Restaurant Review - HEART-WARMING "STEWED FOOD" - Comments

TASTES OF SPAIN

Poster: H! Society 18/02/2008

SO THE FESTIVE SEASON IS WELL AND TRULY OVER FOR ANOTHER YEAR AND THE LAST OF THE PARTY FOOD IS FINISHED. BUT DON’T DESPAIR… AS GILLAINE HATHAWAY NOTES, EVEN IF FEBRUARY IS NOT THE JOLLIEST TIME OF THE YEAR, IT IS THE IDEAL TIME TO GO BACK TO BASICS AND ENJOY SOME COMFORTING FOOD

There is nothing like a home-made stew or casserole, dishes that are full of flavour, economical and easy to prepare. Many stews can be prepared in advance as the flavour improves if it has time to rest. They can also be made in large quantities and served later in the week, or frozen for another time. The Spanish housewife was and still is very talented when it comes to preparing a heart-warming casserole.Let’s start our “stewed food” tour in Almería where, like its neighbours Murcia and Granada, recipes are influenced by the abundance of local vegetables. Many recipes are based on garlic (which is oh so good for you!), tomatoes, pepper and broad beans. They also like to use pasta and wheat grains or that staple of Spanish products, chickpeas.

COCIDO DE COL (serves 4)

Ingredients:

½ kg chickpeas (garbanzos) soaked in water overnightpiece of ham bone (hueso de jamón)600 gr cabbage, with core and stalks removed, cut into pieces300 gr chicken cut into small pieces100 gr black pudding (morcilla)3 medium sized potatoes, cut into pieces1½ litre watersalt and pepper to taste

■ Pour the water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Then add the chickpeas, ham bone and chicken.
■ When boiling, lower the heat and simmer until the chickpeas are tender (approximately 30 minutes).
■Add the cabbage and, after 15 minutes, the potatoes. Simmer for a further 20 minutes until the potatoes are done.
■ Check the seasoning and serve.

Chicken is an important part of Spanish cooking. In times past housewives had them running around outside their homes, ready − if not willing − to be turned into family food. Fortunately today there are now plenty of free-range chickens available in the shops, so why not try the following classic.

POLLO EN FRICASE (serves 4)

Ingredients: 8 assorted pieces of chicken (i.e. legs, thighs, breast)6-7 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped2 large Spanish onions, chopped 4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil 2 to 3 bay leaves ½ litre chicken or beef stocklarge glass white wine

■ Cover the bottom of a casserole with the oil and heat. Then add the onions and fry for around five minutes until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and fry until both are nicely browned.
■ Remove the skin from all but two of the chicken pieces (too much skin produces an oil gravy) and stir into the pan. Add the laurel , which you break up to release the flavour and then the stock. Stir until the chicken has been sealed and add the wine.
■ The chicken is more or less covered and is then left to simmer for approximately 20 minutes until it is nearly cooked.
■ Check the taste, adding more salt and pepper if necessary, remove the lid and cook for five more minutes or so to completely cook the chicken and to thicken the sauce.
On now to the south of Spain where this stew combines meat with the humble cabbage and the region’s all important olives…

BEEF OLIVES(serves 4)

Ingredients: 1 kg good quality beef cut into thin slices (filetes de ternera)approx. 200 gr bacon slices250 gr olives (preferably stuffed with peppers/pimientos), chopped3 tablespoons sunflower oil3 large onions, finely chopped2 cloves garlic, finely chopped1 tablespoon flour½ glass white cooking wine¼ litre beef stocksalt and peppertoothpicks

■ Beat the fillets until they are fairly thin, removing any bits of fat and gristle, and cut and trim until you have 12 to 16 pieces.
■ On each, place a slice of bacon and a spoonful of olives and carefully roll up, tucking in the sides and securing the “rollitos” with a toothpick.
■ Cover the bottom of a casserole with the oil, heat and stir in the onions and a sprinkling of salt to help them caramelise. Add the garlic and cook until the onions are soft.
■ Stir in the flour to absorb the oil and as it begins to brown pour in the wine. Cook until the alcohol evaporates, add some freshly ground black pepper and stir in a little of the stock at a time, until you have a thick sauce.
■ Place the beef rolls in the sauce and when simmering cover and cook until tender (approximately 30 minutes).
■ Thicken with a little more flour mixed with wine if you find the sauce has become too liquidy, and check and adjust the seasonings.
■ Serve accompanied by vegetables of choice and crusty bread to mop up the sauce!
I am always keen to include dishes from Gibraltar, where the home-made recipes are Italian influenced. But the Rock’s dishes are also influenced by the people from many lands who settled there as well. For those of you who do not like squid, this stew is well worth trying as I am sure it will convert you.

SQUID STEW (serves 4)

Ingredients1 kg fresh squid (approx. 10 cm in length)2 medium onions, peeled and sliced2 (or more) garlic cloves, finely chopped6-8 large ripe Spanish tomatoes, skinned and chopped500 gr potatoes, peeled and cut into walnut-sized chunks4 generous tablespoons of sunflower oil1 glass of white cooking wine (large)1 fish cube or concentrated fish stock (approx. 6 tablespoons)1 teaspoon each of sweet red paprika, mixed spice, salt and pepper.

■ Cut open each squid, remove and discard the transparent bone and innards, cut off the tentacles where they join and cut out “the beak “ (a hard round lump) and discard. Scrape off any of the dark skin, wash well and cut into slices two centimetres wide and approximately five centimetres long, and drain.
■ Heat the oil in a casserole and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Stir in the tomatoes, add the seasonings and cook for several minutes before adding the wine.
■ When the mixture is simmering nicely, add the chopped squid and cook for a further 10 minutes, again stirring well. Finally add the potatoes and fish stock.
■ Leave the stew to cook, partially covered, giving a stir from time to time to ensure that the potatoes cook evenly (approximately 20 minutes). Check with a skewer to see when done.
■ Normally the potato thickens the sauce sufficiently, but if not, mix a tablespoon of flour with wine and stir in. Check the seasonings and serve.

We end in Jerez, from where this magnificent kidney dish comes. You can use lambs kidneys if you prefer, but beef ones are more tasty in my opinion, and if you soak them well in milk overnight in the fridge, they lose that acidic taste.

KIDNEYS AL JEREZ (serves 6)

Ingredients:1 kg beef kidneys4 onions, peeled and chopped2 cloves garlic, finely chopped5 tablespoons olive oil2 tablespoons flour1 bay leaf6 tablespoons beef or chicken stock6 tablespoons sherry2 tablespoons chopped parsleysalt and freshly ground black pepper

■ Heat three tablespoons of the olive oil over a moderate heat in a heavy pan until a light haze forms above it. Add the onions, garlic and bay leaf.
■ Cook for about five minutes, stirring frequently until the onions are soft and transparent but not brown. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Pour in the stock and, stirring constantly, cook over a high heat until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil.
■ Add the parsley, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about three minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
■ Trim off the fat and membrane from the kidneys and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle liberally with salt and a few grindings of pepper.
■ Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan and cook the kidneys for around five minutes, turning them constantly so that they brown quickly on all sides without burning. Then remove to a bowl.
■ De-glaze the pan by adding the sherry and bringing it to the boil, while scraping any of the brown particles clinging to the bottom and sides of the pan.
■ Return the kidneys to the pan, stir in the onion sauce and bring to the boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes.
■ Check the seasoning and then serve accompanied with some rice as a main dish or in small portions on its own as a “tapa”.

TIP OF THE MONTH
Garlic is good for you! In folklore it has been used for preventing everything from the common cold and flu to the plague. Raw garlic is used to treat the symptoms of acne and there is also evidence that it helps in managing high cholesterol levels. Garlic is also effective as a natural mosquito repellent. Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful antibiotic, albeit of a broad spectrum rather than targeted; and, as the body does not appear to build up resistance to the garlic, its positive health benefits continue.Even in Britain, where people think eating garlic means your breath smells, experts say that we should eat at least four cloves a day. And remember that cooked garlic becomes sweet; hence all those recipes for chicken roasted with 60 cloves of garlic. As a confirmed garlic lover I have to say that getting the cloves from a head of garlic is tedious as well as messy, so my tip for you is to break up and peel four or five heads of garlic at a time and store them in a small wicker basket in your kitchen. This way you get rid of the mess and every time a recipes calls for two, three or more cloves you just pick them out of the basket, smash them with a wide-bladed knife and then cut off the root, thus making them easier to peel.

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