Smoked pork neck bones in combination with pork spareribs made a very flavorful stock, and... I do not know if for some Cubans this is "sacrilegious" but what made this one different and added a really nice touch was using smoked hot Louisiana hotlinks, a type of beef sausage that was flavored with spicy chili peppers, they come in hot and mild. They are very popular in Mexican stores down here in which the Spanish label for them is "Salchichas Picantes Ahumadas" which I used because they are inexpensive and readily available in any latin store I go to here, as opposed to having to drive a little further to the "Bodeguita" or ordering online and always having to pay a hefty price for smoked Spanish chorizo which isn't close to as good to what's available in Spain...
One of the things you guys might like about it, is that everything is thrown in one pot, and cooked together you won't have to cook the sautee the sofrito in a separate pan, and brown the chorizo's, everything in one pot with very good flavorful results here goes
Ingredients:
-1 lb. dried red kidney beans
-water (enough to submerge beans 1 inch)-1 lb. smoked pork neck bones (wash em under running water)
-1 1/2 lbs. pork spareribs (wash real well under running water, cut the meat you can into 1 1/2 inch chunks and the ribs seperate them into segments with a knife)
-1/2 red bell pepper minced-1/2 green bell pepper minced
-1 onion minced
-1/2 head of garlic minced
-1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil-3 small bay leaves
-2 tsp salt (atleast more to taste)
-1/2 tsp dried oregano
-1/2 tsp ground black pepper
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp. sweet smoked spanish paprika
-1 lb. banana squash or butternut or kabucha squash cut into 2 inch pieces
-3 potatoes cut into large 2 inch chunks
-3 medium louisiana hotlinks (smoked hot sausage/ salchichas ahumadas picantes) or spanish chorizo
-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
Directions:
(1) In a large pot throw red kidney beans, wash them twice in running cold water, then cover them with water about 1-2 inches submerged. The next day they should have swelled and look like this
and you need to drain them and cover them with new water enough to submerge 1 inch.(2) Bring the pot with the red kidney beans and water to a boil on high heat, skim off the white foam if it forms, add pork spare ribs, smoked pork neck bones, bring back to a boil and skim off any impurities that might form (don't stress just skim off what you can) add minced onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato sauce, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and bay leaves and bring back to a boil. Cover and lower heat to medium low. After 1 hour it should look like this.
(3) While waiting for that 1 hour, you can use this time to prep your potatoes and calabaza, check your beans after 1 hour to see if they are tender, add oregano, black pepper, cumin, Sweet smoked Spanish paprika along with your calabaza, potatoes, and the whole lousiana sausages or spanish chorizo. Give a good shake or stir, bring to a boil on high, cover then lower to medium low to simmer 15- 20 minutes.
(4) After 15-20 minutes stab your calabaza and potatoes with a knife or fork to see if they are tender if it goes through, stir in vinegar, if you feel it's too water for your liking remove some calabaza like 2 pieces and a piece of potato mash it, and stir back in. (I like to mash 2 pieces of the sweet calabaza because it balances out the the vinegar). Remove sausages, slice them and add it back to the pot.
(5) Serve over white rice or bread in a bowl. Taste better after sitting a couple hours or the next day :)NOTE:
Here's a link to other posts of red bean stews I've done and other's have made. I remember for a long time my family hated this musty hint they had, and I've experimented many ways with them and learned to make them pretty well :)
http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2010/09/potaje-de-frijoles-colorados-que.html