Hungarian-style Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

Description
Hungarian-style Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup takes advantage of the very flavorful broth or cooking liquid remaining after cooking butt made in the Austrian-Hungarian-style. The butt is cooked in brown sugar water. (See Smoked Butt Hungarian-style) I usually make the butt and the sweet and sour cabbage soup on the same day, but serve the soup the next day. It is a hearty and filling soup, a favorite with the children.
 * Source: June Meyer (june4@interaccess.com)

Ingredients

 * 2 onions peeled and chopped
 * 1 small head of cabbage, cored and chopped
 * 4 peeled and seeded ripe tomatoes or 1 x 28 oz can of crushed or whole tomatoes
 * 2 cloves of garlic, optional
 * 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped or grated (gives the soup a silky "feel")
 * 5 whole peppercorns
 * 2 whole cloves
 * brown sugar, to taste
 * white vinegar, optional, to taste
 * lemon juice, optional, to taste

Directions

 * 1) Nice to add any left over smoked butt.
 * 2) Cover pot and bring to a boil, lower heat and slowly cool until cabbage and potatoes are soft.
 * 3) Adjust seasoning, add salt if needed, add more brown sugar if needed.
 * 4) The soup should have a sweet (from the brown sugar in the broth) and sour (from the acid in the tomatoes).
 * 5) If you like, you can add a tablespoon of good white vinegar or the juice of half a lemon to make it more sour.
 * 6) Should be thick and full bodied.