Friday, July 18, 2008

From CyndiDShoe, a great sounding recipe!

Potaje is cuban poor folk food..you use beans ..( whatever kind..I use red beans )
Cook the beans until just tender ,
then saute onions peppers and garlic ..this is called a sofrito ( add whatever spices you like ..i use marjoram , cumin and oregano)..
Add all that in the beans throw in some bouillon cubes ,
or just use salt and water..whatever.
Then start cleaning out your fridge..
throw in whatever veg you have in there..
This is basically a bean stew. and it's addictive and good,
if you happen to have meat..throw it in the sofrito and saute it in there too .
Cook it until the flavors meld there's no right or wrong way..

11 comments:

none said...

Good use for leftovers!

The Merry Widow said...

Isn't it though? And those little dibs and dabs that aren't much by themselves. But put them together...yeah!

tmw
In the second e-mail we got, CyndiDShoe said she uses tomato sauce and sometimes pumpkin.

Z said...

for those of you watching salt content, I do things like this in low-salt chicken broth instead of using cubes and then you can add whatever little salt you want.
This is a great way to use bits of leftover meat, especially. And, it's really just as good with canned beans if you let everything simmer for a while at the end...good shortcut!!

Maddy said...

Sounds very like something I had in Spain - very yummy and who needs the meat anyways [well one of us does, but we just ignore him]
Cheers

nanc said...

you're not going to like my name for this - i call it "slumgullion" - and you do put a little of EVERYTHING in it. oh yeah and slap it on some rice!

beans are my favorite food on the planet and i would eat them for all three meals if it didn't offend my family...

The Merry Widow said...

Maddy-Welcome to sensiblefolks, I think just about every place on Earth has something like this! Except the jungle...they eat yucca or manioc.
The veggies and seasonings change, but cleaning out the fridge, pantry or shelf all boils down(pun intended)we don't have much left of anything in particular and I need to clear this place out!
Nanc-Smack Z with a wet noodle for mentioning "THAT"!
Zzzzzzzzzzzz-I will get you for using that word in my presence! LOL!

tmw

Eyes said...

Sounds delish!

The Merry Widow said...

Doesn't it?

tmw

cube said...

Beans are one of my favorites too. I make a mean potaje myself. It's one of those dishes where my kids have seconds or more.

When I use a chunk of beef in the potaje & it's fork tender, I shred it & fry it up in a pan until it's just crispy. It's called 'vaca frita' or fried cow. At our house, it goes fast.

Z said...

Cube..sounds like CARNITAS and sounds DEEElicious!
Is ANYTHING fried not delicious!?
darn!

cube said...

Z: It is delicious, but if you use a teflon pan, you don't need any oil at all so the frying is fat free.