Black Bean Soup

OK, I've confessed before that sometimes menu planning is driven by what is on sale at the grocery store, and when I see the price drop on red bell peppers I am reminded how much the kids and I enjoy black bean soup. It's the red bell pepper which seems to be the trigger, because the rest of the ingredients are almost always on hand. Another part of the delight is that it is a meal which encourages condiments - always a hit with little kids.

This is not a dish I had ever ordered at a restaurant before, nor had I ever even eaten it before trying it at mom's house a couple years back. Who knew that black bean soup was so delicious? OK, so maybe others out there already knew this, but it was news to me. Topped with shredded cheese, diced avocado, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and soy-flaxseed tortilla chips (another item I would have never tried on my own ) and it's true comfort food that is healthy and easy. So easy I had made the whole pot before realizing I hadn't taken any pictures. Oops.

Black Bean Soup
Closely followed from "Black Bean Stoup"

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery with greens, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bay leaf
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
Salt and pepper
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable to make vegetarian)


Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the hot pot, then onion, celery, and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, then add red peppers and continue to cook. Drain and rinse 2 cans of beans, transfer to a flat-bottomed dish and mash with a potato masher (or fork.) Add mashed beans, plus one can of whole beans (with liquid) to the pot. Season with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, then stock to achieve desired consistency (maybe be more or less than 2 cups.) Add bay leaf and bring soup to a bubble. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes over low heat. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Serve into bowls and add favorite toppings - fresh lime juice, diced avocado or guac, shredded cheese, torilla chips, sour cream...

Greek Orzo with Meatballs

I've been cooking, and our family has been eating. And (most of the time) I remember to take pictures, but there seems to be a disconnect between that step and writing the blog. So, as I sit down at lunchtime, I thought I'd peek through the photo lying in wait, and start trying to catch up. Do I start with the oldest? The most recent? After browsing the albums, I knew I had to start with this one - yummy comfort food!

My sister shared the inspirational link for this dish. As soon as I saw it, I knew I'd be making it. Soon. I was planning to make Swedish meatballs during (Jim's) week in Sweden, but somehow I ended up making this Greek dish instead! So, the meatballs themselves I used in this dish were not the recipe from the link above. Nor were they a real Swedish meatball either. In fact, I'm not sure they were the right ones to accompany these flavors, so I would do something else next time. But, in the spirit of forging and succeeding in blogging during lunchtime, I don't want to delay sharing the secret to this deliciousness.

The way the orzo bakes in the broth (instead of cooking, then draining) is so wonderfully creamy, especially when combined with the cheese on top. This is definitely comfort food in my book. And, love the excuse to use my (no longer quite so) new pot!

Greek Orzo and Meatballs
Only slightly modified from Ivy's Feast

2 Tablespoons (Greek) olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 1/2 cups whole wheat orzo
4 cups (1 box) chicken broth
4 ounces creamy feta cheese, crumbled (for topping pasta last ten minutes of baking)
1 pound of ground meat made into meatball (use Ivy's or your favorite recipe)

Preheat oven to 350°. Heat the olive oil in enameled pot over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and saute until onion is tender, 8 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano and dill, saute 20 seconds. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 1 minute. Take pan off of the heat and add the orzo and chicken broth. Stir to combine, cover, then transfer to oven and bake for 30 minutes.

While orzo is baking, make meatballs. Sautee on stove top until brown on all sides and cooked through.

After 30 minutes, remove pot from the oven and stir pasta gently. Add meatballs, pushing them into the pasta slightly. Then sprinkle with feta cheese and return to oven, continue to bake another 10 minutes until the sauce is bubbling. Let stand for 10 more minutes before serving, the pasta will absorb moisture as it cools

Simply Spiced Fried Chick Peas

First a confession. I ate a whole batch of these in one sitting! They are wholly addictive! I'm not sure if the nutritional benefit of chick peas is completely offset by the fact that they are deep fried, but I'm going to cling to thinking that this is a healthy snack. I like to keep chickpeas around the house to make hummus - being allergic to sesame means I can't buy it already prepared at the store. But, I enjoy that so much I end up eating way too many pita chips. Sigh.

When I stumbled upon the inspiration for this snack, I was excited to have another use for the pimenton my sister had given to me as a gift a few years earlier. The first place I tried substituting it was in a Chicken Paprikas dish, and it was not a good idea. Waaay too overpowering when it was the primary spice. But, for this salty bar snack, the pimenton is perfect.

Simply Spiced Fried Chick Peas

Inspired by Smoky Fried Chick Peas

One 15 oz can chick peas, or equivalent amount of dried beans

1 Cup canola oil

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 - 2 teaspoons pimenton

1. Thoroughly rinse, drain and dry chick peas by setting over colander with paper towel for several hours, or overnight. If you are in a hurry, as I often am when the urge strikes to make this snack, spread chick peas in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in 250 oven for about 20 minutes.

2. Heat oil in small, deep sauce pot over medium high heat. Add a single chick pea to the oil as it heats up. When the chick pea begins to sizzle, you'll know the oil is at the right temperature.

3. Add half of the chick peas to the oil and fry for ~10 minutes. Keep a close eye to avoid burning. Remove (with a high temp safe utensil!) and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining chick peas.

4. Toss hot, drained chick peas with salt, pepper and pimenton. Share with friends if you can keep from eating them all yourself!

Chocolate Mousse

Valentine's Day! Since the kids came along, my sweetie and I haven't been able to continue our tradition of dining out on Valentine's Day. So, in recent years we started having our indulgent meals at home with the family. And, of course, they must be finished with a decadent dessert. This year, that requirement was met by chocolate mousse.

I know there are those out there who will balk at making this recipe because it has raw eggs. Or, simply because the level of effort can be kind of a pain. But, it doesn't actually take that long - I think my husband occupied the kids for less than 1/2 hour which let me put the whole thing together, start to finish. And, I promise, this is well, well worth the results.

A few key pointers for those who are sold that the reward is worth the effort. First - you can make this with Baker's chocolate, but this is certainly one of those times when you can go ahead and splurge. Second - don't omit the coffee. We are not a coffee-drinking house, but a good lesson learned over the years is that almost all chocolate desserts are kicked up a notch with a small amount of coffee. For this, and other dessert applications, I keep a small box of instant coffee singles on hand.

The best part about making chocolate mousse this year? The oversight that Valentine's Day fell the day before my sweetie left town for work travel, and that I ended up with six portions left in the fridge the next morning. Clearly, one should not give that much chocolate, sugar & coffee to little kids when single-parenting, so I confess I over-indulged a bit. (And made one neighbor very happy.)

Chocolate Mousse
As adapted by David Lebovitz from Julia Child's recipe

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup dark-brewed coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)

4. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.

6. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

7. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm. (May be kept in fridge up to 4 days, though it likely won't be around that long!)

Jansson's Temptation (or Jansson's Frestelse or Jansson's Kiusaus)

I try to keep looking at the silver lining associated with my husband's ridiculous amount of work travel. Besides the obvious benefit of beaucoup frequent flyer miles, his exposure to new countries and cultures has translated in delicious learning experiences here at home. This week is his first time in Scandinavia, and my friends who are from/live there insisted that Jansson's Temptation is a must for us to vicariously experience a proper meal from this part of the world.

For those unfamiliar with this Jansson's Temptation (as I was a few short days ago) it's a potato and onion casserole-like dish which contains Swedish anchovies, aka sprats. It's a bonus that our new dish to try contains seafood - no doubt a pleaser for my kids. Unfortunately, yes, as I sit here typing after assembling and putting this in the oven, my fingers decidedly smell like pickled sprats. Hopefully seventeen more washings will erase that aroma. (Note: it only took four.)

Procuring Swedish anchovies, I'm told, is key. Substituting regular anchovies is not acceptable, namely because it's not even the same fish. After reading this adventure of trying to locate them in NYC, I was a bit concerned if I would be able to find them in Houston. Luckily, we have Ikea, so in 65 minutes I was back home with the goods. And, some crisp bread to eat with it, as advised by said friends. (And some ligonberry preserves, what I'm planning to do with them is still TBD.)

There seemed to be several variations of this recipe around the web. But the one I made was (more or less) followed exactly from Rebecca, who claims authenticity through her Finnish husband. My kids thought it was a hit. Spencer declared Jansson's Temptation to be "AWE-SOME!" and Charlotte was fascinated with the crisp bread.




Jansson's Temptation
from Kaarle & Rebecca Rautio

2 large baking potatoes (peeled and cut into matchsticks)
1 large onion (diced small or sliced thin)
1 1/2 - 2 Cups cream
1 tin Swedish anchovies (diced, reserve liquid)
1 tomato (sliced)
salt & white pepper
butter
breadcrumbs

Chop the potatoes into matchsticks and dice the onion. Put all of this into a bowl and combine well.


Pour half of the potato/onion mix into a well-buttered casserole dish. Layer with diced anchovies. Season with white pepper and a bit of salt, if you like. Dot with butter (cut into small pieces). Pour remainder of potatoes on top. Again, add a little white pepper and salt, if you like.


Pour anchovy "juice" over casserole and then pour cream over. Liquids should be about half the depth of the dish. Place slices of tomato on top of casserole, dot with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.


Cover with foil and bake for about an hour. Uncover and bake just a bit more to let top become brown.


In traditional style, you must serve this with some dark rye bread, butter, sliced cheese (for the bread), and a nice green salad! Hyvaa Ruokahalua! (Enjoy your meal!)

Pear Bread

Pear bread? You know, it's like banana bread, only with pears. Last month we ended up with a bunch of pears out of season, and I feared the bruising would take their toll before they would properly ripen. And, as luck would have it*, the very next day one the food blogs I stalk** posted this recipe for pear bread.

* Note #1: Since November '08 (that's a story for another time,) I'm a believer that the universe will deliver what you ask for, but you have to ask. So, maybe this timing was not so much 'luck' as a reponse to my request "I need to find something to do with these pears before the bruising forces me to throw them away uneaten."

** Note #2: My sister, who has friends that blog for cash, says that this particular food blogger gets about two million hits a month, and thus, I can hardly be considered a stalker, merely one of many, many readers/fans.

Back to cooking. I will say, except for the prep work on the pears, namely peeling & coring, this recipe was a snap. Using the food processor constitutes fun in my world, not a chore.

For some reason, I always like to make these types of fruit & vegetable breads (banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread) in a bundt pan instead of a loaf pan. Maybe because I think it is prettier that way. Maybe because it tricks the kids into thinking they are getting cake. Though, it's not hard to convince anyone to eat this bread. There is nothing in it not to like. Unless, of course, you don't like walnut and then you can simply omit them.

I think this bread would be excellent as part of a brunch spread. Or, a slice served warm with a cup of tea after dinner. Or, it would be perfect for, as my kids like to say, "breakfast dessert."

Pear Bread
More or less followed exactly from Smitten Kitchen's Pear Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
4 firm, ripe pears, depending on size (2 - 2 1/2C grated)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 
Heat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a bundt pans.


Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to mix everything well. If you’re using nuts, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and combine it in a small bowl with the chopped walnuts, tossing to coat the nuts with the flour.


Peel and core pears, then grate them and briefly set aside. If your pears are nice & firm, you can use a shredding disc on your food processor. In a medium bowl, combine the oil, eggs, sugar, grated pear, nuts and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.


Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F for 70 - 75 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely.

Baby Artichokes and Farfalle

I must say, humbly, I think this dish might be one of the best things I've ever created. Seriously. I was inspired at the grocery store seeing these adorable baby artichokes and knew I just had to buy them. Aren't these the cutest baby vegetables you've ever seen?

But, then, what to make with them? A simple preparation was called for, something that wouldn't overshadow the flavor. I have to confess, I LOVE artichokes. I eat them simply steamed on a regular basis, with melted lemon-butter to dip in. Mmmm. And the kids have learned to love them too. And while I've been happy to share a whole artichoke, I think their enjoyment is about to push us to the point of needing to buy a second one for the kids to share so I can get my own back! Truthfully, except for recently discovering how amazing they taste in soup, the only think I've ever done is to steam them whole. But, presented with these adorable babies, which don't even require removing the choke, I needed to come up with a new plan.

Cooking in basics like olive oil, shallots and white wine. Matching with similarly sized pasta, and finishing with parsley and fresh tomatoes. It was amazing to discover how mind-blowingly good this tasted! The only major bummer is that after falling in love with this, it was many months before I saw them reappear in the store.


Baby Artichokes and Farfalle

1 - 1 1/2 lbs baby artichokes
1 lemon
1 large shallot or 1 small onion
olive oil
1/2 Cup white wine
1/4 lb sliced or roughly chopped tomatoes (I like campari)
1/4 C chopped parsley
8 oz (1/2 box) farfalle pasta (or substitute another short pasta)

1. Put large pot of salted water on to boil for pasta and cook according to directions.

2. Squeeze juice from lemon into a large bowl of water. Prepare baby artichokes by trimming outer leaves, base and cutting into quarters (or sixths or eighths, depending on size.) It is not necessary to clear out the choke. Drop trimmed artichokes into lemon water.

2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat. Sautee shallots and (drained) artichokes until tender 5-7 minutes. Add white white and simmer to allow it reduce.

3. Drain cooked pasta, top with sauteed shallots and artichokes. Add chopped tomatoes, parsley, salt & pepper and mix together.