This soup is very much like one my mother used to make. My Grandmother also made a similar soup, and her mother too. It puts together several things that were absolutely essential in a Mennonite kitchen: good sausage, fresh dill and potatoes. My mum would have made this with a good quality Mennonite Farmer's sausage, which is not exactly the leanest kind of meat there is on the planet, but it's very flavourful and has a great coarse texture to it. As Cakes and have two missions at the moment: clean out the freezer of lamb and bison; and stop eating so much fatty food, I've used a lean (but very good) smoked bison sausage from a farm about a half hours drive from our house. The dill is from the local farmer's market as are the potatoes and onions. The chicken stock is from my cache in the freezer - I always save the carcasses from roast chickens (I sometimes buy extra cages from Sunworks Farms) and when I've got enough to justify a day or two on the stove, I roast the bones in the oven until they are beautiful and brown, and then chuck them in a pot with some onions, celery, carrot, garlic and parsley. When my stock is done, I remove the bones and what's left of the vegetables and reduce it down slowly, over low heat until it is quadruple strength. Then I freeze it in one cup portions.
Presuming you've got premade stock, this soup is pretty simple. My mum would also have added cream, or sour cream to it after it came off the heat, but that's not really in the spirit of low-fat. If you are so inclined, a dollop of low fat sour cream on the top of the bowl would be lovely. Sans the cream, this is a great smoky flavoured soup, the potatoes are cooked to the point that the just start disintegrating and are unbelievably soft. The caramelized onions add a touch of sweetness and the dill a fresh green tang.
German Peasant Soup
Serves 6-8
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 400 grams lean smoked bison sausage, or farmer's sausage
- 3 largish (or 4 medium) red skinned potatoes, scrubbed
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
- salt and pepper
- sour cream to garnish
In the bottom of a soup pot, gently caramelize the onions in butter over a medium low heat, stirring occasionally for about 20 or 25 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the sausage into coins about1 1/3 centimetre thick and quarter and slice the potatoes. Add the garlic to the soup pot and cook and stir for 3 minutes more. Raise the heat to medium high and add the sausage to the pan, cooking and stirring for 5 to 8 minutes, until the sausage begins to cook. Add the sliced potatoes and pour over chicken stock. Add enough water so that the the meat and vegetables are covered by a margin of about one inch. Add in one half of the chopped dill.
Place the lid on the pot and allow the soup to simmer over medium high heat for 45 minutes. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and stir through the remaining dill. Serve with (or without) dollops of sour cream.
