Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup for Ralph

Hungarian style Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup takes advantage of the very
flavorful broth or cooking liquid remaining after cooking butt made in
the Austrian-Hungarian style. The butt is cooked in brown sugar water.

Into reserved smoked pork butt and brown sugar cooking liquid, add:

2 onions peeled and chopped
1 small head of cabbage, cored and chopped
4 peeled and seeded ripe tomatoes -OR- 1 28 oz. can of crushed or whole
tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, optional
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped or grated. (gives the soup a silky
"feel")
5 whole pepper corns
2 whole cloves

Nice to add any left over smoked butt.
Cover pot and bring to a boil, lower heat and slowly cool until cabbage
and potatoes are soft. (About 1 1/2 hours).
Adjust seasoning, add salt if needed, add more brown sugar if needed.

The soup should have a sweet (from the brown sugar) and sour (from the
acid in the tomatoes). If you like, you can add a tablespoon of good
white vinegar or the juice of half a lemon to make it more sour. Should
be thick and full bodied.

Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream, crusty bread, and beer for a hearty
meal.
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