Spanish Caldo Gallego Recipes

Steps:

• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and add the ham hock, onions, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until slits of ham hock have begun to open and vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, to taste, and paprika and cook for 1 minute longer. Add 9 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Drain the white beans and add them to the pot. Return to a simmer and continue to cook at a simmer until beans are just beginning to get tender, about 1 hour longer. Remove the ham hock and, when cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the hock and shred into bite size pieces. (Discard skin and bones.) Return the meat to the pot along with the remaining salt (or to taste), potatoes, turnip greens, and chorizo and continue to cook until beans have broken down slightly, potatoes and greens are very tender, about 1 hour longer. Remove the bay leaf and serve hot.
• Note: you may have to add a bit more water if the soup gets too thick during the lengthy cooking time.

Steps:

• In a 8 qt stockpot, simmer the first 10 ingredients, covered, for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.
• Remove chicken from the pot.
• Debone the chicken, chop the meat and reserve.
• Add to the pot: potatoes, cabbage, kale and turnips.
• Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes longer.
• Return the boned chicken to the pot and add the salt and pepper.
• Simmer a few more minutes until all is hot, and serve.
• The soup keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• Soak white beans overnight. Next day, drain and refill with cold water to cover by 4cms.
• In a large pot add a little EVOO, med heat up, and add pancetta slab and bone. Cook until bone and slab look like they are rendering juices and starting to brown a bit.
• Add bay leaves, ham knuckle, and fill with water to cover the smoked knuckle. Bring to boil and leave on rolling boil/simmer for about 75mins or less (check ham knuckle to make sure it stays submerged, add more water if needed).
• In the meantime bring to boil the white beans and cook on moderate heat for just 15mins. Drain and set aside (This is to give the beans a helping start as they won't cook quickly later when added to the salty/meaty broth that will become from above).
• Back at the big pot (after about 75mins), remove all the meats and bone and set aside.
• Add the white beans to the big broth pot, bring to the boil and simmer at a medium-high flame. How long to cook? This is the most important step! The beans must be cooked to nearing al-dente. Any further they will turn to mush, too early and they will remain bullets. Judge well because the final step will be to add the vegetables/potatoes and chorizos at the right time because there are 30 more minutes left of cooking. So keep checking!
• Whilst the beans are simmering grab a frying pan, add some EVOO and start frying the onion/leek slices, add the ñora peppers and after 10mins add the chopped garlic, turn down heat and continue cooking on low heat until onion/leeks are nearing to brown, but not there yet. Turn off heat, allow to cool then stir in the paprika. Remove ñora peppers, pull off stems. In a blender add the ñoras and a cup of the broth from large pot (cooled) and whizz up into a thick sauce. Add this back into the frying pan and stir to mix.
• When the removed meats have cooled slice off any excess meat, chop up into bite sized pieces and leave aside for the mo.
• When the beans are nearing al-dente, add the chopped carrots, the fried onion or leek/garlic/ñora/paprika sauce from the frying pan, and the whole chorizos to the big pot. Cook on moderate heat. After 10 mins add potato chunks. Add the turnips (if using) 5 mins later then after another 5 mins add chopped greens and the chopped meats and continue to cook until potatoes, and turnips (if musing) are cooked, but not falling apart.
• Check the beans, are they now cooked? If so turn heat to a bare minimum uncovered and hook out the chorizos. When cool enough to handle chop into chunks and add back into the pot for a few mins.
• Ladle into individual bowls and serve with country bread