Potato and Kale Soup Recipe

Potatoes and Kale...I'm thinking SOUP!

Here's one of my family's absolute favorite soup recipes:

1 pound sausage - I use Jimmy Dean sage, but you can use your favorite.
4 cups cubed boiling potatoes, make sure to wash well and leave those skins on
1 bunch kale, washed well, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 quarts organic chicken broth
1 can evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the sausage in your soup-pot.  (We're looking to make this as easy as possible!) I let the sausage caramelize a little bit at the bottom of the pot so that I can deglaze with some of the chicken stock and it makes the broth a rich brown color.

Add the potatoes and the remainder of the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer about 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are just beginning to be tender.  Add the can of milk, more water if necessary to keep everything covered up.  Add the kale and stir into the hot broth.  Cook an additional 15 minutes to soften the kale.  Season to your taste.

It can be served this way, or you can thicken it with a roux if your family likes a little bit more robust soup.

Roux:
Brown 4 tablespoons butter with 4 tablespoons of flour.  Stir constantly, and pull from the heat just as this begins to turn a toasty color.  Immediately whisk this into the hot soup.  It will thicken almost immediately.  Allow to simmer another 2 minutes, and then serve with good crusty bread.

Yummy!