This week’s Compliments of the Chef is the result of a reader request from Jim Heekin regarding a favorite side dish featured at the now-closed Txokos Basque Kitchen at East End Market before original owners Henry and Michele Salgado sold it to focus on their Spanish River Grille restaurant in New Smyrna Beach:

Wrote Jim: “When the Salgados left Txokos, the restaurant stopped serving the fabulous Fabada bean side dish. Any chance that Henry would share with you his recipe for that terrific dish? He isn’t serving it at Spanish River Grille.”

Well, Jim, I have two bits of good news for you. First, yes, the Salgados were more than happy to share the recipe, which you’ll find below.

Second, the fabada bean dish is indeed being served at Spanish River Grille, accompanying one of the fresh fish dishes, such as bronzini, a current offering, or the Crispy Skin Snapper, as seen in the photo from SRG above. So you can visit and still get a taste of how it’s done.

In the meantime, here’s the recipe, compliments of the chef.

Spanish Fabada
Yields 4 Servings

1 cup cooked black eye peas*
1 cup red beans*
1 cup Peruvian lima beans (gigante beans)

To cook fresh peas and beans, prepare each quantity in a separate pot with a generous amount of water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, stirring often and allow to cook until tender. Add more water, if necessary, so that beans have plenty of water to cook.

Saute the following ingredients in a pan until translucent :

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
2 teaspoon shallots, fine dice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
6 threads saffron
1 teaspoon tumeric

Add:

1 cup clam juice or seafood broth
1 cup each cooked beans

Bring to a simmer and add:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt & pepper to taste

Serve immediately or keep warm until ready to use.

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