Potaje de Garbanzos

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Potaje de Garbanzos

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Soups & Stews
Cuisine: Basque, Spanish
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Fabada meats (spanish chorizo, Serrano ham, and Morcilla blood sausage)
  • 3 Tbl olive oil, divided
  • 1 onion
  • 1/2 leek
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 Tbl minced garlic
  • 1 liter chicken stock
  • 1/4 C flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbl pimentón
  • 23 oz canned/jarred cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
  • 2 hard boiled eggs
  • 1 French Baguette

Instructions

Mise en place

  • Small dice onion, leek, and pepper; combine in a prep bowl.
  • Small chop the Serrano ham and slice the sausages into bite-sized coins, separate the morcilla pieces from the others.
  • Chop parsley.
  • Cook and dice the hard boiled eggs.

Cook

  • In a large stockpot, Sweat vegetables with 1 Tbl olive oil for 5 minutes or until tender.
  • Add minced garlic, chorizo, and Serrano ham. Sweat for 5 minutes.
  • Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the meats are tender (about 15 minutes).
  • In a small sauté pan, heat 2 Tbl of olive oil to make a refrito by poaching the parsley in the oil for 20 seconds then add the pimentón and stir for 5 seconds until fragrant.
  • Add the refrito immediately to the stew and stir.
  • Add cooked garbanzo beans and morcilla. Simmer to reduce the liquid and soften the beans.
  • Remove from heat, stir in the chopped boiled eggs, and serve.

Plate

  • Ladle in shallow bowls and serve with crusty baguette.

Notes

If time permits, preparing dried garbanzo beans is preferable but good-quality, no-salt-added, canned beans are a close second.
Jamie Kelly is an American marketing professional turned gastronaut. She is eating her way through a full-spectrum exploration of food culture in Spanish-speaking lands and staging ambitious re-enactments of her finds in her own kitchen. To join the expedition, follow at FB: gastro-curious, IG: jamie_gastrocurious and www.gastro-curious.com.

Marmitako

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Marmitako

Recipe by Aitor Beitia, Portugalete, Bizkaia, Spain
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time3 hours 15 minutes
Course: Soups & Stews
Cuisine: Basque
Servings: 6

Equipment

  • Chef knife
  • Peeler
  • (2) Medium prep bowls
  • (2) Large stock pots
  • Small sauce pan (to blanch the tomato)
  • Prep bowl for ice bath
  • Immersion Blender/Blender
  • Fine sieve

Ingredients

  • 4 tbl extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 Italian green peppers Substitute: Anaheim peppers.
  • 3 onion
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 Tbl minced garlic (4-5 cloves)
  • 2 lbs potatoes Russet or Idaho
  • 2 lb fish head and/or bones
  • 2 Tbl salt
  • 2 Tbl pulp of Choricero peppers
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 4 quarts water
  • salt to taste
  • 2.5 lbs Bonito Substitute: Yellowtail or Albacore

Instructions

Mise en place

  • Small chop peppers and onion
  • Peel the tomato and small chop the flesh
  • Mince the garlic
  • Peel the potatoes and cut cascada.
  • Wash any blood spots from the fish bones and cut into sections that fit in the stockpot.
  • Cut fish into 1.5 inch square pieces and salt on all sides.

Make the Stock

  • Place the fish head and bones in 4 quarts of water.
  • Add 2 Tbl salt and bring to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes, skimming off the resulting foam.
  • Strain the stock through a fine sieve to remove all the bones and ugly bits. Keep strained stock warm.

Make the Vegetable base

  • In a large pot, sweat garlic, peppers, tomato and onions in 4 Tbl olive oil on medium heat until soft.
  • Add Choricero pulp to the vegetables and stir.
  • Add white wine and 4 cups of the strained stock and simmer 5 minutes.
  • Blend the base to a smooth puree. Add salt to taste.

[Optional stopping point. Sauce and stock can be stored and rewarmed to complete the meal.]

    Assemble the Stew

    • On medium heat, add the potatoes into the vegetable base, stir, and then cover with the remaining stock by 1 inch.
    • As the liquid is absorbed, add more stock.
    • Repeat until the potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes).
    • Remove from heat and add the salted pieces of fish. Stir gently and allow the heat of the stew to cook the fish for 5 minutes and then serve.

    Notes

    The fish stock and vegetable base can be made a day in advance.
    The ideal fish for this dish is Bonito del Norte (Thunnus alalunga) from the coast of the Cantabrian Sea. Although not super common in US markets, there are three species of Bonito found in Mexican waters: striped bonito, Pacific bonito and Atlantic bonito. If you can’t find bonito, use Yellowtail or Albacore.
    You can skip the step of making stock from the bones if you have access to high-quality fish stock. Promise me that you won't try the dish with store-bought boxed or canned fish stock. You will never know the magic of Marmitako if you do.
    Jamie Kelly is an American marketing professional turned gastronaut. She is eating her way through a full-spectrum exploration of food culture in Spanish-speaking lands and staging ambitious re-enactments of her finds in her own kitchen. To join the expedition, follow at FB: gastro-curious, IG: jamie_gastrocurious and www.gastro-curious.com.

    Gazpacho (Andalucian Style)

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    Gazpacho (Andalucian-Style)

    In the southern tip of Spain, Andalucian Summer is marked by a cold soup made with fresh, raw vegetables. Gazpacho recipes made with bread and oil date back to Roman times but the trademark version from this region more recently sprung from the introduction of tomatoes from the new world. The only secret to this refreshing, nourishing dish is to take your time with the emulsification. If you do, you’ll get a result so thick and rich that you might swear cream is added. There is saying in Spain, “de gazpacho no hay empacho” -- there’s never too much gazpacho. I have found this to be the case when I make it. But plan ahead, you'll need to start 2 days before you want to serve the dish.
    Prep Time40 minutes
    Hands off Time2 days
    Total Time2 days 40 minutes
    Course: Soups & Stews
    Cuisine: Spanish
    Servings: 8 servings

    Equipment

    • Chef knife
    • Peeler
    • Large mixing bowl
    • Blender

    Ingredients

    • 1/3 Baguette Dried for 2 days
    • 5 Tomatoes
    • 2 Garlic cloves
    • 1 Red onion
    • 1 Green Bell pepper
    • 2 Cucumbers Peeled & seeded
    • 100 ml Water
    • 75 ml Aged Sherry Vinegar (Critical ingredient: buy as high-quality sherry vinegar as you can find.)
    • 50 ml Ketchup (A secret: Ketchup is not traditional but it works wonders to balance the flavors.)
    • 60 ml Olive oil per quart of soup mixture

    Instructions

    Mise en place

    • Rough chop the bread and all the vegetables.

    Prep

    • TWO DAYS BEFORE serving, dry 1/3 of a French baguette. Retain the rest for croutons.
    • ONE DAY BEFORE serving, combine in a large, shallow container the vegetables, bread, water, sherry vinegar, and ketchup. Mix until well-coated and marinate, covered overnight in refrigerator.
    • Blend ingredients in batches in a blender and season with salt and pepper to taste.
    • In a blender, emulsify 1 quart batches with 60 ml of olive oil per batch.
    • Cut slices of baguette. Rub with garlic and olive oil. Toast in the oven at 350 for 7-8 minutes.

    Plate

    • Ladle into a bowl or cup. Float a crouton on top and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil or herb infused oil. A celery leaf or parsley leaf can add a nice pop of color as garnish.

    Notes

    Jamie Kelly is an American marketing professional turned gastronaut. She is eating her way through a full-spectrum exploration of food culture in Spanish-speaking lands and staging ambitious re-enactments of her finds in her own kitchen. To join the expedition, follow at FB: gastro-curious, IG: jamie_gastrocurious and www.gastro-curious.com.