Guatemalan Cocido (beef soup) recipe

[Zizzle]

My mom made this hearty soup for me when she visited. It felt so healing (well, except for the corn on the cob). It's more like big vegetables and hunks of meat sitting in a broth. Very easy to prepare. A delicious meal in one, with crisp, tender vegetables and meat.


COCIDO (Guatemalan Beef Soup)

The Cocido Soup Recipe can be accompanied by rice, fresh salsas and traditional homemade corn tortillas.

Serves 8

Ingredients

•2 quarts water
•3 pounds beef shank, cut (I used an old frozen London Broil - any inexpensive beef cut will do)
•½ white onion, cut in wedges
•3 garlic cloves, peeled
•2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
•2 large ears of corn, husked and cut across the cob into 1 ½ inch pieces
•2 medium red skin potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
•1 stalk celery, cut into 1 inch
•1/3 head green cabbage, sliced
•2 zucchini and/or chayote squash cut into 1 inch pieces
•1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
•Salt added to taste

Procedure
1.Begin to cook the meat in a pot of water.
2.At boiling point skim the impurities from the surface as appropriate.
3.Add the onion and garlic.
4.Reduce the heat and and cook until the meat is tender, which takes about 2 hours.
5.Add salt to taste, then add the potatoes, corn, carrot, cabbage and celery and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes.
6.Add zucchini and cook just long enough until the vegetables are tender crisp.
7.Before removing from flame add the cilantro leaves.
8.Serve.

[coryhub]

Nothing makes a person feel better than a hearty bowl soup made by mom. Must be the extra sprinkle of TLC. When I try to reproduce my mom's recipes they never quite hit the mark as when she cooks for me. I can see myself cooking this recipe with adaptions: leave out corn, remove celery at the end, peel the pototoes, and add green beans. Works for me. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

[mbeezie]

Sounds yummy. I have made Mexican Caldo de Res, which is similar but has tomatoes. If you can find the chayote squash use it - it's very bland like zucchini but is more authentic.

Mary Beth