Guiso de Ternera a la Asturiana: Asturian Beef Stew

I LOVE my cookbook The New Spanish Table. It groups recipes by category as well as region (i.e. tapas versus paella, Catalan versus Basque) and includes history, photos, cultural information and recipes by some of the most amazing contemporary chefs as well as little hole-in-the-wall bodegas. While tapas remain my favorite Spanish food to cook (be still, my heart), I aim to work my way through most of the cookbook's recipes. Spanish cuisine is still relatively "new" to most of the United States, and The New Spanish Table has many crowd pleasers (tortilla espanyola, patatas bravas, etc) but also offers the home cook opportunities to try more exotic dishes (bunny , rabbit, anyone?).

I purchased grass fed beef (in the form of stew meat) at the Coolidge Corner Farmer's Market and am excited to put it to good use. Asturian Beef Stew is the perfect recipe for a crisp autumn dinner: tender, white wine-braised beef, hearty white beans, turnips and rich collard greens. The following recipe is more or less from my cookbook. I had to alter some ingredients due to availability and not wanting to purchase 3 pounds of expensive (albeit delicious) beef. I'll update this post with photos and a detailed review this weekend!

Ingredients:
2 lbs stew meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
Coast salt
Finely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces smoky bacon or pancetta, diced into small squares
1 medium Vidalia onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 fat carrots (I used about 15 baby carrots and sliced them in half length-wise)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
2 14 oz cans white Fava beans
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 medium-sized turnips, peels and cut into 1 inch chunks (substitute potatoes if you don't like turnips)
4 cups chopped, VERY well rinsed and dried collard greens

Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large stew pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the beef to the pot and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove beef and set in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pot. Brown remaining half meat, and then transfer it to the bowl too.

Add remaining tablespoon oil to pot and add bacon. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring until bacon begins to render fat, about 2-3 minutes. Remove most of fat to use later. Add onion, garlic and carrots and turn heat back to medium-high and cook about 8 minutes so that vegetables soften and begin to brown. Add flour and stir for a few seconds. Add white wine and stir so that it combines with flour and add chicken stock. Bring to a boil, stirring to loosen any bits stuck to bottom of pot.

Add beef and tomatoes to stew pot. Bring back to boil and turn down to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook at this temperature for 2 hours, stirring occasionally so that nothing sticks to bottom of pot. Add beans, turnips and 1 cup water and cook until turnips are tender, about 35-50 minutes.

Heat up reserved bacon fat in saute pan over medium-high and add collard greens. Saute about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and add to stew pot. Taste stew, and add salt and pepper if necessary.

Remove stew from heat and let sit about 10 minutes before serving.

Portuguese White Bean, Kale and Linguica Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb pork and fennel sausage (linguica)
2 strips bacon, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 15 oz can cannellini beans
1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 cups kale

Heat up olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add linguica and cook about 6 minutes, turning halfway through to brown both sides. Remove from pan and let cool (leave burner on).

Add onion, garlic and bacon chunks to pan. Saute for 5-7 minutes until onion is translucent. Add red pepper flakes and cook 1 additional minute.

Add tomatoes. Let mixture come to a boil, then let cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add cannellini beans and chicken broth. When soup comes to a boil, turn down so that it remains at a simmer.

Cook uncovered about 20 minutes, until beans are soft. While cooking, slice sausage into approximately 3/4 inch long chunks.

Add sausage chunks and kale. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until soup has thickened.

Serve with crostini (Slice Italian bread, drizzle with olive oil then grill or cook in toaster oven).

Ropa Vieja (Cuban Beef Stew)

Like many of my favorite foods, I first tried ropa vieja during my semester in Havana, Cuba. Meat is scarce on the island, both due to its economic situation and more so (this is a less known fact) because the government saves meat and fish to be sold at hotels/tourist restaurants). Originally this dish was prepared using whatever leftover meat Cubans had on hand, then vegetables and seasoning were added to give the dish flavor. Using leftovers (of anything) is 100% Cuban. See my post on making Batidos for a cartoon that explains the innovative Cuban spirit.

Ingredients:
3 lbs skirt or flank steak (you can substitute chuck steak, not traditional but saves $$$) .
8 cups water
2 large carrots, chopped
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 head garlic, cloves cut into 1/4ths
2 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

2 green bell peppers, cut into long thin strips
1 large Vidalia onion, cut into long thin strips
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups leftover braising liquid
a 14 oz can whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
1 head garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 red bell peppers, cut into long thin strips
1 yellow bell peppers, cut into long thin strips
1 orange bell pepper, cut into long thin strips
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup chopped Spanish olives stuffed with pimento
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine water, steak, carrots, celery, garlic, onions, spices, bay leaf and freshly ground black pepper in large stew pot. Bring to simmer and cook about 2 hours, or until meat falls apart easily using a fork. Remove meat from liquid and cool. Strain liquid from pot into another large stew pot, discard vegetables, etc than remain in strainer.

Clean & dry original stew pot. Heat up olive oil over medium-high heat Add green pepper, onion strips and garlic and turn to medium. Saute 7-10 minutes, until soft. While peppers and onion are cooking, shred cooled meat. Add tomatoes to stew pot. Simmer 10 minutes. Add meat, cumin, paprika and oregano. Add braising liquid. Bring to a simmer and let cook 1 hour. Add red, orange and yellow bell pepper strips and cook 30 minutes. Add thawed peas and chopped olives. Cook another 30 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread or over saffron rice. Stew is even better next day and can be kept refrigerated 3-5 days or frozen.

The photograph, sadly, is not mine...I have to find time to make a Cuban meal sometime soon, but having a Dominican boyfriend...that cuisine has taken precedence as of late. This great photo is on Flickr and is by graphics.jsonline.com>

Vegetarian Tagine

I think might be possibly the most healthy dish in the world. This Moroccan stew is high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and protein. And it tastes good. Enough said. (Well, for those who know me, rarely am I that succinct). This version is vegetarian, as I am making it for lunch @ work-and it thus must be without meat, but it is awesome with chicken or lamb added, and served over couscous.

Ingredients:

1 head garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces, or about 1 1/2 cups cut baby carrots
1 celery rib with leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock (I used Trader Joe's individual vegetable stock concentrate and added water)
1 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1 red pepper, chopped
1 pound butternut squash, cut into roughly 1 inch cubes
1 medium eggplant, chopped into roughly 1 inch cubes
1 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 box prepared couscous

Heat up olive oil in large stew pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrots, onions and garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then turn heat down to medium. Let cook about 7 minutes. Add dry spices and let cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add lemon juice.

Add parsley and 1/4 cup cilantro. Add tomatoes and bring to boil. Add in vegetable stock, chickpeas and butternut squash. Cook, simmering, 1 hour.

Salt eggplant pieces, let rest 2 minutes then rinse well with water and add, along with crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped red pepper to stew.

Chop up sultanas and add to stew. Cook additional 1 1/2, or until vegetables are tender. Add additional seasoning to taste. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup cilantro.

Serve over prepared couscous.

Fabada (Fava Bean and Chorizo Soup)

Ingredients:
1 lb. Fava beans
4 small chorizo sausages or 2 large ones, chopped
1/4 lb. pancetta, chopped (not Spanish, I know, but I like the added flavor)
1/4 lb. jamón serrano, chopped
1/2 lb. ham hocks
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 garlic
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 bay leaf
a few threads of saffron
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt to taste

Soak the white beans in water overnight. Drain, rinse thoroughly and drain again.

Heat oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the chorizo, pancetta, jamon serrano and other meat products and sear meat on all sides. (It's okay if it isn't completely seared-just do the best you can to brown the meat). Place meat large stew pot over medium heat.

In pan with meat drippings, saute the onion, carrot, garlic, paprika and saffron for a 5-7 minutes over medium heat, add additional oil if necessary. Add to stew pot, along with chopped parsley and bay leaf.

Add beans to stew pot. Add chicken broth and extra water if necessary to cover all the beans/meat. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, or until beans are tender. Make sure the beans are always covered with liquid, adding water if necessary.

Take several beans, mash them up, return them to the pot and cook uncovered for several minutes.

Serve with good crusty bread.

To buy good chorizo or other Spanish products in Boston, I LOVE Las Ventas. Its owner, Julio de Haro. owns the tapas restaurant next door, Estragon (I haven't been there yet as I am a big fan of Dali), and always gives me free samples of cheeses, sausages, etc. They also do lunch sandwiches. Mmmm...