Slowly Cooked Spiced Red Cabbage Soup

This has Fall and Winter written all over it. All of the main ingredients are late season products or products that keep in the winter: bacon, onion, carrot, apple, cabbage. It has such a warming, comforting flavor, not quite like a dessert but it has all the earmarks of a soothing cold weather soup.

Number of portions: 6 servings
Serving size: ~540 g per serving
Calories per serving: ~410 kcal (mostly from bacon and stock fat)
Speed: Slow Food (hands-on cooking is moderate, but simmering is long and patient)
Experienced cook (active time): 35–45 min
Novice cook (active time): 50–65 min
Total elapsed time: 1 hr 30–1 hr 45 min
LHSS Score: 7.5 / 10

6 slices smoked bacon (approx. 190g), chopped en lardons
1 large onion (10oz/285g) finely diced
1 large carrot (4 to 5oz/145g) finely diced
1 firm, tart apple, finely diced
1½ tsps. caraway seeds
1 small head (1½ lbs.) cabbage, diced (preferably red but just for the appearance)
¼ tsp pepper
⅛ tsp nutmeg
In a cheesecloth bundle collect: 5 or 6 juniper berries; 3 or 4 whole cloves; 2 fresh bay leaves; a strip of fresh lemon or lime peel (grated instead, maybe?); 1 small cinnamon stick
1⁄4 cup plum vinegar or cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 tsp salt

1. In a soup pot render the fat from the bacon until the meat is crisp. Remove the bacon bits and set aside. If there isn't enough fat at the bottom of the pot, add some oil.
2. Add the onion, carrot, apple, and caraway and cook until the onion is soft. 
3. Add the cabbage and season with pepper and nutmeg. Cover and cook just to wilt the cabbage. 
4. Return the bacon to the pot and add the spices, the vinegar, brown sugar, stock, water and salt, and bring to a boil. 
5. Simmer uncovered until the cabbage is very tender and the soup has thickened/reduced, about 1 to 1½ hours.
6. Adjust the salt to your taste.
7. Serve with the Autumn Grain & Green Salad for a LHSS score of ~8.7–9/10.