smokey beans

At what point do I just rename this blog "Beans and Baking"? More beans! It's cold outside. It's the season for stewing and braising and having pots bubbling away on the stove for hours, perfuming your home with the aroma of cozy. These beans are extra warm from the added smokiness of chipotle. A bit of kick and heat, tons of flavor, it transforms the humble black bean into the ultimate comfort food. Mound some on top of some rice, top with fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream, maybe a squeeze of lime or even some raw minced red onion.

And as with every giant pot of beans, leftovers go very far. Wrap these beans up in a tortilla with leftover rice, some raw sliced red cabbage, sour cream, shredded cheese, maybe some guac and salsa. Recipe after the jump:

SMOKEY CHIPOTLE BLACK BEANS

1 lb dried black beans
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 chipotles in adobo, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 cup cilantro plus additional for garnish, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Six cups of water
Two cups of vegetable broth
Salt to taste

Soak the beans covered by two inches in cold water for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain the soaked beans.

Combine the onions, carrots and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely minced. In a large heavy dutch oven over medium heat, sauté the "sofrito" in oil for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the beans, chipotles, and 1/2 cup cilantro.

Cover beans with water and broth, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low. Stir occasionally.

After 1 1/2 hours, add the cumin, tomato paste, lime juice, salt and remaining cilantro and cook for 30 more minutes or until beans are tender. Serve over rice garnished with chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream or crema.

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rancho gordo: the beauty of beans

I'm having a very bean-y summer. It's not unusual for me to move away from eating heavy meat when it's hot out, but I generally consider beans a hearty and warming food, too, so it's odd that beans are where I keep finding myself right now. The textures of beans - both fresh and dried - are constantly calling to me. I ignore common sense and let a pot bubble on my stove for hours when it's 95 degrees out.



It is hard not to want beans all the time when the beans are as gorgeous as the ones from Rancho Gordo. Steve Sando has made the humble bean a sexy ingredient by growing and selling dozens of heirloom breeds that most of us had never seen or heard of before. Each type of bean is beautiful and unique, all sizes and colors, stripes and spots, flavors and textures.

One of my favorites varieties - and the one that Sando claims started this whole business when he first took a bite - is Rio Zape. A gorgeous mauve-colored bean with dark purple stripes and little white eye, Rio Zapes are similar to Pinto beans, but are denser and richer in flavor. The best way to start using heirloom beans if you want to understand why they are so amazing is to go simple simple simple. A bit of bacon, some aromatics, maybe a nice dark beer, finish it off with some tomatoes for acid and a fresh cilantro relish for bite. Simple and hearty, really taste the bean. Recipe after the jump:



BEER AND BACON BEANS WITH CILANTRO RELISH

For the beans:
1 pound Rancho Gordo Rio Zape Beans (use can substitute pintos or any beans you like)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 lb smokey bacon, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
6 fresh sage leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 bottle stout or other dark beer
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
juice of 1/2 lemon (use the 1/2 lemon left over from making the relish)
salt and pepper to taste

For the relish:
1 large bunch cilantro
1 medium shallot
1 clove garlic
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
olive oil

To make the beans:
Cover the dried beans with cold water allowing at least two inches of water covering the surface of the beans. Soak for at least 6 hours or overnight. Do not discard the soaking liquid.

In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil. Add the diced bacon and saute, rendering out the fat and crisping the bacon. When it is brown and crispy, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on paper towels. You will use this bacon to finish the beans.

Remove all but 2-3 tablespoons of fat from the pot. Saute the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the sage, rosemary and minced jalapeno and saute until fragrant. Add the beans with their soaking liquid, plus the bottle of beer. If necessary, add additional water to cover the beans. Bring to a boil, then lower to a very slow simmer until the beans are tender. This will take anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on how long they soaked and how firm you like your beans. I tend to like my beans with a bite. When the beans are tender, add the tomatoes, lemon juice, and bacon, and season well with salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes more to incorporate the acids and the bacon. Remove the sage leaves and rosemary before serving. Serve on rice or with crusty bread, topped with a dollop of the cilantro relish and the crispy bacon bits.

For the cilantro relish:
Mince the cilantro, shallot, and garlic very finely, you can use a mini-prep if you like. Add the lemon zest, juice and salt to taste. Add enough olive oil to make a thick pesto-like sauce. Serve alongside the beans.

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sunset park food binge: chinese long beans

We're finally getting pockets of gorgeous weather here and there in NYC, and it is especially nice that these pockets tend to happen on the weekend. Last Saturday we had an amazing spring day and it was the perfect day to spend eating our way through Sunset Park, Brooklyn. We were taken on this food tour by the lovely Lofts twins, Greg and Steve, Sunset Park residents and champions. And - perfect for us - big time foodies. The food tour included Banh Mi, oyster cakes, curry fish balls, fried taro, chicken wings, spicy squid, hand-pulled noodles, donuts, cream buns, bubble tea, and plenty of grocery shopping in the numerous Asian markets along the way.

Sunset Park contains one of three Chinatowns in NYC. It's the smallest, but it's not small, and it has the advantage of being somewhat less insanely crowded than either the Manhattan or Flushing Chinatowns. Whenever I'm in any of the three Chinatowns, I go buckwild buying groceries. There are a lot of treats that I grew up on that I can only find in Chinatown - pork buns, sticky rice, Chinese broccoli, fresh water chestnuts, lotus root, steamed flower buns, Shanghai Noodles, the list goes on and on. I lugged a whole lotta groceries home on the subway that day. One of those items were these Chinese long beans.



Chinese long beans are pretty similar to string beans and can generally be used interchangeably. Their texture is a little less snappy than green beans, but I love how thin they are, and I think they have a distinctly different flavor. As with string beans, I prepare long beans in a super simple way because I mostly just want to enjoy their fresh flavor. Recipe after the jump:



GINGER-GARLIC CHINESE LONG BEANS

1 lb Chinese long beans, stem ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp water
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper, to taste
2 scallions, chopped

Mix together the soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, water, and sugar and set aside. Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the canola oil to the hot pan and heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 30 seconds until fragrant, being careful not to burn it. Add the long beans and saute for a couple of minutes until beginning to soften. Add the liquid and toss to coat, when the liquids begin to boil, lower heat to a strong simmer and allow the liquids to reduce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow beans to simmer until tender-crisp, it should not take more than a few minutes. Add in the chopped scallions just before taking it off the heat, reserving a few tablespoons for garnish. Serve with steamed white rice.

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omg stop it with the cauliflower

Man, I am so uninspired sometimes. I am a vegetable obsessive. I can't break out of my cauliflower/brussels sprouts/beets rut. Another one for the upcoming cauliflower only cookbook. God, this isn't even my first cauliflower curry. Recipe after the jump:



CAULIFLOWER CASHEW CURRY
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 15-ounce can lite coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large red onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup water
10 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch segments
1 head cauliflower (approx. 2 lbs), cut into tiny florets
1/2 cup cashews, toasted
a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped

Bring half of the coconut milk to a simmer in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Whisk in the curry powder and salt, working out any clumps. Now stir in the chopped red onion and garlic and cook for a minute. Stir in the remaining coconut milk and the water, and then the tofu. Cook down the liquid for a couple minutes before adding the green beans and cauliflower. Cover and simmer for just about one minute, maybe two - or just until the cauliflower and beans lose their raw edge and cook through a bit. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the cashews. Taste and adjust the seasoning (salt / curry powder) if needed. Serve with a bit of cilantro topping each bowl.

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hocktacular

What. Is that? You might be asking. It does not look pretty. As always, slow cookers make everything look nasty but taste awesome. Then again, split pea soup is not really known for being attractive. What is attractive is the amazing smokey porky aroma that greets you when you get home after a long work day and your soup has been bubbling away for 10 hours. This is what it looked like in the morning:



Smoked ham hocks. Pure amazingness. I suspect they may have contributed to the brownish shade of the soup, when usually split pea soup is on the greener side. I don't really care what it looks like though, it was just tasty. It was also too easy, but you do have to be willing to chop onions first thing in the morning. Recipe after the jump:



SLOW COOKER SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 pound dry green split peas
2 smoked ham hocks
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch coins
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bouquet garni consisting of parsley, thyme, and 1 bay leaf
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 cups hot water

Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given; pour in water. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off bone. Remove the bones, skin, and bouquet garni. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. I do not add salt until the end of the cooking because the ham hocks will add a lot of saltiness to the soup and extra salt may not be necessary. Serve garnished with croutons. Freezes well.
Serves 8.

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super bowl sunday supper: black bean and mushroom chili

Some quotes from J-Cat during last night's Super Bowl game:
"What the hell is a safety? Nothing about that looked safe to me."
"Woohoo! Wait, am I rooting for the right team?"
"He just ran across the whole field!! Does that really happen?!"
"I am so confused."
"Mmmmm, chipotle"

So yeah, we're not football people. At all. But we decided to watch the Super Bowl, I think primarily because J-Cat wanted Super Bowl food. So I decided to cook up a big (enormous) pot of black bean chili, and he made some yummy quesadillas.



This chili happens to be not only vegetarian, but healthy, yet does not skimp on the flavor. Smoky heat from chipotles in adobo, tang and depth from tomatillos, meatiness from mushrooms, and that creamy bite that you can only get from dried beans. On top of that, it's a super simple slow-cooker recipe that I could throw in the pot before going out for the afternoon, and return to a house filled with incredible chili aromas. Recipe after the jump:



SLOW-COOKER BLACK BEAN MUSHROOM CHILI
Adapted from Eating Well

1 pound dried black beans (2 1/2 cups), rinsed
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds or ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds or ground cardamom
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water
6 cups mushroom broth or vegetable broth
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seed and chop the peppers
1 1/4 cups grated Monterey Jack or pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes, cut into wedges

1. Soak beans overnight in 2 quarts water. (Alternatively, place beans and 2 quarts water in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour.) Drain the beans, discarding soaking liquid.
2. Combine oil, mustard seeds, chili powder, cumin and cardamom in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven. Place over high heat and stir until the spices sizzle, about 30 seconds. Add onions, mushrooms, tomatillos and water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are juicy, 5 to 7 minutes. Uncover and stir often until the juices evaporate and the vegetables are lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add broth, tomato paste and chipotles; mix well.
3. Place the beans in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Pour the hot vegetable mixture over the beans. Turn heat to high. Put the lid on and cook until the beans are creamy, 5 to 8 hours.
4. Garnish each serving with cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Stovetop Variation:
Total: 4 1/2 hours
In Step 2, increase broth to 81/2 cups. Omit Step 3. Add the beans to the Dutch oven; cover and simmer the chili gently over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the beans are creamy to bite, about 3 hours.

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sunday supper: perfect day for cassoulet

Apparently cassoulet is much more popular than I thought. As soon as I said I was making it, a handful of people got extremely interested and hungry. There's just something about a hearty cassoulet when the snow is falling and you're cozy at home. I adapted Thomas Keller's recipe for a slow-cooker cassoulet, which somewhat streamlines the process but stays true to the essence of the dish. I did find it odd that his recipe did not call for duck confit, but it is true that not every cassoulet is made with it. Mine was, I couldn't resist. I did not, however, make that part on my own.



I did soak my own beans, which seems to go without saying for a dish like this, but I was surprised to find out in a recent meeting that this is considered time-consuming and a hassle. I don't understand how putting beans in a bowl with water and ignoring it is a hassle, but apparently many people do. I was actually told that people might think it's culinarily snobby to require that, but seriously? Soaking dried beans is like the opposite of culinary snobbery. It's the cheapest, most peasant way to feed a gang of people. Duck confit, that's snobbery.



I adjust the god-chef's recipe a bit because his was written for that fancy schmany All-Clad slow cooker with the cast iron insert that you can use on the stove and in the oven. I have a lesser slow cooker, so I did the first several steps on the stove in a separate pan. I also decided to use pork bones instead of a pork shoulder roast, partially because I couldn't find a particularly small roast, and partially because I thought the bones would add a lot of flavor, which they did. Opposite of snobbery. The supreme cheapness also balanced out the cost of the duck confit. Balancing out the snobbery.



In short, Cassoulet appears to be misinterpreted as both a difficult and snobbish dish. To me, time + simple ingredients + beans = the most down to earth dinner you can get. Recipe after the jump:

SLOW COOKER CASSOULET
Adapted from a recipe by Thomas Keller at Williams Sonoma.com

Ingredients:

4 lb. pork bones
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 cup panko
4 oz. thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
4 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
2 cups dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 can (35 oz.) peeled Italian plum tomatoes, drained and
coarsely chopped
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups dried Great Northern beans, picked over, rinsed and
soaked overnight
1 1/2 lb. fresh chorizo sausage, each halved on the bias
2 duck confit legs
1 garlic head, halved crosswise
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
1 lb. baguette, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing
Coarse sea salt, such as sel gris, for garnish

Directions:

Season the pork generously with kosher salt and pepper; set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, combine the canola oil and panko. Cook, stirring constantly, until the panko is toasted and golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the panko to a baking sheet and season with kosher salt and pepper.

Add the bacon to the pan and cook until crisp on both sides, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Reserve the bacon fat in the pan.

Add half of the pork to the pan and brown on all sides, 7 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a platter. Repeat with the remaining pork.

Add the onions and 1 tsp. kosher salt to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and softened, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and broth. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker and add the beans, pork, chorizo, duck legs, and garlic.

Cover and cook on low until the beans are tender and the pork pulls apart easily with a fork, about 7 hours. Skim off the fat, and remove and discard the garlic. Adjust the seasonings with kosher salt and pepper. Fold in the panko and the 1/4 cup parsley. (I chose to simply top the cassoulet with the bread crumbs for two reasons. 1. I wanted to keep them crispy, 2. the cassoulet was already so thick that it did not need the crumbs mixed in.)

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat the broiler.

Brush the baguette slices with olive oil. Arrange the slices, oiled side up, on top of the cassoulet, overlapping them. Broil until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.

Let the cassoulet stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. Sprinkle each serving with the reserved bacon, sea salt and parsley. Serves 8 to 10.

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on-set torture: squash & chickpea tajine

When you make food television, sometimes you sit around all day tortured by delicious aromas they you just CAN'T. EAT. YET. This recipe tops the list because not only did it take forever before all the shots were done, this incredibly aromatic dish was persistently gnawing at my senses, insisting that I would love anything that smelled like that. Cinnamon, cumin, garlic, onions, wafting, all over the studio, driving me crazy.

This recipe was also responsible for a rather exciting first day back on set, as Aida sliced her finger while chopping up some preserved lemon. I discovered that glopping on liquid bandage wasn't really going to work if it just kept bleeding and bleeding and the blood was diluting the liquid bandage. Then I discovered that the blood clotting spray in the first aid kit was a joke but might have made us giggly. Then I discovered that our EP Matt was strong and could possibly break Aida's finger while trying to apply pressure. Then I discovered that the tannic acid in a wet tea bag works as a natural coagulant. The more you know. Recipe after the jump:

SQUASH AND CHICKPEA TAJINE

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick
1 pound butternut squash, large dice
3/4 pound red potatoes, large dice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
Pinch saffron threads
1/2 preserved lemon, finely chopped
1 cup brined green olives (recommend: Cerignola)[note: I used Moroccan Oil-cured olives because they were pitted, cheaper, and Moroccan, which I thought was fitting]
Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, for garnish
Toasted slivered almonds, for garnish
Plain Greek yogurt, for garnish
Steamed couscous, for serving

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a 3- to 4-quart Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tightfitting lid over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add onion, garlic, cumin, and cinnamon, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spices are aromatic and onions is just soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add squash and potatoes, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, stir to coat, and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add broth, chickpeas, tomatoes and their juice, and saffron. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until squash is fork tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in preserved lemon and olives. Serve over couscous garnished with cilantro, almonds, and yogurt.

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another vat of goodness

Okay, maybe some of these vat dinners are getting repetitive. Rice, beans, greens, a touch of meat, how many variations of this have I made already? The thing is, this theme has countless variations, and somehow many of them are awesome. This time it was brown basmati rice, collard greens, black-eyed peas, and a bit of andouille. I went with the influence of southern ingredients and threw some dashes of tabasco in for a familiar bite. Recipe after the jump:



BLACK-EYED PEA, COLLARDS, AND ANDOUILLE RICE SALAD

1 cup brown basmati rice
4 ounces andouille sausage, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch collard greens, cut into thin ribbons
1 15-oz can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
a few splashes tabasco sauce, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium saucepot, combine rice with 2 cups water and bring to a strong boil. Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 40 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Fluff with a fork and set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, saute the sausage until browned and letting out fat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add the collards and saute until wilted. Add the beans, tarragon, paprika, cayenne and tabasco sauce and saute until beans are heated through.

In a large bowl, combine the collards and beans with the rice and toss well. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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sunday supper: pasta e lenticchie

Homey, filling, simple and tasty, all the makings of a perfect Sunday Supper on a chilly fall day. It's a one pot meal that results in a rich-tasting but ultimately extremely healthy dish. A very classic dish from the Campania region, it is often made using the odds and ends of leftover pasta, or pasta mista. I used capellini, broken into 2-inch pieces, so that it would cook quickly in the same pot as the lentils. I also used way more pasta than the recipe actually calls for because I am a carb freak, so the proportions were probably pretty different. No matter, it was delicious. Recipe after the jump:



PASTA E LENTICCHIE (PASTA AND LENTILS)
Adapted from Naples at Table by Arthur Schwartz

6 cups water
3/4 cup lentils
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped canned plum tomatoes, with some juice
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
3/4 pound vermicelli or capellini, or small tubular pasta, or pasta mista
2 rounded tablespoons finely cut or snipped parsley
Optional: Extra-virgin olive oil and hot red pepper flakes or hot pepper oil for garnish

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a rolling boil, add the lentils, and cook, covered over medium-high heat, until nearly but not entirely tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Add the garlic, the olive oil, the tomatoes, the salt, and the pepper. Reduce the heat, cover, and continue to simmer briskly for another 10 minutes, stirring a few times, or until the lentils are fully tender.

3. If using capellini, break it into 2- to 4-inch pieces and add them to the lentils. Cook, covered, at a steady simmer, stirring several times and scraping the bottom of the pot when you do. Cook until the pasta is just done, stirring more frequently as it gets closer to that point. If using a small tubular pasta or pasta mista, cook the pasta at least halfway in plenty of salted boiling water. Drain the pasta, add it to the lentils, and simmer to finish cooking the pasta.

4. When either pasta is cooked to taste, remove the pot from the heat, stir in the parsley, cover the pot, and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

5. Serve hot, passing hot pepper oil or the best-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling on top.

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sunday supper: berry beer baked beans

How many times have I posted about a recipe I saw on 101 Cookbooks? I've lost count, but I can't help it. How can I ignore a recipe that not only gives me an opportunity to use my beautiful heirloom Borlotti beans from Rancho Gordo, but calls for delicious Belgian Lambic Framboise beer? To be honest, I was a little concerned that this might turn out quite sweet between the beer, the dried cherries, and the molasses, but I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. The beer gave a tangy edge to the dish, and the hot pepper, smoked paprika, and dijon mustard rounded out a very complex flavor. The only thing I did differently was use some nice smokey kielbasa and its fat in place of the olive oil. I mostly did that because I had the leftover kielbasa, but I figured the smokey flavor would complement the dish well. A word of warning, I ended up having to cook this far longer than the 2 hours she suggests, but this may be because the Borlotti beans I used turned out to be much larger than your typical cranberry bean. I recommend giving yourself plenty of time and letting the beans simmer for as long as possible; it can only get better with time. Recipe after the jump:



BERRY BEER BAKED BEANS
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

2 cups dried cranberry, borlotti,or pinto beans, soaked over night

3 ounces kielbasa, diced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 cups berry beer
1/2 cup dried berries and/or cherries, loosely chopped
2 cups light vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (or more to taste)
fine-grain sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F degrees, and place rack in lower third.

In a large oven-proof casserole (I use my large Le Creuset Dutch oven), saute the kielbasa until it gives off a couple tablespoons of fat, then saute the red onion for a minute or so. Stir in the molasses, mustard, red pepper flakes, beans, beer, dried berries, and broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and place in oven for roughly 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Every batch of beans is different, and they'll decide for themselves when they're done. After an hour or so, (carefully) check every 25 minutes to see how the beans are doing. When the beans are tender remove the pot from the oven. In the off chance they need more liquid during the baking process, add more broth (or water) 1/2 cup at a time. More likely, if the beans finish cooking before the cooking broth really thickens up, pull the pot back up onto the stove top, uncover, and bring the pot to a boil until the liquid has more body - usually 5 - 10 minutes.

Now it's time to season the pot. Stir in the smoked paprika and a few big, generous pinches of salt. Wait a minute and then taste, you definitely need enough salt and to make the flavors pop and to counter-balance the sweetness of the molasses and fruit - the smoked paprika helps balance in this regard as well.

A big pot - serves 8 - 10.

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vat of quinoa, and other good stuff

I'm trying to be good. I'm trying to eat healthier, with better ingredients, and more reasonable human-sized portions. Psychologically, mixing a bunch of stuff in a big vat makes me think that I'm still indulging, even if all the stuff is really good for you. I don't understand why this is true for me, but I'm not going to question what appears to be working. This is a classic example of a vat of healthy stuff that actually satisfies. Granted, I threw some sauteed rock shrimp with asparagus on top of it, and that went a long way toward satisfaction, but I ate it on its own for lunch the next day and it still did a pretty good job. Recipe after the jump.

BLACK BEAN AND QUINOA SALAD
1 cup quinoa
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced
1/2 cup cilantro, finely minced
juice of one lime
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Rinse the quinoa well and add to a scant two cups of boiling salted water. Boil for 15 minutes or until tender. When fully cooked, fluff with a fork to separate the grains. Toss the quinoa with the beans, corn, onion, tomato, jalapeno, and cilantro. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Drizzle over the quinoa and toss to coat well. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

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i hope you like yammin too

It's actually sweet potato, not yam, but I am endlessly confused by the distinction. I generally call the orange ones yams and the yellow ones sweet potatoes. I'm pretty sure I'm wrong.

What's not wrong is this salad of wild and brown rices, oven roasted sweet potatoes/yams, oven-roasted red onion, black-eyed peas, and goat cheese. It's a super hearty and balanced combination that makes a perfect dinner on a chilly autumn evening. The idea came about from a combination of occurrences - 1. I had leftover goat cheese from the fig sandwiches, 2. I found huge yams on sale, and 3. I was browsing a new casserole cookbook by Emily Farris called Casserole Crazy, which included a recipe for Sweet Potato Not-Pie, which combines sweet potatoes and goat cheese. Obviously, as we learned with the fig sandwiches, sweet + goat cheese = awesome. So I used that flavor combination as my inspiration. As I am a fan of meals where everything is all mixed up in a vat, the result was this warm salad-like dish. Nutty brown and wild rice, sweet yam, sweet caramelized onions, meaty black-eyed peas, tangy goat cheese, dressed with lemon juice for an acidic bite. All your bases are covered. Recipe after the jump.

WILD RICE, SWEET POTATO, & BLACK-EYED PEA SALAD

1/2 cup long grain brown rice
1/2 cup wild rice
1 large sweet potato or yam, approx 1 lb, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds, rings intact
1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely
3 ounces semisoft goat cheese

Cook the brown and wild rice in 2 cups salted water. Fluff cooked grains with a fork to separate, then set aside to cool slightly. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the sweet potato cubes with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme leaves. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until browned and tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. About halfway through roasting, toss the potatoes with a spatula, then make room on the pan for the onion rounds. Lay the onions flat, brush with a bit of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Return to the oven and continue to roast until cooked through. When onions are cooked, chop the rings into small pieces and combine with the potatoes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice, potatoes, onions, peas, and parsley and toss to mix well. Drizzle over remaining olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss. Serve warm dotted with goat cheese.

Continue Reading "i hope you like yammin too"

first soup of the fall

Chilly weather, my favorite. It's the season for soup! I broke in soup season with an appropriately hearty soup full of beans, greens, and winter squash.



I balanced the sweetness of delicata squash with the bitterness of broccoli rabe, and contrasted texture with cannellini beans. Sweet onions were the finishing touch, with fresh sage and a touch of nutmeg. And of course I threw in a rind from a wedge of parmiggiano-reggiano.



The flavors of fall, utterly healthy and hearty. Recipe after the jump:

PUMPKIN WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH BROCCOLI RABE
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, medium dice
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cups water
1 pound delicata or butternut squash, cut into 1-inch chunks (no need to remove peel)
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped
6 fresh sage leaves, minced
1 chunk peeled ginger
1 tbsp dried marjorm
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground nutmeg
rind from a wedge of good parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large heavy stockpot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onions and a sprinkling of kosher salt and saute until just beginning to turn translucent. Add the squash and stir to coat with the oil. Add the stock and water, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Add the ginger, herbs, spices, and wedge of cheese and continue to simmer until the squash is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the beans and broccoli rabe. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese and a chunk of crusty wholegrain bread.

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i am still here

I've just been taking a little break from serious cooking. J-Cat is away this week, I'm still recovering from the sensory assault of Monday night's My Bloody Valentine concert, and the constant blowing of cold air onto the back of my head at work has made me so congested that I can't taste much of anything. So I'm taking the opportunity to eat something healthy, since my taste buds can't really tell the difference anyway. I'm kidding, what I can taste of this dish is pretty darn good, so I'd be more than happy to eat it even on a good day. I found this recipe on yet another fantastic cooking blog that makes this one look like ass - 101 Cookbooks.



Reasons I like this recipe:
1. It has chickpeas. I will eat anything with chickpeas.
2. Lemony.
3. Rice and stuff, perfect together.
4. Best made with ghee, and I'm looking for any excuse to cook with ghee lately.
5. Quick, easy, satisfying.

Recipe after the jump:

LEMONY CHICKPEA STIR-FRY
From 101 Cookbooks

2 tablespoon ghee or extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
1 small onion or a couple shallots, sliced
1 cup cooked chickpeas (canned is fine, if you don't want to cook up a pot of dried chickpeas)
8 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 cup of chopped kale
2 small zucchini, chopped
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon

Heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee/olive oil In a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in a big pinch of salt, the onion, and chickpeas. Saute until the chickpeas are deeply golden and crusty. Stir in the tofu and cook just until the tofu is heated through, just a minute or so. Stir in the kale and cook for one minute more. Remove everything from the skillet onto a large plate and set aside. In the same skillet heat the remaining tablespoon of ghee/olive oil, add the zucchini and saute until it starts to take on a bit of color, two or three minutes. Add the chickpea mixture back to the skillet, and remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, taste, and season with a bit more salt if needed. Turn out onto a platter and serve family style. I loved it served over brown rice.

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five ingredients or less: bucatini with fava beans

It's a recurring theme on this blog that pasta is at its best when it's simple simple simple. I don't like it drowned in sauce, in fact, I often don't want a sauce at all. Fresh ingredients, subtle flavors, and your pasta is as far away from the spaghetti and jarred sauce of your youth as you can get.



Although this sauce is as minimalist as you can get, it's not without some light labor. Fresh fava beans do require a bit more work than your average five-ingredient-or-less recipe. Step one is not unlike shelling fresh peas, but for some reason it is a little more annoying. Those pods just don't want to give their beans up so readily.



Step two is the hot tub - blanching the freshly shelled favas in lightly salted water. This recipe only required a couple of minutes of blanching, since they would see more cooking in the saute pan later. But step three is really the annoying part, because once you plunge the blanched beans into their icy bath, you have to individually de-skin them to reveal the bright green, tender bean. This took longer than I expected. I was distracted. By the time the pasta was done, I wasn't quite ready for it, but I just had to forge ahead. The good news is that it didn't seem to mess anything up. The beans went into the saute pan just seconds before the pasta, but everything cooked up just perfectly. Simple, fresh, utterly delicious, and exactly the kind of pasta I want on a warm almost-summer day. Recipe afer the jump:



BUCATINI WITH FAVA BEANS
Adapted from Serious Eats

1 pound bucatini
1 pound fava beans (weight including pods—about 15-20)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Freshly grated Pecorino
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. In the meantime, split the fava bean pods and remove the beans within. Prepare a bowl filled with ice water, then blanch the beans for about 2 minutes in the boiling water. Remove to the ice bath, then slip off the skins to reveal the bright green bean within.

2. Cook the bucatini in the same boiling water until 1-2 minutes before al dente.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the garlic until fragrant and soft. Add the fava beans and a splash of water and cook gently until the beans are tender, about 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the beans. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add the drained pasta to the skillet along with the butter and a ladle or two of pasta water. Toss to combine, then swirl the pasta around the skillet for a few minutes until the pasta finishes cooking and a sauce has formed.

5. Remove the pasta to bowls, top with grated cheese and serve immediately. Finish with olive oil or pasta water if too dry.

Continue Reading "five ingredients or less: bucatini with fava beans"

the last of stew

Spring has finally arrived today, so it's a good thing I snuck in one final stewy meal last night. This is a white bean and arugula stew, adapted from a Gourmet Magazine recipe that Smitten Kitchen recently featured. This is a super simple, very quick and hearty meal, but SK had noted in her post that it was a bit lackluster in flavor. So I decided to turn up the flavor a bit, and one of things I did was swap out the boiled ham for some beautiful pancetta.



I also added some onion, fresh thyme, and hot pepper to give it a kick, then threw in the leftover rind of a Spanish Idiazabal cheese. Yum, and yum. This is definitely a recipe that can be fiddled with to suit your tastes. I served it with some grilled Tuscan bread. Recipe after the jump:

WHITE BEAN AND ARUGULA STEW
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/3 pound pancetta, cut into small cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 15-ounce can stewed tomatoes
2 15-ounce cans canellini beans
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
rind of parmiggiano, pecorino, or other hard cheese, optional
salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups baby arugula

In a medium saucepot, heat pancetta cubes until just starting to crisp and give off fat. Remove from pot with a slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain. If there is not enough fat in the pot, add enough olive oil to make about 2 tbsp total. Saute the onion in the oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute. Clear a hot spot in the pan and add the pepper flakes, let sizzle for a few seconds, then mix with the onions and garlic. In the can, cut the tomatoes into pieces with kitchen shears then add to the onions and garlic with the chicken stock, thyme leaves, and cheese rind. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer until it just begins to reduce. Rinse and drain the beans and add to the pot along with the pancetta. Simmer for another 5 minutes or until beans are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pan from the heat and add in the arugula, allowing it to wilt for about 1 minute. Serve with grilled Tuscan bread that has been rubbed with a raw garlic clove.

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sunday supper: beans & bread, pt 1

One of the awesome Christmas presents that I got this year was The River Cottage Meat Book, from my brother Gene. Mmmmm meat. This is much more than a cookbook; it is an in-depth guidebook on all things meat. And by all things, I'm talking from raising the animal all the way to curing the bacon. Of course, I spent much of Christmas day perusing the recipes and photos, and decided almost immediately that I had to make the Boston Baked Beans. This was one of those recipes that made J-Cat exclaim "Wow! It tastes like the real thing!". I don't really know why he thinks that what I make isn't actually the real thing, but I guess sometimes I too can be surprised by how things turn out. This recipe did indeed taste exactly like the real thing, even though I wasn't hardcore enough to actually cure my own bacon.



It was also an extremely easy recipe. It took many hours to cook, but the labor was pretty minimal. I had to buy a bottle of molasses for this recipe, which I really never cook with. But that just means that I'll have to look around for other fun recipes that call for molasses.



For the first night, I baked a loaf of Pioneer Bread to go with the beans, which I'll also post about shortly. The next morning it was baked beans on toast with fried eggs. Recipe after the jump:

BOSTON BAKED BEANS
Adapted from THE RIVER COTTAGE MEAT BOOK by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Ingredients
1 pound dry navy beans
10 ounces slab bacon, salt pork, or pancetta
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon dry English mustard
3 small onions, quartered
4 cloves
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation
Soak navy beans in plenty of cold water overnight. The next day, drain and rinse beans and place in a dutch oven or ovenproof casserole with enough water to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Cut bacon into 2-inch cubes and add to the simmering beans. Press the cloves into the onion quarters and add to the beans. Add the sugar, molasses, mustard, and pepper. Do not salt yet, as the bacon may add plenty of salt. Stir well to combine, then cover and place in the preheated oven for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. After three hours, remove the cover, stir to bring the bacon to the surface, and return to the oven for another hour. Test for seasoning and add salt if necessary.

Continue Reading "sunday supper: beans & bread, pt 1"

autumn harvest

My favorite time of year. Even if it's still pretty warm out, I'm getting really excited for the fall - the crisp air, the turning leaves, apple cider and pumpkins. It's the time of year when the food gets hearty and warming, and somehow more nourishing and satisfying. Last night I had a little salute to the flavors of autumn with a Curried Red Lentil Stew and Roasted Delicata Squash Rings. The flavors of fall.



Winter squashes are a staple for me at this time of year. Incredibly easy to prepare and delicious with hardly any adornment. I love delicata squash for it's subtle sweetness. It is the perfect size and shape for this preparation, and cooks up incredibly quickly, skins and all, in approximately the same amount of time as the stew.



Lentils in general are a favorite of mine for their hearty flavor, and red lentils are especially handy because they cook up incredibly quickly. I make a variety of lentil stews that are probably never the same twice, but always satisfying. I take the opportunity to throw in a lot of super healthy veggies to amp up the vitamin content, always a good idea in the colder months. Last night's stew featured an ugly but tasty ingredient - celery root.



Celery root reminds me of something out of that movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. If you've ever seen that, I think you'll know what I mean. But despite it's ugliness, it's a surprisingly tasty vegetable. When simply sauteed, celery root - or celeriac - reminds me of Thanksgiving, that intense concentration of celery scent calling to mind a classic turkey stuffing. Despite it's starchy feel and ease of standing in for potatoes, celery root is actually relatively low in carbs, for those of you out there who are concerned with such things, which I am not. Celery root - sometimes referred to as the 'Rastafarian turnip' for obvious reasons - is far more appealing once you cut away the outer knobs and stringy skin. Cut into a small dice, it cooks as quickly as the lentils and adds not only vitamin C and calcium, but really bulks up the stew without adding too many calories and hardly any fat.



Recipes after the jump:

Roasted Delicata Squash Rings

Ingredients
2 medium delicata squash
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425º. Wash the whole squash, taking care to scrub off any dirt from the skin. Slice the squash crosswise into 1/2-inch rounds. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. In a large bowl, toss the squash rings with the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes, turn, then bake another 9 minutes or until golden brown.

Curried Red Lentil Stew
Note: I did not measure amounts of spices for this recipe, I simply added and tasted as I went along. All of these amounts are approximate and can be adjusted for taste, and many different herbs and spices are interchangeable. This recipe also makes a large amount and can be easily halved.

Ingredients
1 pound dry red lentils
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups or more water
2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium celery root, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 inch piece Kombu seaweed (they say it helps cut down on gassiness, who knows...)
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp Madras curry powder, or more, to taste
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried sage
3 tbsp hot sauce (sriracha or tabasco would work fine)
juice of 1 lemon
1 bunch lacinato kale, roughly chopped

Preparation
In a large, heavy stockpot, heat oil, then add onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Add the cubed celery root and sautee for a minute or two. Add the dry lentils and saute to coat with oil. Add the vegetable stock and water to cover the lentils by at least 1 inch. You can adjust the water depending on how soupy you would like the stew. Add all herbs and spices, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover. Simmer 10-15 minutes until lentils are al dente. Add the chopped kale and allow to simmer 5 more minutes until completely wilted. Serve over brown basmati rice or with a slice of crusty whole grain bread.

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is this really healthy?

Seeing as how I got the recipe from an episode of "Healthy Appetite", I figure it's supposed to be, but the dressing is so lovely and creamy it certainly doesn't seem like it. My guess is that it is truly healthy, but only if you don't eat a whole vat of it. Like we did...

I admit I was surprised at how much I liked this recipe, not because of the salad ingredients - I obsessively love black eyed peas, so I'll try just about any recipe - but because I was somewhat wary of a healthy version of buttermilk dressing. But this was totally satisfying and the apple cider vinegar gave the dressing a wonderful acidic tang. I think lemon juice would work just as well. Granted I had to put my little spin on the recipe, but it was mostly because I had some reduced fat sour cream left over from that pie so I threw some in for some extra creaminess. It was great, but I think it would still be great without it. Recipe after the jump:



Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Adapted from "Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger"

Ingredients
For the Salad:
2 15-ounce cans black eyed peas, rinsed and drained -OR- 1/2 lb dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, and boiled until tender, approx. 1 hour
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup blanched haricot verts, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 tbsp chopped fresh chives
4 cups chopped baby spinach
1 cup chopped butter lettuce

For the dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
3 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
1 1/2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
3 splashes tabasco sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation
In a large salad bowl, combine all salad ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients, then pour over salad and toss well. I did end up with a lot of dressing and did not use the whole amount, but I do tend to err on the side of less dressing than most people.

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