Recipe 12: Back from the brink and into winter soups, stews and one pot wonders.

Right. Inspired by the comments of a certain ex-colleague, and dear friend of mine (N Dunmore, Blog link to the bottom right) and finally realising that the life of a student allows certain freedoms in the way of free time I am back on this blog with a vengeance.

A few 1000 miles from home and finally settled (as much as I can be) in the furthest reaches of Western Canada, Victoria, Vancouver Island, I am about to jump back into the recipe and food past time that still takes up so much of my imagination and free time.

The name of the game for the poor, lowly grad student, suffering the winds and rain of this moist part of world is soups and stews. Hearty one pot dishes that are cheap, easy and last a few days. They seriously warm the cockles and so far my experiments have turned out damn well.

Culminating in my last creation, a Squash, tomato and pinto bean stew (started as a soup, ended up thick and packed with veg=stew). So far I have made a vegetable and chilli soup and one pulled together from some left over brocolli and walnuts I had hanging around.

These are going to be right up there with the easy Ratatouille for simplicity, economy and satisfaction, so try this next recipe out. Its really worth a go and must contain at least 20 of your suggestion veg portions in one bite!

If anyone wants the other recipes, please let me know and I will post them up.

It’s good to be back, enjoy the food!

Squash, Tomato and Pinto Bean Stew.

Serves many. As I said these dishes make a lot. So just put them in a sealable tub and refrigerate. I have found that they get better with age (within reason!)
Ingredients:

1 tin of Pinto beans (drained and rinsed)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 medium squash (deseeded and chopped into wedges

Holy trinity (base for any good soup/stew):

1 medium white onion (diced)

2 sticks of celery (cut down the stalk and diced)

3 carrots (peeled and diced)

1 yellow or red pepper (deseeded and cut into wedges)

2 medium white potatoes (peeled and chopped into 1inch pieces)

2 cloves of garlic

1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 2 pints of hot water

Spice mix:

Salt and pepper

2-3 teaspoons of Paprika (depending on heat desired)

1 teaspoons of mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

2 small dried chillis

2-3 bay leaves

Good pinch of Dried Oregano (I used Mexican Oregano, its got good flavour and a nice heat to it. It is easy to get hold of in most good supermarkets or spice shops. Rub in between your fingers before adding to the stew to activate its flavour from the heat of your fingers.)

Good pinch of dried Rosemary/1 large fresh Rosemary sprig

To garnish:

A sprinkling of unsalted, roasted sunflower seeds

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep the pepper and squash. Lay the pieces out on a lightly oiled baking tray and sprikle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast until the pepper is lightly coloured on both sides (flip half way through), and the squash’s flesh just gives when pierced with a knife. The squash will take longer than the pepper so just remove the pepper andchop to 1 inch pieces when it is ready and return the pumpkin to the oven.

2.  Take the Holy Trinity (chopped celery, carrot and onion) and add to a large pan on a high heat with a good amount of olive oil. When the ingredients start to sizzle reduce the heat to medium and allow the contents to cook through and take on a transparency. You do not want them to colour.

3. When the Holy Trinity has cooked through add the spice mix.  Stir this through so that the aromas are released from the spices and start to flavour the stew base.

4. Add the stock cube and potatoes. Bring the heat up and cook until the liquid is slightly reduced and the potatoes are partly cooked. Add the drained Pinto beans, charred, chopped peppers and the tin of chopped tomatoes.  Mix well and ensure that all of the ingrdients are brought together.

5. Take the squash from the oven and carefully strip the flesh from the skin with a knife and chop into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes. Add to the stew and carefully mix the whole batch together.

6. Reduce the heat to a medium simmer and allow the stew to thicken and pull together. Check the seasoning and adjust as required.

Serve with good toasted flat bread (you can scope up the larger bits of veg with the bread) and sprinkle with the roasted sunflower seeds.

Damn good winter warmer...

This recipe is so easy and can last for a few days after its been cooked. Just take a good serving and gently reheat in a smaller saucepan, serving as you did with the first batch.

The heat of the paprika and the chilies (be careful as someone might get a spicy surprise in their bowl), as well as the spice mix makes this dish warming and perfect for these dark winter nights.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the food if you try it and have enjoyed reading the blog once again.

Thank you for reading and keep your eyes peeled, there will hopefully be more posts soon!

The Epicurean Candidate

~ by theepicureancandidate on January 14, 2010.