Inaugural Post

Well, here it goes. I have thought about creating a food blog for a while. I read a bunch of them, plus I love sharing food, recipes, etc. so I figured why the hell not.

I thought for days about what my first post should be. Since it's freezing outside (and only getting colder- I swear I'm meant to live somewhere warm) and I made a fantastic soup last week, I decided that soup would have the honor of being the subject of the inaugural post. Caldo Verde. It's a Portuguese soup that I had at a wedding at the end of August. The husband even ate it (he "doesn't like soup") so I knew I had to find a recipe for it. Kale, chorizo, potato are the main components. So good!

I made the soup again tonight in between watching episodes of Nurse Jackie on TMN On Demand (the 2nd night of binge watching the first season). The first time I cooked this soup I didn't weigh or measure anything, this time I did. It turns out I'm not very good at guestimating weights of things... there was about double the amount of potato in the soup this time. This time I also grated the potato using my food processor and it's grating blade rather than just cutting it into matchsticks. Either way is good, but grating it makes the soup thicker. Last time I also dropped in a rind from a spent Parmesan cheese into the soup while it was cooking as I had some in the freezer. I decided not to add it the second time around but if you can, add it. It doesn't make the soup cheesy- it rounds out the flavor and adds some seasoning.

By the way- the husband didn't like my version. There was "too much green stuff". He had a frozen burrito for dinner instead LOL.

CALDO VERDE
Serves 4-6

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut small or grated
• 5 cups chicken stock (low sodium if using store-bought)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Parmesan rind (optional)
• 1/4 pound chorizo or linguica, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces (I used President’s Choice mild chorizo that comes thinly sliced in a package)
• 2 cups kale, shredded (easiest way to do this is roll the kale into a log and thinly slice, then run your knife through the pile of sliced kale just to be sure)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Crusty bread, as an accompaniment

In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onion and garlic until softened, about 4 minutes. Add potatoes, chicken stock, crushed red pepper, and Parmesan rind and bring to a boil. Season with pepper, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until potatoes fall apart, 30-60 minutes depending how small you cut them. To speed up this process, the potatoes can be mashed with a potato masher.

When the soup is thick and the potatoes have broken up, whisk to break up the remaining potato pieces. Add the sausage and cook for 15 minutes. Remove Parmesan rind and stir in the shredded kale. Simmer until the leaves are softened but still slightly crunchy and flavors have melded, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with crusty bread.

P.S. Here's some irony for you- I had to share. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've eaten a frozen entree at home, but I ended up eating a frozen pasta meal for lunch this afternoon at around 3pm as I forgot to eat all day while I was setting up this FOOD AND COOKING blog so I was starving and desperate.