Modifications I’m considering:
Sautéing some Field Roast Apple/Sage sausages (http://fieldroast.com/product/smoked-apple-sage-sausage/) and then cooking the cabbage and onion in the remaining oil.
Adding potatoes (I have Yukon Golds at the moment) for a thicker, more hearty finished dish.
Eliminating the finishing “toasts” when serving.
(Yes, I am really deviating from the original recipe. )
Questions:
Will the fresh thyme work with the sage in the sausages? (I’ve not cooked with these before.) Should I also add fresh sage?
Should the potatoes be boiled separately or added to the cabbage/onion mix when the vegetable broth is added?
Would Beyond Bouillon work as the broth or should I buy some broth (don’t have time to make some today)?
I make something similar, with diced kielbasa, diced apple, onion, cabbage, caraway, garlic, and a splash of cider vinegar at the end. I generally don’t like caraway but the recipe inspiring my version used it, and on subsequent batches, I found it was better with. A half tsp for three quarts of soup, added at the same time as the broth.
Absolutely cook the veg in the rendered sausage fat. Better flavor if you cook the potato in the broth. I use wild rice, barley, or unsoaked navy beans rather than potato, simmering in the soup until they are tender. Sometimes I use apple cider rather than diced apple but not until the starch component is cooked through, because acid slows the softening of vegetable ingredients. If I have carrots, I include some, sliced.
Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base is great for such a soup, but hold off on the tamari until you taste the salt level of the finished soup.
I didn’t know this base exists! I have used many of their bases, including their reduced sodium chicken, organic chicken, and vegetable. The organic’s flavor was weak, requiring quadrupling the amount, or thereabouts. I find the vegetable base has a lot of umami. If you have used this, how does it compare to the chickenless chicken?
I think this is the chickenless chicken base - at least that’s what I’d intended to order!
I normally use the “Seasoned Vegetable Base” - we were discussing these on another thread and someone (my memory says @Ttrockwood) suggested the “No Chicken Base” was worth trying, so I ordered some.
In looking in my pantry, I also have their “Roasted Garlic Base”, which I don’t recall purchasing and haven’t opened. No idea what I’ll do with it.
Haha, i do the same thing when trying to modify a recipe!
Yes, use the chickenless base.
No, no additional sage needed.
Yes, adding thyme would be great here, but if you don’t have it don’t worry about it.
I’m kinda lazy so i would just chop the potatoes in smaller spoon sized pcs and cook them in the soup- they will pick up the flavors of the broth and such and you can smoosh a few to thicken it if you want to.
And then of course top the finished bowls with some nooch when serving.
Sounds delicious to me!!
I really like the No Chicken Base and the Roasted Garlic base (which oddly isn’t listed as being vegetarian, although it doesn’t seem to contain any animal products). I’ve never liked their straight vegetable base for most things because it’s too tomatoey for me.
Wow - just used the No Chicken Base in the filling for a vegan chicken pot pie (using Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken Strips, which are made from peas, I think): this tastes like really good chicken broth!
It’s finally (kind of) Souping Season in SoCal, which called for more experimentation with this soup.
This go round:
2 lbs Tofurky Kielbasa, quartered lengthwise and diced
2 large yellow onions, diced
2 medium cabbages (one green, one Savoy), cored and slivered
4 lbs, total, peeled and diced yellow potatoes AND cauliflower
Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base
Sprigs of fresh thyme and some dried thyme
Sauteed sausage in olive oil, removed and reserved sausage.
Softened onion in sausage-infused oil with dried thyme, then added cabbage. Covered and let soften/cook down.
When reduced by about 3/4, added potatoes, cauliflower, thyme sprigs, and several spoonfuls of the No Chicken Base.
Filled pot with water, covered, and let simmer away, stirring occasionally.
Forty-five minutes or so later hit with the immersion blender, added the reserved Kielbasa, and plenty of cracked pepper.
Let simmer for another half-hour or so.
Result: incredibly flavorful, quite rich, and so very beige.
Surprised you use an immersion blender for the cabbage…! I guess I always prefer a more chunky texture. Did you like this version? Maybe some scallions ontop or handul of whatever soft fresh herbs would be nice to combat beige. It will probably taste even better in a day or two like most soup that flavors mingle a bit
That soup looks great. I’ve come to hate the whole “oh-no-beige-food” thing. Unless you are a professional Instagrammer who cares how beige your food is? No you do NOT eat with your eyes.
Taste, smell, and texture are all more important than how the food looks in a picture.
I ended up with “too big” chunks of potatoes and cauliflower (got lazy toward the end of prepping); I actually did like it blended, a LOT. Had an interesting texture, more toward a vichyssoise, that was comforting. Difficult to explain.
Yes, flavors really blossomed overnight. I did end up scattering some minced chives for color and a bit of bright flavor.
really big grin The taste, smell, and texture were all spot on: warm, comforting, filling, homey … a soup I’d happily eat again and again, beige or not.
I just realized that this most recent time I completely left out the garlic (whoops!) and used a different vegan sausage flavor.
From what I recall, I did like the original version, as I made it - but this latest version is closer to a keeper.
@bbqboy
I just tried those apple sage Field Roast sausages over the holidays (had other flavors before not that one) and would never guess there was apple involved, lots of spices and savory profile overall. Funny moment was i offered my (omni) dad to try some for the first time and he was VERY into them!
I used them in the stuffing/dressing I made for Thanksgiving: with mushrooms and a sage-heavy vegetable broth (plus lots of onions, celery, etc.). They were really good!
Beige mush sounds like pablum: yuck! That said, was it the texture you objected to, or the visuals?
I use my immersion blender sparingly. It is handy for certain things (like blending soups) but when the dish is potato-heavy it can go from creamy to gluey/pasty pretty fast.
