Monday, November 15, 2004

Potato and olive stew

This is for all of you olive lovers out there. Like Allan, among others. A little fussy with the broth preparation, but well worth it. Yeah, so zucchini isn't in season in winter. Get over it. This is perfect on a wintry day.


Potato, zucchini and olive stew with garlic, jalapenos, and tomatoes

4 lbs. fresh tomatoes or 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, drained
3 Tbs. olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
½ medium white onion
1 ½ cups vegetable stock or broth
1 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ¼ lbs. tiny red potatoes
1 lb. zucchini (about 3 medium)
1 cup whole pimiento-stuffed green olives, drained
2 tsp. chopped pickled jalapenos

Roast the whole tomatoes under a preheated broiler, turning frequently, until their skins are well charred. Remove from the heat and set aside to cook for a few minutes. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, cut out the stem ends, peel away and discard most of the blackened skin, and place the tomatoes in a blender. If using canned tomatoes, place them in the blender. Duh.

Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed stockpot or deep Dutch oven. Add the garlic cloves and cook, stirring constantly, until they begin to turn golden brown. This will take only a minute or two. Watch carefully – if the garlic gets too dark, it will taste bitter. Turn off the heat. Remove the garlic cloves from the oil with a slotted spoon and add them to the tomatoes in the blender, along with the onion, stock, parsley and salt. Puree until smooth.

Strain the puree through a fine-mesh strainer into the pan in which the garlic was cooked; press and stir with a wooden spoon to remove as much of the liquid as possible. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to very low, and simmer, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes. The sauce will reduce and thicken considerably.

Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes but do not peel them. Cook the whole potatoes in plenty of rapidly boiling water until they are barely fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes, depending on their size. Drain and set aside. Discard the stems and root ends of the zucchini and slice crosswise into ½ inch rounds.

When the sauce has thickened, cut the potatoes in half and stir them into the sauce, along with the zucchini, olives, and jalapenos. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, 20 minutes. Serve very hot.

6 main-course servings, easily doubled. Serve with rice or warm corn tortillas. Flavor improves over the course of a couple of days, if refrigerated and reheated gently.

1 Comments:

At 12:21 PM, Blogger Allan said...

Sis! How have you been?

 

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