Recipe: Portuguese Caldo Verde

Portuguese Caldo Verde, or as my buddies know it, "Kale and Sausage Soup" is my favorite soup to make, and one of the most hearty and inexpensive meals I have found. My dear friend who is very well-traveled told me about this recipe, which I have slightly modified to suit my tastes.

You will need:
6 cups of Chicken Stock (preferably free-range, because non-factory farm animals taste better)
4 cups water
4 large cloves of garlic
1 bag kale/1 pound of kale shoots, cleaned and de-stemmed
3-4 potatoes (I use plain russets)
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 lean pork bratwurst sausages
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil


I add a little bit of the salt and some pepper at each stage of this recipe: essentially whenever a food is in the pot for the first time it gets a few pinches.

Using a kitchen scissors, remove the meat from their casings. In a large pot on medium-high heat, brown the sausage in the olive oil until it is opaque, crumbling it into bite-sized pieces. You may wish to season it with a half-teaspoon of cumin for extra flavor. As the meat cooks, wash the kale thoroughly as dirt may be on the leaves. Run a large knife along the edges of the kale stems (assuming you didn't find pre-chopped kale in a bag) and cut the leaves into strips of about 1.5" thick. Put aside in its colander.
Chop or dice the onion and crush the garlic with your palm, then slice it thinly (you need not mince it). When the sausage has browned, set it aside on a plate, reserving all its drippings and oil to cook the onion and garlic in. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Season and sauté the onion for around seven minutes, and add the garlic for the last three - if you add it prematurely it is likely to burn and become bitter. As these two cook, slice your potatoes in half lengthwise, and then crosswise thinly. You may peel them if you wish, but they are easier to handle with the peel on. After the onions and garlic have been cooking for ten minutes, add the potatoes and stir them in to coat them with the oil. Cook them for another three minutes.
Next, add the sausage back in, the stock, the water, the remainder of the salt and pepper, the kale, and the garlic powder. The kale will seem too tall for the pot, but it cooks down. Mix everything together gently and turn heat to medium-high, until the mixture is near-boiling, then reduce to medium-low, cover partially, and simmer for 25 minutes. A good cue is that the potatoes should have just a little resistance to the tooth, and the kale should turn a beautiful shade of deep green, not dull. Adjust seasonings and serve hot.