Hey Mom! What's For Dinner - Pig Tail Stew

This Article written by a hubpages.com Expert Writer.

Because of the poverty in Spain, and the poor quality of available ingredients, Spanish cuisine was very simple, however, Spanish food is now no longer just another side dish. Spanish cuisine demands, and deserves, main course treatment, and is a must have in cookbooks and cooking shows. Specialty ingredients like manchego cheese, chorizo, sardines, anchovies, and serrano ham, are becoming more commonplace instead of being considered paella.

Americans constant quest for new food tastes pushed the turnaround in the popularity of Spanish cuisine, allowing Spanish food to find the culinary voice it had been lacking, due in part because there had been no large immigrant population pushing it, and because of a slow start in the United States.

Since 1975, Spanish cuisine has modernized rapidly. Today, it is well known for its unusual blend of molecular gastronomy, in which liquid nitrogen has become a standard cooking tool. Spanish cuisine fare has become more rustic, and because of the unusual blend of ultra-avante-garde creations, in which dishes like Fabada (Pig-tail Stew), lead the current trend, the popularity of Spanish cuisine is on the rise.

Recognized as an artform that pushes and blurs the boundaries of food and science, (for example, making popcorn from olive oil using liquid nitrogen, sherry, and tomato water), and although now a popular cuisine, Spanish food is not expected to take the place of Italian cuisine as Americas favorite choice of food.

Spanish cuisine certainly has a place on the menu, and is here to stay, mainly because of the new philosophy of the techniques that are used in Spanish cuisine cooking, that have evolved naturally, to help speed up the evolutionary popularity of Spanish cuisine.

Greek Fabada (Pig-Tail Stew)

(Coming Soon, by popular demand, Lil Rickie's Most Popularly Requested Greek Recipes Cookbook)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil, 1/2 pound thick-cut smoked bacon cut into 1-inch pieces, 1 large thinly sliced yellow onion, 1 cored and thinly sliced yellow bell pepper, 6 cloves minced garlic, 8 saffron threads, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 3 (15 ounces) cans drained chickpeas, 1/2 pound chorizo, casing removed and finely chopped, 1/4 pound finely chopped smoked ham, 2-1/2 cups water, 1 pig's tail, salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In large Dutch oven, over medium-high heat, cook bacon lightly browned leaving enough fat to liberally coat the bottom of the pan. Cook about 5 minutes.

Add onion, red and yellow bell peppers, and garlic. Saute onion mixture just to beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add saffron and smoked paprika. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.

Add chickpeas, choriza, smoked ham, water, olive oil, and pig's tail. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 15 minutes.

Serves: 6