PUCHERO,

"the"

spanish dish.

Puchero is without a doubt the most cooked dish in the Spanish home.
I can almost here you saying...Whatīs puchero!
Basically a chick pea stew, served in every home throughout spain.
The name changes at province borders and like the paella so do some of the ingredients.
It is nourishing, versatile and very easy to cook, but if you don't have a pressure cooker you can expect it to be on the stove for 3 to 4 hours.
Here is my version. I hope you like it.
Ingredients:
Half a kilo (dried) chick peas soaked overnight in water.
Whole chicken breast on bone
Large chunk of beef
Large chunk of pork
Large chunk of belly pork (best if salted)
1 kilo carrots
3 or 4 celery sticks
1 leek cut in large sticks
2 turnips
Put the rinsed chick peas, celery, and all of the meat, in a large saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for (15mins with pressure) 2 hours. Add carrots, turnips, and leek and simmer on till chick peas are soft. Add the potatoes and continue till cooked...

Thats it....easy....now to serve...
This is where the variations come in.... Start with "caldo" (the juice), served with lemon juice and a sprig of fresh mint.
If you prefer consomme then, put some of the "caldo" in a separate saucepan, add one beaten egg white, simmer for a minute then sive. The main meal...in each plate put and assortment of all non meat ingredients, add "el aliņo" (salt, vinegar/or lemon juice and olive oil). The "pringado" funny word means something like sticky...maybe because you have to try and "stick" the meat to a piece of bread. In each plate, add a portion of each type of meat...mash all together and eat with bread. Of course you can go for the lot in one plate... Now you are probable wondering what you are going to do with all the left overs. This keeps well in the fridge for a week, but always keep the meat separate, or freeze, except for the potatoes. The "caldo" can be served with rice or noodles. You can use all the dried ingredients to make"ROPA VIEJA" "ropa vieja"( means old clothes, don't ask me why this name as no one seems to know).