I found a recipe last Fall in my Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook for German Potato Soup.  I was looking for a potato leek soup to use some aging leeks.  This recipe appealed to me because it had cabbage, which meant I could substitute in the lactino kale and it didn’t require me to purée anything into a smooth soup.

• 

  I like to quarter the leek, then slice it into 1/4″ slices.

  1 onion, chopped

• 1 leek, trimmed and sliced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 c. lactino kale, 1/4″ slices
• 4 c. beef broth
• 1.5 lbs potatoes, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t caraway seeds
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1.5 lbs smoke pork, 1/2 inch cubes

Combine all above ingredients in crock pot, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

When the vegetables are tender, remove the bay leaf.  With a slotted spoon, remove most of the potatoes and mash them in a separate bowl.  Add the mashed potatoes back to the crock pot and add :

• 1/2 c. sour cream

and mix thoroughly.

This recipe is great because you can substitute freely.  The first time, I used kale and left over beef roast.  This time, I used Swiss chard (greens and those lovely yellow and red stems) and left over smoked pulled pork from the weekend.  Add corn bread goldfish, and we had a festive Christmas Eve dinner.

The original recipe had bacon and parsley,  ingredients I did not have in my house that day.  This was a great clean out the crisper recipe.  Mashing the potatoes and adding them back gave the soup a heavier, smooth texture and the sour cream added the extra wow! factor (and is probably what makes it “German” potato soup).

As an added bonus, I bet you could slip some cubed turnips in there and no one would notice! 😉