Signs of Spring

The sun has been deceptively bright and warm lately, but I live in a city with amazing and chilly winds. I can't even imagine the force of them should they be forced between skyscrapers. Despite the continuing biting cold, we can feel spring creeping up on us.

My suspicions that spring is coming, even to the northern frozen tundra, were confirmed when I found some asparagus at the store. It is most likely not from around here yet, but it was still appealing: bundles of slim, lively green spears properly stored cut side down in a tray of water.

A close friend has been having a tough time lately, so we picked up some wine and bread one night and I made her some dinner. Apparently Creamed Asparagus is not made in this part of the world, because when I told people about it, I received some dubious looks. If you haven't tried this before, try it now. It's both warming for the cool days and full of fresh spring flavors.

Creamed Asparagus

1 lb bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off (tops should be about 2 inches long and the remaining length of the spears should be about 1 inch pieces)
1/4 to 1/2 lb bacon
2 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 c milk
2 slices of bread per person, toasted

Place asparagus in a pan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil, cook until still slightly crisp (about 1 minute).
Drain and rinse in cool water to stop the cooking.
Place as many bacon slices as will fit into a cold skillet.
Turn skillet up to high, then reduce to medium heat once bacon starts sizzling.
Frequently turn bacon, removing slices when cooked to desired crispiness and adding slices when space is made.
Once all bacon is cooked, set aside to cool.
Pour about 2 tbsp of the bacon grease into a sauce pan and turn heat to medium-high.
Add flour, salt and pepper, stir until lumps are gone.
Cook flour mixture about 1 minute.
Remove from heat and slowly stir in the milk.
Once all milk is incorporated, return to burner turned to medium to medium-high heat.
Cook until sauce is thickened.
Chop bacon.
Stir bacon and asparagus into sauce and heat until asparagus is warm.
Ladle creamed asparagus over toast and serve.

Makes two large portions.

Weekend Coffee

Hazy shadows of tree limbs rocking in the morning breeze play over my lap. My fluffy teddy bear of a dog lays curled up in the other chair, content after his morning meal and walk in the brisk air. The sun warms me, deceiving me and making me think that we have moved further into spring than we have. I sit listening to public radio podcasts, reading the smart, sassy comments of crafty women and men on one of my favorite websites, and sip my coffee. Preferring to avoid electric appliances that replace perfectly good kitchen items, I make my coffee in a French Press. I feel peaceful as I fill the kettle and put it on to boil, as I grind my coffee beans and watch the grinds tumble into the press, as I pour in the boiling water and stir in the grinds until a thick foam has formed on the top, and as I pour the coffee, a few minutes later, into my enormous coffee mug already half full with steaming milk. Walking to my living room, I think about how I relish the lazy later mornings and early afternoons when all I have to do is sit in the sun sipping my coffee and enriching my mind.

Lentil Chili part II (with Cornbread Pancakes)

So, I reheated the Lentil Chili this evening and added some (1/2 c to 1 c) water, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp chili powder, and 1/2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce. Just this little addition made the chili so much more flavorful. I had never thought to add cinnamon to chili before (the original recipe called for it). It definitely adds a level of complexity and warmth that straight chili does not typically attain. I also made some Cornbread Pancakes to go with it.

Cornbread Pancakes

1/3 c cornmeal
1/3 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c milk
2 tbsp green onion, finely chopped

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Add liquids and stir with a fork until smooth.
Stir in green onion.
Heat skillet over medium-high heat.
Grease with oil or butter before first batch.
Once oil is hot, reduce heat to medium and pour out three small pancakes sized dollops of batter.
Once pancakes have bubbles on top and sides are dry, flip.
Heat until they puff up and brown, then remove to a warm plate.

(This makes about six pancakes)

Lentil Chili

Still craving beans/legumes, so I decided to use some lentils I had in the cupboard. I searched through my cookbooks and found a vegetarian recipe for chili made with lentils and mushrooms. Not being one for a purely spicy dish, but something spicy and flavorful, I took the idea and ran with it, adding ingredients I had in the house. The result was good, but I think I might add some seasonings to make it more flavorful. Perhaps add a little oregano and more chili powder and maybe some corn.

Lentil Chili

1 1/2 c dried lentils
5 c water
1 1/2 tsp chicken bullion
grease from 1/4 bacon or 3 tbsp other oil
1/4 c onion, chopped
1/2 a large red bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tomatillos, chopped fine
1 Roma tomato, seeded, cored and chopped fine
1 large portabello mushroom, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
salt to taste

In a stock pot, placed lentils, water and chicken bullion and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until tender.
In a skillet, heat bacon grease (or other oil) over medium-high heat.
When oil is hot, add onion and cook until it starts to brown.
Add red bell pepper and garlic and cook until garlic softens.
Add tomatillos, tomato, and mushroom and cook until mushrooms shrink.
Add chili powder and cook until fragrant.
Stir vegetable and spice mixture into the lentils and cook until fragrant.
Add salt to taste.
You may want to let this sit a day in the refrigerator before serving.

Black Bean Stew with Cornbread Dumplings Served Over Collard Greens

It is so rare for my fabricated recipes to turn out near to perfect. Typically I develop something in my mind and, once made, find multiple ways in which I might tweak the recipe to perfect the flavors and texture. Tonight, I nearly nailed my imagined meal on the head. It's so close to perfect, it seems like it should have taken much more work.

My inspiration for this meal:
Healthy eating in Brazil
A craving for black beans, possibly in soup form

As I developed in my mind, this recipe started as a very liquid black bean soup with collard greens, similar to the kale in Zuppa Tuscana at Olive Garden. Then I thought, "What about some dumplings?" Thus the idea to make cornbread dumplings. I also thought some canned pimentos might be a nice color and flavor addition to the soup. Imagine it, a black soup with bits of bright green and red popping up here and there.

In the making, I added as I went, pulling from some Puerto Rican flavors, Southern flavors, and cooking methods I have already adapted. The result was a flavorful, but not oppressive, black bean stew with savory cornbread dumplings floating on top. I spooned this over collard greens that I cook enough to soften, but not turn to complete mush. I appreciate greens with a little bit of body left to them. It makes the texture so much more appealing. The only adjustment I might make in the future would be to add a tablespoon of sugar to the cornbread dumplings to create an interesting blend of savory and sweet.

Black Bean Stew with Cornbread Dumplings Served Over Collard Greens

Black Bean Stew
2 tbsp oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced into thin half-moons
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 a canned pimento, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of dried oregano
2 cans black beans, undrained
1 1/2 cans water
1 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp sazon (red flavor packets used in Puerto Rican cooking)
1/2 tsp adobo

Cornbread Dumplings
1 c flour
3/4 c cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar, optional
3 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 c milk

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add jalapeno and onion, cooking until soft.
Add garlic, pimento, cumin, and oregano, cooking until garlic is soft and mixture is aromatic.
Add black beans, water, chicken bouillon, sazon, and adobo.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
While stew is simmering, mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Cut in butter until in small pieces like coarse meal.
Stir in milk, just until moistened. Do not over stir.
Make sure stew is only simmering, if it is boiling, reduce heat until it is simmering.
Drop in all of the dumpling dough in rounded tablespoon measures, evenly distributing over the surface of the stew.
Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Cover and simmer 10 more minutes.
Spoon stew and dumplings over collard greens.

Collard Greens

1 tbsp oil
1/4 c onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 a canned pimento, chopped
1 large bunch collard greens, stemmed, sliced into 1/2 in strips and washed well

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
Add onion and cook until soft.
Add garlic and pimento and cook until garlic is soft.
Add collard greens and cover, stirring occasionally.
Cook until greens are soft, but not mushy.

Brazil and Fresh Food

I've recently returned from a short trip to Brazil. Of all of the places I've desired to visit, South America was not at the top of my list. It is now. Granted, I was on a rather relaxed "work" trip that included a lot of laying by the pool and visiting popular sites, but the entire attitude of Brazil seemed laid back. Within half a day, my shoulders were more relaxed than they have been in months. Less typing? Maybe. Less work? Probably. But, I can't help but feel that the attitude of the people creates an entire atmosphere in which you can do something that would typically stress you with ease and a pleasant attitude. And who can be unhappy surrounded by fresh fruit (pineapple, guava, apple bananas...) and fresh cheese (firm, salty, room temperature)? I came home realizing that my diet of late has been very bread and dairy heavy and produce light. Tonight I bought some fresh vegetables and other items and I plan some good, creative cooking soon. And I will be sharing.

Recipes - Something to Inspire

A few weeks ago, a close friend of mine and I collaboratively cooked a meal from some new friends. Now, I love to cook, but I don't tend toward what I consider to be... food snobbery. I would love to buy those ingredients that lend a slightly different flavor or are more environmentally friendly, but I can't quite afford those items. Now my friend tends to buy those ingredients. It leads to interesting conversations and eventual compromise in the grocery store. As soon as I have the monetary funds necessary, or my own farm, I'll definitely be up for those ingredients. At the moment, substitutions must be made, especially when cooking from recipes from certain online websites. I also found that said website also got the time necessary to cook a chuck roast grossly wrong, as in at least three hours wrong. I like my roasts tender, an hour in the oven with a mass of vegetables is certainly not sufficient. I also have heard that reducing wine alone makes a more flavorful and less alcoholic sauce, so we applied that to our recipe. If you buy a well marbled piece of meat, you shouldn't need additional fat. I also applied a technique for flavoring a pork roast to our adapted recipe, deep slits into which you stuff seasonings. Here is the recipe, as close as I can remember.

12 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon whole mustard seed, roasted in skillet and crushed
2 tsp black peppercorns, roasted in skillet and crushed
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 4 lb chuck roast
2 c dry red wine
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 c chicken broth
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small celery root, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 small to medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 medium to large onions, peeled and cut into eighths

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To prepare mustard seed and peppercorns, place in a small heavy skillet over medium heat. Gently shake pan until mustard seeds start popping. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Place in the middle of a piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic wrap in half to seal in the seeds. Pound with a meat mallet until crushed.
With a sharp knife, make 1 inch deep slits into the roast at regular intervals on all sides, placing a clove of garlic in each slit.
Rub the outside of the roast with the kosher salt, mustard seed, and peppercorns.
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
Place roast in the hot skillet and brown on all sides.
Remove roast from skillet and place in large roasting pan.
Reduce heat on the skillet to low.
Once cool enough, pour in the wine and start stirring to loosen the browned bits.
Bring the wine to a simmer and cook, stirring, until reduced to half.
Add bay leaf, thyme, and chicken broth and cook until aromatic.
Pour the sauce into the bottom of the roasting pan.
Cover the roasting pan loosely with aluminum foil.
Place in the oven and roast for about 2 1/2 hours.
Add vegetables and continue roasting until vegetables are tender and roast is tender enough to insert a fork, but the fork does not lift the roast when removed.