Black Beans and Flan

Retrieving what I loved but abandoned: Poetry for its own sake. Ballet. Luckily, there's a beginners' class nearby, with Juliana -- such an ennobling teacher. (I wanted to take ballet when I was 10, but my parents said they couldn't afford lessons for all 5 of us, so none could have them. Made sense then.) I also loved to read, & loved color. And meditating -- call it resting!! I've been sitting peacefully for 10-20 minutes a day in the New Year. Oddly, it makes me more jumpy than before. I'm guessing it's a phase.

Also: casual hospitality. Last night, with 4 friends. They brought salad & fruit. Clark smoked meat & I made black beans. Here's the recipe, but first you must promise to sort the beans. I love the sound of them plinking into a white plate, then sliding into a pot to be rinsed. Yesterday I caught two bean-sized stones.

Black Beans

2 C. dry black beans

2 tsp. salt

olive oil

4 medium onions, finely chopped (or 2 bags of frozen, chopped onions.)

1 green pepper, chopped (or 1 bag of frozen, chopped green pepper. You can also mix red & green pepper.)

3 cloves garlic, mashed

1 tsp. cumin seed, crushed (Ground cumin, is OK, but for sharper flavor grind whole seeds with mortar & pestle. Last night I used ground.)

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

juice of 1/2 lemon

Pick over, rinse, soak & cook the black beans in water with 2 tsp. salt.

Sauté the onion & pepper in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic & cook a minute more. Add cumin, oregano, & mustard, & cook another minute or 2, stirring so the spices don't burn. Salt it a little. Add the tomatoes & simmer for a while, stirring occasionally & adding water if it's getting dry. Yesterday I cooked it about an hour, but you can cook it much less. Just simmer until you like it or until the time runs out. Then add the stewed black beans with a little of their cooking liquid & salt. If you add more liquid you have black bean soup. Cook until you like the way it tastes -- sometimes just 5 minutes; yesterday was about an hour. You can go slow or fast. After you add the beans, mash some of them so you have a thick soup. You can use a potato masher, but I recommend an immersion blender. Before serving, add lemon juice to taste. Serve with rice & chopped onions. Some people also like sour cream &/or chopped cilantro.

I was going to make a chocolate dessert, but something stopped me. Made flan instead. This recipe is from Margarita Zayas, who was our neighbor in Miami.

Margarita's Flan

Make a caramel by melting 1/2 C. sugar with 2 1/2 T. water in a small pan over medium heat. Be patient! Wait until it's brown, but not burnt. Pour that into a bread pan,* tilting it to cover the entire bottom. Then mix 1 can evaporated milk, 3 C. whole milk, 3/4 C. sugar, dash salt, 4 beaten eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour that over the carmel. Put the pan into a larger pan with water in it that goes halfway up the bread pan. Bake at 350° an hour or more, until the custard is set. Chill thoroughly, then turn the pan upside down on a platter so the custard is surrounded by carmel.

*I used glass custard cups instead, & did not turn them upside down for serving. It's comforting to have your own cup of custard, I think.

Delicious days: week 1

Delicious and simple

Sunday

Pasta

Quick polenta. Don't forget salt. Stir in smoked mozzarella at the end.
Roasted tomatoes -- little red tomatoes and chopped garlic, olive oil, salt. 425° until crinkled. Add chopped fresh basil.

Also made pesto. Chopped basil leaves tiny. Chopped garlic cloves. Mixed together with olive oil and salt. Next time might try mortar and pestle... 

I froze this in ice cube tray.

Monday

Chicken

chicken curry 

I planned to marinate chicken in tandoori spices, but decided to go with the simpler chicken curry recipe from NYTimes cooking app. I used a bit more curry powder than called for, also didn’t use tomatoes but added frozen chopped spinach instead. It’s good and worth jazzing up a bit, but next time I’ll: 

*marinate the chicken pieces in tandoori spices mixed with a cup of yogurt

*Sauté some garlic with the onions. 

* cook the chicken BEFORE adding  coconut milk

*add some other vegetables

*top with herbs, as suggested. 

Good with brown rice 

Tuesday 

kale

Surprise! this was delicious. But I like kale. I almost thought it would be my entire dinner, but then I fried a little sliced chicken sausage and leftover polenta in my iron skillet. That was enough.

Kale
Heat up 1/4 C. olive oil in hot skillet. Add 3 cloves garlic. Cook one minute or until light brown. Add kale, ribs removed and coarsely chopped, and chicken broth. Cook. Stir in red wine vinegar. Salt to taste. Cook a little more, until not crisp.

Wednesday

Sopa de calabaza*

The hard part is peeling a pumpkin. But it's worth the trouble.  Soup alone wasn't quite enough, so I finished with chocolate and roasted almonds. I mean I ate them later, but writing this now makes me think almonds might be good with the soup. Chocolate too!

Place in soup pot:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pie pumpkin, peeled and chopped
chopped up celery, carrot, and onion( I use the kind you buy pre-chopped at Trader Joe's)
A box or can of chopped tomatoes, either large or small -- depends on how tomato-y you want the soup
garlic, parsley, bay leaf,
chicken broth and water,  to make 5 cups
3 ounces white wine
1 T. honey
1 T. cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook until pumpkin is soft.
Mash or blend with immersion blender.
Add 1 cup heavy cream.

*based on a recipe from Goya products

Thursday

Eat out

Friday

Eat out

Saturday

Salmon

Thaw frozen salmon. (I used Sockeye.)
Rub with olive oil, seasoned salt, and pepper if you want. Put on parchment paper. Bake at 450° about 12 minutes per inch of thickness,
Recipe says make a sauce: Mix 3 T. olive oil with herbs to equal 1 T., and 1 T. lemon juice and some lemon zest. pour sauce n top of fish and tent it with foil and let it rest 5 minutes.
Also made brown rice (Trader Joe's frozen)
and salad of mixed greens with olive oil, vinegar and mustard.

Returning again

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

I’m feeling overwhelmed as I prepare to leave again for Miami. It’s still a challenge to get ready. But this time I know how to do it. I’m almost packed, thanks to my “travel adviser” Rachel. I have a ride to the airport  — thanks to Sandra for the recommendation! I know Zing will be happy, first at Grateful Dog, and then with Sandra for the last couple of days. I’m leaving a clean apartment, thanks to Ale, the housekeeper who loves dogs and is obsessed with getting rid of dirt. (“I noticed the streaks on your table,” she said when I interviewed her.) Also today I’ve had help in understanding finances. Best of all, I’m looking forward to time off with the women in the family. We’ve been doing this since Mom died — relaxing and doing nothing  -- together. 

Also today my artist friend Leslie of the east coast called to say she’s on the west coast, visiting family. Somehow, that set my mind straight. The time difference can be a brain teaser. I hope that next time she’s here I'll be able to drive over and explore San Francisco with her. 

As I go to sleep now, I smell the cumin seed that I just toasted in the iron skillet, moving it with a wooden spoon so it wouldn’t burn, then crushing with my heavy-duty mortar and pestle.  I swear it is the soul of my black bean recipe, which has become a ritual for the sisters’ weekend. I’m taking a baggie of it to Miami. It’s a cooking spice. Honest. If you need proof, check out the black bean recipe on my blog.

There are many weather deterrents messing with plane schedules these days. I’m hoping for a smooth red-eye flight tomorrow night.

Love,
k

Mom's leek and potato soup

Mom's recipe card

As the weather chilled, I wanted a comforting soup, and what could be better than Mom's creamy leek and potato soup? I still have her recipe card, and it warms my heart to use it. When I told the women in the family what I was making, they wanted the recipe too -- in her handwriting. So I copied the card and glued the recipe to fresh index cards, which I sealed with matte medium. They love having the recipe, and -- even more -- this dear memento of Mom, in her own script.

Mom's Leek and Potato Soup

3 to 4 cups peeled potatoes, sliced or diced
3 cups thinly sliced leeks, mostly white part
1 1/2 quarts homemade chicken broth (canned is OK)
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 to 3 T. soft butter
2 to 3 tsp. minced parsley

Simmer vegetables and broth together, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender. Mash the potatoes with a fork.  (I use an immersible blender.) Season with salt and pepper. Set aside, uncovered, until ready to serve.

Reheat to simmer just before serving, then add cream and butter. (You can skip cream and butter, but it will taste different.) Heat -- do not boil. Decorate with parsley.

*Before mashing vegetables, cook until you think it is the right consistency. If too liquid, cook it down before mashing.

Chili and Cornbread

Dear Teresa,
Yes, after 40 years your chili recipe is still the best! I wonder if you still make it. I remember it came from a book of recipes for diabetics. You were interested in good nutrition way before the rest of us. I made it Sunday and shared some with a neighbor whose husband always did the cooking. When he died she was reduced to take-out every day. She really appreciated your chili. So did we!

Teresa's Chili

2 pounds lean round steak (I often use less -- Sunday it was a pound of London broil. I've used hamburger too, and then it's very quick.
4 C. sliced onions
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 T. bacon bits (I use about 1/8 pound real bacon.)
4 T. chili powder
1 T. flour
1 can tomato juice (I use tomato sauce and water usually.)
1 large can tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 t. salt
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. wine vinegar
2 t. light corn syrup (I use honey.)
2 C. red kidney beans (I usually use dried beans and cook them ahead of time, but this time I used organic canned beans, and they are good.)

Cut the meat into cubes, removing fat. Brown meat in an iron skillet. Remove and set aside. Fry the bacon, if using it. Remove when crisp and then sauté the onions until slightly brown and clear. Mix the chili powder with flour in a small bowl, and add enough tomato juice to make a paste. (If using tomato paste, add a little and then some water.) Add it to the onions. Put this in a large pan with a lid. Add meat and the can of tomatoes and remaining juice or tomato sauce. If using sauce, add some water. I added somewhere between one and two cups. Simmer 1/2 hour.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except beans.  Cover and simmer 2 hours. Add the kidney beans 15 minutes before serving.

We warm the beans and serve them on the side.

This is great with cornbread, and this is the easiest recipe I know.

Cornbread

Melt 3 T. butter in a 10" skillet in a 500° oven (yes, that hot!).
Mix together
1 C. cornmeal
1/2 C. flour
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, soda, baking powder
1/2 T. sugar

Add
one egg
1 C. buttermilk

Pour into hot iron skillet. (I tried my expensive other skillet, and it turned out badly.)  Swirl it around so the butter gets mixed in, but not completely. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes.

This makes a kind of dry cornbread, so we like to add a small can of corn to the batter.

Quail Pot Pie

Sidewalk sign in front of Savannah Moon

 I should have brought one home: quail pot pie. I sometimes hear quail call when I run at Phipps Park, and I've talked to people who shoot quail. Some former cotton plantations here in North Florida and South Georgia turned into quail plantations after the Civil War. People pay money to hunt on the property. But I never tasted quail, and don't want to. (I've heard it's "better than chicken.") So I passed up the bird in the pie when I was shopping today in Thomasville, GA, a charming town 30 miles north of Tallahassee. I feel bad that I didn't think Clark might want to try it. Well, next time ...

Downtown Thomasville, GA

Red beans & rice -- then strawberry tart

Strawberry tart cooling

The red beans and rice we had last night for Mardi Gras were delicious -- but dessert makes a prettier picture. A long time ago I wrote "Good" in the cookbook margin above the red beans recipe. That's an  understatement. You can find it on page 3 of The New Orleans Cookbook, which you can buy today in paperback. Here's my version. I used frozen chopped peppers and onions (thawed, with the excess water squeezed out of them), and left out the pickled pork/bacon that's in the original recipe,  which would only make it better.

Red beans and rice

Soak a package of red beans overnight. Drain and rinse them and put in a big pot. Add:
1 large ham bone (Honey Baked sells ham bones. I bought ours at Connie's Hams.)
2 C. chopped onions
1/2 C. thinly sliced green onions
1/2 C. chopped green pepper
1 1/3 T. minced garlic
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 lb. baked ham cut in one-inch cubes (You can buy cubes in the grocery.)
1 T. salt
1/2 t. pepper
a shake of cayenne (to taste -- I added this at the very end)
2 crushed bay leaves
1/2 t. dried thyme
a squirt of basil from a tube

Add cold water just to cover. You can leave a bit of the bone above the water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until beans are very tender. Stir well every half hour and add a little more water if it's getting too thick. Don't let the bottom burn. I had the lid on at first, then took it off to cook it down. When it's done, take out the ham bone and beat the beans a little with the immersion blender (This is what I do -- the original recipe keeps all beans whole). Serve it over rice. I used brown rice, the boil-in-the-bag kind. The original recipe calls for white rice. This is a great soup too, without rice.

For dessert I made strawberry tart, using my raspberry tart recipe and a pie crust I'd had in the freezer from Thanksgiving. To save time I just tossed the berries willy-nilly, rather than arranging them. It took about 30 minutes to bake it so the center was not runny.

Lentils

Lentils are essential ... basic, beautiful & flexible. I lose my recipes, can't remember which one is where. So here are five lentil dishes where I can find them. (Be sure to sort your lentils. I have found tiny stones.)

We had this last night:

Lentils with smoked paprika

Heat 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet.

Add:

1 onion, chopped fine

1 medium carrot, chopped fine

2 crushed garlic cloves

Cook until tender, 5-8 minutes. Stir to keep from burning.

Add:

1 C lentils

2 t. smoked paprika

Salt & pepper to taste (I use a little less than a teaspoon of salt.)

Mix, then add:

2 1/2 C. water

Boil, then cover & simmer until tender, about 25 minutes. Don't cook too long or the lentils lose shape.

That's it. Serve with chopped chives. I sautéed two sliced Italian sausages & mixed that in at the last minute. We had sherry vinegar, olive oil & goat cheese on the table too.

Curried lentil soup

Fry in olive oil until soft:

4 to 6 onions, chopped

2 to 4 green peppers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Add:

1 t. turmeric

1 t. cumin

1 t. coriander

1 t. chili powder

1/4 t. cloves

1 t. fresh ginger, grated, or 1/2 t. dry ginger

1 t. salt, or to taste

Cook, stirring, for a minute or two.

Mix in 2 to 3 cups cooked lentils and a quart of canned tomatoes. Cook at least a half-hour, until the flavors blend the way you like it.

Serve with lemon juice and chopped cilantro. (Clark loathes cilantro, so we serve it way to the side.)

Megadarra

I got this from p. 275 of A Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden. Mine is deliciously tattered.

Cook lentils until tender.

Fry finely chopped onions in oil until soft & golden.

Add to lentils & season with salt & pepper.

Add 1 C. rice & 2 C. water (or less if there is lentil liquid.) Season again and simmer about 20 minutes, until rice is soft. Fry more onions -- sliced into half moons this time -- until they are dark brown, almost caramelized. Serve the rice and lentils on a large shallow dish, garnished with fried onions. Serve hot or cold, with yogurt.

Goat Cheese & Lentil Salad (from The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook)

2 C. French lentils (Clark & I went to France, where we bought the tiny green ones in LePuy, the mountain town famous for lentils -- and I don't see much difference, if any. I use plain brown lentils. 

1 t. salt

10-12 sprigs Italian parsley

6 to 8 cloves garlic

12 to 15 sprigs basil

1 carrot

1 red onion

1 celery rib

1 to 1 1/2 C. virgin olive oil

8 ounces goat cheese

1/2 C. snipped chives

1/3 to 1/2 C. strong red wine vinegar

ground black pepper

salt

Pick over lentils, rinse, and barely cover with water in a saucepan. Add 1 t. salt. Make bouquet garni by ting 6 to 8 sprgs parsley, some of the basil, & 3 or 4 cloves of unpeeled garlic, slightly crushed, in cheesecloth. Add to lentils and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes.

Dice the carrot, celery, and onion. Add to lentils. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until lentils are barely done. If necessary add hot water, 1/4 C. at a time, to keep lentils from sticking.

Discard bouquet garni. Toss lentils with 1/3 C. olive oil.

Crumble cheese into a bowl & add the remaining parsley, minced, & garlic cloves, peeled. Add lentils. Add 1/2 C. olive oil, 1/3 C. vinegar, & pepper. Toss & add salt to taste. Refrigerate at least two hours (I often don't). Just before serving add more vinegar, oil, salt, &/or pepper, if you like. Serve with tomatoes & garnish with basil. (I usually stir in lots of toasted walnut halves.)

Lentil soup with or without ham

Pick over  1 bag lentils (about 3 cups) and rinse. Put them in a big pot with a good ham bone and one large onion, studded with six whole cloves. Chop another onion and sauté it with a couple cloves of garlic. Add to lentils. Add a large can chicken broth, and about 4 cups of water, 2 carrots and whatever else seems right -- celery, peeled & chopped potatoes, bay leaf. Bring to boil, then simmer. Taste. Salt if necessary. Cook on the back burner until you like it, between a half-hour and four hours. At the end you can add chorizo and/or greens, like chard, escarole, or spinach. You can also purée some of it (I love my immersion blender for this). It is also fine without the ham bone.

Bean & chard soup + more

Patrice gave me Rancho Gordo Yellow Indian Woman beans for Christmas. This is a compliment; she shared her find with me. "They're delicious," she said, and rolled her eyes. Yesterday I cooked them & this morning I made Smitten Kitchen's Chard & White Bean Stew. Teresa sent me the recipe. It's dinner tonight -- and maybe tomorrow too.* I'll serve it on grilled ciabatta, as recommended, but not sure about that poached egg on top ...

The beans ARE special. They keep their bean-y shape & taste full as well. Pretty color too. Thanks, Patrice!

*(written the next morning) It was delicious. Next time I'll serve bread on the side, if at all. Satisfying as is.

And I froze 2 cups of leftover beans. Drain & spread on rimmed cookie sheet & freeze five minutes. Roll them into a freezer bag & use for dip or another soup soon. That's what it advises on this site. Better than pushing them to the back of the refrigerator. How many beans can you eat in a week anyway? (Don't answer that!)

Soup

Sunday I went to see a hermit and didn't even have to climb a mountain or peer inside a cave. She lives in a -- well, seeing that she is a hermit, maybe that detail should remain untold. Let's just say she lives nearby.

She's laid up, and I took her some soup. She looked like a cheerful pixie, with red hair and glasses. She was in a hospital bed, reading a book propped on her knees. Soon she explained that her job involves lots of travel and meeting people.

"But my calling is to be a hermit," she told me, chuckling at how fate and an auto accident abruptly provided the kind of simplicity she'd craved.

Anyway, she loved the soup, and so might you. It's my variation of La Soupe Aux Pois Chiches from On Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis.

Chickpea Soup

1 pound chickpeas

1 large onion, cut in four

4 whole cloves

5 T. extra-virgin olive oil

3 quarts water

4 bay leaves

parsley

thyme

salt

1 lb. spinach

Rinse chickpeas and sort for stones (I found one, once.)

Cover them with water two inches above.

Soak overnight.

Next day, drain.

Mince 3/4 large onion and saute in 1 T. olive oil. Cook over low heat until soft, 10-15 minutes. Add chickpeas and roll them around in the oil. Cook for a minute. Add 3 quarts water, the herbs, and the remaining quarter of an onion, which you have pierced with four cloves. Simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tsp. salt. Stir again and cook for another hour, or until the beans are soft. If the water goes away, add more.

Fish out the sprigs of parsley and the bay leaves and the thyme. (You could also tie them together in a cheesecloth bag at the beginning, but I never do.) If there's a lot of liquid, pour some off, but don't throw it out yet. I just dip in with a large glass measuring cup. If you have a lot of liquid you will have a runny soup.

Mush the beans with an immersion blender, leaving some of them whole for texture interest. If you don't have an immersion blender, get one! Otherwise, use a big blender, but that's trouble. Add more liquid if you like. Salt to taste. (I always add another teaspoon.)

Now add the spinach and just stir it around until it's wilted. Serve the soup with additional olive oil drizzled on top.

This is good with olive oil and garlic croutons.

Chili & Corn Bread

We love this. The chili part is great by itself. Choose other beans & meat if you like – or none.

Chicken & Black Bean Chili

Brown bite-sized pieces of boneless chicken breast in olive oil. Sprinkle with chili & salt. They cook fast. If you have the time, shred the meat. Otherwise, cut bite-size pieces.

Chili: Fry sliced onions, 1 chopped green pepper, 2 cloves garlic (crushed) in olive oil. In a small bowl mix 2-4 T. chili with 1 T. flour & add enough water or broth to make a paste. Stir this into the onions, etc., & cook a minute or two to take away the raw flour taste. Add a small can of chopped jalapeño peppers (mild ones) or add chopped fresh hot peppers if you like. Also add 2 C. chicken or vegetable broth, a small can of chopped tomatoes, a little wine vinegar, a little sugar (1/2 to 1 tsp.), salt, & about 1 tsp. cumin. Taste & adjust. Cook about 2 hours on low. This is a good chili sauce for anything.

Beans: Any kind of bean is fine. I use black beans. Sort beans to remove stones (I found one last year.) & bring to a boil with an inch of water above the top of beans. Let stand an hour. Pour out water & add plenty of fresh water. Bring to boil & then cook on low until beans are soft. Add more water if necessary. Add salt.

Mix it all together – chili, chicken, beans – & cook until hot. Or serve separately, with cheese & chopped onions.

Corn Bread

Turn oven to 500°. Put 3 T. butter in a 10-inch skillet & put that into the oven. Take it out when the butter melts.

Mix 1 C. cornmeal, 1/2 C. flour, 1 T. sugar, & 1/2 tsp. each: salt, soda, baking powder. Measure 1 C. buttermilk (I use regular milk with about 1 T. cider vinegar.) into a glass measuring cup & add 1 egg. Mix together. Add liquid to dry ingredients. Pour into the hot pan. You can either mix the melted butter into the batter or let it stay around the sides. I prefer mixing. Bake at 500° until firm, about 10 minutes.

I have frozen leftover chili, & it seems like a good idea, but it's not. Some of the zip is gone. I guess the textures meld.

Sunday Dinner

Steph made squash soup for dinner last night. It's her mother's and grandmother's recipe – the best!

Steph's Squash Soup

1 box chicken broth

1 can vegetable broth

1 medium butternut squash (or pumpkin), chopped

8 ounces chopped carrots

thyme to taste

1 bunch scallions, chopped

Cook for 1 hour. After an hour add 2 potatoes, peeled & chopped. Simmer 1 hour more. Then mash the squash. (You can use an immersion blender, but your soup won't be as chunky as Steph's.) Finally, shred the meat of a roast chicken from the grocery & add that, along with salt to taste.

This makes a stew. For thinner soup, use more broth. Instead of the grocery chicken, you can add chicken drumsticks to the soup after the first hour of cooking. Or leave the chicken out & serve it as a side.

We had this with salad & apple crisp.