I'm riding the Amtrak. In general, I don't have much regard for them these days. American rail travel, especially along the closely-connected cities of the eastern seaboard, really should have a system like Spain and Italy. Over there, it's easy and affordable to take the train. Here, Amtrak likes to play this game where one minute a city-to-city ticket costs X. Then, when you check again five minutes later, that very same ticket costs X to the third power. It's almost as if our rail system is designed to dissuade rail travel.
Not a surprise, I guess, considering that General Motors once bought up all of the nation's highly-efficient street car lines and ripped them out in order to sell more cars.
Today, Amtrak is at least saving me the headache of negotiating the traffic around DC. I need to visit for some research at the National Archives, Smithsonian, and Library of Congress. But DC is not just the land of museums, it is also the realm of King of José Andrés. Andrés' restaurant, Jaleo, is among the best Spanish restaurants in the United States. A native of Asturias, in the north, Andrés knows his stuff. I like him, too, because despite his celebrity status, he does not appear to have let the fame go to his head. He also does work on public television. Kudos José!
In advance of my visit to Jaleo later tonight, I made one of those quintessential Spanish dishes that Andrés includes in his book, Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America.
Moorish-style Chickpea and Spinach Stew
- 9 oz dried garbanzo
- Pinch baking soda
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 oz sliced bread, no crusts
- 2 tbsp pimenton, Spanish paprika
- 1 pinch saffron
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
- ½ pound spinach
- 1 tsp cumin
- Salt and pepper
Soak chickpeas in cold water overnight. Drain and rinse. Combine chickpeas with 2.5 quarts water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 2 hours. Every 10 mins add a cup of cold water to slow down simmering. By the end, the water should just cover the chickpeas.
Heat olive oil in small sauté pan. Cook garlic until brown, 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Brown bread on both sides, one min per side.
Remove bread and allow to cool. Add pimento, saffron, and cumin and then sherry vinegar to deglaze pan and prevent pimento from burning. Leave pan off heat
In a mortar, mash garlic and bread into a thick paste.
Reheat chickpeas to a boil and add spinach, reduce heat and cook for five minutes. Add pimenton mixture and garlic paste. Simmer for another five minutes and season to taste.
This recipe can be done with canned chickpeas. Substitute one can of chickpeas for the dried, rinse well, and place in a medium sauce pan. Add one cup of water. You could use stock instead to make up for the loss of flavor from not simmering the dried chickpeas, which produces a fine broth.