Cajun Pinto Beans

Its January and it seems like everyone is craving soups and stews and warm comforting foods.  Seems like nothing takes the grey out of a day like a bowl of hot, home-made soup.  So I am not going to post a soup recipe HA!

Well this is sort of a soup I guess, but perhaps more of a side dish that I usually eat on its own.  We had a beautiful spiral sliced ham for New Year's and now I am left with perhaps the best part: the ham bone.  Whenever I am left with a ham bone I always start thinking of making pinto beans.

 

Somehow you just know these beans are going to be good when they start out with a meaty ham bone...

I absolutely crave pinto beans.  So much so, that I will often go to Bojangles and just order a large side of their pinto beans and a couple biscuits.  Bojangles pintos are absolutely delicious and I have worked for years to try to replicate them, without success, BUT I think this recipe is just as good, and satisfies that craving.  The secret is to make a good ham stock and then cook the beans in it.

I have also made this recipe in a vegetarian fashion and it is also very good, provided you use a good quality vegetable stock to make up for the lack of delicious, slow-cooked meaty ham broth (see what you vegetarians are missing?)  :)

I usually serve this over a bowl of basmati or jasmine rice and season generously with hot sauce (Frank's, Texas Pete or Crystal Hot Sauce are my faves).

 A Louisiana Classic...

So here it is, my recipe for Cajun Pinto beans.  I will include the vegetarian version and also two methods of cooking (Pressure Cooker vs. Stock Pot).

Cajun Pinto Beans
serves 12

Ham Stock
skip this if making vegetarian beans
1 Ham Bone (with meat and fat still clinging to it, or two meaty ham hocks
12 cups water

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 rib Celery, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 medium green pepper, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb dried pinto beans

for vegetarian version only
8 cups vegetable stock ( two cartons) plus 4 cups water

For Ham Stock:
Place combine ham bone and trimmings (or ham hocks) and 12 cups water in a stock pot or pressure cooker.  Bring to a simmer, cover and stew for 2 hours or until all meat falls easily from bone.  For pressure cooker, pressure cook ham for 30-40 minutes on high pressure.  For both methods, strain stock into a large bowl, discard bones but reserve meat.

In clean stock pot or pressure cooker, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, add garlic, tomato paste, honey, thyme, salt and black and red pepper.  Cook 2 minutes.  Add beans and ham stock (or vegetable stock).  Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours or until tender (pressure cook for for 45 minutes, check beans for tenderness and add additional time if needed).  After cooking season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with steamed rice.

Svíčková (Czech Sauerbraten )

I am in the mood to cook Czech food.  And my favorite Czech food of all is Svíčková (pronounced Svitch-Kova).  My mother used to make this from time to time when I was growing up, but it was always a special treat since the technique is fairly labor intensive.

Now I am certain there are purists out there who will disagree with me, but my mother (a Sudetan german) always called this "Czech-style Sauerbraten", while my father, a Bohemian from Prague, insisted Svíčková is a distinct dish altogether.  I tend to agree with my mother since the technique is very similar to german-style sauerbraten.  Whatever, I'm not going to get tangled in those details. all that matters is that its really really REALLY delicious. 

Svíčková  absolutely MUST be served with big fluffy Czech boiled dumplings called Knedlicky (recipe follows).  Growing up, we always had these dumplings on hand, more frequently than we had potatoes or pasta. They are tender and essential for sopping up the lake of rich sour cream sauce served with Svíčková.  My mother would cut leftover dumplings into cubes, fry them in butter to crisp them, then add them to scrambled eggs for breakfast (YUM!)

It also MUST be served with a glass of cold Czech Pilsner, like Pilsner Urquell.   Beer really seems to cut the richness of the dish.  Also sometimes this dish is served with a small dab of cranberry sauce to help cut the richness, though I am not a huge fan of this tradition.

Pivo!

In the late 1990's my father's cousin Evička and her husband Jarda visited us from Prague and taught me how to properly make this dish.  I present it to you here.  I hope you will take the time to prepare this dish for friends and family, raise a glass of beer and toast "Na Zdravi!".

Green Posole with Chicken

This soup tastes like sunshine.  I don't know how else to put it.  It is vibrant, and mildly spicy and warm and completely satisfying, like lying on a beach in the Yucatan.

I was first introduced to this recipe by our good friends Chris and Al.  The recipe originates from the legendary Sara Moulton and is also featured in Chris' cookbook Delicious.  One of the things I like best about this soup is that it can take either an entire afternoon (if you want to roast your own chicken, make your own stock and salsa verde) or it can come together in under half an hour with store-bought ingredients.  Regardless of which approach you choose, the result is fantastic!

Traditional posole is an ancient pre-columbian soup and is usually red in color. The ingredient posole (also known as hominy) is nothing more than corn kernels from which the hulls have been removed (if dried and ground, the result is grits).  This version uses a green salsa and chicken rather than the traditional pork.

Serve the soup hot with tortilla chips, and your choice of garnishes (typically avacado slices, sliced radishes, shaved jicama, napa cabbage, cucumbers, cilantro and lime wedges).

Green Posole with Chicken
serves 8

1 roast chicken, meat removed and hand shredded
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock (this can be made by boiling the chicken carcass in 4 cups water for about an hour)
2 cups Salsa Verde (I prefer Goya brand, or you can make your own; Sara Moulton's recipe follows)
2  15oz. cans of white posole (hominy) drained and rinsed
salt and pepper

Tortilla chips
Optional garnishes: avacado slices, sliced radishes, shaved jicama, napa cabbage, cucumbers, cilantro,  lime wedges

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onions and saute until tender.  Add garlic and saute very briefly, 30 seconds.  Add chicken stock, salsa, hominy and chicken, cook until heated through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve hot with tortilla chips and garnishes.


Sara Moulton's Salsa Verde:
3 green tomatillos, paper hulls removed, rinsed and quartered
4 scallions coarsely chopped
1/3 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small green jalapeno, seeded
1 clove garlic

Combine all ingredients in work bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Twice-Baked Potato Soup

As expected, we had an ice storm last night, and while we here in Durham didn't get hit as hard as places like Atlanta, still everything has come to a screeching halt.  Everything is blanketed with a quarter inch of ice and nobody is going anywhere today.

 Poor Tiki covered in ice...

 Sad frozen chiminea...

 That leaves me to play my favorite game... what can I make with the ingredients I have on hand?   Answer:  Twice-Baked Potato Soup.

This soup is a combination of two of my favorite things, creamy potato soup studded with chunks of ham, and a crispy stuffed potato skin loaded with bacon and cheese.  Hearty fare indeed that will guarantee a happy tummy on a cold and miserable day!

Twice-Baked Potato Soup
serves 8 very rich portions

4 large baking potatoes
olive oil
salt

6 slices bacon
1/2 cup butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup flour
6 cups milk (with 1 additional cup in reserve if needed)

4 cups chicken stock
1. tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch dice.
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup diced ham
8 oz. sour cream (divided into two 4 oz. portions)

salt, pepper and garlic powder
8oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 scallions, finely chopped
hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F

Wash potatoes and dry with paper towels.  Rub each potato with a small amount of olive oil, then rub a pinch of salt over potato skin, pierce with a fork, and wrap in foil. Bake potatoes 1 1/2 hours.  Remove from oven (potatoes should be very tender), unwrap from foil and cut potatoes in half lengthwise.  Allow potatoes to cool for 30 minutes, then with a spoon, carefully scoop insides out of potato and place potato flesh in a medium sized bowl (they will be added to the soup later)  leaving a potato skin shell. Reserve potato skins for "garnish"

In a large pot, fry bacon over medium high heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pot and blot on paper towels. Reserve bacon fat in pot.  Once cool, crumble bacon and divide equally in two portions.

Over medium heat, add butter to rendered bacon fat and melt completely.  Add onion and garlic and saute until tender (about 5 minutes).  Add flour and stir to mix until smooth, cook 1 minute.  Add milk and chicken stock and stir with a whisk to dissolve flour evenly.  Add salt and pepper and diced potatoes and continue to cook over medium -low heat, whisking gently until soup thickens and potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes.  Once soup is thick, add grated cheese and stir until cheese is melted.  Add ham and scooped potatoes, sour cream, and 1/2 bacon, stir until incorporated.  If soup is too thick add additional stock or water.

Preheat Broiler.

Lightly season the reserved potato skins with salt, pepper and garlic powder. divide grated cheddar evenly among potato skins.  Top with reserved crumbled bacon.  Optional: Drizzle hot sauce over top of each potato.  Place potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil and place directly under the broiler. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Cut each potato in half. 

Ladle hot soup into soup bowls and garnish with chopped scallions.  Garnish with prepared potato skins.

Beef Braised in Red Wine

What a strange winter we are having in North Carolina this year. Usually we are lucky to have one snowfall over the winter, but so far it has snowed 4 times (including 6 inches on Christmas Day!).

The Tiki Lounge blanketed in snow on Christmas Day 2010

We had snow flurries off and on yesterday afternoon, and we are anticipating another snow storm for tomorrow afternoon that is likely to last into the next day. Growing up in northern Michigan, snow was a common, nearly everday occurence and we had to get at least 2 or 3 feet for school to be cancelled. Here in the south however, a 1/2 inch of snow will delay schools 2 hours and an inch will close everything completely, not only schools, but banks and businesses too.

So with an impending major snow storm on the horizon, I went to the store to pick up supplies for the storm. Usually it is eggs, milk, bread and toilet paper that are the first to go (apparently everyone sits on the toilet eating french toast when it snows). Not me. I picked up some potatoes, some bacon, a beautiful beef chuck roast and some red wine. I'd rather enjoy this delicious Italian-style beef pot roast.

I first saw this recipe for Beef Braised in Red Wine (Brasato al Barolo) in the February 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine (have I mentioned lately how much I miss Gourmet magazine?). I love pot roast, but this is by far the best one we have ever made. The original recipe calls for Pancetta and Barolo wine, but I have modified it to use more readily available (and significantly less expensive ingredients). It is excellent with mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or as Gourmet magazine suggested, creamy polenta.

I usually prepare this dish using a pressure cooker (see recommended equipment tab), but will present two methods of preparation in the event that you do not have a pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is a decidedly low-tech invention that shaves literally hours off the cooking time without sacrificing any of the texture or flavor. My mother used hers all the time when I was a kid and taught me to cook with this "old school microwave".

I hope you try this recipe, I think you will love it, especially if you're sitting back with a plate of it watching the snow fall, knowing there will be no school (or work) tomorrow and therefore not feeling guilty about finishing off that second bottle of wine!

Beef Braised in Red Wine
serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 3lb boneless beef chuck roast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 slices bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large carrot, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 ribs celery, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary (or 2 sprigs fresh rosemary)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups red wine
2 cups water

Heat olive oil in pressure cooker (or 4-5 quart heavy oven-proof pot with lid) over medium high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper and brown well on all sides. Remove beef and set aside.

Add bacon to pressure cooker and fry, stirring frequently until fat is rendered. Add onion, carrot and celery and saute until vegetables are tender and browned (about 10 minutes). Add thyme, rosemary and garlic and saute 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook briefly for 1 minute.

Add red wine and boil until liquid is reduced by about 1/2 (about 5 minutes). Add water and bring to a simmer. Return beef to pan.

For pressure cooker method: Close pot and fasten lid tightly. Once pressure is achieved (the cooker will begin hissing), reduce heat to medium (or lowest temperature that will maintain adequate pressure; you can tell you have adequate pressure because the cooker will continue to hiss softly). Cook 45 minutes, then remove from heat, and place in sink with cold water running on the lid to release pressure before opening. Meat should be fork tender. If not, return to heat and bring back up to pressure and cook additional 15 - 30 minutes (however long you think you need to get it tender...kinda depends on the quality of the beef).

For non-pressure cooker method: Cover pot with lid and place in a preheated 325 F oven. Roast for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until meat is very tender.

For both methods, remove cooked beef from pan and place on a serving platter, tent with foil to keep warm. Over high heat, boil sauce until reduced by one third (5-10 minutes). Season sauce with salt. Slice beef across the grain and return to sauce, tossing to coat beef. Return to serving platter. Serve with mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or creamy polenta.

Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

Ok listen y'all. The time has come to lay down some rules regarding food. There are some facts that need to be discussed about what makes some foods more amazingly desirable than others. Here they are:

1.) Anything with bacon is better than anything without bacon. Bacon caramel corn? Delicious. Bacon cinnamon rolls? You bet! Bacon is good. I want bacon now.

2.) Anything breaded or wrapped in pastry makes me want to eat it. Cauliflower? I love cauliflower. Roll cauliflower in bread crumbs and deep fry it? Amazing. Cocktail franks...blech. Cocktail franks wrapped in crescent roll dough? I'll eat 4 dozen, thank you.

3. If you put food on a stick (even a little stick like a toothpick), they will come. Examples: Chicken Satay, Beef kabobs, corndogs (breading AND a stick...shut the front door!!!)

This recipe involves the holy trinity of deliciousness. It has bacon, its breaded and it is on a stick. Not to mention it has scallops in the middle... and since its baked, its somewhat less unhealthy than if it was deep fried ( I can't even TYPE that with a straight face).

This recipe is a throwback to the late 70's, but like many things from that time, I still love having it around (can you say ABBA?). Its really fast and really easy and most importantly really tasty and one of those appetizers that disappears immediately.

The scallops are rolled in seasoned flour, then dipped in egg and finally rolled in panko and wrapped with bacon. Then baked in a hot oven for 20 minutes... EASY!

These can be served with a cocktail or remoulade sauce, but I think they are best on their own, hot from the oven.

But forget all that. Here's all you need to remember: Bacon, Breading, Stick!
Bon Appetit!

Bacon-Wrapped Scallops
makes 24

1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

24 sea scallops
1 egg beaten with 1 cup milk
1 cup panko bread crumbs
12 strips of bacon, cut in half
tooth picks

Preheat oven to 400F, cue up ABBA on your iPod.

While singing along to Dancing Queen, lightly grease a large baking sheet. Combine flour, salt, paprika, white pepper and garlic powder. Set up an assembly line of three shallow dishes (pie pans) in the following order. 1) seasoned flour; 2) egg/milk mixture; 3) Panko breading. Roll each scallop in flour, then completley coat in egg mixture and lastly roll in Panko. Set on prepared baking sheet until all scallops are prepared.

Wrap 1 piece of bacon around each breaded scallop and secure with a toothpick. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until bacon is crisp and scallops are cooked through. (While scallops are baking make yourself a Harvey Wallbanger and listen to Chiquitita). Serve hot, with or without cocktail or remoulade sauce.

Walnut and Stilton Savory Baklava

Happy 2011 everybody! I am going to buck the trend of posting boring bland diet food for the month of January. The post-holiday season is depressing enough without having to read recipes using iceberg lettuce and canned tuna. No, I refuse to be a part of that austerity. Instead I am going to post something fabulous. This savory Baklava.

I made this luxurious little devil for our NYETDS party because after Christmas I had quite a bit of excellent english blue stilton cheese leftover and I wanted to find a way to show it off. At first I was going to make small tarts with stilton and walnuts that would be garnished with a relish of pears, honey and black pepper. But that sounded too fussy and I was worried the pears wouldn't keep more than a couple hours. Then I thought about making a savory Baklava. After a quick Google search, I found a recipe for precisely what I wanted from chef Kelly Wangard at Paso Robles Inn Steakhouse in Paso Robles, California.

The recipe is simple and elegant and the result is phenomenal! I have modified the recipe to use more phyllo dough so the appetizer is easier to serve (and eat). I have also scaled it waaaaaaaay back. These are extremely rich appetizers and a small serving is quite filling.

These are great on their own with a glass of red wine, but would also be an excellent accompaniment to a simple arugula salad.

Walnut and Stilton Savory Baklava
serves 12

12 sheets of phyllo dough, cut into 8" x 8" squares.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
12 oz. walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz. good quality English blue stilton cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 300F. Place walnuts on a large baking sheet and toast until fragrant (about 15- 20 minutes; tossing nuts occasionally to avoid scorching). Cool nuts completely.

Increase oven temperature to 400F.

Combine nuts and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and chop until very fine. Cut 12 sheets of phyllo dough into 8" x 8" squares. Place one sheet of cut phyllo dough in the bottom of an 8" x 8" baking pan, and brush with melted butter. Top with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Top with a third sheet of dough and brush with butter. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nuts and sugar on top of dough, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the crumbled stilton cheese.

Repeat layering, using three sheets of phyllo, each brushed with butter between each layer of nuts and cheese. The final layer of phyllo dough should be on top and should also be brushed with butter.

With a very sharp knife, carefully cut the baklava into 2-inch squares in the pan. Bake in 400 F oven for 30 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Re-cut the baklava with a sharp knife following the earlier cut lines.

Before baking...

And after baking!

Carefully remove baklava from pan and blot on a double layer of paper towels to blot extra melted butter away. Carefully cut each square in half diagonally to make triangles. Serve warm or at room temperature.