This recipe from the Maui News is an oldie-but-goody. I pasted it in my notebook and enjoyed it many times, sending it along to mama for enjoying on winter days in Florida. Here in Missouri today, it is damp AND chilly AND the drizzling rain continues, and so a perfect time for cooking up this chowder. I halved the recipe today because I had already used half of the sausage and the cabbage for another purpose but still ended up with four nice servings.

The chowder is hearty with potatoes, onion, cabbage and smoked sausage, and the broth just as hearty with their flavors. Though the original recipe doesn’t advise sautéing the vegetables and sausage for five minutes with a tablespoon of butter, tonight I did so and it enhanced the overall flavor. You might enjoy this with cornbread muffins because the broth just says, “bread please” but I settled on the Spiced Pretzels also prepared today. The Teacher Gang ate the first batch of pretzels this week down to the crumbly crumbs and today’s batch proved a quirky, but satisfying, accompaniment to chowder tonight. Together, they hit the right note: spicy and creamy. You will love this chowder if you’re expecting cold weather this week too.

German Sausage Chowder

Ingredients:
1 lb. fully cooked bratwurst or kielbasa, cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 small head cabbage, shredded
3 cups milk
3 T. flour
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
Fresh parsley, snipped

Directions In large saucepan or 4-qt. Dutch oven, combine sausage, potatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes in 1 T. of butter. Add 2 cups water and bring to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are nearly tender. Stir in cabbage, cook another 10 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Stir in 2-1/2 cups of the milk. Blend remaining 1/2 cup milk and the flour and shake well in a jar with a tight-fitting lid to blend; stir into soup. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in the cheese and turn off heat. When cheese has melted, stir to blend well. Garnish with the fresh parsley.