Soup of the week…Chou vert Frisé (Cabbage) with Artichoke, Giant White Bean and Sausage Soup

Even though I am just cooking for two, I love to make a big pot of soup every week. I purposefully make enough to last for one dinner and several lunches. This way I am not cooking every day but have something easy and delicious for us to eat and in the winter I could eat soup everyday . Planned laziness…gotta love it!
This recipe is adapted from “Tuscan Kale Soup with Artichoke and Chicken Sausage”  found on Taste With The Eyes blog that I  follow.  Artichokes are one of my very favorite vegetables so this immediately attracted me to this recipe. While familiarizing myself with the different foods available at our local Carrefour (French version of a Walmart Super Store) I found large bags of frozen artichoke hearts. Very exciting (for me at least)!  I have yet to be able to find kale so I am using Chou Vert Frisé  (curly leaf green cabbage) that is available here during the winter months.  I added some leftover giant white beans I cooked for another meal to this but I have also made it without them.

Ingredients:

1 small head of Chou Vert Frisé (curly leaf green cabbage) or kale
1 lb. ( 500kg) Toulouse sausage (mild sausage)
1 med. onion diced
1 tsp. fennel seed (crushed)
2 red chili peppers finely chopped or 1 tsp. chili flakes
6-8 frozen artichoke hearts (sliced)
1/2 of a lemon
3 quarts chicken stock

Method:

• Wash cabbage leaves and drain. Remove tough middle stem from leaves and cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Do not worry if they seem too big the cabbage will cook down.  I used about one heaping colander full of torn cabbage leaves for my soup. 
• Remove sausage from casings and crumble into bite size pieces while browning in a large stock pot. When sausage is done remove and drain in a bowl lined with paper towels.
• While this is cooking crush fennel seed in a mortar and pestle.
• Remove excess grease from pot and in same pot Add onion, garlic, chili and crushed fennel and sauté until onion is translucent but not brown.
• If using frozen artichoke heart. Thaw before hand, then slice. Squeeze juice from 1/2 a lemon over the artichoke hearts, add zest if desired
• Return browned sausage to pot. Add artichoke hearts, chicken broth and cabbage leaves to pot.
• Continue cooking stirring occasionally 30 minutes or until  cabbage and artichoke hearts are tender. Adjust seasoning as necessary adding salt and pepper.

Serve with fresh bread and cheese or try a little grated parmesan cheese on top.
Yields: 6+ adult size servings

Cider Braised Sausages with Sage

I am moving from Hanoi, Vietnam to Paris in 8 days and OMG am I excited!!!  That being said, I am trying to clean out my cupboard and eliminate some of the dry goods I have on hand before the movers get here to pack. This recipe caught my eye because it looked fairly simple plus I had an onion and polenta that need to be used. I am also sure that although cider may be better, I can defiantly find apple juice and  sausage here. There are many kinds of sausages available here; however, being that I cannot read Vietnamese I am going to use  klobasa sausage because it is familiar to me. This is going to change the way I prepare the sausage for this recipe by adding another step but I am willing and able. My extra step is outlined below but the recipe below was posted by Blake Royer on Serious Eats.com with my other additions/substitutions in italic.
ADDED STEP: Klobasa which has some course fat pieces in it vs. regular sausage which I want to melt rather than get hard so in a small pot I braised the links in 1 can of beef broth, 1/2 C apple juice, 2 T dried diced onion, 1 tsp ground sage. Low heat, cook covered for about 30 min. Then continue to cook uncovered until liquid is almost gone (save the remaining liquid to add to the water or chicken broth for the polenta).  This successfully melted the pieces of fat within the links making a tender (you can cut with a spoon) sausage.
Ingredients
serves makes 4 servings, active time 20 minutes, total time 45 minutes (it took me longer but then I did add an extra step)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, cut into 1-inch wedges (I sliced in thinner rings)
• 1.5 pounds mild sausages, pork or turkey or chicken (Klobasa)
• 10 fresh sage leaves (2 tsp. dried sage,1 tsp. dried thyme, 1/2 tsp. dried Rosemary)
• 2 cups apple cider (1 1/2 apple juice)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup polenta
• 5 cups water (plus remaining beef broth liquid used to braise sausage in my added step)
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar

Procedures

• In a large (12-inch) skillet large enough to hold the sausages comfortably, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add sausages and cook, turning once, until they are a deep golden brown. Halfway through cooking, add onions to pan and toss to coat them in the oil.
• Add cider, sage leaves, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer quite rapidly until cider reduces into a glaze and coats the back of a spoon, about 30 minutes.

• In the meantime, bring water to boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Whisk in polenta in a slow stream, season with salt and pepper, and return to a boil. Turn heat to low and cook until water is absorbed and polenta is very soft. I added remaining braising liquid from my added step to the 5 cups of water for polenta, also added 1 can chicken broth as I was stirring polenta to thin it down when it got too thick. Recipe doesn’t mention but constantly stir polenta for about 30 min. to prevent sticking on bottom!

• Stir in cheddar and season to taste.
• Divide polenta among bowls and top with sausages and onion. Spoon the pan liquid on top of the sausages and serve immediately.

Enjoy…we sure did! ツ