Red Cabbage Soup

Submitted by tigerduck

"This soup makes a lovely starter to any autumn meal. It goes particular well with game. Recipe source is a Swiss cooking magazine called 'KOCHEN' (octobre 04). This soup freezes well."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 1 medium onion
• 1 small tart apple
• 1 lb red cabbage (500g)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons cranberry jam (or sauce, or chutney)
• 200 ml red wine
• 600 ml vegetable stock (I often add more at the end)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 juniper berries
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 100 ml cream
• walnut oil (optional) or olive oil (optional)

directions

1. Peel and slice the onion. Peel, deseed and slice the apple. Wash the red cabbage, quarter, remove and discard middle part, and cut into stripes.
2. Melt butter in a large pot. Add onion and apple and fry for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cabbage and cook for a couple of minutes. Keep stirring. Add cranberry jam/sauce/chutney, red wine, vegetable stock, bay leaf and juniper berries. Cover with lid and cook on low heat until vegetable is done. This will take about 40 minutes.
3. Remove and discard bay leaf and blend soup. I always use a big pot and blend my soup in the pot with my hand blender.
4. Add additional water or stock if desired. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, salt (if necessary), and pepper. Remove from heat and add cream. Depending on the fat content of your cream, the cream may curdle if heated on high temperature. Check if soup is hot enough. If not, only warm on low heat, in particular if you use single cream!
5. SERVE: Ladle soup into warmed bowls and sprinkle with the additional walnut or olive oil. You may want to sprinkle your soup with some cream instead of the oil.

Reviews

[bluemoon downunder]

An amazingly flavoursome soup, quite different in flavour from any soup I’ve ever eaten. It was one of my Pick a Chef 2006 selections, and I’m SO pleased to have found it. This is a soup to really WOW your dinner guests! But it’s also quick enough to make for family dinners. I’ll certainly be making it again before the winter is through. I followed philocrates’ - for me - excellent suggestion - since I almost never eat jam - of using cranberries rather than cranberry jam. I used frozen cranberries, and I added a teaspoon of brown sugar with the cranberries. I used my Vegetable Stock Recipe #135453 for the stock and Greek yoghurt instead of the cream (one of my regular substitutions). But I otherwise made this exactly to the recipe. I blended the soup with an immersion blender, and I added a few drops of the walnut oil, a lovely final touch to a truly fabulous soup. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, tigerduck!

 

[Firebrand]

An excellent soup, Easy to prepare with a great flavour. We served it as a starter to roast goose, It really added to the meal. Delicious!!

 

[drhousespcatcher]

I made a couple changes. I left out the cream. It really doesn't need it. I changed the cranberry jam to 1/4 cup fresh cranberries and a tsp of sugar. I didn't use any butter instead I sauteed in a bit of red wine. Added the buttery part later with a hit of butter buds. My first instinct was this is going to be German. It wasn't. It has the flavors of Scandinavia. Sweetish/sourish totally wonderful taste on a cold wet day. Served with fresh whole grain bread out of the oven it was a total delight and something I would have never tried without this. Thanks so much.