Directions

Each year, The HUFF provides the classic HUFF soups of Chicken Noodle, Chili and Spicy Corn Chowder.  But, just as we never know what surprises and adventures might occur on The HUFF trail, we try to provide a soup surprise and adventure, too, by offering at least one new soup each year.  When selecting a new soup, we aim for one that contrasts with the others of that year but one that also highly flavorful and a bit unusual. For The HUFF 2012, we chose Sweet Russian Cabbage with Sausage. Here is the recipe as made by Joni Lehman and Dawn Wilson. Combine first eight ingredients (through brown sugar), bring to boil, and then simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. In the meantime, crumble and brown sausage. (For the 2012 HUFF, our sausage, being in the form of 100 links, required removing the casings, tearing into pieces and then browning the meat.  We considered renaming the soup “The HUFF 100 linKs.”)  Set sausage aside. Use apple juice to deglaze the fond. Add browned sausage, pan sauce and rest of water (adjust water to assure sufficient liquid for cabbage to cook) and return to a slow boil.  Add next two ingredients and simmer for 25 minutes until cabbage is tender. Taste and adjust to preference using the last four ingredients.   Also, if your soup seems too rich, add a bit more water.  As a practical matter, when cooking and transporting soup for The HUFF, we are using “bulk” techniques and will often reduce the water during the cooking phase but add it later at the race site.  As a result, our measurement of the water ingredient is not precise but really more “to taste.”