Spanish Chickpea Stew with Kale and Salt Pork

Spanish Feast

A couple of weekends ago we had our cookbook club dinner and I have to say it was one of the best dinners we have had in a while. It may have been the subject matter. You can’t go wrong with Spanish fare…

The book was Curate by Katie Button, and I don’t think there was anything that we made that wasn’t fantastic. Everything was good. Even the octopus—and I am not a huge fan of octopus. The very best part? The book is intended for American kitchens, which means the ingredients aren’t hard to find and the recipes aren’t too involved.

One of the recipes I made was Stewed Chickpeas with Collard Greens and Salt Pork. Because of schedule overload I had to make this the night before, and it was so good that my husband and I couldn’t keep ourselves from having a bowl. This stew is more like a hearty soup, but it makes for a super (see what I did there? ) satisfying bowl that hits the spot on a cold night.

I would definitely recommend using the Edison Grainery Garbanzo Beans that we have here at the store, as they seemed to re-hydrate better than others I have tried. And, I choose to use kale rather than collards.

Serve this with some warm crusty bread and a nice Spanish Rioja….

Spanish Chickpea Stew with Kale and Salt Pork
Adapted from Curate by Katie Button
Serves 4 to 6 as a main course
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Comforting Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Give me Comfort…
When I sat down yesterday to write this post, I came up with nothing. I was having a difficult time putting together a coherent thought. To say that I was distracted by Tuesday’s events would be a gross understatement—frankly, I wanted go back to bed. Since that was not an option, I chose to comfort myself with carbs.

There is something about the starchy and the cheesy that can make the most difficult of days just a tad brighter. Also, little slow-cooked protein can go a long way towards a positive attitude adjustment. The combination of the two has been my M.O. for the past couple of weeks.

In fact, over the weekend I made a Slow Cooker Pot Roast with mashed potatoes and gravy. (That’s a whole lot of comfort in a crock pot.) There’s nothing easier than pot roast and it’s a great way to have dinner done when you walk through the door at the end of the day…

Comforting Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Adapted from the Food Network
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Hungarian Goulash

Ghoul-ash

It’s officially October. (What the heck happened to September?) You know how I know it’s October? Well, besides that calendar thing? Because our cookbook club was scheduled to have our latest dinner on Saturday the 1st—and that’s what we did.

I gotta say, I am more excited about the date on the wall than I was with the food we made. And, the rest of the group agreed.

Our theme this time was anything by Jamie Oliver. And, we could pick any recipe of his from a book or online. Initially, I was looking forward to it. And, I figured with his get everyone eating better movement, and the overall success of his restaurants, we would once again be eating very well. Wrongo!

To be fair, it wasn’t that bad, it was totally edible, but the man does not season his food. Every single one of us said we had to alter the recipe by adding salt and other spices. Maybe it’s a British thing? Maybe it’s just him? Who knows but the food was bland.

I had high hopes for the Spicy Pork Goulash with Chilies that I made. It sounded so good to me, and perfect for a blustery fall dinner. While it was cooking, the aroma was amazing. The end result? Meh.

I love a good goulash. It’s hearty and satisfying and paprika is one of my favorite spices. Since this weekend’s disappointment, I have been looking forward to having the real deal. And, Goulash is another great option for your freezer so make more than you need and freeze some for later.

Hungarian Goulash
Adapted from Lizthechef on Food 52
Serves 4

Stuffed Roast Pork Loin with Figs

A Good Melon

There are a lot of great lines in the movie When Harry Met Sally, and I use them often. But, there is this one favorite scene where they are interviewing a couple about how they met and fell in love.

One of the actress’s lines is, At that moment I knew. I knew the way you know about a good melon…

Ninteen years ago, I met this great guy at work, and I just knew. I can’t really explain it but I did. We were not an obvious couple to say the least. Our backgrounds were just so different, but there was something about him… And again, I just knew. He, on the other hand, required a little ~~stalking~~ convincing.

We became great friends, and spent a lot of time together outside of work. But we didn’t actually start dating officially until about a year and half later. I think I just wore him down…

Three years after that we were married.

This week marks our 15th Anniversary, and to celebrate the fact that we haven’t smothered each other with a pillow, Mr. Wonderful and I decided to get away to the wine country for a day, with just the two of us. We sipped. We spa-ed (is that a word?). We ate. It was fantastic, and it was great to be just the two of us again, if only for a few hours.

Dinner at Ad Hoc was one of the highlights. The food was good, the wine was good, and it was so nice to enjoy a romantic dinner with my husband—and be able to have an actual conversation.

The after dinner activities were a little different, though. Fifteen years ago we probably would have met up with some friends and/or have gone dancing. Now? We ate so much that went back to the hotel and fell asleep watching the Giants…at 9 o’clock. I know. Total party animals…

I have made a number of recipes from the Ad Hoc At Home book but, let’s face it, I’m good but I’m no Thomas Keller. The food we had that night was simple but so, so tasty.

The Smoked Pork Loin that we ate is not one of the recipes featured in the book, but this Stuffed Roast Pork Loin with Figs is, and as the weather gets cooler (eventually) it makes for a perfect fall dinner.

Stuffed Roast Pork Loin with Figs
Recipe adapted from Ad Hoc At Home by Thomas Keller
Serves 6 Read more…