Żurek — Sour Rye Soup with Sausage, Eggs & Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1½ cups żur (soured rye starter) or 1 cup rye flour plus 2 cups water, soured 4 days
• 12 oz white sausage or kielbasa
• 4 Eggs
• 3 Potatoes, cubed
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 4 oz smoked bacon, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp marjoram
• 1 tsp prepared horseradish
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. If you are making your own żur, whisk the rye flour with warm water in a jar, cover with cloth, and leave at room temperature 4 days, stirring daily, until it smells sharply sour. Stir well before using.
2. Render the bacon in a pot, add the onion, and cook until golden, 8 minutes. Add the garlic and marjoram for 1 minute, crushing the marjoram between your fingers as it goes in.
3. Add the broth, Potatoes, and sausage and simmer 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the sausage has flavored the pot.
4. Hard-cook the Eggs for 9 minutes, cool in ice water, peel, and halve.
5. Whisk the żur and pour it into the pot, then simmer 8 minutes more — do not boil hard after this point or the soup turns dull and gritty.
6. Temper the sour cream with a ladle of hot soup, stir it in off the heat, and season with horseradish, salt, and pepper. Serve with the halved eggs and thick sausage slices in each bowl.