Basically I’ve been freestyling (I can’t cook) and I fancied making a stew but not the same English Stew that I always make.

So, its got chicken, Chorizo, two tins of chopped tomatoes, garlic, canolli beans, chickpeas, redwine, smoked Paprika, chopped onions and fresh mint.

What else could I put in? Squid?

Or bin the lot and learn properly?

I’m guessing imodium is your best bet

Give it some Stifado treatment; oregano,cinnamon and nutmeg, and more pimenton (dulce)

chorizo alubias, jamon serrano, patata, habas y romero!

Ingredients are fine, cooking technique will make biggest difference. Try frying the Chorizo first, then add onions , garlic and brown chicken (I prefer legs/thighs as he bones give flavour I assume you are doing the same). Then add all other ingredients (except mint which you could loose all together) ring to a gentle boil and and cook it in the oven with a lid on on a low temperature. This assumes you have an oven proof pan, if not you can do it on stove top but it’s important to simmer very gently otherwise meat goes tough. Salt/pepper you didn’t mention but add these to taste. Dried beans soaked overnight will taste better than tinned. Likewise fresh tomatoes.

If you stew squid it will likely be disgusting and won’t go with the other ingredients anyway (IMO)

What is actually wrong with it?

Not sure about the mint tbh. Try oregano and some lemon juice.

Just liquidise the lot when its cooked, and add a load of this….

Don’t skimp on it. Get it all in!!!

As for jambalaya

I am a chilli addict and that sounds like it would also work with a generous teaspoon of chilli flakes.

This is unlikely to add any authenticity!

How are you doing it- just bunging it in all together and hoping for the best?

I’m no cook but personally I’d slowly fry the chorizo in a dry pan (no oil) and when a lot of the fat has rendered out, add the onions (adding some olive oil) until starting to soften. Add the garlic (being careful not to burn the it as it catches easily) remove the onions, chorizo and garlic. Add more oil to the pan then add the chicken until browned. Bung in the wine to reduce a little and throw in everything else.

Or something like that!

Edit- jambalaya got there first!

Cheers,
Jamie

Swap the chicken for sausages. Trust me.

(and add red peppers & onions, generously chopped)

What is actually wrong with it?

Its not bad- I was hoping some real cooks could make it better though!

Oregano- tick. Loose the mint. Will fry first.

cinnamon and nutmeg- sure??

The Spanish girl at work thinks combining chicken and chorizo is weird

The spanish stew I’m cooking today only contains chorizo, red onion, butter beans, tin of toms, garlic and smoked paprika

Keep it simple

olives?

I’d do either beans or chickpeas, not both. Also white wine not red, and only a glass + some chicken stock.

Dried beans are nicer +1 but need a lot longer by which time the chicken would have disintegrated, so you might want to cook them a bit first, add the chicken half way, or use something else like a pork shoulder (quite economical if you buy a joint and cut it up). Lentils also good.

here’s one I do:

Onion, garlic, 2/3 sliced peppers, tarragon, bay leaf, salt/pepper,smoked paprika, cayen pepper/chili, lean pork, olives, green lentils, a capful or two of red wine vinegar, splash of balsamic, tin of chopped tomatoes, add white wine until just covered and simmer for 1 hour.

don’t pre cook anything, bung it all in at once and walk away. simples.

The Spanish girl at work thinks combining chicken and chorizo is weird

Ok how about Chorizo and chopped bacon?

Or- Chorizo, pork and Mussels?

Red pepper sounds good.

Mint? Bleeeuuuuuurggghhhh. Whats wrong with you?!!! You pasty footed half-wit?!!! Do you own any taste-buds. MINT?!!!

It sounds like what you’re trying to do is this. Just badly.

You’ve forgotten the chilli, celery and carrots, and you should have used normal sausage not chorizo,

Pour it all away and start again

You need chicken thighs. Do it in a slow cooker too, so its bubbling away all day

Mint? FFS!!!! MINT?!!!

Avoid cinnamon and nutmeg, that’s a bit more Greek than spanish.

I’d add a bit of sugar and some tomato puree, as it reduces it should become more rich in flavour.

If you’re going to use fresh herbs add them at the end.

If you put mussels in she will karate chop you like miss piggy

She was moaning in the pub the other day about how bad British fish and seafood is – apparently we ruin it with excessive sauces/ extra ingredients etc

Ok mussels out. I love mussels as they are/on their own as a snack! 😀

Its not bad- I was hoping some real cooks could make it better though!
Oregano- tick. Loose the mint. Will fry first.

cinnamon and nutmeg- sure??

Trust me,but go easy if you’re not sure.

And a bottle of Navarra to wash it down.

do you take them out of their shells first?

As per Jambalaya but I use chopped bacon, chorizo, cut sausage, canneloni beans, tinned toms, loads of garlic and chuck in some roughly chopped juniper berries. That sort of peasant food appears in all sorts of combinations across the continent.
NB grow garlic in your garden or anywhere you have available, it’s infinitely superior to anything from the shops. I still have a tiny bit left from last year’s crop.

@hora please stop with the seafood and chicken combinations ! I had a very nice dish in a restaurant with baked cod on top of lentils cooked with chorizo (note no chickens where involved in the dish 🙂 ). Simple to make.

As a further thought with some “help” from STW could we persuade you to be on “Come Dine with me” ?

Ok chickens out. It does seem ‘weird’ I must admit. Maybe thats the part that I think ‘great dish but something can be improved’-part.

NB grow garlic in your garden or anywhere you have available, it’s infinitely superior to anything from the shops. I still have a tiny bit left from last year’s crop.

I’ve got a 2metre x 6 metre patch in the garden that I was wondering what to do with. Herbs and garlic would be a low-maintenance bit of gardening compared to flowers etc.

I meant keep the chicken and ditch the seafood ! Mussels don’t need that much cooking (classic mussel dishes they are basically just steamed for a few minutes with wine, butter and shallots), as per squid they’ll go tough if you boil them for ages.

Fresh garden grown herbs are great, mint is unstoppable btw.

Hora, order garlic from the Isle of Wight garlic farm, about £10 worth of bulbs would go well in that space. Onions and leeks are easy to grow too. Be quick though and get them in before it’s too late for this year.
Also I’d recommend planting some pink for apple potatoes, superb to eat and v expensive in the shops when you can find them. You could start chitting them now.

I’d not bother with the mint – just garnish it with some chopped flat-leaf parsley when it’s cooked.

Do it in the slow cooker.

When I make something similar I add a couple of strands of saffron in the belief that it adds a slight richness, having read about it somewhere. I doubt I would win a Pepsi challenge between it and a non-saffroned version though.

I also grate a couple of carrots into it at the softening-onions stage for sweetness, and then add a couple of the wee anchovies that are preserved in oil rather than adding actual salt.

You can also do a fish rather than chicken version by sitting a couple of white fish fillets on top of the sauce towards the end of the cooking time – if you add them too early they just break up into a mush.

Depends what’s in the fridge/freezer, really.

Do a proper Spanish stew, instead of a Spanish style one?. Akin to a spaniard cooking a pot of sausages, egg, pie and a pint of mild in. ‘English style’

My Spanish Stew Recipe.

1 Chorizo ring, roughly chopped
1 Medium Onion, diced
1/2 Clove of garlic, peeled finely sliced
1 Red chilli chopped (include seeds)

Get a big enough pan, heat a little olive oil, chuck the above in and gently fry until onion is translucent and taken some of the colour from the chorizo.

Add

2 tins of chopped toms
1 Organic stock cube (crumbled)
1 tin of Butter beans
A decent size chunk of Stilton
1 punit of roughly chopped mushrooms
Big handful of Spinach

Give it a good stir and place the lid on, bring to the boil then instantly turn down to gentle simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally .

Done.

Serve with big chunks of crusty bread.

I promise you’ll love it!

Cocido: chickpea stew, and uses chorizo and chicken (amongst other ingredients). Recipe here:

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/maincourses/r/cocidomadrileno.htm

Lentils are pretty easy too (although I’d probably add a teaspoon of pimenton to this one):
http://www.food.com/recipe/spanish-lentil-soup-with-chorizo-139371

Chuck some Morcilla in. (or black pudding),

+1 for black pudding.

Man I love chorizo (try lots of brands/types, they aren’t all the same), & nowt wrong with having chicken with it, might not be ‘authentic’ but still tastes great. Jambalaya destruction are on the nose, though I’d pull the chorizo out before the onions (assuming it released it’s oil), so it doesn’t get overly crisped

Been making this recipe of late, easy as easy can be, and very nice too: Chorizo belly pork & chickpea’s a Spanish-influenced stew

I think a bayleaf or two would not be amiss

mint – WTF?
Just look up a recipe for fabada and keep it simple.

Version II. Cheers guys

http://www.flickr.com/#/photos/30625376@N06/13409318725/sizes/m/

Looks a bit wet, carry on cooking without a lid until it thickens a bit

The version 3 improvement is version 2 left in the fridge for a couple of days and then slowly reheated. All stews, chillis etc are so much better this way.

Lots there for lunch and tea tomorrow. Lid off. 8)