Do you find yourself lacking
kale in your life? Is there a great cruciferous void that needs filling?
Well luckily for you Kale Fest has your answers! Our friends from Cherry Grove Organic Farm in Princeton, NJ will be bring forth the goods, the info and all kinds of delicious recipes at the Summit Farmers' Market Sunday, October 15, 8 AM-1 PM. Cherry Grove Organic Farm is located between Princeton and Lawrenceville and NOFA-NJ-certified in addition to being a
CSA farm.
They offer stunningly fresh, beautiful vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Furthermore, they couldn't be any friendlier.
Last Sunday they had fantastic selection of beets, squash, leafy greens, hard-neck garlic, beautiful fingerling potatoes, herbs, haricots verts, scallions, flowers and so forth. They grow plenty of heirloom varieties and choose for flavor over durability.
Now on to the kale! In honor of Kale Fest, here is a recipe that could not be simpler and really highlights the beauty of a few ingredients combined with restraint making more than the sum of their parts.
Caldo Verde (green Soup) is considered by many to be Portugal's national dish. Made with water, potatoes, olive oil,
couve-galega (kale) and served with Portuguese bread, grilled
linguica or
chourico sausages and plenty of
Tinto, this soup is served in many variations from upscale restaurants to bars to country homes. Some try to gild the lilly by making it with stock, but this tends to mask the fruity flavor of the olive oil. Also key is slicing the kale VERY, VERY, thinly. You may roll the leaves tightly into a cigar shape and cut with your sharpest knife. The kale only cooks for a couple of minutes, so the kale must be shredded very thinly.
Remember, dipping bread into soup is part of the ritual, so get nice crusty loaf and have at it!
Caldo Verde2 Lbs. boiling or all-purpose potatoes
1 cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil, Portuguese preferably
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound organic kale, washed thoroughly, stems removed
For serving:
2 Crusty loaves of Portuguese bread or a few Portuguese rolls
2 Lbs.
Linguica, Chourico or combination, grilled over hardwood charcoal (I'm a fan of Ironbound's Lopes Sausage Factory)
1. Peel potatoes and slice very thin. Put in large soup pot or Dutch oven with 6 cups water and the olive oil. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir frequently to break up potatoes (this helps to thicken soup). Cook until potatoes fall apart and broth is shiny and slightly thickened. Check seasoning, add salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper.
2. Roll kale a few leaves at a time and shred as finely as possible. Add to pot. Simmer for another 2 minutes. Ladle into soup plates, serve immediately with grilled sausages and bread on side.
Serve with a nice Tinto from Dao.
Serves about 8.
Options:
You may-if you so desire-make this with the addition of garlic and onions by finely chopping 1 onion and thinly slicing 2 cloves garlic and sauteeing in the one cup olive oil until translucent and then adding the water, potatoes and salt.
Happy Kale Fest!