Cabbage stew made from three types of cabbage

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 2 shank(s) of beef (approx. 700g) or soup meat
• 2 liters of meat broth or beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 large onion(s), unpeeled
• 1 large onion(s), peeled, whole
• 10 grains of allspice
• 10 juniper berries
• 2 carnations
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 head of savoy cabbage, medium-sized
• ½ head of white cabbage
• 500 g Brussels sprouts
• ½ celery root
• 500 g carrot(s)
• 700 g potato(s), waxy
• 1 bunch of parsley
• Caraway, ground or whole (depending on taste)
• 10 grains of allspice
• 6 juniper berries
• nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• Lovage, fresh or dried

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours

Savoy cabbage, white cabbage and Brussels sprouts come together in this tasty stew

Preparation: Turn on one of your stovetop burners and place a piece of aluminum foil on top, ensuring the burner is completely covered. Halve the unpeeled onion crosswise and place it on the aluminum foil. Let it sit until the cut surface is well browned. It may smell a little burnt, but don’t let that bother you. If you have a gas or induction stove, you’ll obviously have to use a pan. But please don’t use any fat! The broth as a base: Take a very large pot and fill it with the broth (lukewarm at the most). Add the shank slices, bay leaves, and the two browned onion halves (with skin on). I always add the allspice berries, juniper berries, cloves, and peppercorns in a tea infuser. You can also tie them in a tea bag or add them loosely and strain everything through a sieve at the end. Now let the shank slices just steep for about 1 1/2 hours. The broth shouldn’t boil like laundry, otherwise the meat will harden and a lot of protein will leak out, which you then have to laboriously skim off the top of the broth. If you just let it simmer, the broth will stay clear. The vegetables: In the meantime, clean the vegetables and cut them into pieces. Do as you like. Some people cut everything into 1 cm cubes, others cut strips. Everyone does it as they please. Set the carrots aside. Only cut the stalks of the parsley into small pieces, leaving the leaves behind. The stew: When the meat is finished cooking, remove it from the broth and let it cool a little, then clean it and cut it into 1 cm cubes. Remove the other ingredients from the broth. Now turn the heat up and bring the broth to a boil. Then add all the cabbage except the Brussels sprouts, the potatoes, the carrots, the peeled onion, and the meat. Add the caraway seeds at this time, too. Now bring it back to a boil and then reduce the heat so that it’s just simmering. After 15 minutes, add the Brussels sprouts. After 30 minutes, everything should be cooked to the right temperature. Season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and lovage. Shortly before serving, finely chop the parsley leaves (don’t chop them!) and add them either to the stew while it’s still simmering or to the soup separately, and everyone can help themselves to as much as they like. I serve it with a few slices of hearty, dark farmhouse bread and a cold beer. The dish could perhaps be made completely vegetarian by omitting the meat and using vegetable broth instead of meat broth. I haven’t tried it yet, though. It has virtually no calories, as it’s made solely from the fat from the leg of shin. By the way, the stew tastes even better the next day!