Ranch Recipe #7 Caldo

On rare cold days in South Texas, everyone I know

looks for the best bowl of caldo (soup) they can find.

Although the ingredients for both caldo de pollo

(chicken soup)

and

caldo de res

(beef soup)

are very humble,

creating either is an art.

Trust me- I have tried and failed.


I wish I could include some sort of scratch and sniff/taste tab

here to demonstrate exactly what I mean.



There is a distinctive flavor to caldo that I imagine

is a result of the cook and years of experience.

Along the way, I have settled

on a derivation that has these important ingredients:

If you are making caldo ,

purchase the green topped Knorr’s caldo de pollo

and the red topped caldo de tomate  bouillion.

Then you must have this.

Note:  to really gain the flavor that peppercorn, comino, and garlic pods

have to offer, you must use a molcajete and grind the spices.

I haven’t done that yet, which may be the problem.


Here is the recipe for the soup I prepared today.



Laura’s Caldo

brown a package of boneless stew meat and a large chopped onion

in about 2 tablespoons of oil


sprinkle the beef with your favorite spices

(I used Nature’s Seasoning and TexJoy)

add

chopped carrots and potatoes (large chunks)

stir for a moment until the denser vegetables have cooked a bit

add a large can of whole tomatoes

and a can of diced tomatoes


add sliced Mexican squash ,

a small package of frozen corn kernels

and enough water to create soup


at this point I stirred in a heaping tablespoon (or two) of Knorr’s

caldo de tomate


I then sprinkled in ground cumin (comino) to taste


about five minutes before serving, I sprinkled in a handful of

chopped cilantro leaves


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