Road House Stew

I know some of you have been waiting on a post about the Boca vs. River game. I assure you, there will be one by the end of this weekend. We've been sleep deprived this week, what with our last big project for school being due.

Anyways, back to this strange sounding stew. I feel like the best dishes always have weird names. With 25 people living at the Road House, the kitchen gets cramped, especially around dinner time. Our kitchen tool supply is pretty scarce as well. We've taken to making one pan, one pot-type meals because they are easy and only require one stove burner. I have made this stew twice now and we're in love. I wouldn't exactly call it "Argentine cuisine," but it includes typical Argentine ingredients and foods I can find at the little produce stands. Some of you may not be that into cooking and the like, but I know some of you will appreciate this. Who knows, maybe someone will make it and have a taste of something from here. And I forgot to take a picture of it. It just looks like stew, though. It wouldn't win any photography awards or anything.

1 package chorizo, casing removed and meat ground up with a wooden spoon
1 large batata or sweet potato*, cut into bite size pieces
2 medium sized leeks, finely sliced and the very tops discarded (I like the green and the white parts)
1 medium eggplant, chopped into bite sized pieces (do not peel it!)
2 cups white mushrooms, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
Chicken stock - I'm not really sure how much, but enough to just cover all the ingredients in a pot
2 tsp dried pimiento (paprika will probably work, too)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp of something spicy - chili flakes, sriracha, hot sauce, cayenne, etc.
1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1. Pre-chop all your ingredients.
2. Toss the eggplant in a bowl in about 3 tsp. of salt. Let it sit for 2 minutes. The salt draws alot of the bitter juice out of the eggplant, so it doesn't flavor the stew. After 2 minutes, rinse it in cold water. Set aside.
3. Heat a soup pot over medium hight heat. Add the chorizo. Cook it until it starts to leave brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Do not drain the fat! Unless you have more than a couple tablespoons in the pan.
4. Add the batata/sweet potato and leeks. Stir and saute for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the eggplant and musrooms. Stir for 1 minute.
6. Add the chicken stock, garlic, and all of the seasonings.
7. Stir together and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Turn the heat down to medium, and let it simmer lightly for another 10 minutes.
9. EAT!

*Batata is a sweet potato they have down here. It's purple and has whitish flesh. I have no idea if we have it in the States or not. They look like this: