Gypsy Stew

This is a traditional Spanish stew called a gypsy stew because it uses small amounts of common, easy to obtain ingredients including those quintessentially Spanish - pork, garlic, paprika and a variety of other herbs and spices.

Guisado Gitano
(Serves 4)

Olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
800g pork loin, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
1/2 tspn chilli paste
1/2 tspn sweet paprika
1 1/2 tspn smoked paprika
2 tspn ground cumin
1/4 tspn ground cinnamon
2 tspn fresh chopped rosemary
200g dried haricot beans (soaked overnight in plenty of fresh water)
1 tin crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 bunch silverbeet (leaves only, washed and shredded)

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan and saute the onion and garlic until they are soft. Add the pork loin and capsicum and gently brown the pork. Add the chilli paste, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and rosemary and toast the spices for a minute.

Drain the haricot beans well then add them to the saucepan. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 90 minutes or until the beans are tender.

Add the sweet potato and simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes (until the potato is just cooked), adding more stock if necessary to retain the liquid level. Take the stew off the heat, season well with salt and pepper and add the silverbeat. Stir it in well so it wilts slightly, then serve.

English Baked Beans

You may think that baked beans are simply that - baked beans. However there is a huge difference between traditional English baked beans (beans stewed in a tomato sauce), Boston-style baked beans (made with bacon or pork and a variety of flavourings such as Worcestershire sauce, molasses and mustard powder), French-Canadian baked beans (made with maple syrup) and what I can only imagine to be dozens of other varients of baked beans.

Hence why I'm being specific - these are English. No maple syrup or bacon involved. And they taste a hell of a lot better than the canned Heinz beans.



English Baked Beans
(Serves 4-6)

2 tins of beans, 400g each (I use tins of mixed beans)
Olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 sprigs of thyme
3 bay leaves
1 tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
350mL vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper

Tip the beans into a colander and rinse them well under running water. Set aside to drain completely.

Heat a little olive oil in a heavy based saucepan and gently saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the beans, herbs, tomatoes, tomato paste and stock and stir well.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the beans stew for 2 hours. Stir occassionally, adding a little water if the beans are drying out too much.

Season well with salt and pepper, remove the thyme and bay leaves and serve them any way you wish - on toast, with sausages, as part of a big breakfast or just as they are.