of Czech Sunday dinners is ready for plating with no garnish or just bare minimum.