Grandma Rosies Garbanzo Stew

I'm calling this 'Garbanzo Stew' so as not to confuse people, but honestly, in my family it's just called 'Garbanzo'. I'm sure we garnered some interesting looks when we went grocery shopping by saying  "Mom are we having Garbanzo for dinner?". People probably thought we were a bit crazy by getting excited about eating a bean for a meal, but Garbanzo's the only name I've ever known this dish as.

In wanting to find a dish to make for the Family Recipe event, I came across one mom had included in the Filipino recipes she has written down for the family. Except the directions were more like my mom and Grandma cook, not a lot of detail (she never uses recipes when cooking family dishes anymore).  While the original instructions had ingredients like "tomato sauce" or directions like "saute onions" I wanted a bit more information such as "how much tomato sauce" and "do I saute in oil and how cooked are the onions supposed to be?". I was on the phone several times with my mom while making this dish trying to clarify exactly what needed to be done. And I had to laugh when I took a sample to her to try and she mentioned that maybe I didn't add enough water to make soup. Water? There was no water listed!

But a recipe like this is exactly why I want to participate in the Family Recipes: Memories of Family, Food and Fun. I want to be able to not only make old family dishes, but be able to pass the directions on to far flung family that might not be local enough to learn at my mom's side (my Grandma Rosie passed away many years ago). I did ask my mom to give me some background regarding this dish and this is what she wrote:

"I don't  know when I started eating garbanzos cooked this way.  Probably before WW II.  But my memories when going back that far are so dim now.  When we got to the states Grandma Wing started cooking it.  Everybody loves this dish in my family.  It is so easy to make....your Grandma Rosie learned by watching Grandma Wing cook it.  She wrote down the ingredients and that was it.  And, that was how I learned to cook it too.  Over the years I have tweaked this recipe to suit my taste.  Such as the different spiced stewed tomatoes and not just plain canned tomatoes and tomato sauce as Grandma Rosie cooked it.  I left out the raisins that my aunt puts in hers because I did not like it.  I put more sauce than some.  Some cook it the way you did - not much sauce.  But I just know we have always eaten this dish in our family as far back as my memory goes."

This is one of those dishes that can be tweaked quite easily to fit individual tastes. Add tomato paste for a more pronounced tomato flavor, use different types of stewed tomatoes (I happen to like the Muir Glen Fire Roasted), add raisins, more potatoes, extra garlic etc. This is also one of those recipes that is inexpensive and you can double or triple the ingredients to feed a crowd.

GRANDMA ROSIES GARBANZO STEW

2 Tablespoons bacon grease
1 large onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5-oz can diced stewed tomatoes (any variety)
1 15.5-oz can garbanzo's (with juice)
Salt
Pepper
Cooked Rice

Melt bacon grease over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft. Add garlic and stir for a minute being careful not to burn.

Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add potatoes, garbanzos (with juice from can), stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.

Cover and cook until potatoes are soft and garbanzos are tender (time on this depends on how big you dice your potatoes, mine took a little over half an hour). Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over Rice.

Note: My mom likes hers a bit soupy. She adds some water, about 8-oz or so (or use beef broth etc) when she adds the potatoes (this would probably help the potatoes cook faster).

Note: This dish always seems to need a lot of salt for me after cooking. I may have to try adding a bit during the cooking process next time.

Note: We serve this over medium grain rice.

Comments

[Mom]

You did a good job Mrs. L. It was so nice to eat this being cooked by someone else. I really enjoyed it. You fix it for me anytime. Even if Mr. L does not like garbanzos. When I came to the states and they served garbanzos in salad I would not eat it. Never had it that way. Of course now I eat it that way too.

[foodcreate]

Wow! I love Garbanzos ! and This Dish sound so Tasty~

Thanks for sharig your recipe!

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[Laura]

This looks fabulous--I love this kind of food. And I love your story/background info--it is perfect and exactly what HoneyB and I had in mind. Thanks for submitting!

PS I would add salt to the onions while they are cooking--it will help sweat the water out of them and get some layers of salt into the dish. And I love the thought of the raisins, personally! :)

[Carolyn Jung]

Definitely a comforting and hearty dish. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a big bowl of it.

[grace]

great family recipe, mrs l! while i wait for the heat to hit ny, i think i'd love to come home to a nice big bowl of this beany delight. :)

[Fearless Kitchen]

This looks wonderful. Chickpea stews are a wonderful comfort food!

[Mr. L]

I dislike Garbanzos normally, but the way Mrs. L whips them up in this dish, they are yummy!

[peabody]

When it starts with bacon grease you know it's going to be good.

[The Duo Dishes]

Garbanzo fans here, and this sounds like a nice one. Love how no matter how warm it is, many of us are still eating cold weather foods. :)