Cured meat braising liquid can be more than just pea soup

Hi,

A few weeks ago, a friend who lives alone dropped off a portion of a smoked butt. She found it saltier than she liked and thought I'd find something to do with it. My prior experience with smoked butt was from my German Grandmother who would bake it, then serve with mashed potatoes et al. Any leftover smoked butt was incorporated into Spaetzle and Sauerkraut, which is my family's soul food. Unfortunately my Dad is not as keen of smoked butt, thus I was on the hunt for a new end-use.

An internet search for smoked butt landed me at Authentic Hungarian Smoked Butt in Brown Sugar (Fustolt sertesfar nyerscukoban). This was a pretty elementary recipe braising the smoked butt in water to cover with three tablespoons of brown sugar for 90 minutes. I was sold on this method once I read, "The wonderfully flavored cooking water is used to make a delicious soup, with the addition of cabbage, tomato, onion, potatoes."

Once the braised smoked butt was finished, I immediately transfered the cooking liquid to a larger pot to make room for the vegetables and seasonings. Any leftover smoked butt was added to the soup. In less than 90 minutes, I had Authentic Hungarian style Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup (Paradicsomos kaposztaleves) akin to what I eat at Jewish delis, though I recognize it is not kosher.

Yesterday, I braised a corned beef. Instead of dumping the liquid, which I usually consider unuseable due to the saltiness, I made the cabbage soup from the defatted stock. I had to use a bit more brown sugar to overcome the saltiness. It also became the depository of the leftover cabbage, parsnips and potatoes. Again, it came out just as good as our experience a few weeks ago.



I went back to read the June Meyer's Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes website, which has an index and links to all her recipes. I began to recognize the story as I read on, I realized she was a friend of a friend who happens to reside in Deerfield. A few years ago, our mutual friend gave me her cookbook as a Christmas present. I'm ashamed to state my first real peak at her book was via her website just recently.

If I trolled my cookbook collection, I still probably would not have landed on her book. There are some advantages to cooking via the internet.

Regards,

That looks great! I've been a big fan of June Meyer's. I've come across her recipes many times in my searches on double-checking Hungarian recipes or researching their variations. I had no idea she was from around here, nor did I realize there's a printed version of her book available--I've only come across pages for various dishes. I will definitely be putting her on my "to buy soon" list.