I cooked a big mess of caldo verde over the weekend using last year’s recipe more or less — with collards not kale. So for today, I thought I’d make the non-puree-based version and serve it up with some masa harina based cornbread.

I found a great recipe for the cornbread on Chow. It turned out great. Distinctive flavors of corn and a very nice consistency.

Next I varied the caldo verde recipe a bit. The major change is to not puree the potato, onion, garlic, sausage, and stock. Instead I just kept it there clear (or as clear as that combination can become). I found some linguica (Portuguese sausage) and used that but it was a little mild so I also added a good bit of hard Spanish chorizo picante. I used two cans of locally produced Luck’s blackeyed peas rinsing them before adding them to the stew.

The result, a good spicy broth (thanks chorizo picante) with wonderful flavors in each bite. The two sausages were complimentary and the potatoes were great as bites instead of puree. The beans and collards gave us a promise of wealth and luck for the coming year and the carrots provided additional color and a slight crunch to the texture. I used a food processor to really shred the collards well — something my house prefers to dealing with the julienned bits — one upside was that the good collard flavor really penetrated the broth.

And it looks beautiful, the colors of the collards, sausage, potatoes, and carrots showing well and tasting great.

Happy New Year in the New South.