French Cabbage Soup from Door County, WI

Submitted by PanNan

"This recipe is a popular soup served at the Summer Kitchen near Ephraim, WI. It is thick and delicious. I've modified it somewhat by adding the thyme and pepper for even more flavor. It freezes very well. For Culinary Quest participants - it's typical of the hearty soups served throughout central Europe."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 4 quarts

ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 cup flour
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1⁄4 lb smoked sausage, diced (Polish, German or similar style sausage preferred)
• 1 cup potato, raw, peeled and diced
• 1 head cabbage, chopped (about 1 lb)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt and pepper

directions

1. Make a white roux with 6 tbsp butter and 1/2 cup flour by melting the butter in a medium skillet, stirring in the flour and simmering 3- 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
2. Avoid browning.
3. Set aside.
4. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a stock pot, or Dutch oven.
5. Add diced onions and carrots.
6. Saute until tender.
7. Add chicken broth, diced smoked sausage, diced potatoes and chopped cabbage to the pot.
8. Stir and simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Add white roux, thyme, salt and pepper to the pot.
10. Stir until smooth.
11. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Reviews

[Indiana Debbie]

This soup is really good. I used sausage flavored with basil and garlic and almost 2 pounds of cabbage. There was plenty of broth. I will definately make this again. Thanks for a great recipe.

 

[SandwichQueen]

This was simply divine. Really reminded me of corned beef and cabbage, one of my favorites. I changed the recipe a bit, added ham instead of polish sausage. I also cut the first direction, sauteing the onion and carrot then stirring in some extra olive oil and the flour and cooking just a minute then slowly added the broth and simmered about 40 minutes, stirring. Will definitely make again.

 

[unmistakable1]

A wonderfully comforting meal that's perfect for chilly weather! I had some leftover cabbage after making Bierocks, and this recipe used the rest of it up nicely. I added in some garlic, increased the carrot, sub'd kielbasa for the polish sausage, and used a combination of butter/EVOO to saute' the veggies. We were pleasantly surprised at how rich and creamy it was! :) Next time, I might add in some celery and a bay leaf... maybe. It's definitely delicious as written. I'm looking forward to the cooler temps sticking around so we can have this again soon!

 

[Shelly Morton]

My friend made this and I thought it was wonderful and deserving of five stars. But when I went to make it myself, I was surprised to see how much butter was in it, so I modified it to fit my tastes. The following changes were made:<br/><br/>Added two stalks diced celery with the carrots and onions.<br/>Sauteed carrots, onions, and celery in the pot with a few sprays of Pam and 1 Tbsp olive oil. <br/>Added extra potato.<br/>Used turkey Polish kielbasa in place of Polish sausage. Used 6-7 ounces.<br/>Created roux with just 1 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour. <br/>I cooked it a little longer because I like cabbage to be thoroughly cooked.<br/><br/>So I cut all that butter down to 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter and the results were really good and I felt better about eating it. Of course, nothing tastes as good as the full fat version, but this is the way I will continue to make it. Healthier, lower fat, and still tastes great. <br/>Thanks for the recipe.

 

[Bobi P.]

This soup is wonderful! It's one of my favorite soups. It has a lot going for it. It's quick and easy to make; it's incredibly inexpensive; and reasonably healthy (I cut the butter amount to 4 Tablespoons total and it works well for me) - it comes out to 1 Tablespoon of butter per quart and 2 tablespoons of flour per quart. <br/><br/>I love making a double batch and sharing it with others. The best part is when I tell someone (who hasn't had this soup) that I'm going to give them some of my Fr. Cabbage Soup, what they HEAR is "cabbage soup". But when they taste it's homy goodness and the butteriness of the cabbage leaves as they melt in their mouths - comfort.<br/><br/>I made a couple of changes so this would be more of a chop and go kind of soup and I only used half of the butter. I melt all the butter at once and saut? the meat (I use ham) with the onions, and carrots while I cut up the potato and cabbage. I just add the vegetables as I cut them up. I add 6 cups of chicken broth and simmer for 20 min. and then I mix the flour with another 2 cups of broth to make a slurry and add that to the pot and cook for another 20 min. or so to cook out the flour taste and thicken the soup.