A poor man’s soup with a saint’s story: half for you, half for whoever is at the gate.

Martin made his name cutting his cloak in half for a beggar at a city gate, so the days around his feast belong to sharing what covers you — and what fills your pot. This is the November kitchen at its humblest: potatoes, cabbage, onion, and water, turned into something that tastes like more than it cost. Make the double batch on purpose. Soup like this is not really finished until some of it has left your house in somebody else's jar.

What Goes In

2 tablespoons butter or oil · 1 large onion, diced · 3 cloves of garlic, minced · 6 medium potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut in chunks · half a small green cabbage, shredded · 6 cups water or broth · 1 bay leaf · 1 teaspoon dried thyme · salt and black pepper · a splash of milk or cream at the end, if you have it · a little cooked bacon or smoked sausage, only if it's already around. Makes a big pot — about six bowls.

How It’s Made

1. Melt the butter in your soup pot over medium heat and soften the onion in it, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 1 minute more.

2. Add the potatoes, cabbage, bay leaf, thyme, and the water or broth. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

3. Scoop out a cup of the potatoes, mash them, and stir them back in — that's the thickener, and it costs nothing.

4. Salt and pepper it honestly. Stir in the milk or cream if you're using it, and the bacon or sausage if it's going in.

5. Let it rest off the heat 5 minutes. Serve with whatever bread you have.

It keeps three or four days in the fridge, reheats without complaint, and doubles without arithmetic. Like all the best soul food, it's better on the second day.