The Literate Chef

Posts Tagged ‘chouriço’

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Portuguese Kale Soup

In Recipes, Soups on October 15, 2012 at 7:40 PM

Portuguese Kale Soup

(Yield – about 5 quarts. Active preparation time 1 hour, unattended cooking time 2 hours)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion coarsely chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced
6 15oz. cans Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
3 lbs. Chouriço, or Linguiça sliced about ¼ inch, or less, thick
4 qts. water
1 cup Beef or Chicken Broth
1 & 1/2 lbs. Kale, (2 medium sized bunches) remove leaves from stems, rip leaves and discard stems
1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced and diced in 3/4 inch pieces

Procedure:

1.    In an 8 quart pot, heat olive oil on medium.
2.    Add onion and garlic, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 5 minutes.
3.    Add 3 cans of the beans, stir well and cook 5 minutes.
4.    Add sausage, raise heat to medium, cook 3 minutes.
5.    Add water and broth, stir well and bring to a boil.
6.    When soup is at a full boil, add kale and potatoes, stir well and return to a boil.
7.    Reduce heat to medium and boil uncovered for 1 hour.
8.    Mash 1 can (2 cups) of the beans in a food processor and stir into the soup.
9.    Add the remaining 2 cans of beans to the soup and stir.
10.    Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for an additional hour.

Serve as a meal along with warm, crusty bread. Leftovers may be frozen in 1 or 2 quart containers to serve as additional meals during the long, cold, winter.

Please see: My Cousin Vinny to the Rescue

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Chouriço Omelet

In Egg Dishes, Recipes on March 25, 2012 at 3:26 PM

Chouriço Omelet

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. unsalted butter
4 oz. coarsely chopped Chouriço, Chorizo or Linguiça
2 eggs, whisked with ¼ tsp. of turmeric, if desired
2 tsps. chopped fresh chives

Preparation:

1.    In a low-sided, non-stick omelet pan, melt the butter on medium heat.
2.    Add the chouriço and lightly brown for three minutes, turning frequently.
3.    When the chouriço is browned, push to the middle of the pan and slowly pour in the eggs.
4.    Shake the pan lightly to let the eggs spread out.
5.    Reduce the heat to low and let the eggs settle, raising the edges with a spatula, from time to time, to allow the liquid to run off to the sides.
6.    When most of the liquid solidifies, sprinkle with the chives, carefully fold over and let sit for 30 seconds.
7.    Serve and enjoy!

Please see: A Serendipitous Halibut Dinner

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Roasted Halibut with Chouriço and Porcini Mushrooms

In Fish, Pork, Recipes, Seafood on March 25, 2012 at 3:25 PM

Roasted Halibut with Chouriço and Porcini Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 lb. Halibut fillet
.5 oz. Dried Porcini Mushrooms
8 oz. fresh spinach
4 tbsps. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 oz. Hot Chouriço or Hot Chorizo,* sliced into ¼ inch thick pieces and then quartered
2 San Marzano tomatoes, chopped and drained
1 tbsp. chopped Cherry Pepper*, stem removed
1 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

Preparation:

1.    Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees with the rack on the highest level.
2.    Rehydrate the mushrooms according to instructions on the package. If no instructions are included, soak the mushrooms in 1 cup of warm water for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set aside, reserve the liquid for use in the sauce.
3.    Steam the spinach in 1 cup of water; drain, and when cooled, squeeze out and discard any liquid, set the spinach aside.
4.    Place the halibut in a greased roasting pan and roast for 18 minutes. When done, place under the broiler for 2 minutes.
5.    While the halibut is roasting, heat the olive oil in a 10-12 inch sauté pan on medium heat; add the chorizo and lightly brown for 3 minutes, turning frequently.
6.    Add the tomatoes, cherry pepper and mushrooms, reduce heat to medium low and mix well, cook for 3 minutes more.
7.    Add the wine, raise the heat to medium-high and let boil for 3 minutes until reduced by approximately half.
8.    Add the reserved mushroom-soaking water and boil for 3 more minutes. You should wind up with about 1 cup of liquid.
9.    Divide the spinach in half and place in the center of two bowls. When the halibut is done, slice in half and place each piece atop the spinach ‘bed’.
10.    With a slotted spoon, remove most of the chorizo and mushrooms from the sauce (reserving some for garnish) and spread around the halibut/spinach combination in the bottom of the bowl.
11.    Pour the sauce and the remaining chorizo and mushrooms over the halibut and sprinkle with the chives.

*If the spicy (but not overwhelming so) combination of hot chorizo and cherry pepper is not for your palate, leave out the cherry pepper and use regular chouriço, chorizo or linguiça.

Serve with a well-chilled bottle of dry white wine, such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a crisp, fresh, Arneis from the Italian Piedmont.

Please see: A Serendipitous Halibut Dinner

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A Serendipitous Halibut Dinner

In General Articles on March 25, 2012 at 3:25 PM

With the recent spate of Spring weather that we have been experiencing, since even before the official start of the season, and with the grill having been fired up last week for the shell steaks that accompanied Aunt Emma’s Sauteéd Mushrooms, I thought that grilled striped bass would be in order for last night’s dinner. However, upon visiting the local fishmonger, alas, there was no bass! But he did have a beautiful piece of halibut fillet and it was of a good thickness, slightly more than one inch throughout.

Having found in the past that grilling a halibut fillet doesn’t seem to work, because the flesh, while dense, seems to fall apart on the grill, I now had to figure out what to do with it. For inspiration I stopped by the supermarket, and in trolling the aisles my eyes lit upon Chouriço. I had not cooked fish with sausage before, but the combination works very well in Paella and in Shrimp Jambalaya, and having read pasta recipes that combined clams with smoked sausage, I thought… why not?

I began to envision the dish taking shape. First, it would need some form of a sauce and should be served in a bowl as a one dish meal, as is done in many restaurants. Accordingly, I picked up a bag of spinach which would serve as the ‘bed’ for the halibut. Next, maybe some mushrooms to add to the chouriço to create the sauce. In the mushroom section I found a package of dried Porcini mushrooms, which, with their big flavor, would be a perfect counterpoint to the rather bland halibut. Then, a couple of San Marzano tomatoes to give the sauce a base, and maybe a Cherry Pepper to give it some heat and white wine for the liquid. Those three ingredients presented no problem, as they were all at home. Finally, I grabbed a package of fresh chives to add color and a bit more flavor.

The end result, Roasted Halibut with Chouriço and Mushrooms, was even better than I had imagined. And this morning, I used up the remaining chouriço for a quick Omelet.                                                                      

Roasted Halibut with Chouriço and Porcini Mushrooms

Chouriço Omelet

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