FOOD BLOG OSTBRÖCKLI
Root vegetables, bacon and sausage: this hearty stew warms the belly and heart
Soups can be made from all kinds of vegetables. Combined with smoked meat according to the North German idea, this creates a delicious meal. Rejuvenation on cold winter days.
The cover of fog hangs softly, the breeze cools your fingers. Who doesn’t want to bend over at home on such days? Sitting on the couch with a cookbook, a cup of steaming tea in front of you and challenging the fall blues.
These typical days in late fall are not my favorite weather. However, I can get something out of the wet and cold weather that instinctively causes you to shrug your shoulders. Because finally it’s time for a delicious soup.
Soup: Easy to make, easy to refine
Soups have been with me all my life. Soup at the beginning used to be part of the Sunday menu. There may still be some of the boiled meat left on Saturday. If it had to be fast, a beaten egg is placed in it.
More effort, albeit on a modest scale, meant baking pancakes and cutting them into flat cakes. The decoration with fresh chives gave both variants that certain something.
With a little work, but without much skill, soup can be made from many kinds of vegetables. Saute finely chopped onion and garlic in a little oil or butter, add the prepared vegetables and broth and bring to a boil. When the vegetables are tender, they are cleaned and the soup is then spiced.
It only takes a little bit to make the soup more complex. A few drops of oil, light or firmly whipped cream, a special spice or the addition of breadcrumbs, chopped nuts or sliced bacon – and the simple vegetable soup gets a highlight. You don’t like something like that just as an appetizer before a Sunday roast, but also as a dinner.
Use what the field gives you
Soups – when they are less liquid they are called stews – can also be seen as food. The Bündner barley soup and the goulash soup are especially well known and not only popular with winter sports enthusiasts.
If you want to break new ground with stews, you can grab whatever your heart and palate desires. I found the idea for my favorite in northern Germany. There, what is often used in the kitchen is what the field gives you: potatoes, carrots, celery and other root vegetables. For this stew, it is the turnip that makes the dish special.
Of Swedes and turnips
There are currently many root vegetables sold on the market and in stores. There are two types of turnips: Swedish turnips, also known as ground crab, and autumn turnips. We also know this as Räbe, which is carved for the Räbeliechtlium train.
According to the description, the Swede has an almost round shape. Their bark is greenish-yellow, sometimes reddish. The flesh is whitish to yellow and has a bitter-sweet taste reminiscent of cabbage or coleslaw. The tubers, which can weigh up to 1.5 kilograms, are used in the kitchens of northern Germany and Scandinavia, especially for cooking or as beet puree.
The autumn turnip or turnip comes in a variety of shapes, from flattened rounded to long conical. The color is also different, it can be black, gray, white or yellow on the outside, green or purple on the top of the beet. The flesh is white or yellowish. The white autumn turnip is processed into sour turnips in this country and is a popular and healthy winter dish. (sat)
This slightly sweet and yet earthy and spicy-flavored root vegetable, reminiscent of coleslaw in taste, should make up the main ingredient of the stew. You can complement it with other types of vegetables: potatoes, carrots, pumpkin or leeks.
Cooking bacon makes it hearty, while sausage brings better flavor. If you prefer a vegetarian version, you can add beans or lentils instead of bacon and sausage, for example. Of course onions and garlic also belong to the pot.
The stew tastes even better the next day
When the vegetables are ready, most of the work is already done. Briefly sauté the vegetables in oil not too hot, add the broth and the meat – and the stew is ready.
Or almost. Because now he has to cook on a small fire. How long? Certainly one hour, better two. And another tip: it’s worth it if you’re preparing a large amount of the stew. Not just when it’s enjoyed in a pretty big group. But also because it tastes even better heated.
As with all stews, the ingredients are combined by repeated cooking, making the taste more intense. It is important to make sure that the stew is gently heated and not too hot so that as many vitamins and nutrients as possible are preserved.
Stew with root vegetables
Ingredients for four people
- 2 kilograms of root vegetables (eg turnips, potatoes, carrots)
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 800 g meat (eg bacon, Saucisson, Schüblig)
- 1 l vegetable broth
- 1 sprig each of marjoram and thyme
- A few juniper berries, some nutmeg
- Salt pepper
prepared
- Chop the onions and garlic, not too small, sauté in oil
- Cut the vegetables into medium-sized cubes, add to the onions and sauté briefly
- Deglaze with the broth
- Add marjoram, thyme and juniper berries, season with grated nutmeg
- Put the meat on top
- Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for at least an hour
- Before serving, season with salt and pepper to taste
variants
- Use other types of vegetables such as leeks and mushrooms (mushrooms, royal oyster mushrooms).
- Add other types of meat or sausages (e.g. cheese sausages) to the soup
- Vegetarian variant: cook beans or lentils with the vegetables. In this case, however, there is no flavor carrier and the stew does not get the typical taste
Ostbröckli author Sabine Camedda with a plate full of homemade stew.