I’ll be honest, it was a bit of a struggle to come up with a “dish that I would most like to have for my birthday” for this month’s Kulinarya Cooking Club challenge. I have been so busy with the new job and getting everything ready for the sale of our old house, I hardly had anytime to cook. Luckily, my Mom came to the rescue when she found out I had to make something for January’s theme. She declared that she was going to make Cocido Madrileño for Sunday lunch. So this month’s Kulinarya Cooking Club dish is brought to you by:
Jen (www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com)
Tressa
Maribel (http://www.foodgeek.webs.com)
and of course… The Blog Monster.
Growing up, I don’t think I knew any other Sunday activity than to go to my Grandmother’s (Mama) house for Sunday lunch. The house was constantly full of people from my Mama’s seven children, their spouses, all the grandchildren (fourteen), and other uncles and aunts. Of course, overseeing the daunting task of feeding us all was my Mama. I remember there was the “big” table where all the uncles and aunts would sit and the “small” table for all the children. At a certain age, the kids would eventually graduate to being able to enjoy sitting at the “big” table depending on who made it to lunch that day and whether there was space for them… But, at the head of the table was always my Mama who meticulously oversaw the menu.
Cocido Madrileño was one of my favourite dishes that easily fed the throng of hungry people that made it to Sunday lunch. The dish is essentially a medley of meat and vegetables that is simmered for hours resulting in a rich broth or caldo, that is served alongside the dish. In my Mom’s version, the meats she uses includes pork belly, beef ribs, chorizo, chicken and these meatballs or pelota (my favourite). If you can find it, adding some blood sausage or morcilla would be a welcome addition too. As a kid, I remember the hardest thing about having Cocido for lunch was having to sit at the “small” table and waiting for all the adults to serve before we could have our share. The wait was pure torture.
So if I had to pick a dish that I’d like to have on my birthday – it would be this one. Because birthdays are all about being with the ones your love and if you’re going to be inviting lots of people to help you celebrate, then you might as well make sure you have enough good food to go around.
Cocido Madrileño
Cocido is a very flexible dish so feel free to add or change the meats and vegetables you use depending on your taste or what is available. For example, instead of the beef ribs, you could use beef brisket, instead of the smoked ham hock, substitute a slab of bacon or jamon. My husband and I once went to a famous restaurant in Madrid called La Bola that served Cocido with fideos (Spanish noodles)… you could also add that to the soup as well. You will notice I haven’t given exact quantities to this dish as the quantities depend on how many people you are serving this dish to. I always make sure to make more than I need anyway, but that’s because I like dicing the leftover meat and vegetables to make a hearty soup with the rest of the broth for another day.
Meats
- Pork belly
- Beef ribs, or chuck
- Chorizo
- Smoked ham hock
- Chicken, cut into pieces
- Pelota (recipe follows)
Vegetables & Aromatics
- Onion
- Garlic
- Peppercorns
- Bay leaf
- Garbanzos (Chickpeas), soaked overnight
- Pumpkin
- Potatoes, cut into large chunks
- Carrots, cut into large chunks
- Stringbeans, tied into little bunches to make it easier to remove from the pot when done
- Cabbage, cut into eights
Tomato Sauce
- 2 Cans diced tomatoes
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
Pelota
- 500 grams pork
- 2 slices white bread, crusts removed, diced
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- For the pelota, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, shape into balls and set aside until ready to use.
- Place the meat and chickpeas, (exclude the chicken and the pelota) in a large pot and fill with water, making sure to have enough water to cover the meats. Add the onion, garlic, peppercorns and bayleaf, take the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once it has reached a boil, turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and skim the surface of the pot for any scum. The meat will need around two hours to soften.
- After two hours, add the chicken, chorizo, pelota, vegetables and continue to simmer another thirty minutes.
- For the tomato sauce, saute the onion and garlic in some olive oil, add the diced tomatoes and cook for around 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- To serve, separate the meats and slice them. Then remove the vegetables, place them in platters. Serve with the caldo, tomato sauce and warm crusty bread.
For more great Kulinarya Recipes – check here.
G O R G E O U S!!
That’s a beautiful cocido Madrileno. I’ve never tried it with fideo. Must try it soon.
I love this! I love how you can change the dish to your own taste. Looks wonderful. Can I be invited to your next birthday please?
I’ve never made cocido but I’ve wanted to try for a while. It’s a treat to be able to taste all that meat in one meal. I wouldn’t mind having this for my birthday.
Hope you’re having a great week, Trissa. 🙂
I think my mother makes a version of this and it’s pure comfort food!
I must say that as a non-meat eater, I can’t comment much on my personal desire to eat this ;p. But I have plenty of friends who would love to dig into this platter and I love food that easily feeds a large group.
Learnt another new dish! The spreads look GOOD!
That looks great.
What a lovely spread of meat and vegetables… absolutely perfect for a birthday. How does Cocido Madrileno differ from Pochero, which is also like a Cocido, right? I have to brush up on my Spanish Cuisine. Thank you fro sharing, Trissa!
Your so right Trissa, birthdays are all about being around loved ones & I love your description of being around all your family for this dish. Its awesome & super flexible too, which appeals heaps.
What a beautiful meal. Certainly, every carnivores dream… and your story about Sunday dinner brought back my own memories of being at my great grandmother’s house for the dinners before she died. She had 13 children, and many would come (never all) with their spouses and children and spouses and us – the great grand children. These dinners were always in the summer as that is the only way we could all fit. There were tables with linen cloths all over the garden and steaming pots would come out of the house forever, it seemed. There was never enough room to set up a buffet table, so it was the same… almost. But, Great Grandma would have several of the same dishes – almost one for each table. So, we did have to wait, but not for so long.
Playing before the dinner and smelling the cooking going on in that humid and steamy tiny kitchen I will never forget… and then the washing of the dishes. I don’t know how they did it, but they did. We would play, the men would smoke and have a drink and pay cards or gin rummy under the trees… or nap. The women would clean and do dishes and hang the wet tea towels on the clothes line. Then, when everything was done, out would come the desserts. Everyone else brought the desserts. Such an array. All set out on the tables outside again. Oh my.
Such beautiful memories of such simple and lovely times.
🙂
Valerie
This also reminds me of my childhood…complete with the tomato sauce! My mom still makes it on some Sundays 🙂 My favorites are the chorizo and the bacon slab…I love the sound of that pelota too, though we never had that. She also makes a soup with the leftovers. Ah! This dish definitely warms my heart 🙂
Thanks Trissa, for featuring this dish and also extra salamat to Mommy Blog Monster=) Everytime you feature something out of your family treasured dishes, I learn alot na I haven’t eaten yet…I totally agree that this dish is certainly so well suited for a family get together.
So much to choose from in one dish! It looks like a grand feat and feast!
LOVE this. What’s weird is I never had it until I was living in Spain, but that combo of meat and chickpeas is amazing.
I’ve never heard of the dish but it looks like a very hearty dish perfect for sharing.
I am so inlove with this already and I will definitely try this one!
This sounds like a very homey and filling dish. I think my dad would really like it! My family is relatively small, so I never had the experience of sitting at a little table, but it certainly doesn’t sound enjoyable in this instance!
I’m glad that you had some help putting this recipe together for the blog 🙂
Oh, and P.S. I added the extra sauce from the wings you posted a few weeks back to a eggplant and mushroom bolognese today. I don’t think it was terribly authentic, but it was certainly delicious!
Cocido Madrileño.. I think I have had this dish before but I just didnt know the correct name for it. What a perfect dish to serve at a birthday party. So when can I come over for for Cocido Madrileño??
If I have to pick one way to celebrate and eat, this will be it as well. What a great way to feast.
hey triss, i’m just gonna have to wait til you cook all of this for me!!! 🙂 you make everything sounds so good…I’m sure Trissalicious would make it to hardbound too. Keep it coming! and keep the faith.
Trissa, your posts on Filipino-Spanish food brings me closer to home with the memories of my family dinners. This was my Dad’s favorite, together with Pochero. My boys would love the Pelota!
Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever had this growing up. Maybe since I grew up in a different region of the Phils? And I am all about having Caldo all the time. This looks really good…should try it soon:-)
now I really miss Madrid ! it is such a hearty stew ! and an excellent choice for a birthday :).
I’ve never heard of this dish before but this is awesome – I love it Trissa!!
I love cocido, and i like your deconstructed version…looks delicious!
Looks very interesting!
Mmmm..looks so delicious, it’s like pochero but even better; this stew’s got everything .. happy memories included 😉 You’re very lucky to have a big happy family! 🙂
Hi, Trissa! Wow! First, beautiful shots. Second, this is the first time i’ve heard of this dish, although i can see a similarity to Pochero. This is crazy coz i just made cassoulet w/c i call meat galore dish and now i’m planning or will definitely be doing this, another meat galore…. LOL! can’t get enough of meat=;) I like this kind of dish…can surely feed the entire barrio, masarap na busog pa!
Thanks to you and your mom for sharing this dish =;)
Nostalgic…..Sunday lunches in bel air. Will forward to your aunts and uncle….that s nice to know how a little girl (Trissa) felt waiting for her turn with the cocido specially the tomato sauce that would run out or the chorizos. Something interesting…. We loved to have the cook put boiled cooking bananas which the Spanish don t serve it with, but somehow it gave a nice flavor to the dish. So even if mama would say cocido does not have cooking bananas…..but be all liked it with it.
This is a good choice for party food! I agree with you whole heartedly that birthdays are supposed to be spent with lots of dearest ones with you. Thanks for joining the challenge this month 😉
Why I haven’t had Cocido Madrileño in ages, I don’tknow.. but I remember as having this dish for Christmas and family gatherings on Sundays. It brought back fond memories of family back home. I remember having to share that chorizo with my brothers since it usually the first meat to be MIA even before it’s served haha. Thank you Mommy blog monster for sharing.
Now this is a birthday dish!
Hi Trissa! This is a nice hearthy dish. I once had it with boiled eggs as well, served in three increments or ‘vuelco’. It looks like it’s not much but I’d struggle to finish half of what’s on the plate. It’s very filing. 🙂