Same Thing, But Different

Friday, November 03, 2006

Crockpottery. New & Improved!

[The lovely and gracious Badger pointed out some flaws in my recipe-typing. My bad.]

I can freely use that in the title because my slow-cooker just happens to be an official Crock-PotTM slow cooker.

Anyway, MsCellania was happy to have had, due to the Granny Pants, another use for hers (the Crock-PotTM, not the Granny Pants). So, because I aim to benefit humanity in all I ever do I am posting probably the oldest recipe in our family, one dating back well over a coupla hunnerd years: Fabada.

Fabada derives its name from the type of bean used, called "Fabes." You will not find this bean (at least not reasonably priced) anywhere outside of Spain. So don't even bother to go look for it. What you want is the largest white bean you can get, but not lima beans or butterbeans. Canellini beans are what I use for everyday.

And so, the recipe (this is as still made by my great-aunt Maria Cristina, sans the slow-cooker):

2¼ lb./1 kg of fabes
¼lb./200gm Spanish NOT MEXICAN chorizo (I like the Palacios brand, but Goya is workable)
¼lb./200gm morcilla ("black pudding") or just go w. 1/2 lb. chorizo
¼lb./200gm unsmoked ham (something like domestic prosciutto is ideal) cubed ½" x ½" (1cm x 1cm)
1 medium yellow onion
1 pinch of saffron (OPT)
1 tsp. of smoked sweet Spanish paprika (also called "pimenton dulce ahumado" and it's OK if you don't find any that's actually Spanish, just as long as it's smoked and NOT the hot stuff you'll be fine)
¼lb./200gm unsmoked bacon (think pancetta) is optional.
1 quart/liter Ham stock (from a couple of ham hocks -- OPT, but so-o-o-o-o-o desirable...chicken stock or broth or even water will work, but stocks contribute a bit of gelatin that makes this all unctuous and yummy...add water to come up to the correct amount)
Salt to taste (if you use stock, be CAREFUL with the salt!)

[Basically you want a 3:1 or so ratio of beans to porky goodness, in whatever proportions suit you. Oh, and trivia factoid: the combination of porcine goodies is called "compango" in Spanish.]

Soak the beans overnight.

(This part can me made wa-a-a-a-ay ahead) Put in the chorizo (and any bacon-like whatever) in a pot over low heat with a bit of water, and render out its fat. Pour off most of it. Add ham, morcilla, diced onion and cook until the onions are translucent. Add saffron/paprika and let cool.

This "base" will keep a week in the fridge and damned near forever in the freezer.

Drain the beans, put them along with the porkified base in a stock pot and cover them with stock/water over medium low heat or in the CrockPotTM on "high" for a couple of hours.

Turn the heat to low. Let cook a couple of hours and then mash some of the white beans against the side of the pot. Stir and reduce heat to "warm" until dinner time.

It's even better the next day.

-J.

P.S. You may want to skim the orange chorizo fat...but not ALL of it, as its presence is crucial for flavor...but a little goes a long way.

Posted by Joke at 12:05 PM

7 Comments

Badger posted at 7:29 PM, November 03, 2006
Dude. I am SO CONFUSED. To save myself further heartache:

1. After I drain the beans, do I cook them WITH the meat base? Or do I cook them in stock by themselves for a while first?

2. How long do I have the CrockPotTM on High before I turn it to Low?

3. Assuming I make the base on another day, how long will it take me to assemble/cook the whole thing on the day I actually want to consume it?

Bec of the Ladies Lounge posted at 6:41 AM, November 05, 2006
He'll be back to fix this Badger, you know he will.

And we'll be waiting.

Meanwhile, to add to Joke's chores for this post, I want to know the chances of 'fabes' beans being 'fava' beans. I have a special supply of fava beans in Sydney, one that I hunted down to prove a point to Scrabble playing friends after they DENIED me about 60 points the should have been mine playing 'fava' and something else off a triple word score.

You see how easy it is to combine food and spelling to one great big vengeful passion?

I really should have been Italian rather than mostly Irish with a Spanish great grandmother.

Digressing...

Joke posted at 8:25 AM, November 05, 2006
Bec,

Correct, I fixed it.

They both have the same Latin root, meaning "beans." Cannellini beans work perfectly as well and are absurdly cheap.

And Irish isn't bad at all. My kid sister married a very nice (he proves it daily by not breaking furniture over her head) Irish guy.

AND

People from the north of Spain (whence my gene pool springs, mostly) are also Celts.

-J.

Bec of the Ladies Lounge posted at 11:09 PM, November 05, 2006
No wonder we get on...

MsCellania posted at 2:52 PM, January 05, 2010
And I shall reply again in 2010 -
I just may make this AGAIN. But HeyZeus Kristos - the ingredients are difficult to find here. There is an Iberian (of the Jewish persuasion) next door, but he's a doctah, not a cook, and I doubt I could pester him for the Spanish ingredients.

Joke posted at 2:54 PM, January 17, 2010
The only real nightmare ingredient is real chorizo. You can get by with "regular" versions of the authentic ingredients (cannellini beans, ordinary mild paprika, etc.) but what makes/breaks this is real chorizo.

The good news is that you can order some online and, being well-cured, will keep forever. (So stock up.)

Joke posted at 2:55 PM, January 17, 2010
P.S. Ms, your comment JUST showed up...weird!