Oktoberfest Stoup

Blessed Bliss's Note:

Taken from Rachael Ray's book, "30 Minute Get Real Meals" (lower carb meals). I've made a few minor changes/suggestions (as noted in parantheses). I am going to be using this in my OAMC and will update the recipe after I've tried it out!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter , cut into pats
• 3 knockwurst , diced into 1 inch cubes (or substitute 3 extra brats)
• 3 bratwursts , diced into 1 inch cubes
• 1 red onion , quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 lbs red cabbage , quartered and shredded
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• salt and pepper
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer or 1 (12 ounce) bottle beef broth
• 1 quart veal stock or 1 quart beef stock or 1 quart vegetable broth or 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 fresh bay leaves or 1 dried bay leaf
• 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley , finely chopped
• 2 red delicious apples or 2 golden delicious apples , peeled and diced
• ½ lemon, juice of

Directions:

1. Heat a big soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 table­spoon of the vegetable oil and half the butter.
2. When the butter melts into the oil, add the cubed wursts and brown them on all sides, 5 minutes. Remove the browned sausages and add the remaining tablespoon each of oil and butter.
3. When the butter melts into the oil, add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and car­away, season with salt and pepper, and stir. Cook the cab­bage for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add the beer and cook down 1 minute. Add the stock, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, and bay leaf and stir to combine. Add the wursts back to the pot. Cover the pot and bring the soup up to a boil, 2 or 3 minutes.
5. Remove the lid and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes longer, until the cabbage is tender. Remove the bay leaf.
6. Combine the parsley, apple, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and top with generous spoonfuls of the flavored apples to stir into the soup as you eat it.