Sunday Soup #79: Caldo Gallego (Galician Chickpea & Sausage Soup)

This week, I was pleased to make a very interesting recipe from the cookbook, Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette. This book was given to me as a special gift by my friend Marian and, as it belonged to her brother, I am both grateful and humbled to have received it.

This book is filled with 150+ international recipes, many of them vegetarian, organized by month, all designed to "help cultivate the art of soup making." I know it is February, but this Spanish soup from December looked too good for me to wait another 10 months to try. Galicia is a region on the northwest coast of Spain (just above Portugal) known for its mild climate and a cathedral said to be the burial place of the biblical apostle Saint James the Great.

I encourage you to purchase this book, but I'll print just this recipe here for the purposes of providing commentary. Enjoy!

This recipe came from: Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette (https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Months-Monastery-Victor-DAvila-Latourrette/dp/0767901800/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1551118338&sr=8-1&keywords=twelve+months+of+monastery+soups)

*Pic 1 - The cover of Twelve Months of Monastery Soups

Recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups dried chickpeas (or 2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans)
2 large onions, sliced
6 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
4 cups chicken or meat stock
1 bay leaf
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
1 turnip, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 heart of celery, thinly sliced
8 slices sweet Spanish chorizo, cut in half
12 fresh spinach leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight and then rinse them and discard the water. If you wish to save time, use the canned chickpeas (garbanzos), which taste the same.

2. In a large soup pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to turn soft. Add the garlic and stir well.

3. Add the water and stock. Bring the soup to a boil. Add the chickpeas, bay leaf, parsley, turnip, carrot, potatoes, celery, and chorizo. Cook the soup, with the pot covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes over medium heat (or until the chickpeas are tender).

4. Add the chopped spinach, salt, and pepper and simmer the soup gently for 15 to 20 minutes, adding more water, if needed. Stir it from time to time. Remove the bay leaf. Turn off the heat and serve the soup hot.

Variations from Recipe as Written: I used a whole loop of Spanish chorizo (7oz), procured from Amazon.com, rather than the little bit called for by the recipe. That was my only alteration.

General Thoughts: There was a fair bit of prep involved with this one. It was not overwhelming, and I took my time and meandered through it, but if you have an aversion to chopping and dicing, this one might not be the one for you. Prep and cook time combined, this recipe takes a little more than 2 hours to complete.

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when I made it

I loved all of the different ingredients in this soup and the accompanying textures. The soup was wonderfully brothy, which suits my tastes just fine, and the vegetables (including the potatoes) were perfectly done, cooked through, and tasty. The chickpeas were a bit firmer and provided a hearty mouthfeel. Finally, the chorizo was slightly chewy (maybe, a little too chewy?), but that would likely vary with the brand/type of chorizo you chose to use. The harder (i.e., drier) the chorizo starts out, the chewier it will end up in the soup.

The taste was very solid! It reminded me a little bit of the Oktoberfest Stew that was such as favorite earlier in the project (https://soupersleuth.blogspot.com/2016/10/sunday-soup-18.html), but it lacked a little of the vinegar bite. Still, the tang of the Spanish chorizo was very interesting, and each bite had a delightful continental flavor. I did learn that I needed to be a little more liberal with the salt and pepper, as they are the only herbs or spices in the mix (other than a single bay leaf). But, overall, it was super tasty!

Potential Improvements? Next time, I think I'd like to add a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the whole pot, to vary the flavor profile a little. I'd also like even more chorizo than I used, as well as trying a slightly less dry (i.e., softer) variety of sausage. Finally, I'd use 8 cups of broth rather than 4 cups each of broth and water.

Polling the Fam: I enjoyed this recipe quite a bit and would definitely make it again, particularly with the changes above. Becky did not like it as much, however, saying that she didn't care for either the taste or the firmness of the chorizo. Hunter really liked it, gave it a "perfect rating," and said he wouldn't change a thing. And, Fox, as he usually does, said it was "okay."

Verdict: Liked it. (4 stars)

Sunday Soup #78: Vegetable Beef Soup

When I asked my friend, Lisa, what soup we should make this past weekend, she said she had been craving a good vegetable beef soup. Vegetable beef soup is a classic, a recipe that should be in every soup cookbook and, if done right, a dish that can please the masses. I found one that seemed like it had some promise: simple, hearty, and classic. But, did it please our crowd?

This recipe came from: https://therecipecritic.com/vegetable-beef-soup/

*Pic 1 - https://therecipecritic.com/vegetable-beef-soup/

Variations from Recipe as Written: We actually ended up with quite a few alterations to this recipe, primarily based on what we had on hand. We used about double the meat called for, and a mixture of cuts (i.e., top round, bottom round, and stew meat). The diced tomatoes we used came already seasoned with Italian seasoning, so we forewent the additional Italian seasoning the recipe called for.  And we used russet potatoes, but they were HUGE, so the recipe wound up very potato-y.

General Thoughts: As usual, when I cook with Lisa, she did a lot of the chopping, so she handled the prep on carrots, celery, and potatoes, as well as cubing the beef. There was a moderate amount of prep involved overall, which was not unexpected for a vegetable beef soup, particularly with needing to brown the meat ahead of time. But, it didn't take extraordinarily long because Lisa is a pro; every kitchen needs a Lisa!

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when we made it

This soup was on the verge of being a stew, hearty and filling, with tasty chunks in every spoonful. The vegetables were perfectly done and may have even been my favorite part. As previously mentioned, it seemed like a few too many potatoes for a proper balance, but it wasn't too overwhelming. The taste was solid and consistent with  many traditional vegetable beef soups I've eaten, made in restaurant kitchens.

However, using different cuts of beef (which we did because we already had them on hand) led to some slightly odd texture and (to a lesser extent) taste variations. Further, the meat, which I was hoping would be flavorful and savory in and of itself, was just kind of bland and... well... beefy. The beef needed to be richer, more tender, and as least as much of a focus as the veggies.

The bottom line is that, as far as vegetable beef soups go, this one was pretty good. But, when considered against the whole universe of other interesting and intriguing soups out there, this one was somewhat unremarkable.

Potential Improvements? Lisa thinks this is one we should make again and make some improvements... I agree, because I think there are plenty to be made. First and foremost, the beef: using 100% stew beef, and marinating it for three-ish hours in a salt, olive oil, worcestershire sauce, and red wine mixture would have given a much richer, deeper flavor and made it more tender. I would use petite diced tomatoes to avoid large chunks (this is a very personal food quirk for me, so you might want to stick with large diced). I'd go a bit lighter on the potatoes to provide better beef/veggie/potato balance. And, I'd probably go a little heavier on the salt and pepper, while going a little lighter on the Italian seasoning. 

Polling the Fam: I thought it was tasty, and it was good leftover, but nothing really special in its current state. I'd love to try again with the improvements above. Becky thought it was okay (but she's not generally a vegetable beef soup fan) and wished it was thicker, like a stew. Lisa thought it was good, but that the broth needed to be richer (maybe homemade beef broth?), there were too many potatoes, and the Italian seasoning seemed "wrong." Jayson thought the best part was the broth, but found it otherwise unremarkable. Hunter thought it was solid, very filling, well-balanced, and liked how he could not taste the celery. And, Fox thought it was okay but that it needed more flavor.

Verdict: It was okay. (3 stars)