Garbanzo con Lengua

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This recipe is based on a dish I recently enjoyed in Girona, Catalunya. The province of Girona boasts 13 restaurants with 17 Michelin stars between them, reflecting a spectrum of Catalonian cuisine from traditional to creative. This heritage of culinary excellence is exhibited in many of the restaurants in this historic Catalonian city.

My friend Miquel Collado, a patriot and proponent of Catalunya independence, recommended the restaurant “El Cul del Mon”. They prepare a creative menu and superb Catalunian cuisine. What a chef; what a lovely staff. If you ever are in Girona, go eat there. http://www.elculdelmon.com/

At “Cul del Mon”, we ordered the garbanzo entree for lunch because I wanted to learn how garbanzos pair with beef-tongue and I was not disappointed. Here’s my own recipe for garbanzos and beef-tongue. A vegetarian version is just as rich a dish, just eliminate the beef. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

½ lb uncooked garbanzos

¼ large onion

1 large carrot

1 clove of garlic

1 bay leaf

1 small-medium chile chipotle in adobo

½ cup diced onion

½ cup fresh tomato diced

¾ lb cooked beef-tongue, thinly sliced (see notes below for cooking instructions)

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon finely minced parley – for garnish.

Preparation

Garbanzos

Remove and discard any stones or debris, rinse well with cold water and place in a 2 quart pot. Cover by 3 inches of cold water above garbanzos and add the carrot, garlic and bay leaf. Bring the water to a boil; lower heat and simmer for 2-3 hours covered, adding water as necessary, until soft enough to mash easily with a fork. Remove and save the carrot and garlic. Discard the bay leaf, add 1 teaspoon of salt to the legumes and set aside to cool.

Assemble

Using a hand held blender or mini-blender, puree 1 cup of garbanzos with 1 cup of broth from the garbanzo pot, and the carrot, and garlic. Next, add the chipotle pepper and quickly blend in the puree. A quick blend produces a touch of smoky chipotle flavor and a slight bite of chile-heat. Use more chipotle if you like it hot.

In a large pot, with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sauté the onion for 4 minutes, add the tomato and sauté 3 minutes then salt and pepper to taste. Add the puree, and slices of tongue. Using a slotted spoon transfer-in the whole garbanzos, cover the mixture with broth from the pot of garbanzos and simmer for 20 minutes to reduce the broth to a slightly thick sauce.

Plate and sprinkle each dish with parsley. Serve hot.

Notes

Instructions for cooking beef-tongue are provided in this link to a previous recipe. How to cook beef-tongue.

Mexicans consume more beef tongue than they produce in their own country so they import large quantities from the US. Americans don’t consume much tongue so Mexico is happy to buy our excess supply.

Buen provecho

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