I used a small cabbage instead of spinach and added brocolli florets and
chopped elephant garlic instead of just garlic. I used a fine grind
sausage this time. For seasoning I added about 1/2 tsp of crushed red
peppers and a good pinch of parisienne spice blend (from penzeys). It
needed salt at the table. Other than that it was quite tasty and mostly
it's retired to my freezer for workday lunches.

Al's BEAN AND SAUSAGE SOUP

2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
1 pound kielbasa sausage, diced (halfed coins is what I do)
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 bulb fennel chopped (optional)
1 onion
2 carrots
1 celery heart with leaves
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 smallish bag baby spinach leaves or small cabbage, chopped
4 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth (approx 2 quart)
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans)
1 can diced tomatoes with herbs
1 cup sour cream
1 bunch dill minced

Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage and
garlic and sauté until sausage is lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add
in onion, carrot, fennel, mushrooms and celery, about 5 minutes. Add
broth and cannellini with their juices, diced tomatoes and
spinach/cabbage. Simmer until flavors blend and soup thickens slightly,
about 20 minutes. Add in dill and sour cream, stiring well. Season to
taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls.

Serves 6.

modified from Bon Appétit
March 1996
~~~
Tomorrow I smoke chicken pieces, approx 5lbs of them as whole small
chickens were at a good price today and I have shears. I have some of a
cocoa and aleppo spice rub left sitting around I'll use plus some apple
juice to mop with.


--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

On Nov 3, 1:44�pm, hahabogus > wrote:
> I used a small cabbage instead of spinach and added brocolli florets and
> chopped elephant garlic instead of just garlic. I used a fine grind
> sausage this time. For seasoning I added about 1/2 tsp of crushed red
> peppers and a good pinch of parisienne spice blend (from penzeys). It
> needed salt at the table. Other than that it was quite tasty and mostly
> it's retired to my freezer for workday lunches.
>
> Al's BEAN AND SAUSAGE SOUP
>
> 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
> 1 pound kielbasa sausage, diced (halfed coins is what I do)
> 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
> *1 bulb fennel chopped (optional)
> *1 onion
> *2 *carrots
> *1 celery heart with leaves
> *1 cup sliced mushrooms
> 1 smallish bag baby spinach leaves or small cabbage, chopped
> 4 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth (approx 2 quart)
> 1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans)
> 1 can diced tomatoes with herbs
> 1 cup sour cream
> 1 bunch dill minced
>
> Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage and
> garlic and sauté until sausage is lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add
> in onion, carrot, fennel, mushrooms and celery, about 5 minutes. Add
> broth and cannellini with their juices, diced tomatoes and
> spinach/cabbage. Simmer until flavors blend and soup thickens slightly,
> about 20 minutes. Add in dill and sour cream, stiring well. Season to
> taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls.
>
> Serves 6.
>
> modified from Bon Appétit
> March 1996

Only changes I'd make is to omit the mushrooms and sour cream... those
don't go with kielbasa... add diced potato and/or small pasta
instead. I have a similar soup planed for tomorrow, I use smoked ham
hocks instead of kielbasa and dried great northerns instead of
cannellis... teh stupidmarket in towwn sells smoked ham hocks for
79cts/lb. You do what you like but I just can't see mushrooms with
smoked meat or sour cream with smoked meat. I also have bags of
frozen cut green beans, and okra from my garden, may add some,
probably will... I have lots of chopped collards frozen too, some of
that rather than spinach or cabbage. I know I will be adding potatoes
for body, maybe pasta but maybe not, I'll decide at the end, depends
on how much liquid is in the soup, gotta be careful with adding pasta
or it'll quickly go from soup to stew.

This is definitely hearty soup weather.

Sheldon

Sheldon > wrote in
oups.com:

> On Nov 3, 1:44�pm, hahabogus > wrote:
>> I used a small cabbage instead of spinach and added brocolli florets
>> and chopped elephant garlic instead of just garlic. I used a fine
>> grind sausage this time. For seasoning I added about 1/2 tsp of
>> crushed red peppers and a good pinch of parisienne spice blend (from
>> penzeys). It needed salt at the table. Other than that it was quite
>> tasty and mostly it's retired to my freezer for workday lunches.
>>
>> Al's BEAN AND SAUSAGE SOUP
>>
>> 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
>> 1 pound kielbasa sausage, diced (halfed coins is what I do)
>> 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
>> *1 bulb fennel chopped (optional)
>> *1 onion
>> *2 *carrots
>> *1 celery heart with leaves
>> *1 cup sliced mushrooms
>> 1 smallish bag baby spinach leaves or small cabbage, chopped
>> 4 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth (approx 2 quart)
>> 1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans)
>> 1 can diced tomatoes with herbs
>> 1 cup sour cream
>> 1 bunch dill minced
>>
>> Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage
>> and garlic and sauté until sausage is lightly browned, about 8
>> minutes. Add in onion, carrot, fennel, mushrooms and celery, about 5
>> minutes. Add broth and cannellini with their juices, diced tomatoes
>> and spinach/cabbage. Simmer until flavors blend and soup thickens
>> slightly, about 20 minutes. Add in dill and sour cream, stiring well.
>> Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls.
>>
>> Serves 6.
>>
>> modified from Bon Appétit
>> March 1996
>
> Only changes I'd make is to omit the mushrooms and sour cream... those
> don't go with kielbasa... add diced potato and/or small pasta
> instead. I have a similar soup planed for tomorrow, I use smoked ham
> hocks instead of kielbasa and dried great northerns instead of
> cannellis... teh stupidmarket in towwn sells smoked ham hocks for
> 79cts/lb. You do what you like but I just can't see mushrooms with
> smoked meat or sour cream with smoked meat. I also have bags of
> frozen cut green beans, and okra from my garden, may add some,
> probably will... I have lots of chopped collards frozen too, some of
> that rather than spinach or cabbage. I know I will be adding potatoes
> for body, maybe pasta but maybe not, I'll decide at the end, depends
> on how much liquid is in the soup, gotta be careful with adding pasta
> or it'll quickly go from soup to stew.
>
> This is definitely hearty soup weather.
>
> Sheldon
>
>

I add the sour cream to keep the dill company...they go together so well,
plus it adds a certain richness I like to the broth. As to potatoes well
what ever rocks your boat, I sometimes purree some of the beans and add
that to add body to the broth. I like the green bean idea though and the
next time I can find some fresh ones not to pricey I'll try them.
Although I've tried spinach and this soup started out life as a spinach
soup and changed its' ways during the spinach scare last year; I prefer
the cabbage version, which also goes well with sour cream.

Adding pasta to this soup to me just seems to make the soup too busy as
it is almost stew thickness without it and it has quite an aboundance of
things to chew in it already. And pasta to my thinking is too nuetral in
flavour so as too seem like a filler and it doesn't need fillers. But
like I said whatever rocks your boat...if we were all the same life would
be too boring.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore