Spanish Omelette with Bean Stew

Today was remarkable because my son Andri, who realises that, along with writing a song, cooking for a lady is a pretty good way to her heart, really did much of the work, from chopping to cooking.

What you need

• 200 g of dried kidney beans, soaked overnight and cooked until still pretty firm.
• 5 largish potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
• 4-5 eggs
• 2 onions/shallots, one diced finely, the other quartered and sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• 150 ml white wine
• 1 tbsp Berbere
• 250 ml tomato passata or chopped peeled tomatoes (supplemented with a tbsp tomato puree to thicken the stew if necessary)
• 1 bell pepper in strips
• salt and pepper to taste
• optionally ½ to 1 finely diced chilli pepper

What you do

1. Fry the diced onion and the sliced potatoes in a generous dash olive oil until golden or lightly brown.
2. Beat the eggs, add salt and pepper to taste and pour over the onions and potatoes.
3. Cook on a low flame until the top of the egg is dry, then using a plate to flip over and fry on the other side.
4. In the meantime sauté the onion and garlic slices in some more olive oil until the garlic begins to look crispy.
5. Add the beans and the berbere as well as some salt and keep stirring.
6. Pour in the wine and allow to reduce for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato passata.
7. Allow to simmer while the omelette is fully fried.
8. Add the bell pepper strips and the chilli, if using, thicken with tomato purée should the stew be too liquidy.
9. Season to taste.

Papet Vaudois (The Fall?)

This week I am looking after and cooking for my non-vegetarian Dad again. This meal is very loosely based on the traditional Papet Vaudois; I tried to recreate if after I had been invited by my friends Dewi and Janine, who didn’t know that I don’t really eat meat (OK, I admit, I’m not a real vegetarian, it’s also a taste thing.). Janine’s papet was so tasty, I just had to try it out at home. So now I usually cook it when I cook for my parents; I make a large amount and freeze the left-overs. Like with so many of these types of traditional dishes, they taste even better warmed up...

What you need

• 50 g butter
• 300 g smoked speck, cubed
• 800 g leek, cut into slices
• 5+ cloves of garlic, sliced thinly or pressed
• 500 g waxy potatoes generously cubed
• 400 ml white wine
• vegetable stock cubes or paste to taste
• 2 Vaudois sausages (one could be a saussice aux choux)
• Salt and pepper.

 What you do

1. Fry the speck rind and the speck in a bit of butter until the speck is slightly glazed.
2. Add the onions and stir until they are glassy.
3. Add the leek and the garlic and stir continuously till the leek get soft.
4. Pour in the wine, add the vegetable stock and the potatoes.
5. Last put in the sausages , making sure they are covered and allow the pot to simmer. The dish is ready when the potatoes are done, but it gets better the longer it is allowed to simmer (not to mention that warming it up)
6. Before serving, pierce the sausages with a fork so they release their juices, then slice them and return them to the pot. 
7. Season to taste with pepper and salt.

Serve in bowls to catch all the juices…