Caldo de Res...beef and vegetable soup

Today it was cold here...57F! I know, some of you are in places where it's snowing and freezing...but for us San Diegans, 57 is cold!  And what better to eat on a cold day than soup...Caldo de Res to be specific!

 

Caldo de res is a broth based soup with large chunks of meat and veggies.  Add in a little lemon juice, sliced jalapeños, and fresh cilantro and you have a bowl full of warmth and comfort.

As delicious as the Caldo (soup) is..it's not a quick and easy recipe.  Well, ok, it's actually fairly easy, but it takes a long time to make.  But when you make a huge pot, it will last a few days and you won't have to cook dinner then...and you can count those days as easy days!

Caldo de Res

 

You can use whatever veggies you prefer, however these are what we traditionally put in ours. 

Potatoes

Carrots

Corn on the cob

Zucchini 

Cabbage

Tomatoes

Fresh cilantro

You will also need beef.  The BEST beef to use are short ribs!  Seriously, these are delicious.  However, they are also quite pricey most of the time, so we use what's on sale.  Today it happened to be beef shank, or Chamorro de res, and some beef chunk.  I used about 5-6lbs of meat.  Use any kind of beef that will shred when cooked forever and something with a bone.  The bone adds sooo much flavor, don't skip it!

Knorr chicken base

Lemons

Jalapeños

Get your meat cut up if needed (short ribs don't need cut up).  Add enough water that it covers the meat and then some.  The meat is going to cook for a few hours so you want plenty of water since some will evaporate.

Cut up your veggies into large chunks.  This isn't like the American version of beef vegetable soup with all the small frozen veggies.  

You can see I only cut the cabbage into eighths and left the baby carrots whole.  Big chunks...totally the way to go!  Go ahead and cut up the potatoes and corn on the cob (I cut each ear into 3 chunks).

Once the meat is done (don't rush it...let the meat cook until it seriously is falling apart and super tender) get out the trusty Knorr chicken base.

I added 2 of these size spoonfuls in our Caldo.  Season to taste.  Once the broth is flavorful (it's ok if it tastes like you added a bit too much...the vegs will soak some of the saltiness up) add the vegetables.

Put the veggies that take the longest to cook in the pot first.  I put the potatoes, carrots, corn, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, and cilantro in the pot in that order.  The potatoes need to be cooked fully while the cabbage is delicious just steamed on the top.  Cook until the carrots and potatoes are easily pierced with a fork...about 20-25 min.

Get out the biggest bowl you have, ladle in some Caldo de Res, squeeze some fresh lemon in the broth, add a couple slices of fresh jalapeño if you like some heat, chop a bit of fresh cilantro, and add avocado on top if you have any (I don't know how "traditional" avocado is, but I LOVE avocado, especially in caldos!).  Now enjoy!  Perfect for today's "frigid" weather!

Happily homemade

Sandra