Indian Surprise

I baked a pot of chic peas all day after soaking them overnight. I can't resist baking on a chilly day. But what started as beans and stock evolved into an Indian pot au feu. I dug out of the fridge a bunch of collard stems and outer leaves of cabbage that I had saved for stock, and a few orphan carrots from the bottom of the bag, and threw them in the pot. I also threw in a whole head of garlic still in its natural paper covering. I baked everything at 350 degrees. I tasted the broth and added salt and cheap port. Then I thought I'd fish out the large chunks of vegetables, but I couldn't bear to toss them out. So I pureed them in the food processor, adding some of the broth from the pot to help liquidate it. Then I returned it to the pot. I squeezed the soft garlic out of the head and added it to the pot along with adobe seasoning, more salt, ground cumin + cloves, olive oil, and red chili flakes. The chic peas floated in a thick green sea. It was delicious over brown rice.