Porotos Granados - Summer Bean Stew
Serves 8
Porotos Granados is the most celebrated summer stew of the Chilean criolla cuisine. In the United States, fresh beans may be hard to find so dried, medium sized white beans may substitute, though the flavor is not as authentic.
4 cups fresh, ripe pod beans
1 cup pumpkin or squash, diced
1 whole fresh green ají
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon Ají de Color or Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
2 ears fresh yellow corn, cut in 1 1/2 inch slices
salt to taste
Shell the beans and place them in a large saucepan with enough water to cover. Add the pumpkin and ají and simmer for about 30 minutes. Saute the onion and paprika in the olive oil. Add the onion mixture, tomatoes pepper, basil and corn to the beans; simmer for another 15 minutes. Before serving, taste and add salt is necessary. Serve hot.
Porotos de Invierno - Beans in Winter
Serves 8
1 cup dried white beans
2 cups Consomé de Ave or Caldo (Caldo recipe in Sopa post)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can green or red sweet peppers
1 bay leaf
1 pinch Aliño (recipe in Sopa post)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound lean pork shoulder or loin, cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 medium carrot grated
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon Ají de Color or Spanish Paprika
1 tablespoon Pasta de Ají
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup sherry
*Soak the beans in 4 cups water overnight. *
Discard water an rinse beans before simmering in stock with tomatoes, peppers, bay leaf, Aliño and black pepper for about 2 hours. In the meantime, in a frying pan, brown the pork in the oil and add it to the beans. In the same pan, saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic until soft; add the paprika, Pasta de Ají and cumin and mix well. Add this mixture to the beans. Deglaze the saute pan with sherry and add it to the beans. Serve hot. This stew tastes even better the next day!
