Black Bean Tips

"Make the best pot of black beans on the block!
The secrets to perfection: soak & simmer low, never boil, this way they don't fall apart. Change the soaking water and add a pinch of baking soda so they don't turn grey. Salt the water and add a few bay leafs. I throw in a stick of kombu as well, but it's not totally necessary."
-Post Punk Kitchen

black bean and pasta soup with spinach

link

 

(serves three)

Ingredients

4-5 cups of Water (or vegetable stock)

1 Vegetable Bouillon Cube (omit if you're using stock)

3/4 cup Whole Wheat Macaroni Pasta

1 cup of Black Beans

1/2 cup of finely chopped Yellow Onion

2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 ounces of Cooking Ham (Ham steak), chopped in small cubes

2 cups of fresh Baby Spinach

1/4 cup of Spanish Olives

3 tbsp of Wine

Salt and Pepper

How to

-Cook the onion and garlic in some olive oil over medium heat until browned (about 5 minutes). Add the ham and cook for another two minutes over medium-low heat. Then turn to low heat and add the wine. Add the spinach and cook covered until softened but not completely wilted (about 3 minutes). Set aside.

-Cook the pasta in the stock until almost done. Add the black beans, spinach mixture and olives. bring to a boil, and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with warm bread.

Cajun Shrimp Soup

link

Serves 4

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped or sliced
• 1 32 oz jar tomatoes or tomato puree(about 4 C or a quart sized jar)
• 2 tbsp dried parsley or a 1/4C fresh parsley plus more to garnish
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 large bay leaf
• 2 tsp – 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning, or less depending on your tolerance for spiciness
• 1/2 – 3/4 tsp sea salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2-1 lb shrimp(peeled and without tails)
• 2-3 C cooked brown rice, or more to make it more stew-like(I prefer short grain brown rice)
• 1 tbsp fresh basil
• 2 tbsp Franks RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce(or alternatively add a pinch or two or cayenne and a dash or two of apple cider vinegar)

In a medium sized pot over medium heat, heat the butter.  Once hot, add the onions and cook for 5-6 minutes while stirring until softened.  Add the garlic, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. 

Add the tomatoes, parsley, honey, bay leaf, salt and pepper and Cajun seasoning and bring up to a boil.  Once boiling, turn down to a high simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf and then puree the soup with an immersion blender, or by transferring it to a blender and blending until smooth. 

**Alternatively, if you don’t have a way to blend the soup finely chop the onions and finely mince the garlic before cooking them and be sure to use tomato puree.

Return the soup to the pot and add the previously cooked rice and shrimp to the pot.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for just a couple minutes until the shrimp are completely cooked through, they should be completely pink and no grey parts remain. 

Add the fresh basil and Franks Hot Sauce as desired.  If you don’t have the hot sauce, considering adding a couple pinches of cayenne and just enough apple cider vinegar to give the soup a tangy, sour taste.  Serve hot, garnished with extra fresh parsley or basil and crusty bread if desired.

Avocado rolls

link

The ingredients:

• 1 package of dry yeast (2 1/4 tsps)
• 1 2/3 cups warm water
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 6 cups AP flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 avocados, mashed
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 egg yolk

The how-to:

1. In a large bowl mix yeast and warm water and let it rest for 5 minutes.
2. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add 3 cups of flour, one at a time, and mix well.
3. Mix in salt, olive oil and avocados. Add the rest of the flour and mix until all the ingredients are well mixed.
4. Turn dough onto a slightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too wet and sticky or more water if the dough is too dry.
5. Form a ball and put into a greased container. Cover and let it rise until it doubles in size, approximately 1 hour.
6. Pre-heat oven to 350°F
7. Punch the dough in the middle and fold it into itself to form a ball.
8. Grease 2 round baking pans and form balls of dough of approximately 2? and drop into the pans. Brush the top with egg yolk.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before unmolding.

Overnight pear focaccia

Makes one 9 X 13-inch focaccia

I love that this dough can be made the night before so you can wake up on a Sunday morning and have it ready a few hours later without much fuss. Winter is a great time to bring family members and other hangers-on together for breakfast, Super Bowl or no Super Bowl. In fact, grab the male members of the household this Sunday while you can, before your house becomes a chili-pizza-eating, beer-slugging, screaming mecca of doom, at least for those who want to retreat from all the madness. Mine like nothing better than a Sunday morning sleep-in, so while they are sawing logs, the early riser (moi) can have this focaccia ready for a pleasant mid-morning feast.

You could vary the dried fruits to include your favorites and you could substitute apples for the pears. You may notice that the recipe does not require much yeast—a testament to the fact that many recipes for bread call for more than is needed, lending an over-yeasty taste in the bargain. Instant dry yeast is a special strain that can be mixed straight into the flour, but if you are using ‘regular’ active dry yeast, add it to the liquid and let it hydrate and soften for 5 minutes before incorporating it into the dough.

For the dough:

1/2 cup (65g) raisins

1/2 cup (75g) dried fruit such as apricots, cherries, or prunes, cut in 1/4-inch dice

About 1/2 cup hot apple cider, water or tea

2 cups (250g) bread or all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon (3g) instant dry yeast

1/2  teaspoon (3g) salt

3 tablespoons (43g) soft, unsalted butter  plus a little for the baking pan

1 egg

3 tablespoons (65g) honey

1. Combine the raisins and diced fruit in a small bowl. Add the hot cider, tea or water to cover.  Let stand until tepid, about 20 minutes. Drain and reserve the liquid.

2. Stir the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the drained fruit to coat it evenly with flour.

3. Measure the reserved soaking liquid from the fruit to make 1/3 cup (add additional liquid if necessary.) Add it to the dough with the egg and honey. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough. Scrape the dough into a large, clean bowl and enclose the bowl in a plastic bag. Let rise at room temperature overnight (8 to 12 hours).

For the topping

1/2 cup (45g) sliced almonds
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons (38g) sugar

1/2 teaspoon (1g) cinnamon

3 to 4 pears (I used bosc and did not peel them, for a rustic effect)

1.Toss the almonds with the vanilla.  Add the sugar and cinnamon and toss to coat the almonds with sugar.

2. Core and slice the pears into 1/4-inch thick slices.

To assemble and bake the foccacia

1. Half an hour before the end of the rising time, set a rack in the middle position of the oven and set the oven temperature at 400 degrees F.  Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. 

2. Scrape the dough into the pan in one piece. Wet your hands (to keep them from sticking to the dough) and stretch and press the dough evenly into the pan. Place the pears in an overlapping pattern to cover the dough. Sprinkle the almond topping over the pears. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

3. Bake the focaccia for 35 to 45 minutes, until the edges are nicely browned and the pears are soft. Cut in slices and serve warm or at room temperature.

Soak the dried fruit in hot liquid to reconstitute it in some cider, water, wine, or fragrant tea like earl grey, or Kusmi bouquet de fleurs.

Get in the habit of weighing ingredients when you bake. You will have better results. 

Mix the drained fruit with the flour to distribute it evenly. Reserve the liquid to add to the dough.

Add the liquid ingredients to the flour/fruit. Stir well; no special mixer required!

It looks a lot like thick chocolate chip cookie dough. Transfer it to a clean bowl and enclose the whole bowl in a plastic bag. Leave it to rise overnight at room temperature.

The dough has risen; it is approximately double its original size.

 

To obtain pretty, even slices, cut pear in half. Place melon baller over the core and press straight all the way down into the pear. Then twist and remove the core. Place the pear with the flat side down and cut into 1/4-inch slices.

Wet your hands to keep them from sticking to the dough and push and stretch the dough into the bottom of the pan. Arrange the pear slices on top and sprinkle with the almond topping. Bake.

sun-dried tomato pesto breakfast rolls

Link

Sun dried tomato pesto rolls
Total time: 3-3 ½ hours – wohooaaa do not freak out, it is mostly unattended and it includes baking time too.
Yields: 24-25 small bite-sized ones or 12 Big regular sized ones
(I like bite sized ones because that way I have control over my diet )
Dough 
Ingredients:

• 1.5 tsp active dry yeast/Rapid rise yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (1/4 cup divided + more for rolling)
• ¼ tsp of baking soda
• ½ tsp of baking powder
• ½ tsp of dried basil leaves

Filling
Ingredients:

• 1 cup Sun dried tomato pesto (Recipe follows)
• ½ cup of crumbled goat cheese
• 2 Tbsp toasted pine-nuts (Optional)
• ¼ cup of packed basil

Method:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water along with sugar, olive oil and set aside until it is frothy. It will take about 10-15 minutes. But if you are using rapid rise yeast, skip this procedure and just mix wet ingredients along with rapid rise yeast.
• Side by side, in a large bowl mix 2 cups of flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add yeast mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon and mix well. Make sure there are no lumps. Now add basil leaves and rest of ¼ cup of flour if needed. Gently knead the dough in to a ball. Now coat the dough well with olive oil and put it in a bowl which is also greased with olive oil. Cover with cling film. Allow to rise for 1.5 – 2 hours in warm place.
• After 1.5/2 hours your dough should be doubled in the size. You can let it rise for more time. Punch the dough down and take it out of the bowl to rolling surface.
• Gently knead the dough again and cut it in the half. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle/oblong shape (About 1/4” thick). Once rolled, spread sun dried tomato pesto leaving about half an inch of the sides. Sprinkle with some goat cheese, toasted pine nuts n basil leaves. Just like you decorate your pizza.
• Now roll up from the lager side and seal the edges. Check the pictures to get an idea. Cut about ½” slices and place the rolls very close to each other on an EVOO/Butter greased pan. Let it not stick to each other because you are going to let it rise again for another ½ an hour so they will need some room to rise. (Do not skip this step).
• Make a second roll with remaining dough and follow same procedure. Each roll will make about one dozen bite-sized rolls. So overall about 24-25 rolls. Now cover with the cling film again and let the rolls rise for another half an hour to 45 minutes. (Do not skip this step).
• When you are ready to bake, pre-heat you oven to 350F and bake your rolls for 25-30 minutes until they are lightly browned. I covered mine with aluminum foil after 20 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning.
   

Sun dried tomato Pesto recipe:
Total time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 1/2 cups
Method:

• 1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil or else add 1/2 cup of EVOO
• 2 garlic cloves (Add more if you really love garlic)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves packed
• 2 Tbsp roasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Blend the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, and basil in a food processor and blend until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Stir in the Parmesan and blend once.
Transfer the tomato mixture to a bowl and use as required. Or you can even store it in a refrigerator for a month or so.

Baked Oatmeal

Recipe

Baked Oatmeal


This recipe is ripe for the riffing. Use any nuts you like, any berries you wish, adjust the amounts of sweetener to suit your tastes. I used almond milk instead of regular milk and it was perfect.

Serves 6 to 8
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup natural cane sugar or brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 medium ripe bananas, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-by-8-inch baking dish (or a dish of similar size).
In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, walnuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, half the melted butter and vanilla.
Arrange the banana slices and about two-thirds of the berries in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with the oat mixture. Pour the wet ingredients evenly over the oats, pressing the oats down a bit if necessary to make sure they’re evenly moistened. Sprinkle the remaining berries over the top.

Bake until the oatmeal is set and lightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter drizzled over the top.

Cinnamon Vanilla Granola

http://stylishcuisine.com/?p=3899

Cinnamon Vanilla Granola
Recipe adapted from CoffeeandTeaWarehouse.com
2 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup (packaged) sliced almonds
scant 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
8 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, whole wheat flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Warm the oil and honey in a small saucepan. Whisk in vanilla. Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon, then finish mixing by hand.
Spread granola on a large (12- by 17-inch) jelly-roll pan. Toast the granola 35 to 40 minutes, removing from the oven to stir every 10 minutes. Transfer granola to a rack and cool completely. Store the granola in a well-sealed container.

Yield: 4 to 5 servings

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2009/09/pumpkin-pie-oatmeal.html

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

• 1 cup old fashioned oats, not quick cook
• 1 Tbs whole flax seeds, optional
• 2 1/2 Tbs brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp butter, softened
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup milk

Topping:

• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 tsp butter, softened
• 1 Tbs brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 4 individual sized ramekins. Set aside.
Combine the oats through salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir well. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk. Whisk thoroughly. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats. Stir until combined.

Divide mixture evenly between 4 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the topping: chopped pecans, butter, and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake and additional 7 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with a splash of milk and raisins, if desired.

quinoa and black bean lettuce wraps

http://keepyourdietreal.com/food/appetizerssnacks/quinoa-and-black-bean-lettuce-wraps/

Ingredients

½ cup chopped raw onion
1 red or yellow pepper (washed, seeded, and diced)
½ can black beans
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup salsa
1 avocado, diced
Red Hot
Black pepper
Salt 
Bibb lettuce

Directions

Prepare onion and red pepper.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients above (except for lettuce leafs).
Once the mixture is combined, spread ¼ cup of the mixture onto each lettuce leaf and wrap/fold over like a taco shell.

Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Burgers

these burgers have great texture and stay together while cooking and eating

Ingredients:
(basics)
1 can black beans
1 c cooked brown rice
1 egg
a few tbsp or so olive oil
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
bread crumbs or ground flax or quinoa flour
salt and pepper
herbs that you like and what ever else make you happy

*a fun summery variation is adding fresh cilantro. chilies, and lime juice

Directions:
I used a food processor....
chop up garlic and herbs
puree black beans with some olive oil, garlic and spices and egg
add rice and puree again adding the rest of the olive oil
slowly add in breadcrumbs or flax or flour until desired constancy is reached
It should be pretty thick and pasty
form into patties ( I made 6 large ones)
pan fry in greased pan on low heat until golden and slightly crispy on each side (8 min or so each side)

also; I didn't do this but I think using 1/2 rice and 1/2 quinoa would likely rock