Written by: Roscoe |  Print this post and share it with your buddies!

However You Translate, It Means Bean Soup

And it is some kind of good. Full of beans and chorizo and ham hock and a whole bunch of other Cuban stuff that’s nothing but flavor.

It’s Good To Have Relatives

Ana Z is married to Roscoe’s cousin, the Z-Man, they live in Miami. Ana Z’s mother translated from her own mother’s Spanish recitation, and Ana transformed it into a pot of goodness. Handed down through generations, right to Cookin’ With Roscoe.

Here It Is:

Caldo Gallego

1 Pkg. Cannellini Beans
2-3 Smoked ham hocks
1/6 th of the pkg. I sent you of the Hunto (Salted pork fat) it gives the soup most of its flavor
3 Chorizos Sliced
3 slices of salted cured pork
1/2 pkg. Collard greens
2 chicken flavored bouillon cubes (or more if needed, this is the equivalent of salt)
1 large red potato, cut up into cubes.

In a pan you are going to cook the following 3 ingredients separately before adding them to the stockpot.
Cut up the Hunto into little pieces and fry it in a pan with a little oil until they are golden brown. After the Hunto is browned add it to the stock pot including the oil you cooked it in. In that same pan you slightly cook the 3 slices of cured pork add that to the pot. Cook the sliced chorizos for a few minutes so that they begin to cook and start giving up their red color in the pan, then add those to the pot also with whatever oil is left in the pan from the chorizos.

While that is browning add 8 cups water to a stockpot and add the following ingredients:
cannellini beans, ham hocks, hunto, chorizo, salted cured pork, collard greens, bouillon cubes.
Cover the pot and cook for about 4-5 hours over low-medium heat (a slow simmer). Keep an eye on it as you occasionally stir it so that the beans do not stick to the bottom of the pan. If you see that the water level is going down too much add more water.
After it has been cooking for about 2 hours add the potato. Cover it again and keep cooking and stirring until the beans are soft.
The soup will have no flavor for about the first 2-3 hours then towards the end once the beans soften up all the flavors come together and at that time if you feel it needs more salt add another bouillon cube.

Roscoe Confesses

Let’s face it, there are a few things in this recipe that made Roscoe stop and think: 8 cups of water? Roscoe couldn’t do it. Had to use chicken stock. Chorizo instead of kielbasa? It took all his willpower, but Roscoe went with the Chorizo. Hey, if that’s not the definition of open minded, what is? But when it came right down to it, Roscoe had to cook with onions and garlic, and Worcestershire and Cholula. So aside from those tiny sidesteps, and the one mistake, Roscoe followed the recipe.

Mistake, You Say?

Yes, Roscoe made a mistake: He put the potato in with the rest of the stuff instead of waiting two hours, like the recipe says (didn’t do it on purpose, honest). And, as you’d expect, the potato disintegrated from all that cook time. But it thickened the stock and made it delicious.

This Cuban Food Might Catch On

Time to dig up some Cuban recipes to go with that Cubano sandwich and the Caldo Gallego. Maybe a good buttery tamale. Hey, Ana, if you’re reading, send us more, ’cause now we’re…

Cookin’ Cuban With Roscoe