German Lentil soup recipe

And finally, I am posting the soup recipe.

I, of course, did not follow the recipe exactly. I used ham instead of bacon and I used up all my brown lentils which was a bit more that 1/2 pound and I put in extra carrot and I didn't use any onion but I just used leek. and I didn't put any parsley on the soup. Probably, the soup would be better if you just follow Mr. Mager's recipe; he is a professional chef after all, but Matthew and I really enjoyed the soup I made. Actually, it sat in our fridge for a week(far too long) and was 10 times better after a week. I usually figure that most soup vastly improves after two days in the fridge.

German Lentil soup, as copied out of Horst Mager's cookbook.

1/2 pound lentils, washed
1 large onion
1 large carrot
1 celery stalk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup leeks
1/2 pound lean bacon cut into strips or ham diced
6 cups beef stock
2 potatoes
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons parsley
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Dice all veggies. Render bacon in heavy duty pot. When Bacon has lost half of its fat, add onions, leeks, celery and carrots. Saute vegetables, then add washed lentils. Add rest of ingredients, except vinegar and parsley. Simmer for about an hour and a half. Taste to see if you need to add salt and pepper. At the end, add the vinegar and parsley just before serving.

Of course, I topped each portion with Saurkraut that I'd warmed with sugar and spices.

Warmed Saurkraut

This is my favorite sausage or hot dog topping. And, if I had no self control, I could eat the whole pot of this stuff without much effort.

In a small pot, dump jar or can of saurkraut. Add Brown sugar to taste, approx 1/4 cup and a teaspoon of caraway seeds. Warm gently and let it bubble about for about 10 min, stirring occasionally, just so all the sugar melts well and gets absorbed by the kraut.