Caldo Gallego Daisy Recipes

CALDO GALLEGO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in the hot oil until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Stir chorizo and ham into onion mixture and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Mix potatoes and turnips into chorizo mixture; pour in chicken stock. Bring stock to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover stockpot, and simmer until potatoes and turnips are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium and stir cannellini beans and turnip greens into soup; cook until greens are desired tenderness, at least 3 minutes.

CALDO GALLEGO

Steps:

• In a 4 quart Dutch oven combine beans and 4 cups of the water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover, and let stand for an hour. (Or soak the beans in the water overnight in a covered pan). Drain beans and rinse.
• In the same Dutch oven combine rinsed beans and remaining 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook the sausage and salt pork or bacon till brown. Drain off the fat.
• Add the sausage, salt pork or bacon, turnips, red onion, garlic, salt, and pepper to the beans. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Add the turnip greens or spinach and cabbage. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 10 minutes or more, until tender.

CALDO GALLEGO

Steps:

• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and add the ham hock, onions, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until slits of ham hock have begun to open and vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, to taste, and paprika and cook for 1 minute longer. Add 9 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Drain the white beans and add them to the pot. Return to a simmer and continue to cook at a simmer until beans are just beginning to get tender, about 1 hour longer. Remove the ham hock and, when cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the hock and shred into bite size pieces. (Discard skin and bones.) Return the meat to the pot along with the remaining salt (or to taste), potatoes, turnip greens, and chorizo and continue to cook until beans have broken down slightly, potatoes and greens are very tender, about 1 hour longer. Remove the bay leaf and serve hot.
• Note: you may have to add a bit more water if the soup gets too thick during the lengthy cooking time.

CALDO VERDE

Steps:

• Take whatever greens you are using and stack several leaves on top of each other. Starting at the wide side, roll the stack up into a tight cylinder. Slice across the cylinder with a very sharp knife to make thin, hairlike shreds. Repeat with remaining leaves. Set aside shredded greens.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large kettle over medium high heat. Add sausage slices and fry until lightly colored and fat is rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove from pot with slotted spoon and reserve. Add remaining tablespoon oil to pot, then add onions and salt and pepper. Stir well, then cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, stir, and cook one minute until its aroma is released. Add the potatoes, turn the heat to medium high, and saute 3 to 5 minutes until onions and potatoes begin to color. Add the water, cover, and simmer over low heat until potatoes can be mashed easily against side of pot with a wooden spoon, about 25 minutes. When potatoes are soft, turn off the heat and use a potato masher to thoroughly crush and blend. Add the sausage, turn the heat on to medium, and simmer 5 minutes to bring the flavors together. Stir in the greens and cook 5 minutes until bright green and tender. Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve.
• This soup, literally Green Soup, could be called the national dish of Portugal. It is traditionally made with a type of flat green cabbage called couve gallego.
• The method of slicing leaves like this is called a chiffonade in the French lexicon. Important to get them thin enough that they will cook quickly.