Caldo Gallego with Gigantes. A Greek Legume for a Spanish Dish.

Gigantes is the name of these huge white Beans I got from my foodie friend Ivy from Kopiaste, straight from Athens! We made a package foodie exchange and will post about the rest of the wonderful Greek foods she sent me very soon!

Back to the 60s, when I was a kid, there was only one TV channel and it was in black and white, we didn't have playstations nor nintendo games... we had books, street games, nice and rounded dolls (not super skinny barbies) and small plastic cars; but most of all, we had imagination! A cardboard box could become a school bus or a dolls' house. And after reading Greek Mythology I would become Palas Atenea (Athena) the goddess of courage and wisdom! Back then, those were not adjectives for girls nor women... we were taught to be nice and submissive future wives, but I dreamt I was a smart and powerful goddess, standing on my room's chair I would point with my sword the dolls sitting on the floor that deserved a place beside Hades, the god for the Death. From here, my tribute to all Greeks :D.

To do this dish, I changed my sword for a chorizo and I used my imagination to make a Caldo Gallego from Galicia with Greek Gigantes and the ingredients I had in my pantry and fridge. The result was spectacular, the taste so rich and the texture of the beans perfect!!!


Thanks Ivy for sending me the Gigantes Plaki recipe, but I finally made up my mind and decided to do this broth that is closer to a stew than to a broth. Maybe you like the recipe and do it yourself :D. All my family was here for lunch and they all Loved Gigantes!!!!

Ingredients for 8 servings: 500 grs. of Gigantes (or normal sized white beans), 1 good ham fresh bone (with a bit of ham still adhered to the bone), 200 grs. smoked panceta (mine was cured), 1 chorizo colorado (I used 200 grs of cured and tender chorizo cular), 400 grs. potatoes, 500 grs. of tender green leaves of grelos (typical veggie from Galicia. I couldn't find and used half a small cabbage), olive oil and water.

* The previous day cover the beans with cold water, 2 or 3 times the beans height. I had them nearly 20 hours soaking because they were so big.
* Wash the ham bone under tap water and place in a big casserole, fill it with cold water and bring to boil, after 30 minutes discard the water. This is done to take the salt from the bone away, if your bone is an iberian acorn ham one, doesn't need to have a previous boil.
* Place the bone ham in the casserole again. Rinse the beans and put them in too. Cover with cold water 2 times the height of the beans, or if you want to have enough stock to make soups, then pour 3 to 4 times the height of the beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer at low heat for 10 minutes.
* Meanwhile cut the panceta and chorizo (take peel away) in dices. If you use a galician chorizo don't cut it and cook it with the peel. Chop the cabbage in big pieces and add to the casserole.
* Simmer the ingredients for 3 hours and a half, shaking the casserole now and then so that you don't break the beans.
* Meanwhile peel, wash and cut the potatoes in small pieces breaking them with your knife so that they leave the starch out. Add them to the casserole 30 minutes before the beans are done.
* It took me 4 hours to get them soft and tender, but depending on the kind you use it can take less. Keep on testing to see when they will be done.
* Taste and add some salt if you consider it necessary.

This dish will be much better the day after, so strain the beans and keep the stock in a different recipient, once cold, place in the fridge.My casserole wasn't too deep and I didn't get much stock, so we had it as a stew.

A proper Caldo Gallego would have some of the ingredients in the bottom of the bowl and everything would be covered with the stock and some drops of olive oil on top. Another tray would be presented with the rest of the beans, chorizo, panceta, potatoes and cabbage.

I'm submitting the picture hereunder to the Jugalbandi's Click Event for May... Beans 'n Lentils.

Spring in a Jar - Arte y Pico Award

There's some things about Spring time that I LOVE! If I could put them in a jar and have it in my pantry shelf.... during winter cold and dark days I would open the jar and let the smells, sounds and colours fill the room and fill my heart.

Let's pretend I can do that! First of all, I would grab some scarlet poppies. They are so delicate that immediately after you pick them, they faint. Second, I would somehow manage to get the swallows' screeches in the jar too.Their wonderful sound cheers me up and makes me feel renewed every spring. Third, I would climb a figs' tree and collect its precious fruit... that smell and flavour drives me crazy (in the good sense). I would fill the jar and my tummy with sensual ripe figs.
And the fifth ingredient would be a thunderstorm, one of those noisy ones that starts in the afternoon once you are back home and sweeps the sky and the land from dust and dirt and 15 minutes after a shy sun shows behind the clouds and there you are ready to take a deep breath and fill the jar with that awesome and incomparable smell!!!
I'm sending this Jar to sweet Pixie from You say tomatoe I say Tomatoe. She is having the event "Putting up" going until May 21st, click here for details, and I don't know if I'll be able to have my Boquerones en vinagre ready on time.

Also I'm sending another Spring jar to Val from More than a burnt toast and to Ivy from Kopiaste because I feel so grateful to them for giving me the Arte y Pico Award!!!

This Award is given to blogs that you think have an outstanding design, creativity and content and that enriches the community. So I feel really really proud and happy to know that Val and Ivy think this way about Spanish Recipes! Thanks so much girls :D

Here you have how it works:

1)You pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award with their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogger community, no matter what language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the ward itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

And now, I'm passing the torch... ups, the award to:

* Peter from Souvlaki for the Soul. His blog is full of outstanding food pictures and he always has nice words and brilliant recipes for everybody!
* Mallory from The Salty Cod. She is an American girl in Paris and loves writing about food, gardens, cities and adventures in general. See her beautiful photos and beautiful thoughts too!
* Amy and Johnny from We are never full. These smart guys will make you laugh and enjoy savoury meals and shoots from their wonderful kitchen!
* Katie from Thyme for Cooking. When I grow old... I want to be like her :D! One of the things I admire the most from Katie is her ability in telling stories, not to mention her ability in preparing meals for her and son marie!
* Martha from Deliciosa Martha. A catalan blog that I visit from time to time and that has wonderful stories, great food related recommendations and beautiful pictures.

Have a wonderful weekend! We will have it :D... the weather forecast promises rains and rains and rains for 3 days to our thirsty and dry land!
Special dressing for today: Stormy weather

Markets in Barcelona

Barcelona City has more than 40 markets. Each district may have between one and three fix markets, I'm talking about special buildings constructed for this purpose. In the last years the City has made an effort to improve the old facilities and convert them into bright and beautiful buildings, full of light and nice aromas where buying fresh products becomes a pleasure!

When I first heard about Gay's second round on To Market, to market... I thought... Yes, I'll take my camera and take a tour through the city's nicest markets and show them to the world! But you know that one thing is the intention and another thing is the practice... The event has only 4 days left and I only could shoot two markets. So, I'm "stealing" some pictures of the city council's web to show you all how Barcelona Markets look like.

First one is LA BOQUERIA. The most famous in the city and now maybe around the world. Here is the place where fantastic cooks, as Ferran Adriá, come to buy best quality products. The location of the market makes it easy to find... in the middle of the Ramblas!

This is how it looks inside. Nowadays you can find anything you think of in this market. They have all world products and it can be really expensive if you stop and buy in the first shops you face. My advise is... before buying anything take a look around and compare prices, you will probably find what you want a lot cheaper in the inner shops :D

Next Market is a down town and old one that has been reborn: SANTA CATERINA. I still haven't been there but seen pictures of the final result and starting with the roof... it's a beautiful building!

It's near the Cathedral and the old city streets. If you come to visit, there's segways for rent that will tour you around. I should be a tourist in my own city! I would love to do the segway's visit :D

Next Market is SAGRADA FAMILIA, this is my neighborhood market! I was living 50 mts away from the it for 30 years aprox.

I still remember the old building and going there with my mom to buy fish was not one of the most pleasant memories I have: it was dark and the ground was slippery and didn't smell that good. She would always stop for a coffee in a little bar in a corner and I didn't see the time to go back home! Back in those days, there was no hurry for anything and my mom would chat there for a while before deciding to leave the building. Today the Market and the public Library share the same building; the red part is the market and the white is the Library.

The next one is BARCELONETA, very near the sea and the port, an old fisher men's neighbourhood with narrow streets and hung out clean clothes that go from one side of the street to the opposite; the distance might be really short... 3 to 4 meters. This is also a new building, I've never been to the old one nor the new one. This area is full of nice restaurants and it's a delish to walk and visit the port, or have a good dip in the sea!

EL MERCAT DE LA CONCEPCIO is one of my favourites, also a new building with tones of natural light inside and tones of flowers outside... this market is also called "el mercat de les flors" The flower market. It has all these multicolored flowers just by the street outside the market. Also old tradition flower shops surround the building and they are open all day and all night through. Bunch flower's emergencies can be attended any time!



Now take a look at the products we have in our markets that I thought might be a bit different from yours.




I hope you enjoyed the tour! But if you still want to know more, here is a link to the City's Markets, I'm afraid it's in Catalan... but you are such a bunch of smart girls and boys that I'm sure you'll get to see what you want!!!! A funny tradition all markets have is that when is time for Carnival all people working there choose a theme and work the carnival days with their costumes on... really funny to see!