Sunday, September 29, 2024

Sunday Dinner: Spanish Stew

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The good news, dear readers, is that Celia is recovering well from her knee replacement surgery! The bad news is you're getting a recipe from me today, and it's not accompanied by a delightful story of how I met a member of the royal family, or lived in the Far East, or emigrated to New York City. My life has been much, much duller than Celia's. Also, I didn't even think to take pictures when I made this, let alone an instructional video. Julia Child, I'm not.


Instead, I'm giving you a reasonable quick Spanish Stew, perfect for the rapidly cooling weather. If you're in the south, and NOT experiencing any cooling because your power is out, you have all our sympathy and best wishes. Some nights it's a home-made meal, some nights it's a cold sandwich. 


Spanish Stew

 

For the liquid portion:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic or 6 t pre-minced garlic (my fave for speed and simplicity)

1 large or 2 regular cans of tomatoes, with their juice

1 eggplant, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf 

1 t cayenne pepper, or less if you have white-person mouth like me.

1 t Kosher salt, or to taste


For the hefty stuff:

2 T olive oil

Chicken breast, cubed. I used 2 breasts for a smaller serving. You can go up from there, depending on how meaty you want this to be

Two large potatoes, sliced into half-moons. Is there a professional term for this cut? If there is I don't know it.

OPTIONAL: Chorizo or similar spicy sausage. Get the kind you can crumble, not the cured kind you slice.

Halved olives. I like Manzanillas for this dish, but you do you. If you don't want to fuss with cutting, get some pre-sliced ones.

1 t paprika


Garnish:

chopped fresh parsley

 

Directions:

In a large pot (I used my Dutch oven) heat the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and simmer for a minute. Put the tomatoes with their juice in and smush them with your spoon. Don't fret about getting them small, there's a blender later on in this recipe. Add the diced eggplant, bay leaf, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Remember, there will be salt in those canned tomatoes, and if you choose to add the sausage, you may need less cayenne. Simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors blend.

In a generously sized skillet, heat 2 T oil. When it's sizzling, stir in chicken, potatoes and, if you like, crumbled chorizo. Sprinkle the chicken and potatoes with paprika. Saute on high, stirring frequently, until everything is browned. Remove from heat.

Back to the saucy stuff! Either pour the tomato-eggplant mix into a blender/Cuisinart or use your immersion blender. I finally got one for Christmas after seeing how much Celia uses hers, and it has changed my life. 10/10 would recommend. Take out the bay leaf, then blend until smooth and taste to adjust seasonings.

Into the large pot goes the now-blended saucy stuff, the meat and potatoes, the olives and the bay leaf. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are fork tender.

I served this with popping biscuits because that was what I had, but it would be best with a nice crusty bread and a hearty red, like a Malbec or a Rioja.

Dear readers, what are you having for dinner tonight? And have you been affected by Hurricane Helene?

67 comments:

  1. This sounds yummy, Julia . . . I'll have to get some eggplant and try it this week. [Dinner tonight is steak, sugar snap peas, macaroni and cheese, and biscuits] . . . .
    No Hurricane Helene issues here, but our youngest daughter [in Georgia] had her fence blown down and has been without power, three days now and counting . . . .

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    1. Ugh, that's hard, Joan. I hope they have her up and running soon!

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    2. She says the target date for restoring power is 05 October . . . .

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  2. Sounds delish. I'm having spaghetti. No hurricane here, but I wish all those in the path to stay safe.

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  3. Ooh, I have garden tomatoes and three skinny eggplants to use up, two already cooked chicken breasts, and everything else except the chorizo. Will adapt! Thanks for the inspiration, and we're so glad both you and Celia are on the mend.

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    1. I actually cobbled together this recipe under similar circumstances, Edith: a lovely neighbor gave me a whole bunch of tomatoes from her garden and two eggplants. I would just pop fresh tomatoes into boiling water to skin them, then proceed as usual, but adding some liquid to make up for the lack of canned-tomato juice.

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  4. Sitting in the dark with no power here, at least until noon, according to Duke. Apparently 60 homes in our neighborhood lost electricity about an hour ago. Eerily quiet!

    Helene came to call here, with lashing rain and lots of wind, gusting up to 55 mph. Lots of trees losing bits around these parts. After months without a drop of rain we have had nearly four inches in the last three days.

    Your recipe sounds delicious, Julia! Tonight we're going to a friend's for potluck, but last night I made my new favorite company dish, salmon cooked with rice simmered in coconut milk. It's meant to have a sauce made with cilantro in a simple syrup, but Steve doesn't like it, so I used tarragon from my garden. It was a big hit with our foodie friends.

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    1. Hope you get power back soon, Karen. The salmon sounds delish!

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    2. Thanks, Edith.

      The original recipe is from Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2020/09/01/this-coconut-rice-with-salmon-and-cilantro-sauce-deserves-a-spot-in-your-regular-recipe-rotation/

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    3. Sorry about your power Karen--this has been the worst storm! If hadn't shifted slightly east, my sister and brother in law would have been ruined! Can't wait for the end of hurricane season:(

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    4. KAREN: Sorry to hear you lost power and that you have gone from drought to too much water.

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    5. I hope your power is back soon Karen! Your salmon dish sounds yummy.

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    6. Farther north, along the lake, we're getting rain--but not heavy--and unrelenting cloud cover. Dreary, but not life-threatening. Power on, thank goodness! Hope Duke is as responsive as our people!

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    7. Karen, I hope you get your power back soon! What a terrible storm!

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    8. Stay safe Karen!
      And Lucy - I assume you are in New England and hopefully not Key West. Although I think the island is ok?

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    9. Hugs, and hope the power is back soonest!

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    10. Lucy, my college roommate was similarly lucky. They live in Crawfordville, FL. If the storm hadn't jogged east....

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    11. Whoo, I'm glad you escaped the worst of it, Karen. And you had me at "coconut simmered rice." Yum!

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    12. hope you get your power back soon.

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    13. Thanks for the good wishes, everyone! Apparently, a utility pole on our road caught fire. Still not fixed, but it should be soon. Our neighbor needs help getting out, though. He can get his garage door open, but the electric gate on his driveway is a harder one to manage.

      In the meantime, we spent a pleasant, drizzly morning traipsing around an arboretum with a botanist.

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  5. No bad weather in Ottawa. Sunny and a forecasted high of 22C/72F.
    My balcony garden has finished its meager harvest of tomatoes and eggplant so I will keep your Spanish stew on file for another time.

    Also I still can't taste most food 2 months post-COVID. Strong tasting food like coffee or basil pesto, nada. I can taste sweet and bitter things, though.
    This is so tedious for a foodie like me.

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    1. Grace, so sorry your taste buds are slow to recover from Covid! I'm just getting past my first (and hopefully only case of Covid) and have not experienced loss of taste or smell. This is good news as far as food is concerned, but sometimes bad news in terms of our elderly dog, who likes to be near me and can stink me out when he has gas! :-(

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    2. What a bummer, Grace. Hope taste comes back soon!

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    3. Oh, Grace, so sorry that you are in this state again. I hope you regain all of your senses soon!

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    4. Grace, sorry to hear this!

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    5. Oh, Grace, that does sound tedious. I have a friend who lost his sense of smell, and I'm sorry to say it took quite some time to get it back. But sweet and bitter does give you something to work with. Chickory salad with candied walnuts, maybe?

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    6. Sorry about your taste...hoping you get it back soon

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    7. Thanks everyone. It's too bad I cannot enjoy cooking with the local produce this fall. I harvested my herbs and made pesto and herb butters that are stored in the freezer to use when my taste/smell comes back.

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    8. That is a bummer, Grace.

      For two years after my jaw was broken I couldn't taste anything sweet or salty. That is when I started eating dark chocolate for breakfast. It was almost the only thing I could taste.

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  6. Dinner tonight? I'm not sure. I need to go to the store and see what strikes my fancy. Since my baseball buddy is coming over after church to watch the last game of the season, I'm thinking more about snacks and beer.

    I returned to Portland yesterday from spending a few days in Chicago with my son. On Friday, (in Chicago) we had high-ish winds (sustained 28 mph with gusts to 41) from Helene's coattails and overnight rain. I saw a few breaking whitecaps on the beautiful lakeshore.

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    1. That sounds about as close as I like to get to hurricanes, Gillian. A healthful amount of rain and some scenic, rather than scary, wind.

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  7. It's a beautiful day here in York County Maine! Sunny and 58 right now, but will be 70! Going to my son's for dinner, but this recipe sounds delicious, sans the garlic and chorizo (I'm allergic if you can believe it!!). I will try it as we love eggplant and spicy pepper!! Hope all affected by this hurricane can get their power back quickly!

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    1. It's be our turn to worry about CMP's lines breaking down in four or five months, CT! (I'm also in York county.)

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  8. Thanks for the recipe, Julia--I like the use of eggplant here. And I love my immersion blender! Will add this to my winter soups/stews rotation. Tonight looks like leftovers, unless my local farm market has something that inspires me!

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    1. Celia kept showing me the magic of the immersion blender, so I put it on my Christmas wish list, Flora. Where it sat for two years, until my delightful daughter-in-law elect gave one to me last holiday! I love it. It's such a game changer in terms of keeping things fast, clean and safe.

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  9. Glad to hear that Celia is healing so well, Julia, and thanks for this recipe, which sounds both speedy and delicious. Lots of garlic--yay! here in Bern our weather has been sunny and in the low sixties. Today, my mother-in-law turns 89. She is a widow, still living on her own in her small house of 50-plus years, doing her own cleaning, shopping, cooking, and most of the gardening. She is a wonder, and I am filled with admiration for her energy and determination. Tonight, instead of letting us take her out to dinner, she is having at least five (and maybe more) members of the family over for a cold supper to celebrate her birthday with her! This afternoon, I'm cooking a split pea soup for Peter and me to eat off and on during the week while I do a final read-through of the MS for my fourth mystery, SPLINTERED JUSTICE.

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    1. Happiest of birthday wishes to your mother-in-law and congratulations on your final read-through. Both events are milestones.

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    2. I'm not the only one here who can't wait to read SPLINTERED JUSTICE, Kim!

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    3. Happy birthday to your mother-in-law! And I am happy to hear the title, Splintered Justice, and to know it’s your final read-through, Kim! Congratulations!

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    4. Oops, forgot to sign my name! — Pat S

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    5. Happiest of birthdays to your wonderful mother-in-law, Kim! Splintered Justice, yay, can't wait! And yum on the split pea soup. Share your recipe!

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  10. Here in Harrisburg PA we’ve had the unrelenting cloud cover Flora mentioned for 5 days now accompanied by either steady rain or mist—very Londonish sometimes. Everything is very green after little rain all summer. I’ll pass the Spanish Stew recipe along to my personal chef/husband!

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    1. Ah, for a husband who cooks... that's the sweet life, Emily.

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  11. Looks great, Julia. I'm in the process of switching my menus from summer to winter so last night I made bangers and mash and tonight it will be chicken fried steak to use up the rest of the mashed potatoes. Stocking up on root veggies for the stews I'll make later on in October. I love the cooking changeover.

    We're not affected by Helene this far north - as far as I've heard, we're not expecting any weather from the storm to make it up here. That said, after 40 years in Florida, I have a number of friends who were in the line of fire all up and down the state. This storm has had horrific consequences well outside of the bullseye area. My heart and prayers go out to all those who have and are facing her wrath.

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    1. There are so many delightful things about Florida - the sunshine, the warmth, the beaches - and then another hurricane comes along and I remember why I haven't moved there to escape Maine's winters. I'd much rather deal with a Nor'easter than a tropical storm.

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  12. Good recipe, Julia. Makes me nostalgic for New England and Kodiak, AK. Good wishes to all for the week ahead. Elisabeth

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  13. Julia: Wonderful news about Celia recovering from knee surgery.

    Thinking about everyone in the path of Hurricane Helene. I have been seeing the news about the aftermath. Hope everyone is OK!

    Your Spanish Stew looks yummy! It looks similar to a family recipe. I am 1/6 Spanish. My grandmother’s grandmother was born in northern Spain.

    What am I thinking of for dinner? Perhaps legumes salad or tofu salad. I need more Protein these days!

    Happy Sunday everyone!

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    1. Thank you for mentioning legumes, Diana - I've got a bag of beans I need to set to soak for a future meal. Happy Sunday to you as well!

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  14. I have no idea what's for dinner. Weather is predicted to start climbing into the low 100s in the next few days, with possible power outages.

    Hopefully all those dealing with illness, recovering from surgery, horrible weather will be feeling better, stronger and seeing better days soon.

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  15. Sounds good, Julia! I'm visiting in San Antonio and have no idea what we'll have for dinner. Probably something light as it's been in the 90s here. Perhaps we'll dine on the Riverwalk.

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  16. Oh hurray, Celia! And this sounds yummy. Hmmmm—we have an eggplant too! Do you use a special paprika?

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  17. Glorious 70s here all week, with a chance of some rain tomorrow. Our part of Kentucky didn't get the heavy rains and winds that some other parts of the state got from the hurricane effects. I did worry for quite a while about my friends Kaye and Don Barley, as they live right outside Boone, NC, which, as I'm sure you've heard been devastated by the storms. Of course, communications have been spotty in that area. I finally heard from their neighbor, Jill Harman Smith, who said she's talked to Don and they were okay. They live in the community of Meat Camp, and news reports say the road on both sides is impassable. Jill posted on FB that the Meat Camp Store has supplies and showed cases of water in a pic. Their electricity was back on, and I guess it still is. Anyway, it's always good to hear your loved ones are safe. I kept check on my Florida friends, too, and they were all ok.

    What's for supper? Philip fixed a pot roast yesterday, so there will be leftovers. I have come to dread supper because Philip always wants to plan what we will eat. It's not even that I have to fix it. He will and does. I would just as soon grab a sandwich or the like these days, and I want to eat it whenever I want to, not at or by a certain time. I say all this, but I do try to be congenial with him about it. I don't feel too guilty not cooking. I cooked for years. I will fix the occasional meat loaf or chili. Your recipe, Debs, would probably delight Philip, but it sounds a little too spicy for me.

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  18. Your recipe sound delicious, Julia. I don't think I've ever used eggplant in soup, so am intrigued.

    Best recovery wishes to Celia! And I hope your knee has recovered from your research rabbit hole last week!

    We had a false fall a couple of weeks ago--not that we expected it last--but it's still pleasant enough here. Highs about 90, lows around 60. Makes for nice morning walks. And with it getting dark earlier I'm craving more seasonal foods. I made a big pot of minestone last week, and this week I'm contemplating Lucy's Cauliflower Soup recicpe.

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    1. Susan Nelson-HolmdahlSeptember 29, 2024 at 5:25 PM

      How are your English roses doing in the heat? Mine are doing well, and blooming again now. It had been 100 or more most days here since early May, southern Bay Area in California. Headed to 110 on Tuesday. The roses are in the sun about six hours a day. At least it is drier here, sometimes. Humidity yesterday was 15, today 50.

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  19. Susan Nelson-HolmdahlSeptember 29, 2024 at 3:22 PM

    I am in the southern end of the Bay Area in California. My weather forecast for the next week is over 105, with Tuesday snd Wednesday exceeding 110. No cold weather meals! We have been exceeding 100 more days than not in September. I am seventy miles south of San Francisco.
    Your meal sounds great, maybe in January. 😎

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  20. It’s been a long day here, but no signs of any hurricane. We were promised rain, and the wheelbarrow filled up 3 “, which is more than Harrumper discovered when he put a shovel in the ground – hardly dampened the earth. I was thinking of Celia yesterday, when I was looking for a good tomato soup recipe and saw hers from last year. I got side-tracked and didn’t make it…maybe next week. Julia, can you grow eggplant? I don’t really like them – too much work to cook, but the few times I tried the grow them were not successful. Maybe if we get more hot dry summers like we had this year, they would be worth another test run. Saved your recipe – it might get modified, but the idea is there!
    I felt sorry for Karen when she said she could not taste and had to eat chocolate for breakfast – how she must have suffered! Cocoa Krispies without the Krispies.

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    1. Susan Nelson-HolmdahlSeptember 29, 2024 at 5:18 PM

      We grow eggplant in California. Hot, dry climate except December through mid February, when it rains, sometimes. I believe there is a winter variety we grow here too.

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  21. Aw, thanks, Margo. The one thing I missed most was being able to taste in-season nectarines. They had zero flavor, it was so weird.

    Power still out, until midnight, at least. I misread the text this morning as noon. Wishful optimism! And our potluck was postponed. Rather than eat PBJ in a dark house, I think we need to go out for dinner.

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  22. Delicious! When it's not 110+ here, I'll asks Hubs to make this!

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