Portuguese soup

Bob Silva gave me this " family recipe" years ago with the understanding of course that I wouldn't share it. However, since I was never family or at least not since, Doug Silva molested me, the "family"  rules don't apply to me, so I'm sharing the Portuguese soup recipe.

Portuguese soup is an all-day cooking adventure, I've only made it maybe three times.  I have modernized it a little and added my own personal touch - it really is a great soup.  It's not cheap, but it's absolutely worth it. I wish I would have taken a picture of the last time I made it. 

Note: Using fresh ingredients really does make a difference. You will need cheesecloth & butcher's string 

• 5 lbs beef chuck roast with the bone in
• 2 large yellow onions sliced in medium thick wedges. 
• 1 1/2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon - quality.  (I put wine alternatives at the very end.)
• 1  to 1  1/2 quarts water ( because of today's water quality, buy water.)  
• 1 bunch mint leaves with the stalks not just the leaves.
• 15 black peppercorns - whole 
• 10 allspice kernels
• 10 cloves - whole
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 10- 20 bay leaves
• 5 cloves garlic peeled and chopped - not minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (canned is allowed here) 
• 10 to 12 whole tomatoes - medium dice 

AND

• 10 to 12 tomatoes peeled and small chopped (OR  2 cans a fire-roasted small chopped tomatoes)  - keep them in separate bowls. 
• 1-2 bunches collard greens - medium thick slices
• 2 bay leaves (two more bay leaves)
• 1/2  tsp cumin
• 4 tsp table salt 

A little bit of moderation 

• 2 packets of gelatin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1-day-old Portuguese or crusty artisan bread - thick slices. Don't trust going to the grocery store. Go to the farmer's market.
• Optional (but great addition ): 3 - 6 boiled eggs 

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Make a bouquet garni 

How

• Lay a nice size of cheesecloth on a cutting board and to the center add: 
• Black peppercorns, allspice kernels, cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves 
• Pull up each corner of the cheesecloth to make a bundle and tie it with the butcher's string

Next

• Cut up all the veggies as listed above

•  In order,  into a LARGE stock pot, add the beef chuck roast, water and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Note: Feel free to add a little Cabernet Sauvignon to yourself... Adds to the magick 🪄  of cooking

• Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, whole tomatoes (the medium dice ones,) 1/4 of the bunch of mint ( stalks & mint leaves,) cumin, salt, and the bouquet garni.

•  Set over medium-low heat and you're going to allow to cook for up to 6 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone and easily shredded. While cooking it should not have big boils. If it's boiling it's way too high. You want to slow-cook this. 

Note: You'll probably see some impurities (marrow fat) gathered together on the top while cooking. Skim these off with a small sift.  Take a look every now and then and skim these out. Less impurities,, better broth.

About 2 hours before it's done. 🍲

• In a sauté pan, add 1/4 cup of water and bring to medium heat. Small bubbling water, not super hot boiling water.  Pour in the 2 packets of gelatin and stir for about 2 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

•  Add 2 soup ladles of hot broth from the soup pot into the gelatin and allow the gelatin to sit and melt. Once the gelatin is fully dissolved, add this to the soup. 

About 1 hour before your soup is done

• Add the collard greens.  

• Add a cup of water or add a few cups of water if your soup needs more than one cup. This soup will have / should have a lot of broth. At this stage, taste your broth and add the two bay leaves, more salt if needed, and a couple more stalks of mint. 

Test your soup to make sure the meat is falling off the bone. It should easily slide right off. That's when you know when it's done.

• Crusty artisan bread.  Place a thick slice (or two) in a large soup bowl, and place 2  mint leaves/stalks on top of the bread. Gently ladle at least one generous amount of broth over the bread and mint leaves. Then add a generous ladle of both broth and meat over the bread.

Note:  Even though meat is the biggest component of this soup, it's not the main attraction. The broth is. 

Optional: After everything is done, add (to the bowl, not the soup) 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are also really fantastic with this soup. I made this soup for a holiday potluck and added the hard-boiled eggs - which is still traditional Portuguese. The hard-boiled eggs will soak up the broth like the bread. Super yummy.

Red wine alternatives if you do not want alcohol in the soup. I have not tried these though.

 *Beef broth.

* Red wine vinegar (use ½ vinegar and ½ water for similar flavor results

* Cranberry juice

* Pomegranate juice