SAVORY CHAUCHAS

Monday - not too inspirational - actually had to work today, advising the Tepper students in the other hemisphere on their research projects.  And then met up with a librarian friend at a cafe and walked the 20 blocks back along leafy streets with old houses.  No time to shop!
So we had some bacon, green beans, eggs, potatoes, red peppers, onions.  The green beans here - chauchas - are long and flat - and are best cooked until tender.  (Actually I like all green beans cooked that way - the raw taste of crisp-tender beans is a bit harsh and then there is so much chewing! See Michael Pollan's Cooked to learn how humans conquered the world through chewing less.)   Here's a way to make the chauchas so that they taste the way they do down here.

• 1 lb. green beans (flat ones if possible)
• 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/4 lb. bacon (or cubes of ham, which you just need to crisp up)
• 1 cube or packet of chicken bouillon (Knorr's here, Trader Joe's at home)

Wash and slice off the top of the green beans and then slice into 1" pieces.  Fry the bacon in a saucepan large enough to hold the beans. I brought a porcelain nonstick one in my suitcase - knowing that Uruguayan-issue pots and pans are a thin, sad lot - and so far it's just as good as the cast iron.  When the bacon is crisp, crumble and set aside, and pour out most of the bacon fat.  Now add the garlic, and stir a bit.  Throw on the cut-up beans, pour on water just to cover and bring to a boil.  Add the bouillon cube and stir until dissolved.  Cover and continue to simmer until the beans are almost done, then uncover, stir, and keep simmering until the beans are tender and the liquid is down to about 1/4 cp. (the whole effect needs a bit of sauce.)  Mix in the bacon, and taste before adding salt and pepper - will probably not need much if any salt.

Paired with a tortilla espanola (see recipe in 1/10/13 entry, and please forgive that awful photo,) a salad of course, and for dessert, Grandma Barbsie's cake (1/9/13) - replacing the toasted coconut with a thick smear of dulce de leche over the top.