I made caldo verde

[JenniferL]

Part of this was previously posted in my food blog. I had some heavy cooking to do today, between the soup and a pumpkin bread I've been working towards since Saturday. So I don't have as much time as I did last night for posting.  If Barm wants me to do two long posts tomorrow to make up for it, that's fine.

 

If you want to know why I have so many collard greens in my fridge, go check out my blog. http://northsidefood.blogspot.com/2008/09/too-many-greens.html

 

In a vain attempt to use up the collards taking over my fridge, I made caldo verde tonight. Caldo verde is a Portueguese soup that can use either kale or collard greens. It's pretty easy to make and I thought it was pretty tasty too.

 

Adapted from SoupSong.com

 

Onion

Garlic

Sliced potatoes

Hot italian sausage

Leftover potlikker from making collards earlier this week

As many collards as you can stand to eat

 

Alright, first up, brown the sausage in your big soup pot. I used link sausage, but I think bulk would work just fine.  After it's cooked through, pull it out. Use that grease to lightly fry your potato slices.  Add the potlikker and boil the potatoes until they are soft.  Break them up or mash them with your kitchen tongs or spoon or whatever.  Add the chopped garlic and onion.  Add more water, to fill the pot. Add the collards, sliced thin, and bring to a boil.  Cook until collards are tender.  You'll probably want to salt the pot at some point. I have a bad habit of undersalting food when I cook.

 

This made a CRAZY amount of soup. We're both eating it for lunch tomorrow, and I think I'm bringing extra to work with me to share with co workers.  This one lady there is always trying to feed me, so I'm going to return the favor.  It's pretty tasty, most likely due to the potlikker used as the soup base.  I'd make this again.

 

This is a pretty good example of the poverty food that I'm always nattering on about. We usually call it "soul food" in the US. Poverty food is cuisine developed to take full advantage of calories and nutrients available in a marginal situation. For example, the collard greens I made on Sunday were made very simply.  Just the greens, onions, salt, water and a ham hock.  Red beans and rice also use up alot of odds and ends.  French cooking has cassoulet and french toast.

[Tigara]

What exactly is potlikker? :look

[Wayward_fool]

Collard liquor, also known as pot liquor, sometimes spelled potlikker[1] or pot likker[2] is the liquid that is left behind after boiling greens (collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens). It is sometimes seasoned with salt, pork or turkey.

 

I'm trying to look clever but I just stole that from Wikipedia.

 

I think it's like vegetable stock, but just...err... greener. No roots or tubers are involved.

[JenniferL]

Yup, what he said. It's very rich in nutrients and is a staple of southern cooking.  Traditionally, it gets sopped up with corn bread as part of the meal or it's served as a beverage. Remember, this is poverty food. They can't afford to waste any potential calories or nutrients. There's very little wasted in this kind of cooking.

[Karana Majin]

I looooves me some collard greens.  I make them so simply!  I chop up and fry about 3 pieces of bacon along with a bunch of onion.  When the bacon is done, I throw in the ripped up collard leaves until they are wilted, then cover with chicken broth and cook for about 45 minutes.  So good we lick the pot clean!

 

I made a soup similar to yours with some kale I got from my CSA, but it was vegetarian-ish.  I used some freezer beans as the base, stirred in a bunch of kale and canned tomatoes and at the last minute added parmesan cheese.  So good with crusty bread!!  *drools*

[JenniferL]

I think I've made that kale soup before. Didn't Fellina post the recipe here years ago? I made it once and Jimmy didn't like it, so I never made it again.

 

I'll have to try your method of making collards. After all, I have PLENTY to experiment with.

[Elgee]

What on earth is/are collard greens?

[Liitha]

you took the words out of my mouth LG

[JenniferL]

Collards are a green leafy vegetable that's pretty common in my part of the country. It's a big green stalk with broad leaves. It's related to cabbages and broccoli, and it's the only veggie that actually become more nutritious after you cook it. That's because the high amount of cellulose makes it hard to digest unless it's been cooked for awhile to break it up.  It's sort of an acquired taste, as they have a pretty distinct flavor and it's easy to over cook them, since they need such a long cooking period.

[Liitha]

must be too cold for it here then