Mole Bean Stew

I found this recipe on Heidi Swanson's website when I was searching for a way to use some dried adzuki beans that I had in the cupboard. Amazingly enough, I also had most of the other ingredients, with a few modifications. I don't have a picture but you should really just follow the link above to go look at the pictures on Heidi's website because they're much more gorgeous than any picture I would have taken. And there are pictures of the beautiful Irish countryside.

I made the following substitutions:

adzuki beans instead of borlotti beans

walnuts instead of almonds

roasted garden tomatoes from the freezer

I also doubled the recipe and did the simmering on the stovetop instead of in the oven because I didn't have an oven-proof pot that was big enough.

The end result was spicy, rich, and very satisfying. I served it with rice, it also would be good with polenta cake or quinoa or ....

Chard and White Bean Stew

Lately I just want to eat greens non-stop. It is the getting-on-in-winter-need-for-dark-greens I guess. In this recipe I used collards and chard, though I have also been eating a lot of mustard greens. Yum. This stew recipe is a smitten kitchen concoction. It is really delicious with the poached egg on top and with a drizzle of good vinegar. I also added some lemon juice to the recipe, and more salt than she called for.

Incidentally...I started thinking about seed-orders and gardening this week! I am getting excited for a future of fresh herbs and veggies. In my recent interest in not consuming caffeine, I am looking at some herbs for sun-tea making! So we'll see what ends up in the garden...

chili! part two.

Allison's last post made me crave Chili and, one day, after I go to the store and get the ingredients for it, I'm really looking forward to trying it.

...but since I didn't want to leave the house, I improvised this recipe from what I had on hand. Really easy and delicious.

chili:

any type of beans (i used a mixture of pinto, kidney, black eyed peas, and adzuki beans)

roasted tomatoes (from the garden last year, roasted and then frozen)

vegetable stock

pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

onion

salt+pepper to taste

i used dried beans, cook until tender then drain. add to sauteed onions and add rest of ingredients. simmer. even better the next day.

cornbread:

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/4 cup yogurt (or buttermilk)

1-1/2 cups medium-grind cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 egg

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Use a square 8x8" baking pan and heat the butter directly in the pan until hot for about 2 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Mix the egg into the yogurt. In a separate bowl, place all the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined, if the mixture seems too dry, add in a few tablespoons of milk. Pour directly into the pan with the butter in the bottom. Smooth out the batter if necessary and place into the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes and the top is lightly browned, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the sides of the bread shrink back from the skillet. Serve hot or warm.

Hell's Kitchen Spicy Black Beans

I'm finally getting back to cooking after a two-week adjustment period to being back in school. I still don't have my schedule down and have been eating a lot of Punch and PB&J. (Although let's be honest: I ate Punch 3 times a week in the summer.) But I digress.

Whenever a visitor is in town, we usually end up at Hell's Kitchen, which is generally pretty delicious but sometimes a bit too buttery/egg-y/creamy for me. (Your jam, Megan!) Anyway, I love their black beans and so borrowed the Hell's Kitchen cookbook from Steve's sister to make up a batch. My favorite food blogger, Heidi Swanson, once wrote that she typically makes a pot of beans every Sunday to eat throughout the week. Pretty sure I'm going to be doing the same thing with these black beans...so. delicious. Good job, Hell's Kitchen!

Spicy Black Beans
Note: I halved the recipe, and in so doing, went out on a limb and experimented with quantities of ingredients! (I never deter from exact measures usually, but was feeling adventurous.) Also, I replaced the butter and chicken broth (noted in recipe); as I was doing this, it reminded me of a time at the Chicago Diner when a friend asked for "real" cheese, to which the waiter replied (huffily), "Everything we serve here is real." Not so for buttery sticks and no chicken base--fake fake fake! But I'm okay with that in this case. Again with the digression.

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups)
6 cups rich chicken broth or water (I used Better Than Bouillon's "No Chicken" base.)
3/4 c. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used 1 teaspoon of "Buttery Sticks" vegan butter. I actually think the butter could be omitted entirely.)
3/4 c. minced white onion (I used a bit more)
4 tablespoons Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce (recipe below)
2 T. dark chili powder
2 T. ground cumin
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
2 t. sea salt

Soak the beans for 4 hours or overnight. Place soaked beans into a large pot and add the broth/water, making sure the beans are covered by at least two inches. Add everything except the salt. (I didn't read the recipe carefully enough and salted the hell out of 'em in the beginning. The result = SALTY beans. Too salty. Salt afterward!) Heat to a boil over medium heat (STIR so the beans don't get stuck to the bottom of the pan), and then simmer uncovered (stirring a lot) for 1 to 1.5 hours, checking frequently to see if they need additional water. Beans should be firm but chewable.

Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce
(Note: I did this to taste with the measurements--it seems flexible enough. Also, I didn't have Rose's lime juice, so just used a lemon. Totally fine.)
2 T. peanut oil
1/3 c. honey
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle peppers, with adobo sauce
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1/3 c. Rose's lime juice (any citrus/acid is probably fine)
1/4 c. coarsely chopped cilantro
3 T. coarse-ground mustard (I used straight-up Dijon)
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T. black pepper
1 T. ground cumin
1 T. sea salt

Put everything into a food processor or blender and combine. (I actually shook everything together in a jar, but that only worked because I'd processed the chipotle peppers a few days before.)

Put sauce in a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.