Saturday, December 31, 2022

NEW YEAR’S EVE: 12 GRAPES, CAVA AND—SEITAN?

 

For New Year's Eve: twelve grapes at midnight, bubbly cava for toasting and delicious (vegetarian) food.

I’m planning a vegetarian menu for New Year’s Eve. Got the grapes, got the chilled cava. Now, what food to accompany the occasion?


Cooking for vegetarian friends is always a (pleasurable) challenge. I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen. I like to make tasty food. I want to please my guests with the meals at my table. With that in mind, I bought a block of seitan (in Spanish, it has an accent, seitán), a vegetarian product made from wheat gluten. 

Slices from a block of seitan.
Prepared, ready-to-eat seitan has a remarkably chewy texture, which makes it perfect for using in a dish normally made with meat. For my holiday dinner party, I turned it into a really delicious pâté to serve as an hors d’oeuvre. 

Purchased at a big supermarket, the seitan was labelled “sin lactosa” (no lactose); “ecologico” (organically grown), and “sin azucares, (no sugars). I failed to notice that it did not say “vegan.” When I got a magnifying glass to read the small print of the ingredient list, I realized that the seitan contained egg (as well as sunflower oil, oat flakes, textured soy protein, onion, soy sauce, yeast extract and spices). The egg was not a problem as my guests aren’t vegan. But, best to look at the labels.

Seitan can be used without cooking—slice and put it on a sandwich, for instance. But it is much improved if simmered in a sauce, grilled or fried. Seitan takes up the flavors with which it cooks, so use herbs, spices and aromatics generously. 

Vegetarian pâté made with seitan and mushrooms, served with toasts, crackers and caperberries. This version is coarsely processed.  


Same pâté as above, but processed with caper brine to make a smooth spread. 


Vegetarian Pâté with Seitan
Paté Vegetariano con Seitán

For a luxurious finish, I’ve added butter to this pâté. To keep it vegan, omit the butter and increase the quantity of olive oil. 

8 ounces mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
6 ounces prepared seitan
3 tablespoons brandy
Chopped thyme
¼ teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika)
1 ½ ounces softened butter (optional)
1 teaspoon miso paste
1/8 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
Salt, as needed
Caper brine (optional) or water
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios
Toasts or crackers to accompany

Coarsely chop the mushrooms. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic. Sauté on medium heat until they are softened and beginning to brown, 5 minutes. Tip the skillet to one side to allow the oil to drain to one side. Skim out the mushrooms and reserve them.

Cut the block of seitan into cubes. Add to the oil in the skillet and fry the seitan, turning, until lightly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the brandy to the pan and cook off the alcohol. Stir in the thyme and pimentón and remove the pan from the heat.

Place the seitan in a food processor with the miso and butter, if using. Process until seitan is chopped. Add the mushrooms and remaining 1 tablespoon of brandy. Process to desired degree of smoothness. Add pepper and salt, if needed. To make a very smooth and creamy pâté, thin the seitan with caper brine or water. Stir in the pistachios.

Serve the pâté room temperature accompanied by toasts or crackers. Store it, covered and refrigerated.



More recipes for pâtés and terrines:







Wishing you all the best in the New Year.





Saturday, December 24, 2022

FESTIVE ROAST PORK FOR HOLIDAY MEALS

 

A pork shoulder roast--perfect for a holiday dinner party.

Whether you’re feeding a crowd or just a small dinner party, roast pork may be the perfect holiday menu. It’s festive and fairly economical. 


Last Christmas, when I was in the U.S. with family, I helped Juana, my Venezuelan consuegra (fellow mother-in-law) prepare a whole pernil, a whole bone-in, skin-on, shoulder of pork. She scored the outer layer of fat and studded it with cloves. In roasting, the fat would crisp to delicious cracklings. She cut deep gashes in the meat and rubbed an aromatic marinade all over it. I watched over it, turning the meat a few times, for the next 24 hours. It was then roasted in a slow oven for about six hours. 

We were 14 at table for that Noche Buena feast. The pork went around and round again and still there were leftovers (to serve with arepas on Christmas day). 

Pernil--whole bone-in pork shoulder with crackly skin will feed a crowd. 

Home in southern Spain, I couldn’t easily find a whole pork leg with skin and certainly didn’t need such a massive piece of meat for family meals. I started with a 3-pound boneless chunk of shoulder, a cut called cabezal, and used the same marinade as for the Venezuelan-style pernil. It provided a festive dinner for four, plus leftovers for sandwiches in the following days. 

Make the marinade 24 hours before roasting the pork. The ingredients given make enough marinade for a whole (8-pound) bone-in pork shoulder. If making the 3-pound boneless roast, as described, save half the marinade in the freezer for another use. It’s terrific for anything from leg of lamb to whole turkey, chicken breasts to pork chops. 

Palette of spices for marinade.
In America, Juana used store-bought spice mixes for the marinade (adobo, sazón and mojo criollo). But making your own blend is easy enough. The ingredient list is long, but probably you already have the required herbs and spices in the pantry or herb garden. Assemble them in a row and it takes no time at all to mix up this marinade. I customized the blend, adding wild fennel seeds and Spanish smoked pimentón (paprika). 

Wild fennel seeds in the mix.

Use a mortar or spice grinder to grind the dry spices and herbs. Use a mini food processor to grind the fresh herbs and aromatics. The dry ones can be stored in a jar; the fresh mix, in the fridge. Combine them immediately before using. 

Whether a whole pernil or a small roast, slow roasting at 300ºF is what makes for tender, juicy meat. Always keep some liquid in the bottom of the roaster—water, the strained marinade, wine or stock. Cover the meat with foil until the last 30 minutes. The meat should reach about 180ºF internal temperature when done. Then turn up the heat and uncover the meat so that it browns nicely.

Roast pork is ideal whether hot or cold.


Pork is juicy and tender. It's served with sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts that have roasted with the meat. I've added homemade apple chutney as a relish.

Spoon pan juices over the meat.




Herb-Marinated Roast Shoulder of Pork
Asado de Cabezal de Cerdo con Marinada de Hierbas

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast 

For the marinade:
Dry spices and herbs
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1-2 cloves
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)
¼ teaspoon hot pimentón or pinch cayenne
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

Fresh herbs, onion and garlic in the marinade.
Fresh herbs and aromatics
½ cup parsley
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
½ onion, coarsely chopped
15 cloves garlic
Zest of 1 lemon (1 ½ teaspoons)
1 bay leaf, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
½ teaspoon fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon seedless raisins or chopped prunes
1 tablespoon olive oil

Liquid
Fresh orange juice (1 cup for the 3-pound piece of pork)
Boiling water

24 hours before roasting the pork:

Blend of dry spices and herbs.
Crush the dry spices and herbs in a mortar. Place the salt in the mortar first with hard items, such as peppercorns, cloves, coriander and fennel seeds. Continue with the oregano. Stir in the ground pimentón, turmeric and cumin. Reserve the spice mixture.

In a food processor, finely chop the parsley and cilantro. Add the onion, garlic, lemon zest, pieces of bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, capers, raisins and oil. Process to make a paste. Place in a bowl and stir in the dry spices. (Divide the mixture in half. Freeze one half to use for another marinade.)


Garlic and herb paste.


Place the piece of meat on a work surface. Use a thin knife to cut 1-inch slits all over the top and bottom of the pork. Rub the herb-garlic marinade all over the meat and into the cuts. Place the pork in a non-reactive container. Pour over the orange juice. Cover tightly. Refrigerate the meat, turning it two or three times during 24 hours.

Rub marinade on all sides of the meat and poke it into slits.



Ready for the oven--pork is tied to make a compact shape and placed on a rack in roasting pan.


Two hours before roasting, remove the meat from the marinade, scraping off excess. If desired, tie the meat into a compact roll using kitchen twine. Allow the meat to come to room temperature. Strain the marinade, saving the liquid. Discard the herbs and solids. 

Preheat oven to 400ºF. 

Place the pork on a rack in a roasting pan and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 300ºF. Add enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover the pork with foil. Return to the oven for 1 hour.

Carefully turn the pork. Add the reserved strained marinade liquid and enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the pan. (If desired, add potatoes, carrots or other vegetables to the pan.) Cover the meat with foil and return to the oven for 1 hour. 

Check the meat again and add additional water if needed. Roast 30 minutes.

Turn the oven up to 375ºF. Remove the foil from the pork. Return to the oven until the top surface is browned, about 30 minutes.

Remove the pork to a cutting board. (Remove any vegetables to serving bowls.) Pour the pan juices into a saucepan. 

Allow the meat to rest at least 15 minutes before slicing. Bring the pan juices to a boil and simmer 15 minutes to reduce slightly. Season, if needed, with salt and pepper. Serve alongside the pork.

'Twas the day before Christmas and I've got a lovely gift! Fresh orange juice goes into the marinade for the pork.

More recipes for pork shoulder:




Saturday, December 17, 2022

PERSIMMONS ARE TRENDING

 
Not tomatoes! These sliced persimmons with almond vinaigrette make a very festive salad.

I hadn’t given a thought to persimmons for years until a bag of them landed in my kitchen. Once they entered into my consciousness, the sweet and colorful fruit seemed to appear everywhere. 


I discovered that Spain is a world leader, after China, Korea and Japan, in the production of persimmons. Say what? And that a postharvest process can turn even the mouth-puckering varieties into sweet, firm fruit, ready to eat as soon as purchased. 

The persimmon tree, caqui or kaki in Spanish, has been grown in parts of Valencia and Andalusia since the 17th century, its wood once much appreciated for cabinetry. The prevalent variety in Spain, Rojo Brillante, emerged spontaneously in the 1950s. This variety belongs to the type of persimmon (Hachiya) that is astringent, The fruit contains so much tannin that it is impossible to eat until it is dead ripe, when the skin turns bright red and the flesh turns to gelatinous mush. Then it is like sweet pudding, perfect to eat with a spoon or incorporate in baked goods. 

Confusingly, this is the same variety that is commercialized as Kaki Persimon®DOP, an orange-colored fruit with firm, almost crisp, flesh. These persimmons are picked before they are fully ripe—yellow-orange, not green—and subjected to a process (exposure to high levels of carbon dioxide) that converts the tannins and removes the astringency.  

The Rojo Brillante, whichever its color, is ovoid or heart shaped. 

The non-astringent varieties, such as Fuyu, have firm, sweet flesh with no tannins. They do not need to be ripened before eating. They tend to be orange to red in color, round and squat like a tomato in shape.

Squat, tomato shape--probably the Fuyu variety.

My cache of persimmons, from the farmers’ market, are unlabeled. They look a lot like tomatoes. They are fairly firm, not crisp, but juicy, easy to peel and slice. They taste sweet, but not cloying, without a hint of astringency. I think they are Fuyu. I used them in a festive salad. 

Ready-to-eat Rojo Brillante. 









At the supermarket I bought bright orange persimmons, labeled Rojo Brillante variety. In spite of the name--Rojo Brillante means "bright red," they are orange in color. These are ready-to-eat without further ripening (meaning they have been processed to remove astringency). They are sweet and not quite as crisp as an apple, more like the texture of good melon. Which inspired this variation on a classic starter, persimmon with melon (caqui con melón). 
Instead of summer's ham with melon, this is sliced persimmon with shards of ibérico ham. A lovely appetizer. 

Salad of persimmon with slices of fried cheese and almond vinaigrette.

Persimmon Salad with Almond Vinaigrette and Fried Cheese
Ensalada de Caqui con Vinagreta de Almendras y Queso Frito

Fuyu persimmon has red flesh.

Serves 4-6.

4 medium persimmons, ready to eat (14-16 ounces)
Salad greens such as arugula
¼ cup Almond Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Fried cheese (recipe follows)


Use a vegetable peeler to peel the persimmons. Slice them thinly crosswise. Remove any seeds or hard seed pods in the center. Add 2 tablespoons of the dressing to the sliced persimmons and allow them to macerate for at least 1 hour.

Arrange salad greens on a platter or on individual plates. Place the sliced persimmons on the greens and spoon over remaining almond vinaigrette. Arrange pieces of fried cheese on top.







Almond Vinaigrette
Vinagreta con Almendras

Vinaigrette with chopped almonds.
Almonds that have been fried in olive oil add an irresistible crunch to this salad dressing. 

Makes ¾ cup dressing. (Only ¼ cup dressing is needed for the salad.)

¼ cup chopped scallions
¼ cup coarsely chopped fried almonds
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl combine the scallions, almonds, juice and vinegar. Whisk in the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Fried Cheese
Queso Frito



The fried cheese—crisp on the outside, melting on the inside—can be served as a tapa or with greens as part of a salad. It pairs nicely with persimmons, sliced pears or thin slices of quince paste. Use a semi-cured goat or sheep’s milk cheese, such as Manchego, or try a lightly smoked Idiazábal.  

Cheese is floured and coated in crumbs.


6-8 ounces semi-cured Manchego cheese
2-3 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs
Olive oil for frying

Remove the rind from the cheese and cut into triangles 3/8 inch thick. Dredge the slices in flour, dip in beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbs.

Heat oil to cover the bottom of a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the slices of cheese in two batches, if necessary. Turn when they are browned on the bottom. They need only about 30 seconds per side.

Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.


Persimmons complement the fried cheese. 



Another version of the persimmon salad. This one has slices of both Fuyu persimmon (red) and Rojo Brillante (pale yellow) plus kiwi and clementines. Strips of ibérico ham make a delicious contrast to the fruits.






More persimmon recipes:


About Valencia's Persimmon Kaki Kaki Ribera del Xúquer PDO


Saturday, December 10, 2022

TWO CHAYOTES MAKE DINNER

 

Found at the farmers' market--chayote, a vegetable that can sub for either zucchini or potatoes.



Left on my doorstep: a bag with the remains of my neighbor’s trip to the farmers’ market—thumb-sized avocados a heap of glowing persimmons and a pair of knobbly chayotes. This neighbor has an eye for what's unusual—she previously has passed along bunches of purslane, branches of fresh dates, white eggplant and red chard.


Finger avocados have no pits!

The avocados are tiny, but with no pits and edible skin (I prefer to peel them). We consumed them in a day. The persimmons are waiting their turn. 

I got a lot of mileage from those two little chayotes—they were the starting point for a whole vegetarian meal. 

Chayote (Sechium edule) is a member of the same family as cucumbers, squash and melon. In Spanish markets it’s called papa del moro, or "Moorish potato," a misleading name, as the vegetable was unknown in Spain in Moorish times. Chayote comes from the New World. It's also known as mirliton and patata voladora, or "flying potato," as it swings from climbing vines. It has a remarkable similarity to potatoes (but is very low carb). 

Chayote on its own is really bland, but it readily takes on spices and flavors. It’s good raw or cooked, peeled or unpeeled. Try chayote in a gratin dish with cheese or as a replacement for potatoes in Hanukkah latkes (potato pancakes).

My chayote menu: Starter: Leek, Potato and Chayote Soup; Main; Vegetable-Noodle Kugel, Side dish: Bean and Chayote Salad.

The starter: a comforting soup with chayote, leeks and potatoes. 


Main dish: vegetarian flan of chayote and spinach with noodles.


Side dish: crisp, raw chayote with butter beans and green beans.


Leek, Potato and Chayote Soup
Crema de Chayote con Puerros y Patatas



Chayote seed is also edible.

Serves 4.

¼ cup olive oil
2 leeks, washed and chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 chayote, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika)
Sprig of thyme or pinch of dried thyme
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
4 cups water
1 cup light cream or evaporated milk
Chopped scallions or chives to serve

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the chopped leeks, garlic and diced chayote. Sauté them on medium heat until soft, but not browned, 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, pimentón, thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne. Add water and bring it to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until the vegetables and potato are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until pureed. Add the cream or evaporated milk. Reheat, but do not let the soup boil.

Serve the soup sprinkled with additional pimentón and scattered with chopped scallions.

Vegetable-Noodle Kugel
Pastel de Verduras con Tallarines


I started out to make cuajado, a vegetable flan or timbale. I added cooked noodles to the custard mix, turning the dish into a sort of kugel. 

Serves 4.

4 ounces egg noodles, cooked and drained
Olive oil
½ cup milk
1 cup chopped green onions
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chayote, peeled and diced
8 ounces chopped fresh spinach
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 eggs
¼ cup Greek yogurt
8 ounces fresh goat cheese or cottage cheese
Grated fresh nutmeg
Poppy seeds or dill seeds (optional)
¼ cup grated cheese (such as Manchego)

Place the cooked noodles in a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and the milk and stir to mix.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a deep skillet. Sauté the onions and garlic 5 minutes without letting them brown. Add the chayote and continue cooking a few minutes. Add the spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook until spinach is wilted. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Oil a cazuela or oven-safe casserole.

Combine the eggs, yogurt and goat cheese in a food processor. Process until smooth. Stir the egg-cheese mixture into the noodles in the mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, nutmeg and poppy seeds, if using. Add the sautéed vegetables and mix well.

Pour the vegetable-noodle mixture into the oiled casserole. Smooth the top. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake until the custard mixture is set (skewer comes out clean), about 25 minutes. Serve the kugel hot, warm, room temperature or cold. 

Bean and Chayote Salad
Ensaladilla de Judiones con Chayote



I used a jar of judiones, fat, white butter beans, and crisp-cooked romano green beans for this salad. Both the butter beans and raw chayote improve by marinating in the vinaigrette. But the green beans should be added right before serving so that the vinegar doesn’t leach out their bright green color.

Other ingredients that would be good in this salad: radish, celery, avocado, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño, corn kernels, 

Serves 4.

1 cup peeled and diced chayote
1 cup cooked and drained butter beans
¼ cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped red bell pepper
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Oregano
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
1 cup cooked and drained romano green beans
Chopped cilantro or parsley to serve
Salad greens to serve (optional)

Combine the chayote, butter beans, scallions and bell pepper. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Add the oil and vinegar and stir to combine. Let the salad marinate 1 hour or, refrigerated, up to 24 hours. Add the green beans, cut in ½-inch pieces, shortly before serving the salad.Garnish with cilantro or parsley. Serve in a bowl or on individual plates with salad greens, if desired.



Saturday, December 3, 2022

A MAKE-BELIEVE MEAL

 I am fantasizing: the Pied Piper of Pigs leads the horde of wild boar off a cliff. Or, over the edge into the deep end of the swimming pool. I select a small, dead boar, butcher it and cook it for dinner. Boar out of the way, I once again cultivate a vegetable garden and fruit trees that the wild beasts have destroyed in the past several years.


I’ve got just the recipe for that dead pig—I will marinate the meat in red wine and stew it with mushrooms and chestnuts. 

But the dead boar is make-believe. I can make the stew with pork. But I won’t be planting a garden.

Pork stew with herbs, mushrooms and chestnuts.


Red wine makes a deeply flavorful gravy.


Chestnuts add texture and a subtly sweet flavor to the stew.


Pork shoulder is tender in an hour of cooking; wild boar would need two hours.


Pork Stew with Mushrooms and Chestnuts
Cerdo Guisado con Setas y Castañas

The recipe is suitable for wild boar (jabalí), venison (carne de venado), beef or pork. Only the cooking time changes, as game meat (carne de caza) is generally tougher and requires longer cooking than butcher’s meat.

Use dried mushrooms such as boletus or shitake in the stew. Soak them in hot water and use the soaking water in the stew. Add fresh mushrooms, wild or cultivated, to the stew once the meat is tender. 

Serve the pork stew with potatoes, noodles, spaetzle, polenta or Galician cornbread. 



To prepare chestnuts:
First roast the chestnuts. Then peel outer shell and inner skin. Finally, cook the chestnuts until soft, either by simmering in salted water or by adding to the stew. 

Chestnuts can be roasted in the oven, on a grate over coals or in the microwave. Whichever method you choose, first cut a slit in the shells. This provides an escape for steam, so the chestnuts don’t explode in the oven. 

Slit chestnut shell before roasting.
Slitting the shells is the hardest part of the operation. To avoid possible injury, I found the best way was to place the chestnut, flattened side down, on a cutting board and, using the tip of a knife, cut a slit in the tip, rather than trying to cut an X in the side of the shell, as most instructions direct. 
Microwaved chestnuts.
Oven-roast the chestnuts (375ºF), turning them once, until the shell begins to open up where it has been cut, about 15 minutes. To microwave, place the chestnuts on a microwave-safe plate in a single layer and microwave on High until the shell begins to open, from 1 ½ to 3 minutes, depending on size of chestnuts and microwave watts.

Peel shell and inner skin.


Remove the chestnuts from oven or microwave and cover them in a kitchen towel. While they are still hot, peel off the shells and the inner skins (use gloves to protect hands from heat). Keep them whole, if possible. 











Meat marinates with herbs, red wine.
1 ½ cups roasted and peeled chestnuts
Salt
½ ounce dried mushrooms
Hot water
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic
¼ onion, sliced
2 bay leaves
Sprigs of fresh thyme
Sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves
½ teaspoon peppercorns
5 juniper berries (optional)
1 ½ cups red wine
Flour for dusting meat
5 tablespoons rendered pork fat and/or olive oil
2 carrots, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato flakes or 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 ½ cups water or stock
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered or sliced
1 apple, peeled and chopped (optional)
Parsley, to garnish

Cook the peeled chestnuts in salted water until soft, 15 minutes. Drain, saving the cooking liquid. Reserve the chestnuts. 

Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain them, adding the soaking water to the chestnut water. Chop the hydrated mushrooms.

Cut the meat into pieces. Sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper. Place the meat in a non-reactive container. Sliver one clove of garlic and tuck the slivers in the meat with the sliced onion. Add one of the bay leaves, sprigs of thyme and rosemary, cloves, peppercorns and juniper, if using. Pour over the wine and mix into the meat. Marinate the meat 1 hour at room temperature or, covered and refrigerated, up to 24 hours. 

When ready to cook the pork, set a strainer over a bowl and carefully pour the marinade through the strainer. Save the marinade liquid. Discard the sprigs of herbs and juniper berries. Any peppercorns or slivers of garlic clinging to the meat can cook with the stew. Dust the pieces of meat with flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the fat in a heavy skillet on medium-high. Brown the meat, turning the pieces to brown all sides. Transfer the meat to a stew pan. Scrape up browned bits on the bottom of the skillet so that they don’t burn. Add 1 tablespoon more fat to the skillet. Sauté the carrots, chopped onion and celery. Chop the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and add them to the skillet. Sauté 5 minutes. Add the tomato. Combine the mushroom-soaking water, the chestnut water and enough additional water or stock to make 1 ½ cups. Stir it into the skillet and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom. Add the vegetables and liquid from the skillet to the meat in the stew pan. Add the reserved marinade. Add salt to taste. (If stock is used, salt may not be necessary.) Add remaining bay leaf and additional sprigs of thyme and rosemary.

Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce heat and cook 30 minutes. Stir the meat, cover and continue cooking until it is very tender, 30 to 40 minutes. 

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of fat or oil to the skillet and sauté the quartered mushrooms until they are very browned. Add the mushrooms to the stew with the reserved chestnuts and apples, if using. Cover and cook 10 minutes longer. 

Serve the stew immediately or refrigerate for another day. Garnish with chopped parsley.




Another chestnut recipe: Roast Pork Ribs with Chestnuts.

To serve with the Pork Stew: Galician Cornbread.