Traditional  Extremadura recipes with legumes


White beans with chorizo
Alubias con chorizo


Ingredients
500g dried white beans (preferably the type ''planchada")
1 whole head of garlic
1 medium onion
1 green Italian pepper
1 ts de Pimenton de la Vera Dulce
1/2 cup olive oil
3 fresh chorizo sausages, without skin, diced


Method
1. Soak the beans with lots of water at least overnight.
2. The next day, bring the beans with the water to a boil. As soon as the water boils, take from the fire and remove the water.
3. Add new cold water to the beans and add the garlic head, the whole onion, the whole Italian pepper, the olive oil, pimenton and chorizo. Make sure the beans are under water and bring everything to boil. Cook until the beans are tender (this depends on the age of the beans, the older they are, the longer the cooking time).
4. Take from the fire, stir the dish well and season with salt and pepper is desired.
5. Serve the dish hot with bread on the side.




Lentils de Extremadura
Lentejas Extremeñas

Ingredients
500 g lentils (brown)
1 head garlic
1-2 bay leaves
12 black pepper grains
1 onion, diced
1 chorizo picante, cut in slices of 1/2 cm
3 carrots, sliced
6 tblsp olive oil
1 can of "tomate troceado"
1/2 ts pimenton de la vera, dulce
1 glass white wine

Method
1. Cover the lentils with water and leave to soak overnight.
2. Remove the water and add fresh water, together with the garlic, bay leaves, pepper and carrots. Cook for 45 min, until lentils are soft and tender.
3. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and add onion and chorizo. Fry until the onion is tender. Add the tomate troceado and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pimenton and the wine, and stir well.
4. Add the tomato mixture to the lentils and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Season with pepper and salt if desired and serve with fresh local bread.



Black-eyed beans with bacon and sausage
Potaje de Alubias Carillas

Ingredients
350g dried black-eyed beans
4 spring onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
a piece of pumpkin, diced
1 small leek, in rings
1/4 red Italian pepper
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp tomato frito (brick)
2 small sausage Morcilla Iberica, each cut in half
4 thick slices of salted pancetta
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
olive oil
salt

Method
1. Soak the beans overnight in sufficient water. The next day, drain the beans and set aside.
2. In a deep frying pan, heat some olive oil and add the garlic (whole cloves), onions, Italian pepper and bay leaf. After approx. 7 minutes, add the leek and the bacon. Stir fry until the bacon browns a bit and add the tomato frito. Stir fry again for a few minutes.
3. Add the beans and enough water to cover the beans and other ingredients. Bring to a boil and cook 45 min. or until the beans are soft and tender.
4. Add the pumpkin and potato and simmer another 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the morcilla and simmer for 5 minutes more.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste
6. Serve with fresh bread.

Nostalgic vegetables

Our eating habits changed a lot the last 100 years. The old fashioned cooking, with potatoes, meat and vegetable is replaced for a more adventurous way of cooking. Influences of other countries changed our daily diet. Mexican, Asian, Italian cooking is now a part of our eating pattern. Moreover, vegetables are nowadays available the whole year round and we eat winter dishes in summer and visa versa.

This is great. Cooking and eating are much more fun when you can try out different tastes and different ingredients. The other side of the coin however, is that some traditional food is used a lot less, or not at all. This is especially the case with greens. Turnip tops (or turnip greens), rocket, Swiss chard and purslane are the typical spring greens that are hardly available and remembered. In times before especially these greens were very important. After the long winters in the North of Europe, these greens were the first fresh vegetables that people ate.

I have a number of those 'nostalgic' vegetables growing in the garden. In this article I will give information about these veggies and some recipes to inspire your imagination.

Turnip tops

Often called turnip green, turnip leaves or spring leaves.
As the name suggests, this vegetable are the young leaves of the turnip. The turnip is a close relative to radish, but also to rocket and several Chinese cabbage types (cruciferos vegetables or Brassica). The leaves are rich in Vitamins A, C and K and in Calcium and Iron. They can be eaten crude in salads, or cooked, stir fried or mashed with potatoes. For a Mediterranean dish, try the following pasta recipe:

Pasta with Turnip greens

Ingredients:
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs 

500g pasta
Bunch of  turnip greens
   cut into manageable pieces
6 garlic cloves, chopped (or 1 tbsp jar garlic)
2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
6 flat anchovy

3 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan)

Method:
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over moderate heat. Add the breadcrumbs and stir gently with a wooden spoon until golden brown. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, drop the pasta and turnip greens and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet saute the garlic, red pepper flakes, and anchovies in the remaining olive oil until the garlic is lightly browned. Drain the pasta and turnip greens, add to the skillet and sauté for a couple of minutes. Mix well, top with breadcrumbs and cheese and serve.

Swiss Chard

Although Swiss Chard is still very popular in South Europe, in the Northern part we seem to have forgotten this great vegetable. Nowadays we see it sometimes back in salad mixtures in the supermarkets. In Mediterranean countries, Swiss Chard is just as popular as spinach. The most known type is the one with the thick white stems and dark green curly leaves. There are however more types of Swiss Chard, my favorite being the many coloured stems. All types of Swiss Chard can be prepared in the same way as spinach, cooked, sauteed, stir fried, in soups, with eggs etc. 

Swiss chard quiche

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 large eggs

¼ cup milk

salt and black pepper

ground nutmeg

1/2 cup Cheddar, grated 1 

prebaked 9-inch pie-crust

Method

Heat oven to 350° F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chard and onion and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk; season with 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper and nutmeg to taste. Add the Cheddar and chard mixture and mix to combine. Pour into the prebaked 9-inch pie-crust and bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes.

Purslane

This might be one of the most forgotten greens of the lot. Purslane contains surprisingly more omega-3 fatty acids (α-linolenic acid) than any other leafy vegetable plant and even more than most fish. Besides this it is rich in Vitamins A, C and B-complex and in Iron, Magnesium, Calcium and potassium. It can be used in salads, soups, curries or cooked on itself. It is very good in combination with spinach or Swiss Chard.

Tomato, Cucumber, Purslane Salad Recipe

Especially good served with grilled seafood.

INGREDIENTS

·         1 large cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, seeds removed and discarded, then chopped

·         1 medium tomato, chopped

·         1 bunch purslane, thick stems removed, leaves chopped, resulting in about 1/2 cup chopped purslane

·         1 minced seeded jalapeno chili pepper

·         2-3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

·         Salt to taste

METHOD

Combine all ingredients in a serving bowl. Salt to taste.

A lot of change

The biggest advantage of living in the Extremadura is that it can be real spring on the first of March. Already the last two weeks, the change in the weather was noticeable. The birds are very active, the moles are moving around, the celandine is starting to flower, as are the fruit trees. Even the frogs are waking up and croaking in the charco. About time because we had some pretty cold days and nights.

This winter a lot has changed in the garden of La Tierra Verde. With the idea to extend the vegetable garden a tractor was bought. After a lot of research and comparison, we decided to buy a new Kubota B1620 from Cial. Lianos, Don Benito. The service was excelent. All registration and paper work was done in a short time, and 3 weeks after buying the tractor it was delivered on our doorstep.

 The tractor came with a rear loader and harrow, but the last was on our request modified to ridger. A rotary tiller was purchased from an Italian agricultural firm, Deleks, and delivered to Cial. Llanos to adjust the implement to the tractor. The Kubota has 16 hp, 4 wheel drive, three point hydraulic lift, etc. In short all the systems and gadgets of a large tractor, although this one measures only 90cm width and 220cm long. A real mini tractor, perfect for garden and orchard work.

In order to protect the tractor, implements and other garden tools from the harsh elements like sun, rain and wind, we set up a large army tent.

Now that we are mechanized, more land can be prepared for production. However, there were still a number of dead and dying olive trees in the field. With the help of an excavator those trees are now removed. On their places other fruit trees will be planted. At the same time the excavator removed the two large mountains of bramble and other rubbish. These rubbish mountains were a result of the original clearing of the field, now more than 2 years ago. Although the larger wooden bits and pieces were not completely rotten away, most of the ruble is now a reasonable compost. This compost was spread on the still barren parts of the field. A part of this area will be used for flowers, both wild and cultivated, to attract bees, and part will be used for vegetables and herbs.

In the coming weeks a lot of overdue work will be done. Planting and sowing is a bit delayed this year, but with the tractor, we will soon be up to date again. Shortly there will be a larger range of vegetables and herbs on offer again. In the garden peas, snow peas, broad beans, broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, leek and onion are growing fast. From the tunnel greenhouse you can expect spinach, Asian salad leaves, spring salad leaves, rucola, turnip tops and coriander during early spring. Furthermore, bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts are always available.