With all the talk about broth, stock, stockpots, and what not going on around here lately, it got me thinking about soups.
Central-Americans, Mexicans and Mexican Americans eat a lot of caldos and cocidos, a one dish meal that lands somewhere between a soup and a stew. It's a really wonderful meal -- as good on a hot day as on a cold one. As good for lunch as for dinner.
I've written up a simple, but authentic version of a chicken soup/stew called caldo de pollo. It can be made in 45 minutes start to finish. The pot can be made well in advance, held and reheated for convenience; and leftovers -- well, you should be so lucky.
The ingredient list looks long, but remember that it's a one dish meal -- so everything besides dessert is in that list. Feel free to add or subtract as is convenient, and as tickles your fancy. For this type of dish, rules are like badges to bandidos. You remember the what the bandido said about badges from Treasure of the Sierra Madre, don't you? "Badges? We don't got to show you no stinkin' badges!"
Bi-lingual thought of the day: The Spanish word "caldo," and the English word "caludron," share a common root. Don't cackle while you stir, or people may think you're a bruja (or a brjuo, as the case may be).
Retail Therapy: If you enjoy Mexican food, it's worthwhile getting a tortilla basket or two and a couple of colorful towels for them. That way you can keep tortillas hot on the table and not run back and forth to the kitchen the way Mexican mothers do to make their kids feel guilty. I may not be Mexican, but I know mothers.
CALDO de POLLO
(8 portions, serves 4)
Ingredients:
1-1/2 qts chicken stock (homemade, boxed, or "Better than Bullion")
1-1/2 quarts water
4 chicken leg quarters
2 whole carrots
2 potatoes
4 ears corn
1 chayote squash, or 2 medium zucchini
(Optional) 1-1/4 cup cabbage shredded
2 onions divided
2 sprigs spearmint
salt
Mexican style hot sauce (Tapatio, Bufalo, Yucateca, other)
(Optional) 1-1/2 cups cooked, steamed, white rice or left over "Mexican" rice.
(Optional) Maggi
handful of fresh cilantro leaves
3 tbs dried Mexican oregano
2 avocados
2 lemons cut in 1/8 wedges, or 8 limes cut in half, or mixed lemons and limes
2 dozen corn tortillas warmed
Technique:
Combine the water and the stock, add the chicken parts and bring the broth to a simmer. Allow to simmer until the soup starts to scum, and skim, periodically until it no longer produces scum (about 10 minutes after starting). Add salt to taste, leaving under-salted. Simmer an additional 10 minutes.
If you don't have left over cooked rice, make the rice with 1/2 cup long grain rice, 1 cup water and a tsp of salt. Make more or less rice according to your preference. (Personally, I'm happy with very little or no rice. The amount specified is typical.)
Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into quarters, the carrots into large coins, shuck the corn and break the cobs into halves, cut the squash into chunks too large to eat without cutting. Cut the 2 onions into 4 halves, and chop three of them into large dice, and reserve with the other vegetatbles. Chop the remaining half into fine dice, and reserve separately.
Add the mint and the vegetables to the soup (other than the fine-diced onion). Allow to simmer another 10 minutes.
Chop the cilantro with the reserved fine diced onion, until the onion is well minced and the mixture resembles a paste. Split and seed the avocados. Cut them into medium dice while still in the skin, then scoop the dice out with a spoon into a serving bowl. Salt the avocado lightly and squeeze some lemon or lime juice over it to keep it from darkening. Plate the limes, cilanto/onion mixture, and oregano by putting each condiment in its own serving bowl. Bring these to the table, along with the bottles of hot sauce and Maggi (if using). If you warm tortillas in the oven, start the process.
Remove the chicken quarters, cut them into individual legs and thighs, and return them to the pot. Check to make sure the thighs are fully cooked (they will be, but check anyway). If necessary continue cooking until the thighs are done. The potatoes should be barely cooked. Then add the rice and allow to simmer another 5 minutes.
If you warm tortillas on the stove top (best) or the microwave (better than the regular oven): Get started.
Finally, adjust the caldo for salt to its final level. Serve in large bowls.
The diners add condiments in whatever amounts they choose -- a pinch of this a pinch of that. Yes, the avocado goes right into the soup -- usually. Some diners prefer it on their tortillas. The freshness of the lemon and/or lime juices quickly disappears. Diners are encouraged to refresh the citrus several times as they eat. The hot sauce is used to brighten the flavors as well, the soup is usually not eaten very spicy. It is suave (swa-VAY = "smooth"), not picosa (pee-KO-sah = "spicy-hot"); comfort food, not a challenge.
Note: It's difficult to explain the importance of Maggi in Mexican and Central American culture. You never see it on restaurant tables, but it's probably in the kitchen. It's in nearly every home on the kitchen table, but seldom makes it to the dining room. Some families use it on everything, some can keep a small bottle for years without making a dent in it. If you eat a lot of authentic, not too upscale, Mexican food, you'll recognize the difference it makes as a sort of "so this is what was missing" moment. I'm not sure how it became popular. It was developed by or for Nestle as a substitute for soy sauce.
A tu probecha!
BDL
PS. I sometimes forget to say this, but the usual rules about sharing: If you want to share this recipe or repost it elsewhere, please attribute it to Boar D. Laze.
PPS. I'd be especially gratified if you could also mention that I've got a book in the eventual works: COOK FOOD GOOD: American Cooking and Technique for Beginners and Intermediates.
PPS. Take a look at my blog. Please. Pretty please. http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/blogs...arts-i-ii.html
Central-Americans, Mexicans and Mexican Americans eat a lot of caldos and cocidos, a one dish meal that lands somewhere between a soup and a stew. It's a really wonderful meal -- as good on a hot day as on a cold one. As good for lunch as for dinner.
I've written up a simple, but authentic version of a chicken soup/stew called caldo de pollo. It can be made in 45 minutes start to finish. The pot can be made well in advance, held and reheated for convenience; and leftovers -- well, you should be so lucky.
The ingredient list looks long, but remember that it's a one dish meal -- so everything besides dessert is in that list. Feel free to add or subtract as is convenient, and as tickles your fancy. For this type of dish, rules are like badges to bandidos. You remember the what the bandido said about badges from Treasure of the Sierra Madre, don't you? "Badges? We don't got to show you no stinkin' badges!"
Bi-lingual thought of the day: The Spanish word "caldo," and the English word "caludron," share a common root. Don't cackle while you stir, or people may think you're a bruja (or a brjuo, as the case may be).
Retail Therapy: If you enjoy Mexican food, it's worthwhile getting a tortilla basket or two and a couple of colorful towels for them. That way you can keep tortillas hot on the table and not run back and forth to the kitchen the way Mexican mothers do to make their kids feel guilty. I may not be Mexican, but I know mothers.
CALDO de POLLO
(8 portions, serves 4)
Ingredients:
1-1/2 qts chicken stock (homemade, boxed, or "Better than Bullion")
1-1/2 quarts water
4 chicken leg quarters
2 whole carrots
2 potatoes
4 ears corn
1 chayote squash, or 2 medium zucchini
(Optional) 1-1/4 cup cabbage shredded
2 onions divided
2 sprigs spearmint
salt
Mexican style hot sauce (Tapatio, Bufalo, Yucateca, other)
(Optional) 1-1/2 cups cooked, steamed, white rice or left over "Mexican" rice.
(Optional) Maggi
handful of fresh cilantro leaves
3 tbs dried Mexican oregano
2 avocados
2 lemons cut in 1/8 wedges, or 8 limes cut in half, or mixed lemons and limes
2 dozen corn tortillas warmed
Technique:
Combine the water and the stock, add the chicken parts and bring the broth to a simmer. Allow to simmer until the soup starts to scum, and skim, periodically until it no longer produces scum (about 10 minutes after starting). Add salt to taste, leaving under-salted. Simmer an additional 10 minutes.
If you don't have left over cooked rice, make the rice with 1/2 cup long grain rice, 1 cup water and a tsp of salt. Make more or less rice according to your preference. (Personally, I'm happy with very little or no rice. The amount specified is typical.)
Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into quarters, the carrots into large coins, shuck the corn and break the cobs into halves, cut the squash into chunks too large to eat without cutting. Cut the 2 onions into 4 halves, and chop three of them into large dice, and reserve with the other vegetatbles. Chop the remaining half into fine dice, and reserve separately.
Add the mint and the vegetables to the soup (other than the fine-diced onion). Allow to simmer another 10 minutes.
Chop the cilantro with the reserved fine diced onion, until the onion is well minced and the mixture resembles a paste. Split and seed the avocados. Cut them into medium dice while still in the skin, then scoop the dice out with a spoon into a serving bowl. Salt the avocado lightly and squeeze some lemon or lime juice over it to keep it from darkening. Plate the limes, cilanto/onion mixture, and oregano by putting each condiment in its own serving bowl. Bring these to the table, along with the bottles of hot sauce and Maggi (if using). If you warm tortillas in the oven, start the process.
Remove the chicken quarters, cut them into individual legs and thighs, and return them to the pot. Check to make sure the thighs are fully cooked (they will be, but check anyway). If necessary continue cooking until the thighs are done. The potatoes should be barely cooked. Then add the rice and allow to simmer another 5 minutes.
If you warm tortillas on the stove top (best) or the microwave (better than the regular oven): Get started.
Finally, adjust the caldo for salt to its final level. Serve in large bowls.
The diners add condiments in whatever amounts they choose -- a pinch of this a pinch of that. Yes, the avocado goes right into the soup -- usually. Some diners prefer it on their tortillas. The freshness of the lemon and/or lime juices quickly disappears. Diners are encouraged to refresh the citrus several times as they eat. The hot sauce is used to brighten the flavors as well, the soup is usually not eaten very spicy. It is suave (swa-VAY = "smooth"), not picosa (pee-KO-sah = "spicy-hot"); comfort food, not a challenge.
Note: It's difficult to explain the importance of Maggi in Mexican and Central American culture. You never see it on restaurant tables, but it's probably in the kitchen. It's in nearly every home on the kitchen table, but seldom makes it to the dining room. Some families use it on everything, some can keep a small bottle for years without making a dent in it. If you eat a lot of authentic, not too upscale, Mexican food, you'll recognize the difference it makes as a sort of "so this is what was missing" moment. I'm not sure how it became popular. It was developed by or for Nestle as a substitute for soy sauce.
A tu probecha!
BDL
PS. I sometimes forget to say this, but the usual rules about sharing: If you want to share this recipe or repost it elsewhere, please attribute it to Boar D. Laze.
PPS. I'd be especially gratified if you could also mention that I've got a book in the eventual works: COOK FOOD GOOD: American Cooking and Technique for Beginners and Intermediates.
PPS. Take a look at my blog. Please. Pretty please. http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/blogs...arts-i-ii.html