Recipe - Portuguese Kale And Clam Soup

2 tablespoon Olive oil
1 pound Chorizo sausage; finely
chopped
2 cup Chopped onions
1 cup Diced celery
1 cup Diced carrots
4 cup Shredded kale
2 tablespoon Chopped garlic
1 Bouquet garni
3 qt Chicken stock
Crushed red pepper flakes
4 Dozen Littleneck clams;
scrubbed
One fourth cup Cilantro chiffonade
1 Crusty garlic bread loaf

In a heavy 8quart pan, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the chorizo
and render the sausage for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onions, celery, and
carrots, saute for 2 minutes or until the vegetables start to wilt. Season
the vegetables with salt and pepper. Add the kale, garlic, bouquet, chicken
stock and red pepper flakes. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce the
heat to medium. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes. Add the clams and continue
to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open. Stir in
the cilantro. Reseason the soup with salt and pepper. The soup can either
be served with clams in the shells or the clams can be remove from the
soup, shells removed, and clam meats added back to the soup. Serve the soup
with crusty garlic bread. This recipe yields about 8