Grandma's best cabbage soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 250 g lean beef brisket
• 1 liter of water
• 1 tsp, heaped beef paste or 1 stock cube
• ½ onion(s)
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables (leek, celery, carrots, parsley, onion)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• some salt and pepper
• ½ onion(s)
• 2 tsp, levelled sugar or honey
• 3 bay leaves, dried
• 30 g butter
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 5 tomatoes, peeled
• 100 g cooked ham
• ½ tsp caraway seeds
• some salt and pepper
• ½ small head of white cabbage
• 3 Vienna sausages
• 1 tsp sugar or honey
• ½ bunch parsley
• possibly salt and pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ bunch of dill

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

it tastes really delicious!

For the meat broth, thoroughly clean the vegetables, peel the celery if necessary, and roughly chop everything. Peel and roughly dice the onion. Bring the water to a boil with beef paste or stock cubes, add the whole beef, diced onion, vegetables, balsamic vinegar, and a little salt and pepper. Simmer the meat broth in a covered pan for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, for the soup, finely dice the onion and melt the butter in a saucepan. Fry the diced onion with sugar or honey, bay leaves, and balsamic vinegar over low to medium heat for about 15 minutes until translucent (do not brown). Dice the peeled tomatoes and cooked ham, add them with caraway seeds, a little salt, and pepper, and simmer gently in the uncovered pan for another 15 minutes. Then skim off 1/8 of the meat broth and stir it into the soup. Simmer gently for another 30 minutes. Wash the white cabbage thoroughly, remove the stalk, and cut into fine strips. Thinly slice the Vienna sausages and roughly chop the parsley. Strain the broth through a sieve and collect the liquid. Remove the beef, trim off the fat, and roughly dice the remaining meat. If desired, you can also remove the carrots, dice them, and reuse them. Bring the finished broth to a boil and simmer for another 15 minutes with the white cabbage, sausages, parsley, beef, carrots (if desired), and sugar or honey. Then add the soup and simmer everything together for another 15 minutes. Finally, season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, add a dollop of creamy sour cream with some chopped fresh dill to the soup before serving.