German Potato Soup

Recently, I received cabbage from my CSA and decided to make this soup again.  I like it because we can eat half and freeze half.  I needed a few other things, so I stopped at my local farmer's market.  While there, I chose fingerling potatoes just because I liked how they looked.  A nice lady stopped me to ask what to do with them and I promised her that I would post the recipe, so here it is.  Yesterday's post is another option for using the potatoes.  Please note, mushrooms are optional.

  12 ounces turkey sausage                                                      1 -3/4 cups beef stock

  3 ounces mushrooms, chopped                                               1/2 Cup lager

  2 Tbl onion, minced                                                               2 medium potatoes, cubed

  1 stalk celery, chopped                                                          2 Cup small broccoli florets

  1 Tsp caraway seeds, crushed                                               2 Cup shredded cabbage

  1/4 Tsp ground black pepper                                                  1 -1/2 cups 1% milk

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook sausage, mushrooms, onion, and celery over medium heat until sausage is browned, stirring to break up sausage as it cooks. Drain off fat.  Add caraway seeds and pepper to sausage mixture in Dutch oven. Add beef stock and beer; bring to boiling. Add potatoes. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add broccoli. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes more or until potatoes and broccoli are tender.  Stir cabbage and milk into sausage-broccoli mixture. Return to simmer and cook for about  5 minutes or just until cabbage is tender and soup is heated through.