Caldo verde

Caldo verde is a Portuguese soup that makes a quick weeknight dinner when it's cold outside, which it has been here for the last few days with wind chill temps around zero farenheit and 3 inches of ice and snow.

Anyhow, caldo verde (I probably am spelling that wrong) features linguiça, a specialty Portuguese sausage. If you can't find it, use a mild or spicy Italian sausage instead. Slices or crumbled, brown the sausage in a sturdy soup pot, remove the meat to papertowels to drain. Add 1 large yellow onion, chopped, and 3 cloves of minced garlic over medium heat until wilted but not browned. Potatoes: use about one and one half pounds of small red or white potatoes cut in half, and then cut into thin semi-circles. Add the sliced potatoes to the pot and stir to coat with the grease, adding a little olive oil if needed, and then cook about 2-3 minutes. Add one pound of washed and chopped kale. This will be voluminous in the pot. Using a wooden spoon, gently turn the greens with the potatoes from the bottom. Once it's all well incorporated, add low-sodium chicken broth (about 8 cups). Bring your pot nearly to a boil, then put the lid on slightly ajar and let simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

We had pear clafouti for dessert. Sounds fancy right, but it's way easy! I even cheated and used pears from a jar. So butter a baking dish and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. If you are using real pears, make sure they are slightly firm but scented and ripe. Peel and core the pears. Put each pear half or quarter or slices of pear into the prepared baking dish. Make the batter: 3 whole eggs, 1/3 C granulated sugar, 1 C milk, 2/3 C all-purpose flour (sifted), 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp lemon zest (optional), 1/4 C pear liqueur such as Poire William or pear schnapps (optional, but if you leave it out, add a 1/4 C milk). This should be about the consistency of pancake batter (that is sort of what the recipe is anyway). Pour the batter over the pears and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven about 45 minutes or until the batter starts pouffing and very slightly browning. The middle should be just a little custardy next to the pieces of fruit, similar to a not-too-eggy flan in texture in the middle. You can do the same recipe with any fruit in season, substituting the appropriate fruit liqueur for the Poire William. For example, make this with fresh cherries (pitted or not, but warn your dinner guests if not), and use kirsch. Cherry clafouti is the traditional version of this not-too-sweet dessert. Serve with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream or even some natural plain yogurt. A dessert with a fancy name is just as simple as sliced fruit and pancake batter!