June 16, 2009: Sauerkraut chowder

June's calendar recipe promised to be a winter warmer - sauerkraut chowder. Utterly different to the soups that Michael and I typically make, it features potatoes, onion and, of course, sauerkraut. It gets its creaminess from evaporated milk and cream cheese and the flavour is pepped up with a little horseradish (I used more of the horseradish cream that we bought for a previous calendar recipe). It's definitely a filling and rich brew. It'll be a while before I'm brave enough to plonk an entire block of cream cheese into soup again, but I'd like to transfer the evaporated milk idea to other recipes.

Sauerkraut chowder

3-4 large potatoes
water
1 medium onion
400g can or jar of sauerkraut
~300mL evaporated milk
250g cream cheese
2 teaspoons horseradish cream, or to taste
salt and pepper

Chop the potatoes into bite-size pieces, leaving the skin on. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover them with water. Chop the onion and add it to the pot. Bring the soup to the boil and cook the vegetables until the potatoes are tender.

Stir in the sauerkraut, evaporated milk and cream cheese, continuing to stir until the cream cheese has melted and blended in. Season with horseradish, salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the soup and simmer it on low heat for 30 minutes before serving.