I really don't understand why so many people are so negative about autumn/winter. I love it! I like the rain (unless it's pissing down and I'm walking home from the bus) and I love cold weather. It's great, come on! At weekends, you can stay at home, watching the rain out the window, knowing that there won't be any work on the garden for a few months. Or you can go for a walk and find a nice, cozy, warm place to sit down and have something tasty while you unwind. Also, winter food kicks some serious summer food ass!
And nothing represents winter better than a bowl of hot, rich, home made soup. We love eating soup at weekends. They are relatively easy and cheap to make, you can improvise with what you have in the fridge or pantry, recipes are usually pretty flexible and you can make as much of it as you want and enjoy it the next day or two. It's true that they can take some time to get ready, specially if you have to prepare some stock from scratch, but since the weather outside is crap, what else is there to do?
One of my favourite soups is Zelňačka or cabbage soup. It's great, tasty and will warm you up and with some slices of good bread, it can be pretty hearty meal.
Zelná Polevka (serves some people):
1.5l of stock, beef, chicken or from whatever bone you have taking space in the freezer.
1 tbs of lard.
1 small onion, finely chopped.
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped.
1 spicy sausage, thinly sliced. I use čabajka, but chorizo could do the job just fine.
3-4 largish potatoes cubed, one of them very finely shredded.
250g (at least) of sauerkraut (better if it's got some juice).
Salt, pepper, cumin, a few leaves of sage and loads of marjoram.
Fry the onion and garlic with the sage for a bit then add the sausage and mix. The fat in the sausage will start melting and it will release its spices, once everything is a fiery red add the stock and the the cubed potatoes. When they are starting to get ready, add the shredded potato, it will thicken the soup. Now with the cabbage. It depends on you when you add it. If you want it a bit crunchier, then at the end. I prefer to let it simmer in the soup for a longer time so it all gets more sour.
Once it's ready, serve with a generous dollop of sour cream and enjoy winter. It tastes better after a revitalising walk in the cold.
And the beer in this recipe? What, do you I also have to tell you what to drink while you are cooking? Open the fridge and see what's in there. (Oh! Another advantage of winter, cooling the beers outside)
Na Zdraví a Dobrou Chuť!
Reserve yourPrague hotel and win a walking tour.
And nothing represents winter better than a bowl of hot, rich, home made soup. We love eating soup at weekends. They are relatively easy and cheap to make, you can improvise with what you have in the fridge or pantry, recipes are usually pretty flexible and you can make as much of it as you want and enjoy it the next day or two. It's true that they can take some time to get ready, specially if you have to prepare some stock from scratch, but since the weather outside is crap, what else is there to do?
One of my favourite soups is Zelňačka or cabbage soup. It's great, tasty and will warm you up and with some slices of good bread, it can be pretty hearty meal.
Zelná Polevka (serves some people):
1.5l of stock, beef, chicken or from whatever bone you have taking space in the freezer.
1 tbs of lard.
1 small onion, finely chopped.
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped.
1 spicy sausage, thinly sliced. I use čabajka, but chorizo could do the job just fine.
3-4 largish potatoes cubed, one of them very finely shredded.
250g (at least) of sauerkraut (better if it's got some juice).
Salt, pepper, cumin, a few leaves of sage and loads of marjoram.
Fry the onion and garlic with the sage for a bit then add the sausage and mix. The fat in the sausage will start melting and it will release its spices, once everything is a fiery red add the stock and the the cubed potatoes. When they are starting to get ready, add the shredded potato, it will thicken the soup. Now with the cabbage. It depends on you when you add it. If you want it a bit crunchier, then at the end. I prefer to let it simmer in the soup for a longer time so it all gets more sour.
Once it's ready, serve with a generous dollop of sour cream and enjoy winter. It tastes better after a revitalising walk in the cold.
And the beer in this recipe? What, do you I also have to tell you what to drink while you are cooking? Open the fridge and see what's in there. (Oh! Another advantage of winter, cooling the beers outside)
Na Zdraví a Dobrou Chuť!
Reserve yourPrague hotel and win a walking tour.
mmmm...soups in the wintertime... excellent!
ReplyDeletemy favourite is by far the Česnečka soup (Česneková polévka). Pure magic.
I remember czech soups fondly. The first time I went to prague I used to go to one of bridges (the one next to a university) and just sit there watching the river. That was a cloudy day in the middle of winter. I've yet to go to Europe on another season.
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