Soupe Aux Choux

Uh oh....I bought the book. I haven't even seen the movie but just reading about it made me buy the only cookbook I don't own. I swear I have every other one out there. I don't know why I never bought it. Maybe I considered it years ago when I only wanted cookbooks with pictures. I went through that phase for years. Now I prefer them without pictures. Maybe Julia intimidated me. Maybe it was considered during a time when I wasn't into French food, but then Patricia Wells changed that. All I know is this a match made in heaven. I am seriously diggin' this book.


Since I have giant cabbages sitting around staring at me, I decided to start with the cabbage soup. I went with the bean version so I boiled some beans with some rosemary and bay leaves.




I boiled 4 quartered potatoes with a 1 1/2 pound piece of salt pork in in 3 1/2 quarts of water.


Julia calls for a number of aromatics so I used parsley, bay leaves, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and peppercorns.


Tied it with cheesecloth.


Studded an onion with cloves,


Then chopped up about 6 carrots and threw it all into the boiling water.


Then I roughly chopped about 3 quarts of cabbage and added it to the pot. This cooks for about 2 hours or just until the cabbage is tender with a bit of a crunch.


The beans were soaked from the night before so they needed to cook about as long as the soup. Don't overcook the beans.




I bought a house smoked ham steak from a local butcher.


And cut it into quarter inch cubes.


After almost two hours of simmering over medium low heat the soup is ready. I removed the salt pork, the aromatics and the onion.


Then added two cups of the cooked beans.


Then stirred in the cubed ham. You don't want to add the ham too soon or it will give off all it's flavor. Taste and season with salt and pepper.


This is a hearty soup. With good crusty bread, it is a meal in itself.


It has an outstanding clean cabbage flavor.

Comments

That soup looks delicious! I have to try it one day!
I had never heard of Julia Child before this movie came (I haven´t seen it yet), but what I´ve heard about he she seemes to have been a great woman.
Have a nice day now!
Christer.
You'll enjoy the movie, I'm sure!
Tori said…
Wow that looks good!
Nar said…
Beautiful soup! I really want a copy of that book. I haven't seen the movie yet but I would love to. Meryl Streep is magnificent, always. I read some of the blog and enjoyed bits of it.
Lucie Le Blanc said…
They're is a french movie, with DeFunes, called "la Soupe au chou". It is ridiculously funny ;)
brokenteepee said…
I don't have that cookbook either. Mountains of others, but not that. I love cabbage. It's the polish in us.
Cindi Myers said…
I hardly ever "cook" - mainly grilled cheese, pizza, chicken when I'm dieting or a bowl of cereal. I've cooked a few meals way in the past, easy stuff like meatloaf or enchiladas or spareribs, but you know what! Between you and Julia, maybe I'll start again! LOL
Laura said…
Dang... now I'm going to have to get that cookbook. I've always been a southern girl cook. Fancy french stuff just never appealed to me, but if that soup is part of that cookbook...gotta have it. :)
blessings
~*~
Jennifer said…
That looks delicious! Especially now that the weather has been cold and wet outside, nothing like a warm bowl of soup on those days!
William Bezek said…
Yum...cabbage, smells so bad, tastes so good. May your French cooking be flavorful and your weight gain minimal. Ha Ha. Watch out, that book is addictive!