Ukrainian Style Red Cabbage and Apple Soup

I happen to have a really great cooking Mom that is way better in the kitchen when she wants to show her stuff than I will ever be…with the exception of speed (she be slower than molasses in winter at food prep ). Way way way back when her mother was alive (my grand mother) Mom cooked a lot of her ethnic foods. Her family is from the Ukraine region of the planet and Mom is first generation of US born children. I love some of the foods she used to make….her cabbage soups were excellent. Today with her changes in tastes it is rare to here of her making Red Cabbage soup but I will pull out her recipe. It is awesome. I will not place the apple cider vinegar in my soup and will not make it a sweet sour type soup but you can add the 1/2 cup of cider vinegar and make it like my Mom. Also, I am using a cran-raisin in place of the regular raisin since I have these at home and want to purpose them. In the traditional recipe my Mom uses raisins. Let’s make a Ukrainian like Red Cabbage soup from my Mom’s really old cooking notes.

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

3 cups shredded red cabbage

4 cups beef stock

1/2 cup apple juice

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp celery seed

1/3 cup raisins, (I am using cran-raisins)

Place butter in a 4 quart sauce or stock pan on Med Hi heat

Add red cabbage and onion to melted heating butter and saute until tender

Add raisins or cran-raisins

Add apple and continue saute until apple is starting to take on colors of cabbage

Add beef stock bring to low boil and reduce to simmer

Add celery seed, black pepper, brown sugar, salt and apple juice

If you are using Apple Cider Vinegar to make this sweet and sour….wait until the last 10 min of cooking to add vinegar (this will give soup a nice kick)

Simmer 30 min until cabbage is nice and tender and serve hot with sour cream and a nice crusty bread

I like this soup…it is filling and a great winter type soup.

THANKS MOM