Sauerkraut Soup

As you may know from recent posts, I made four jars of sauerkraut in early Winter.  Four jars is a fair bit to go through, so I had to come up with some recipes.  An old friend visited Latvia last year, and kindly gave me a little book of Traditional Latvian Recipes on her return.  It includes such delights as: sour porridge made with barley groats and curdled milk; casserole made with herrings and white bread, and pig's head with caraway and rutabaga!  I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I read these recipes:-)    

hearty sauerkraut soup

And then I found this one - sauerkraut soup - with a handful of ingredients and very little cooking info.  It basically says to fry up pork, carrot, a small amount of onion, with some sauerkraut and boil till tender.  You've gotta laugh.  So I did, laugh that is, then made my version of this tasty soup, sans pig heads or curdled milk or rutabaga:-)  I used pork in the form of bacon, and added a few more veg. and some herbs and spices.  Those Latvians must be tough!



ingredients:


2 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

1 large brown onion, chopped roughly

1 large carrot, chopped into chunks

180g. (6 oz) brussels sprouts, cut into halves

2 medium potatoes, chopped into large chunks

300g. (10.5 oz) bacon, cut in large dice

350g. sauerkraut

30g. (1 oz) pearl barley, parboiled in 1 cup water for 20 mins.

1.2 Litres boiling water

1 tsp stock powder (I used chicken but use whichever you prefer)

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground pepperberries or spice of your choice

a big pinch of dried chilli flakes 

1 tbs dried parsley or 2 tbs fresh parsley, finely chopped

sour cream, to serve

extra parsley, to serve



Method:


Heat the butter and oil in a large soup pot (mine holds 5.5L)

Tip in the onion, carrot, brussels sprouts, potatoes and bacon

Sauté the vegetables for a few minutes, giving them a regular stir while they start to colour

Now add the sauerkraut, barley (and its water), boiling water, and other ingredients to the pot

Give it a good stir, and let it simmer away for 20-25 minutes till the veg. are tender

Keep an eye on it, give it a stir occasionally, and add extra water if needed

When the veg. are to your liking, serve in large bowls with sour cream, extra parsley and black pepper, and crusty bread

ingredients gathered

   

in go the veg. and the bacon

ready to serve

ready to eat

such a cute little book (but weird)

artwork © Sherry's Pickings