Kale, Sweet Potato & Chorizo Soup

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" cubes

Extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Cracked black pepper, to taste

1 lb smoked Spanish chorizo*

1 red onion, roughly chopped

1 leek, sliced (Use the white to light green part of the stalk; save the dark greens for stocks)

1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped (discard core; save the stalks for stocks)

6 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, more or less to taste (depending on the spiciness of your sausage)

6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

4 cups chopped Tuscan kale, tough stems trimmed and discarded

*Note: Recipe instructions are for smoked chorizo sausage links, not ground chorizo, which is a different flavor profile and comes raw. The best substitute for the flavor of Spanish chorizo is Portuguese Linguiça, another type of cured sausage. If preparing this recipe for Whole30, check the chorizo ingredients to make sure it doesn't contain sugar.

Sweet potatoes have a tendency to fall apart pretty easily in soup, so I like to roast them in the oven instead. They'll hold their shape better in the finished soup. Simply toss the diced sweet potatoes with a light drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spread out on a parchment or silicone lined heavy duty sheet pan. Roast in the oven at 400°F for about twenty minutes, until edges are starting to crisp. If you start with this step, the rest of the soup will be done on the stove top around the same time!

Over on the stovetop, coat the bottom of a heavy pot or Dutch oven with a generous swig of olive oil. Cook the sliced chorizo sausage for a couple of minutes over medium heat, just until they start to brown. My daughter always sneaks into the kitchen looking for handouts when the smell of sausage hits the air!


Add the chopped onions, fennel and leeks to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions and fennel have softened, about 3 or 4 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper as you go.

Note: When you have a fresh leek, slice the stalk in half vertically first. Make sure to do a thorough job of rinsing all the layers in cool water before slicing. Lots of dirt can be trapped in there.


Stir in the grated garlic, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for another minute, until fragrant. Chorizo ranges from mild to very spicy, so it's a good idea to taste what you have before deciding how much more heat to add. I enjoyed a very spicy version of the soup!


Next, pour in all of your chicken stock, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot. I made this batch of stock in my pressure cooker using chicken backs and chicken feet. It was glorious.


Turn up the heat slightly and bring the contents of the pot to a gentle boil. Then reduce to low heat and simmer for five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


The chopped kale can be stirred into the pot now. Let it simmer for another few minutes. I really love using Tuscan kale (also called Lacinato or Dinosaur Kale), because it's tender and wilts very quickly while maintaining some bite. Tender collard greens or spinach would also work well in this recipe.


Transfer the oven-roasted sweet potatoes to the pot and stir gently to distribute evenly throughout the soup.

Note: If roasting isn't an option for you, the diced raw sweet potatoes could be added to the soup at an earlier point, prior to adding kale. You'd want to simmer the soup just until the potatoes are tender.


Finally, stir in the chopped cilantro and lemon juice. Cook just until the cilantro wilts, which should only take a minute.


Do a final taste test for salt and pepper before serving.


I couldn't wait to dive into this soup. The spicy chorizo was balanced by the sweet potatoes, and I loved how the cilantro and lemon took things in a slightly different direction than the flavor profile I usually go for. This was a satisfying, easy meal that's gotten even better for leftovers as our snowy week continues on!

This recipe utilizes many of the ingredients found in all three of my digital cookbooks. It had in fact, been one of my earlier ideas for a recipe to include in the last book. Last year, I planned to release Kitchenista Diaries: Volume 2 in the early fall, as a follow up to Volume 1 published in May. If you read the preface to that cookbook, you'll remember the challenges I was pushing through. I was finally able to get my laptop issues under control, after going without a computer for weeks at a time for repairs out of pocket, and eventually having to wipe it clean to replace the hard drive. I'm pretty good about backing up edited photos, but lost a ton of raw content that couldn't be recovered. I thought I'd be able to redo those shoots before the holidays, but my schedule said "nah." As if that wasn't frustrating enough, a brand partnership that would have funded the rest of my year fell through for the client. I'd already invested profits from ebook sales into getting a blog redesign that should have been ready by summer's end. After delays extending well into fall, the website designer ultimately never completed the work. These added up to major hits, and the refund I was eventually able to get via PayPal didn't make up for lost time and deferred 4th quarter business plans.

I relay all this not to complain but to be transparent in sharing that as a freelance content creator, sometimes shit happens that isn't at all in your plans. More often than not, it's pretty hard to recover a fumbled bag. But I decided to roll with the punches last year. I wanted to scream and vent and give up, but none of those things would have gotten my book finished, fixed my laptop, or solved my website issues. So instead I changed course. I hosted dinner parties in DC with my friends. I pursued and secured other brand partnerships. Opportunities for work related travel landed in my lap, so I said yes. I catered in Detroit, enjoyed food and fellowship with other black food professionals in New Orleans, and spent a week aboard the largest cruise ship in the world, creating content for Royal Caribbean. And in the tiny pocket of my life which I mostly keep to myself offline, I'm learning what it really means to forgive, mend old wounds, co-parent, and open my heart to love again.

2018 wasn't all bad, but it did require putting some endeavors on hold. Hopefully 2019 will turn out to be more like these short ribs, which I placed back in the fridge for a night in order to rework final recipe steps. In the end, the dish came together with a little finesse and thoughtful ingredient tweaks, so I'm putting that same energy into the new year. After a hectic and emotionally draining holiday season, I'm seeking the stillness I need to create in a meaningful way. I'm getting back to a routine in the kitchen, enjoying the rush of creative energy that tends to follow every drought. I'm still committed to publishing the Volume 2 ebook, but reworking the concept to make more sense for a winter release. More recently, I let go of a part time gig in order to carve out some necessary room for tending to my mental health. I'm also apartment hunting, because getting back to the sanity that comes with living in my own space is urgently needed. All of these things bring with them their own set of challenges, but I'm taking it all head on and continuing to make heart-centered decisions. It's the roller coaster I signed up to ride when I took this path, and I'm still very much grateful to be on it.

• Ras el hanout is a Moroccan all-purpose seasoning. It can be purchased commercially or made at home. The complexity will vary widely depending on the spices you have available to use, but anything in the ballpark will work just fine for this recipe. To try your hand at my version of the blend, check out the "Moroccan Rub" recipe in the Kitchenista Diaries: Volume 1 digital cookbook. I love the addition of rose petals for subtle fragrance.
• Preserved lemons can be made at home, however they'll take 4 weeks to cure. If you don't already have a jar of preserved lemons on hand, check your grocer's international aisle or purchase online. As a last resort, substitute the finely chopped rind of a Meyer lemon.
• Pomegranate molasses is made from reducing pomegranate juice down to a syrup. If you're following the Whole30 plan, be sure to choose a true pomegranate molasses made without added sugars.

Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 5 hours (2.5 hours if using the InstantPot), with recommended overnight chill
Yield: Serves 4
Special Equipment: Large Dutch oven pot and fine mesh sieve or strainer. To follow the alternate instructions, you'll need an InstantPot or other electric pressure cooker. A mortar & pestle is helpful for the sauce but not mandatory.

Ingredients:

*Note: Thyme, rosemary and sage are often sold together in a pack, sometimes labeled as poultry herbs. If you don't have fresh herbs you can supplement with a teaspoon of dried Italian herbs.



Recipe Steps:

1. Trim excess skin from the chicken. Season with salt, paprika and poultry seasoning, being sure to rub the spices and salt into the underside of the meat and under the skin. If you have time, you can place the chicken in the casserole dish and refrigerate for an hour, up to overnight. It'll give the salt extra time to get into the meat. Otherwise, continue immediately to the next step.
2. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Over medium high heat, melt a tablespoon of duck fat in a heavy skillet. Once sizzling, sear the chicken skin-down, working in batches so as not to crowd the skillet. Flip the chicken over when the skin is golden brown and cook the underside for a couple minutes. Transfer seared chicken to the casserole dish and continue with remaining batch, adding another tablespoon of duck fat as needed.
3. Arrange the seared chicken pieces in the casserole dish in a single layer. Stick a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary in between the chicken. Pour in about two cups of warmed stock, just enough to cover an inch or so in the pan and leaving the tops of the chicken exposed.
4. Transfer the casserole dish to the oven and cook uncovered, for 30 minutes. A thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh should read at least 170°F. You'll start to get more of a falling-off-the-bone texture as the temperature heads towards 190°F. There's no reason to cook it beyond that though.
5. Meanwhile, back on the stove top, add all of the sliced mushrooms to the skillet. If you need to, add more duck fat (or ghee, or butter) to the skillet. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and cook the mushrooms until they soften and release all their liquid, stirring frequently. This could take up to 15 minutes over medium high heat.
6. Add the sliced onions. Continue cooking the mushrooms and onions until most of the liquid in the skillet has evaporated and onions have softened, another 10 minutes. As they cook, season the mushrooms and onions to taste with salt and pepper.
7. If your chicken is still cooking in the oven, you can turn the skillet down to hold the mushrooms for the next step. Once the chicken has finished cooking, transfer to your serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Reserve the drippings and stock left in the pan. Discard the herbs.
8. Add a final tablespoon of duck fat or butter to the skillet of sauteed mushrooms and onions. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle the mushrooms evenly with the flour and stir quickly to dissolve. Cook for a minute, until fragrant. 
9. Pour in the Marsala wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the skillet. Cook for a minute, then pour in the reserved chicken stock and drippings from the casserole dish. Also add any stock that was left if you didn't use it all in the roasting pan; should be about 3 cups total. Stir in the chopped sage and season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed.
10. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes; it should thicken up to the consistency of a very thin gravy. Ladle the mushroom sauce over and around the chicken, leaving some of the crispy skin exposed. Garnish with chopped parsley.

The one thing my mom and I do agree on? That Bounty paper towels are a necessity in this house. She appreciates that Bounty gets the kitchen restored back to pristine condition after my culinary escapades, and I rely on the versatility of durable paper towels as a tool for my cooking tasks.

I used to get a little stressed trying to follow recipes for dressing, but the truth is, there's no singular way to do things. Use my notes below as guidelines to improvise with the food you have on hand.

• Crumbled cornbread makes up the bulk of the dressing, but the texture is improved by including a couple slices of white bread or panko crumbs. Crushed crackers would probably also do the trick in a pinch. 
• If you can't get your hands on fresh shucked oysters, smoked oysters are a tasty and economical substitution. They're also probably a better choice for folks who are on the fence about the briny flavor of fresh oysters, though I love both versions equally. 
• Bacon adds some depth and a touch of additional smokiness, but it's not a deal breaker to leave the pork out. 
• To go with the Cajun flavor profile, I used a classic combination of onions, celery and bell pepper (the "trinity), and it also worked well to replace the bell pepper with spicier Fresno chili peppers for extra heat. 

Just don't skimp on the herbs! Fresh herbs are a must all year round, but they're especially critical to bringing holiday recipes to life. A hack I use to keep sturdier herbs like parsley, rosemary and thyme fresher longer, is to wrap them loosely in a slightly damp sheet of Bounty, as it really helps lock in moisture better.
Store the wrapped herbs in plastic zip bags in the fridge. No more having to toss out brown, dried out herbs every week that you never got to use.


Though there's a little bit of prep involved in preparing stuffed mushrooms, it's offset by the ease of doing everything in one large oven-safe skillet. I prefer to use my 12" cast iron skillet here. You can also assemble the mushrooms, refrigerate, and bake up to a day later.