Olla Podrida Novohispana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large cured cazuela de barro or heavy 8-quart Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and roasting jitomates
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh colador for passing the recaudo
• •Wooden spoon and deep serving ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the legumes

   The night before, put the garbanzos in one bowl and the red beans in another. Cover each with plenty of cold water. Do not soak them together. Garbanzo and bean soften at different rhythms, and a convent cook feeding a refectorio would not pretend otherwise.

2. 2

   Start the broth

   Drain the garbanzos and red beans. Put them in a large cazuela de barro or heavy pot with the beef short ribs, half onion, halved garlic head, bay leaves, thyme, marjoram, oregano, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cover with cold water by 3 inches. Bring slowly to a bare simmer, skimming the gray foam during the first 20 minutes. Let it cook gently for 2 hours, until the beans are halfway tender and the beef has begun to give flavor to the broth.

   If your clay cazuela is new, do not use it for this recipe until it has been cured. Barro that has not been cured can crack or taste dusty. Ask the women at the market how they cure theirs.
3. 3

   Brown the meats

   While the broth simmers, heat 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a wide skillet or second cazuela. Brown the pork shoulder and pork ribs in batches until the edges are golden. Do not crowd the pan. Add the browned pork to the main pot. Brown the chorizo lightly in the same fat and add it too. La manteca es el sabor, and it carries the meat flavor into the stew.

4. 4

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho and chile guajillo one at a time, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until they soften, darken slightly, and smell deep. Do not blacken them. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 20 minutes. Hot water, not boiling. Boiling water wakes bitterness in the skins.

5. 5

   Make the recaudo

   On the same comal, roast the jitomates until the skins blister and collapse. In the skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo and fry the torn bolillo until golden. Add the almonds and fry until they smell sweet and nutty. Put the drained chiles, roasted jitomates, fried bread, almonds, saffron, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, sherry, and 1 cup broth into a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Pass it through a fine colador, pressing hard. The skins stay behind. The flavor goes into the pot.

6. 6

   Fry the sauce

   Return the strained recaudo to the skillet and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens and the fat shows at the edges. This is where the stew becomes Novohispano, not just Spanish. The chile, jitomate, almond, bread, saffron, and sherry must meet in hot fat before they enter the broth. No me vengas con atajos.

7. 7

   Combine and simmer

   Stir the fried recaudo into the main pot. Keep the simmer low and steady for 1 hour more. Taste the broth. It should be savory, lightly sweet from the chile ancho, and rich from the bones, with no single spice shouting over the others. If the liquid drops below the meat and legumes, add hot water a cup at a time.

8. 8

   Add the vegetables

   Add the xoconostle, chayote, elote rounds, carrots, and potatoes. Simmer 35 to 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not broken. Add the ejotes during the last 12 minutes so they stay green and firm. The xoconostle should sharpen the broth without turning it sour. That small edge matters against all this pork and beef.

9. 9

   Rest the olla

   Turn off the heat and let the olla rest at least 30 minutes before serving. Better: cool it, refrigerate overnight, and reheat gently the next day. A baroque stew needs time for the beans, meats, chile, saffron, and lard to settle into one broth. Skim only the excess fat, not all of it. A little chile-stained sheen on top is correct.

10. 10

    Serve the refectorio pot

    Remove the spent onion, garlic skins, herb stems, cinnamon, and bay leaves if you find them. Taste for salt. Serve from the cazuela into deep Talavera bowls, making sure every portion gets meat, legumes, vegetables, and broth. Put warm corn tortillas on the table and jalapenos en escabeche on the side. This is special-occasion food, generous and serious. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use real chile ancho, broad, flexible, reddish-brown, with a raisin smell. If the chiles are brittle and dusty, they are old. You can have perfect technique and dead chiles and you will get a dead stew.
• •The chorizo should not dominate. Spanish chorizo gives paprika and firmness. Mexican chorizo oreado gives more fat and vinegar. Both work, but fresh loose chorizo will muddy the broth unless you brown it hard first.
• •Almendras de Castilla and saffron are not decoration here. They mark the convent pantry. Use a small amount and let it support the pot. Too much saffron tastes medicinal, and the portera would have scolded you for wasting it.
• •Do not use a pressure cooker for this version. Olla podrida Novohispana is a slow conventual cazuela. The beans, bones, chiles, and bread-thickened recaudo need gradual cooking to make one broth.
• •If xoconostle is impossible to find, use a small splash of good mild vinegar at the end. That is a compromise, not an upgrade. Xoconostle gives fruit acidity and texture that vinegar cannot copy.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the garbanzos and red beans the night before. This is not optional if you want even cooking.
• •The entire olla can be made one day ahead. It improves overnight as the chile ancho, meats, legumes, saffron, and lard settle into the broth.
• •Reheat gently over low heat, adding a little hot water if the stew has thickened too much. Do not boil hard or the vegetables will break and the broth will turn cloudy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 700g)