I've been having a lot of fun perusing an old cookbook of mine, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, and I must say I've been serving up some salivacious meals these past two weeks or so. This cookbook was a long-ago wedding shower gift from my good -- and vegetarian -- friend from college, Julie, who certainly knows her stuff. I paid close attention to her ear-marked pages, comments, and suggestions -- "Very yummy," or "Excellent -- just skip the okra," or her comment on the Sweet and Sour Peppers (which I shared here a few days ago), "Soooo good ... better than ... well, you know ..." It was oh-so-good ...I emailed Jacie yesterday, telling her (among other things) that I was embarking on Menestra for dinner last night -- a Spanish vegetable stew that made my mouth water just reading the ingredients. I lamented, however, that I thought I'd be getting complaints with this one, for not only did I believe that Don was getting a mite sick of these veggie dishes, I knew he would positively loathe one of the ingredients in this particular offering: artichoke hearts, which I love but he abhors. I decided to take my chances -- after all, if I could tolerate the load of mushrooms in the stew, then he had no right to whine about the artichoke hearts. I girded my proverbial loins and started chopping away.
Well, let me tell you ... Don's eyes almost popped out of his head. In a good way. "Mmmmm!!!" he mumbled. "This is AMAZING!" I served it with corn muffins, not having the suggested crusty loaf or garlic bread on hand, and he gobbled it right up -- even the artichoke hearts. I was amazed, and secretly pleased. It truly was a fantastic dish.
So ... I just had to share it. Once again, many thanks to my Moosewood friends!
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MENESTRA
1-2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs olive oil
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 large potato, diced
1 tbs sweet paprika
2 bay leaves
pinch of cayenne
2 cups hot water *
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lb. mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
5 artichoke hearts (or 14 oz. can)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
salt to taste
* for water: can also use the juice from the artichoke hearts, and then add enough hot water to make 2 cups.
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chopped Spanish olives
4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into wedges or quarters (optional)
Heat oil in large pot and sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat until tender.
Peel the carrots, cut them in half length-wise and then thinly slice, making half-circles -- add them to pot.
Peel the potato if you'd like (or keep the skins on) and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Add the potato, paprika, bay leaves, and cayenne to the pot and sauté for a minute or so, stirring to prevent sticking.
Pour in the water, sherry, and salt.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.
If using pre-washed, pre-sliced mushrooms, then just add them in. If using fresh -- wash the mushrooms, cut off and discard the stems. Leave any small mushrooms whole, but cut the larger ones into halves or quarters. Add to pot.
Chop the pepper into 1-inch pieces -- add to pot.
Cut the artichoke hearts into halves or quarters.
When the veggies are just tender, add the artichokes and peas.
Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Salt to taste.
Serve topped with chopped olives and wedges of hard-boiled eggs if you like.
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NOTES:
- I used 2 onions -- can't ever have enough of those
- no way was the 'pinch of cayenne' enough. I just kept shaking the bottle for some kick
- didn't have dry sherry on hand, so I used red cooking wine (worked fine)
- I don't like peas so I skipped that ingredient -- I didn't miss it one bit.
- The eggs made the dish, believe it or not -- soooo good!
- Again, the timing was off. The book said "total time: 35 minutes" and it took considerably longer. Just do it by "feel" -- when the potatoes are softened, then you're done.
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