SPICY Kale, potato and sausage soup

Great - but when it came to picture time, I was out of avocado garnish; but just imagine and drool...

A friend of mine posted this, and I had to tackle my version of the dish.  San Diego is currently reaching lows into the '20s°, which may not mean much to other parts of the country, but for us it's the Apocalypse!  I SO love soups, and this has many of my favorite things in it.

I have added some fresh chiles and it benefited from the addition of avocado slices for garnish.  A crusty French baguette would be a great accompaniment as well.

Play with this and let me know what variations you try.  Enjoy!

NOTE: unlike so many of my recipes, this is a really quick prep!

THE RECIPE

1 Oz EV olive oil
1 large onion, medium dice
4 stalks celery heart with leaves, small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced

5 Qts vegetable or chicken stock (more available if needed)
4 bay leaves
1T dried oregano
1T dried basil
1 t dried thyme
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

5 med. white potatoes, peeled, medium dice

1 # spicy sausage, grilled and 1/4 sliced
2 Bunches kale (Lacinato or "dinosaur" if you can find it), ribs removed, leaves cut into 1" X 1/2" pieces
2 jalapeno or 3 serrano chiles, seeds removed and minced
1/2 Bunch flat leaf parsley, minced

Suggested Garnishes:
Avocado slices
Garlic Parmesan croutons
Basil leaves, chiffonade
Crushed red chiles

Heat large stockpot over medium heat, add olive oil; saute onion, celery and garlic for 2 - 3 minutes.

Grill and dice sausage, process kale, chiles and parsley.

Add stock and dry herbs; bring to light boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes to finish the stock.

Increase heat to medium and add diced potato, and when they are half-cooked (10-15 minutes) add remaining ingredients.  Reduce heat and simmer another 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are just done.  Taste and re-season as needed.

Serve into individual bowls with desired garnish.  As with most soups, you can prepare this a day ahead of time.  If you take this route, hold off on the kale and just add during the re-heating process if you want to retain maximum nutrition and color.

Keep yourselves warm!

Green Split Pea Soup

Click on image for larger view.

This is probably the first thing I learned to cook.  Since I was a young child, my family visited the Andersen's restaurants, famous for their split pea soup,on a regular basis.  I can proudly say I have managed over the years to outdo their famous recipe.  My Mom and Dad each had their own translation, and I guess this is an amalgam of the three of us.  This is a savory mirepoix based soup with pork.  I prefer the consistency of this soup to be like drying concrete; the thicker the better.  Like most of my recipes this is an all-day project, but don't worry, most of the work is just simmering.

Once you have reached the consistency you want, run it through with an immersion blender (preferred method) or a mixer.  Then the final seasoning meat is added and heated through prior to service.  This pairs up nicely with a grilled sausage and rotkohl (sauteed red cabbage) or sauerkraut.  Certainly it will benefit from a crusty baguette or toast points (the garnish in the photo is a round cut out from a piece of sourdough).

 This has a bolder and stronger flavor profile than some may be used to (welcome to my world) so feel free to adjust according to your tastes.  This is just my favorite.

THE RECIPE

2 # green split peas
Filtered water, as needed

1 oz EV olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 stalks celery hearts with leaves, small dice
2 med. onions, small dice
2 carrots, small dice

2 # meaty ham bones or smoked ham hocks
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, minced
6 dried bay leaves
2 T dried oregano
2 T dried basil
1 dash sea salt (start slowly, as the smoked pork and ham will add salt as well - you can always add more if needed)
1 t ground black pepper

1 # diced ham or one package salt pork, rendered and diced

Suggested Garnishes:
Dry sherry
Crisp minced bacon
Spam, small dice
Fresh basil / oregano leaves, chiffonade
Parmesan croutons
Toast points

Soak split peas in filtered water overnight - cover with at least one inch of water, and add as needed.  The peas will double in size.

Early the next morning, warm a large stockpot over medium heat and add oil, garlic, celery, onion, carrot and sweat for five minutes.  Add all other ingredients up to salt and pepper.  Add water as needed; you should again have at least an inch of water over ingredients.  Bring to low boil, reduce heat to simmer and partially cover.  (If you use a heat diffuser, you will increase heat a bit and run less risk of sticking on the bottom of the pot.)

Simmer, stirring occasionally, four to six hours maintaining a temperature of 145°, until a fairly thick consistency is achieved.  If the soup sticks to the bottom of the pot, lower heat but do not scrape it.

When a thick consistency has been achieved, remove from heat.  Remove soup bones and bay leaves.  Blend into a smooth consistency with immersion blender of mixer.  Return soup to low heat and add ham or salt pork and heat through.

Taste and re-season as needed.  Serve into individual bowls with preferred garnish (I recommend the dry sherry).

For reheating, if the cold soup is thicker than you would like, just add a bit of water or chicken stock to regain desired consistency.

Yield: approx. 6 Qts.

Quick & Easy Menudo

The food of my people!  Seriously, I am the whitest Latino you will ever meet.  Yes, Grandma (Abuelita) was from Guadalajara, Jalisco MX.

As we are at New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (pictures probably in the morning, as the light is quickly fading) this dish is fabled to be...well, a type of antidote...a curative...a palliative...oh, hell, it's a hangover remedy!

This is a traditional stew of beef, patas (pig's or beef feet) in a rich, hearty beef stock with onion, herbs, chiles, hominy (dried, limed and reconstituted corn kernels) and yes, tripe.  If this scares you OR you don't know what this is, back away now and you will have no regrets.  The process is a day-long project at least and results in a spicy stock with stewed tripe and hominy.  The consumer typically garnishes to taste with crushed red chiles, oregano, diced onion, cilantro and lime - even avocado, try what you like as it is a blank canvas wrapped up in warm tortillas (I like corn{maize}).

As I think about the coming hangover holiday and look into my freezer, I realize I have TONS of clarified beef stock which has been parked for a while and needs to be used up.  This gives me an advantage in terms of prep time, but as I have removed all the cool fat and thickening gelatin from the cartilage I will need to add in these ingredients to be successful.  I repurpose the stock with some roasted bones, amp up the seasoning, and pop in tripe and hominy.  As you may have seen the phrases, "quick and easy" do not often appear in my recipes, and even in the real world these are objective terms.  Instead of a full day recipe this ends up being a half-day recipe.  Allow three to four hours for prep.

IF you do not have half a freezer full of prepared beef stock, here is a quick menudo stock recipe to get you started.  This takes you back to a full day of prep.

THE RECIPE - SCRATCH STOCK
3-4 # Beef soup (marrow) bones
3-4# Beef soup (meaty) bones
3 patas (pig's feet)
3 - 4 Qts, filtered water
3 lg. onions, quartered
6-8 bay leaves
4 stalks celery, sliced on the bias
3 T dried oregano
Stalks from one bunch of fresh cilantro
5-6 chiles japonesas, dried (more if that's your thing)
Salt and pepper, to taste

ROAST the bones and feet at 450°F for an hour, turning at the half-hour mark.  Add the onions at the half hour mark and torch these guys,  place all ingredients into the water and add all spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer three hours.  Remove from heat, cool and strain with a china cap.  Then proceed to the rest of the recipe. 

THE RECIPE - Quick & Easy Menudo

3 - 4 Qts. beef stock
2# beef marrow bones, roasted for 1 hour at 450°F, turned at 30 min.
1 lg. onion, quartered and roasted 450°F  for 30 min.
6 bay leaves
2 T dried oregano leaves
2 T smoked paprika
2 T ground New Mexico chile pepper
2 T freshly ground black pepper
3 chiles japonesas, dried
Salt & pepper, to taste

2# honeycomb tripe
(rinsed and soaked three times for 30 min. each run, with water changes and salt added at each 30 min.  Remember we are working with beef stomach, so you want a good, thorough rinse.  The market did not have honeycomb tripe today, but they did have book tripe in stock.  This is a flatter, more delicate and feathery tripe, often used in Chinese dim sum.  Unlike honeycomb tripe which is one flat strip to slice into squares, this is more three dimensional - it needs to be sliced both horizontally and diagonally.  The tripe will absorb the flavors in which it simmers, and break down with the simmering.)

GARNISH:
Cilantro
Diced onion
Crushed red pepper
Dried oregano
Minced cilantro leaves
Diced avocado
Jalapeno pepper slices
Lime wedges
Smoked or black finishing sea salt
Warm corn / flour tortillas

 OK - for those of you who have enough frozen beef stock to survive the Zombie Apocalypse, we are going to add a bit of gelatin for a thickener, and seasonings to "Latinize" the stock, then simmer the tripe and finish with the hominy and garnishes.

Rinse the tripe and soak for 30 minutes in cool water.   Add 2 - 3 T sea salt and soak and change water, rinse and salt for three more thirty minute water changes.

Warm the stock and add misc. seasonings.  Bring to a boil and simmer as beef bones and onions roast.  Add these as well as rendered fat, and simmer for an additional hour.  Remove from heat, cool and strain.

When the tripe finishes its rinse / soak cycle, drain and slice into bite - sized strips.  Set into stock and simmer until tender, 1 to 2 hours.  Add hominy, taste stock and adjust seasoning as needed.  Serve into 12 - 16 oz. bowls, with garnishes and warm tortillas.

ENJOY and leave feedback if you try this recipe!