Argentina - Carbonada Argentina

Hola, readers!

Argentina

I’m baaaack!!!! After a hiatus of a few months, I am excited to be sharing a new recipe with you all!

In case you thought my last experience may have killed me, don’t worry. Both my assistant, Vaughn, and I are safe and the leftovers for the Escudella were promptly tossed! Sorry, Andorra! While I would be glad to travel there one day and check out your real soups, I don’t foresee me ever making that concoction again, granted I did mess it up quite a bit!

On top of the trauma that was the blunder of the year, Los Angeles has been experiencing some crazy heat and humidity! Who wants soup when it’s 110 degrees outside? Well, honestly, me. But that just meant I picked up some pho on the way home instead of killing myself over a stove! (Are you beginning to see my soup addiction clearly, now?)

All ingredients came out to under $35!

Well this week, Los Angeles got her first taste of fall: A rare September storm meant we received record rainfall, backing up every freeway in town. I got to wear tights, bring an umbrella to work and sip my cinnamon tea. It’s nice to go outside and feel chilly! Yes, fall is most definitely on its way, but move over Pumpkin Spice Lattés! There’s a new kid on the block, from Argentina!

Today’s soup is Carbonada Argentina. While carbonada is a dish typical of many South American countries, each comes with mild variations.  Argentine Carbonada is a hearty stew with loads of ingredients perfect for fall! But take a look for yourself!

Carbonada Argentina

Ingredients

Meat of 1 Medium Pumpkin, Cubed 3 Ears of Corn, Just The Kernels 1 Lb Beef 200 Grams Salted Bacon, Chopped In Cubes 1 Yellow Onion, Finely Chopped 2 Carrots, Sliced 2 Tomatoes, Peeled and Sliced 1 Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped

2 Small Potatoes, Cubed 1 Medium Sweet Potato, Cubed 8 Dried Apricots 2-3 Bay Leaves 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced ½ Liter Vegetable Stock Salt And Pepper To Tastet

Directions

1. Put apricots in warm water to rehydrate and reserve
2. Add bacon grease/Olive Oil to large pot and sauté onion and garlic until fragrant
3. Then add cubed meat, cubed bacon, bay leaves, and more oil if necessary. Brown for 5 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add tomatoes and bell pepper, cook for 5 minutes
5. Add vegetable stock, corn and potatoes. Bring to a boil then simmer for ten minutes.
6. Add carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, apricots, salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 more minutes while covered.

Cut thin slices off Pumpkin

The hardest part when making this soup was definitely preparing the pumpkin. I had never skinned a pumpkin before. In fact, before this recipe, I had never ever even cooked with fresh pumpkin – although it has always been a weird culinary dream of mine. If you are like me in the sense that carving pumpkins sounds like a really freaking cool October pastime until about ten minutes in when you realize what a pain in the ass carving pumpkins actually is, you will likely share in this frustration. Let me make it a little easier for you and offer up some advice.

1. Go Slow. Don’t rush. I found that when I prepared the second half of my pumpkin for storage (more on that later), I was more alert, more relaxed and felt a little better than I did at the beginning of this venture. I was able to peel that half with ease and it looked pretty good if I may say so myself!
2. Start cutting your pumpkin as if you are cutting a jack-o-lantern; That is, Cut the stem out in circular-ish type shape. Set aside – There will be precious pumpkin seeds attached to it! You know, if you are into that sort of thing!
3. Place pumpkin on its most stable side. For mine, it was upside down so that the hole I just cut out of it was touching the cutting board.
4. Cut pumpkin in half. Remember to stay safe! Keep the pumpkin stable and the blade of the knife facing away from you, as well as away from any fingers!
5. By now you should have two pumpkin halves! Scoop the innards out and set aside if you want to make fresh pumpkin seeds while you’re your carbonada stews. If not, you can toss them. Make sure you get all the seeds and strings out of the pumpkin.
6. With a good knife, start peeling the skin off the pumpkin in small sections with thin cuts. You want it to be about the thickness of a Kettle-Chip, but don’t worry if it ends up thicker. Point is, the skin of a pumpkin is much, much thinner than (I) previously imagined.
7. When your pumpkin is all skinned, cut each half in half. (So that you have four quarters of pumpkin) Slice each portion of pumpkin into ½-inch to 1-inch portions and cube each slice accordingly.

Onions, Garlic, Meats,
Tomatoes and Bell Pepper

I bought what I thought was a medium pumpkin but upon chopping realized that an American medium must be an Argentinean Large, like many things I am sure! I ended up using half for this recipe and I am very glad I did, as even just half the pumpkin filled my pot almost to the top! (And now I have an entire half of a pumpkin peeled, chopped and stored – ready for my next fall cooking adventure!)

With the exception of dealing with the pumpkin, this recipe was super easy, but a lot of chopping! One thing I would change would be to use actual pork belly instead of bacon. Sure, when my source instructed me to use cubed bacon, I immediately thought of a good slab of pork belly but I figured since I had bacon already at home in the freezer I could just use that! I won’t say it made the soup in anyway bad, but I think with small chunks of pork belly it would have been even
better!

The apricot was a welcome addition!

It’s also important to note that you should stick to cheaper, tougher cuts of meat as anything traditionally more tender runs the risk of falling apart in the stew. I for instance, used “Beef for Stewing” and while the meet stayed a little tough when testing out a bowl the night of, by lunch the next day most pieces were tender and delicious. The beef I used was priced at Vons at about five dollars a pound making the grand total for this soup come out to under $35 for everything minus the bacon I already had at home. You can save money by waiting for meat or pumpkins to go on sale. (My pumpkin was $6!! But I was dying to make this soup so it was a cost I was willing to eat – No pun intended!) Another way to save is having bay leaves already in your spice cabinet! Either way with 12 servings yielded, $2.91 for a bowl of great soup isn’t too bad in my opinion!

All ingredients, right before simmering

Lastly, the apricot was a nice, albeit purely optional, element that really did play up the sweetness. And while I am not particularly fond of sweet flavors during mealtimes, I figured I’d go balls to the wall and really explore all this dish had to offer. As it turns out it was a welcome addition indeed and created a nice balance with the corn, sweet potatoes and other typically “Fall” ingredients.

All in all, I would plan on making this soup a fall tradition! I hope you can enjoy this soup as well in the coming autumn months!

¡Chau!

The perfect stew to kick off Autumn!

"Love is like soup; avoid it cold" ~ Argentine Proverb