Madrid stew

How to make a Madrid stew .

It is true that since childhood the stew at home has always been the Galician stew.

Although since I arrived in Madrid, the balance between Galician and Madrid stew is balancing.

The reason is that my mother-in-law, Encarna, prepares it with the best raw material, slowly and with great care. Cooked Sundays have become a day of joy and a siesta, of course.

A stew in which high quality ingredients prevail and a fairly slow cooking time. A recipe that is made with love and with the right ingredients will be delicious. A stew where the best of Madrid and all of Spain is incorporated.

Succulent and meaty, the Madrid stew requires time and methods of preparation that are not found anywhere … it is true that ” when the rook flies low, it gets cold from … ”

Because the cold is already installed between us, and to combat it there is nothing better than a good Madrid stew , a classic of Madrid cuisine for the whole year.

The chickpeas. Before starting with the stew

1. I usually prepare the stew the day before because I prefer to defat the broth well. It is optional and a tip to avoid getting too strong. It is very easy, we only have to chill a whole night, in the fridge so that the broth does not spoil. The next day you can easily remove the fat from the surface with a spoon.
2. Once this point is clarified (totally optional), we go with the chickpeas.
3. The night before we put the chickpeas to soak with a handful of coarse salt and warm water.
4. Regarding water temperature, it is traditionally said that chickpeas should come into contact with water.
5. We cover with warm water and leave them at room temperature, never in the fridge. The next day we strain the chickpeas and reserve.

Preparation of the Madrid stew

1. In the express pot we put the zucchini (washed and unpeeled), the peeled turnip and the washed and chopped leeks.
2. We also add the meat (except for the sausages and blood sausage) and the bones. In some mesh bags, add the chickpeas.
3. You can buy these bags at any hardware store or furniture stores. Collect them in a cooking mesh, it is for presentation, cleanliness and comfort.
4. That way they don’t hide ossicles between them, nor do they spoil when they are picked up. Put the bags with the chickpeas tightly closed in the pot.
5. In another casserole, cook the chorizo ​​sausages (pricking them previously) and the blood sausage. In 15 minutes they will be ready, so we avoid the fat that loose, which is not usually pleasant. We reserve.
6. Pour water into the pot until all the ingredients are covered. We cover the pot and put it to maximum power until it begins to boil, at which time we lower it to medium temperature.
7. Peel the carrots and potatoes. We reserve.
8. After an hour of boiling the fast pot, we remove it from the heat.
9. When we can open it, add the carrots. We close the pot again and put it to cook again.

Final preparation and presentation of the Madrid stew

1. We prepare the cabbage. We remove the cabbage and wash it. We put it to cook in a saucepan with water and a little salt. Let it cook for 1 hour over medium / high heat.
2. Once cooked, strain it. In a frying pan add a splash of olive oil and mince the garlic cloves.
3. Let them brown and add the cabbage to sauté everything together for approximately 15 minutes, over low heat. Once ready, add a little salt to taste.
4. I never cook cabbage with the rest of the ingredients. I do not like that this vegetable becomes the protagonist of the flavor of the recipe.
5. As I indicated in the step by step, I cabbage cooked and braised separately.
6. If cabbage is not to your liking, you can substitute this ingredient for green beans that, cooked and sautéed with their garlic, are a perfect combination to accompany this spectacular dish.
7. After adding the carrots and after 5 minutes of cooking we remove the pot and when we can open it to add the potato that will cook 12 minutes more with the rest of the ingredients. Just enough to stay on point.
8. If when opening, the broth is very concentrated (very red due to the paprika released by the chorizo). You can remove and save a little and add some water to the pot. The broth that you remove, then add it back to the soup.
9. With the broth strained and defatted, we tried salt (usually it is not necessary to add anything) we prepare the soup. Add the noodles and boil the minutes indicated on the package.
10. We serve the Madrid stew in 2 or 3 turns, as you normally do at home. On the one hand, we serve the soup very hot first, to the taste of noodles for each diner.
11. And in various sources, one with vegetables and chickpeas, and another with meats and sausages.
12. At home we love to mix the bacon with the chickpeas and make like a kind of pasta in old clothes style, which is great. But here, as in most stews, there is no exact rule. At home, take advantage!

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the  Madrid stew recipe . Do not lose detail and it will be perfect.

Tips for a yummy stew

• The stew has inspired couplets, books and even an opera. Throughout the Spanish geography we find cooked in multiple variants, the Galician , the Basque, the Catalan escudella , the Asturian pot , the mountain stew, the rotten pot, the Canarian stew , the Andalusian stew with its pringá, the Maragato stew , the gypsy pot from Murcia , … all variants of the same idea, the stew .
• We at home eat it all mixed. The soup always first and then everything in the center to add meat, chickpeas and vegetables to the plate. But as usually happens, in each home they have their customs and surely you in yours also have them.
• The Madrid stew is served at the table. In a source we will have the meat with the chickpeas, in another the soup and in another the vegetable with the potatoes and carrots. To accompany the meat, vegetables and chickpeas a dash of a good extra virgin olive oil, will give it the perfect touch. Don’t make plans in the afternoon …
• And with the remains you can make the famous  cooked croquettes , a guaranteed success.
• I recommend the classics and temples of Madrid of the stew such as, Malacatín (Ruda, 5), since the early 1800s the Taberna La Bola (Bola, 5), Taberna La Daniela (General Pardiñas, 21), Casa Carola (Padilla, 54 ), the Lhardy, an emblem with more than 160 years in Madrid life (Cra. San Jerónimo, 8), Taberna de Buenaventura (Hermosilla, 69), El Rincón de Goya (Lagasca, 46) or Casa Jacinto (Clock, twenty)