IMBB 24: Caldo Verde and Croque Madame

The theme for this month's Is My Blog Burning? is Make It In 30 Minutes which I already have plenty of practice from my daily cooking habit. After coming home from work, I usually try to have supper ready as fast as I can so I can go to the gym after dinner. Instead of making any of my old standbys, I decide to try something new instead. Although spring has officially arrived, it's still cold enough that I crave soup but warm enough that I want to see some spring colour. This menu is a great balance between comfort food and light meal.

Menu

• Caldo Verde with Chorizo and Crouton
• Croque Madame with Gruyere and Emmentaler
• Mixed Green Salad with Honey Pear Dressing

Caldo Verde

Caldo verde is a classic Portugese soup of pureed potato and kale. I had it for the first time a couple of weeks ago at a restaurant and have been itching to make it at home since. The vibrant colour from the kale is so pleasant to look at...makes me feel so healthy for eating something so green! Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 400mL low sodium chicken broth
• 3 medium yukon gold potato, diced
• 1 cup of kale (only the tender leafy part)
• 1 cup of sliced chorizo
• 100mL 1% milk

Method

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Put the potato dices in the pan and let them simmer at medium heat until they're tender.
2. Put the kale into the pan and continue simmering until the leaves wilt.
3. Take the pan off the heat. Using an immersion blender, puree everything until smooth.
4. Return pan to medium heat and add in the chorizo. Thin soup with milk to desired consistency. Simmer until chorizo is cooked.
5. Ladle into serving bowl and garnish with crouton.

Croque Madame

This is a popular item to be found in many French cafes, a grilled cheese sandwich with French flair. I'm partial to sandwiches made with sourdough bread like the miche Poilâne. Since I recently found a local bakery that makes exactly the kind of bread that I like, I've been waiting to make a croque madame since. To make this more special, I paired it with port wine sweet onion jam. The sweetness of the jam brought out the nuttiness of the gruyere and emmentaler very well. Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 4 slices of sourdough bread
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese, I used a mix of gruyere and emmentaler
• 2 tbsp of port wine sweet onion jam
• butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs

Method

1. Make two sandwiches each with one side spread with sweet onion jam and filled with grated cheese.
2. Spread the outside of the sandwiches generously with butter.
3. Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Place both sandwiches in the pan and press down gently with a spatula. Don't move the sandwiches around until you see tiny wisp of smoke. Flatten the sandwiches with a spatula from time to time. As soon as you see smoke, flip the sandwiches and fry the other side until they're golden on both sides. When they're done, place the sandwiches on plates with a small mound of dressed mixed greens.
4. Turn up the heat to high and put 2 tsp of vegetable oil in the frying pan. Fry two sunny-side-up eggs. Place one egg on top of each sandwich and serve.

Technorati: IMBB24, 30Minutes, Caldo Verde, Croque Madame