Black Bean Soup with Toasted Cumin Creme Fraiche

I've had a bag of Cayuga Pure Organics black beans in my pantry for quite some time waiting for the perfect use.  We do eat rice and beans on occasion, and beans certainly go in chili around here.  But it didn't seem right to use these beautiful beans in a supporting role.  I wanted them to be a star. 

Enter Smitten Kitchen and her Black Bean Soup with Toasted Cumin Seed Creme Fraiche.  She had me at chipotle pepper.  I go in waves with chipotles where I need to eat them in everything.  Alright, I lie, it's more like everything I eat could usually be made better with chipotles.  I love the smoky spiciness with just about everything.

 The other thing that made this soup attractive is that the heavy lifting is all done in the crockpot.  The beans go into pot with chopped vegetables, water, seasoning and magically turns into soup in just a few hours.  There was some discussion over at Smitten Kitchen about the different timing required by different crockpots.  Mine was just about the same as reported - 3 hours on high for well cooked beans, maybe just a bit longer. 

This soup is also very healthy and light.  To add a bit of indulgence, I decided to make the creme fraiche as well.  Trader Joe's carries a Vermont creme fraiche which makes this step equally easy.  I toasted cumin seeds and ground them in a converted coffee grinder.  Adding a good dollop of the creme fraiche gave another layer of flavor and creaminess to the soup without overdoing it. The original recipe included chopped sweet peppers which I omitted, but adding those in makes the soup even healthier!

I served the soup and its creme fraiche topping with warm (homemade) pita bread and green salad.  We also experimented with a bit of sharp New York cheddar as a different topping and enjoyed that quite a bit.

Black Bean Soup (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium red onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 1/2 lbs. dried black beans
• 1-3 tbsp. chopped chipotle pepper in adobe sauce (adjust for your preferred heat)
• 7 cups hot water
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Pick through dried beans to remove any suspicious-looking specimens.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook until soft and just beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cumin and stir mixture for about 1 minute. 
3. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker.  Add beans, chipotle peppers and 7 cups hot water.
4. Cover crock pot and cook on high for about 3 hours, until beans are very tender (it's okay to pick up the lid and taste them in order to check).
5. Transfer two cups or more (I did about half) the mixture to another bowl and puree with an immersion blender (or use your food processor or blender). Return puree to slow cooker.
6. Stir in lime juice, salt and pepper.  Serve in bowls with your favorite topping.

Stir It 28 Recap - Lettuce Wraps Two Ways

I'm a little bit late to the table on this, but I wanted to throw out a big thank you to Christy over at Balance for putting together a really fun and successful event this past Sunday to raise money for Haiti relief in conjunction with the Stir It 28 event happening simultaneously in several cities.

The afternoon consisted of way more food and drink than could be consumed by around 30 or more very happy attendees (at least the ones I knew said so!) and another 10 or so food bloggers who got to play in the beautiful teaching kitchen at NYU School of Nutrition and Food Studies.  In the excitement, I only managed to get pictures of my own food and the decorations, but I encourage you to check out the blogs below because everything was really tasty and the bloggers themselves are fun people.

Menu (links to participating bloggers courtesy of Balance)

Appetizers
Dumpling Bar:

Veggie Dumplings,Cranberry Mushroom Dumplings, Pork & Cabbage Dumplings

Panko stuffed shiitake mushrooms

Spring rolls, both vegetarian and non

Entrees

Lemongrass corn soup

Enchiladas rojas

Red Cooked Pork on Steamed Buns & Cucumber Salad

Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups Mushrooms & Tofu in lettuce cups

Desserts

Chinese-flavor inspired cupcakes

Walnut Cookies

Vegan chocolate chip cookies with hints of cinnamon and star anise

For my part, I made one of my favorite dishes of all time - Minced Chicken with Lettuce Cups.  Lettuce wraps are considered lucky for Chinese New Year because the word for lettuce wrap in Cantonese (I hear - please Year of the Tiger!correct me if I'm wrong) sounds like the word for 'rising fortune' - a very good thing indeed.  Apparently adding dried oysters makes the dish even luckier, but I wasn't ready to give that a try just yet.  If you do, let me know.

The recipe I used comes from the old stand-by Williams Sonoma Stir Fry Cookbook and represents a very simple basic version which satisfies the craving.  The recipe defies my usual rule which is to substitute more authentic ingredients whenever possible.  The traditional Chinese dish, Gai Soong, is made with pigeon, and while using some Brooklyn pigeon could make this extremely local and authentic, minced chicken is a much better choice for me.As an aside, I still think the best lettuce wraps are at Betelnut on Chestnut Street in San Francisco, but I'm on a constant quest to try more.

As a challenge to myself and in order to help make the dish appropriate for a mixed crowd, I also played with a vegetarian version (it's even vegan!) and was quite pleased with the results.  I've included an either/or set up in the recipe, but feel free to make both (doubling the sauce) and mix and match. 

A note on lettuce: the recipe calls for iceberg lettuce, undoubtedly for its tough structure and cool crunch.  I used butter lettuce for its pretty leaves and marginally better nutritional value.  I urge you to experiment with lettuces keeping in mind taste, texture and strength of the leaves.  Butter lettuce is a bit flimsy, but it's my favorite.

Lettuce Wraps Two Ways (adapted from Williams-Sonoma Stir Fry)

• 1lb. ground chicken
• 1 1/2 - 2 blocks extra firm tofu
• 16 ounces shitake mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
• 2 tbsp soy sauce, divided
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar, preferably unseasoned, divided
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Sauce:

• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar, preferably unseasoned
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of your grocery store)
• 2 tsp corn starch

• 6 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• 4 scallions, finely chopped (including green tops)
• 4 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 cups water chestnuts, rinsed, well drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 1 head lettuce of your choice

1. Place tofu under a heavy plate or baking pan weighted with cans.  Let water squeeze out while you chop mushrooms and other ingredients. This step may be omitted but helps the tofu absorb the sauce and marinade.
2. In a bowl, combine chicken and half of soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil.  Stir to mix well. Set aside.
3. Slice tofu lengthwise into thin strips and chop again into small cubes. Place in a bowl with chopped mushrooms and remaining soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil.  Set aside.
4. To make the sauce, combine all of the ingredients and stir in corn starch to dissolve.  Set aside. (Note: I transported the sauce in a jar which made the dissolving very easy - shake it up!)
5. In a large pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over high heat.  Add chicken and stir quickly, breaking up any large pieces until no longer pink.  Push to side of pan or remove and set aside. Add half of scallions, ginger and water chestnuts and toss quickly for 1 minute.  Add 1/2 of prepared sauce and stir in cooked chicken.  Stir until thickened slightly.  Remove from heat.
6. Wipe down pan (or use a second one if maintaining vegetarian/vegan meal is important) and heat additional 3 tablespoons of oil over high heat.  Repeat step 5 with mushroom and tofu mixture.
7. Stir in half of pine nuts in each finished mixture.  Serve with lettuce wraps.

Note on leftovers: if you run out of lettuce wraps or want to make extra of either mixture, they taste great over rice.  Serve with a vegetable or salad and you have another twist on the meal.

Clean Eating Spanakopita Casserole

It has taken me a long time to get used to the traditional Greek flavor profile.  Some things are still growing on me, but in the last couple of years, I've really come around to spinach and feta and red onion, in particular.  I can lay credit at the feet of The Barefoot Contessa, for it was her Spinach Pie in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook that turned me around.  Needless to say, it is also a classic Ina Garten dish and therefore not remotely healthy.

I was ecstatic, then, to find this recipe in the latest issue of Clean Eating Magazine which presents an easy light dish (once you wrestle with the phyllo) that incorporates the tangy cheesy elements of the spinach pie I love along with the healthy light feeling you should get when eating Greek foods. 

The recipe needed very little tweaking to make it a big hit in our house, although I spiced things up a bit because I couldn't leave well enough alone.  I believe it could use at least twice the feta, but my husband reminded me that I love cheesiness and it cuts against the lightness to add more.  The amount referenced below is the original amount, but if you love feta and have room for it in your healthy eating plan, shamelessly add more.  I added garlic, chili flakes and pine nuts because I think if you can, you should.  I did eliminate the sweet red pepper from this recipe which takes it down a notch vegetable-wise, but sweet peppers are one flavor that still falls outside my comfort zone. If you like, add 1 tablespoon or more finely chopped sweet red pepper.

Spanakopita Casserole (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

•  1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 3 large bags (27 ounces or 36 cups, loosely packed) of fresh baby spinach
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 4 sheets phyllo dough (whole wheat if you can find it), 13x18 inches each
• Additional olive oil in mister or spray

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Heat olive oil in a (very) large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic, pine nuts and pepper flakes and saute for about 2 minutes.  Add spinach in batches, letting each cook down slightly before adding more.  Cover tightly and cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.
2. Drain spinach mixture and remove all excess liquid in a colander.  Set aside and let cool (this took quite awhile for me - if you're in a rush, put it in the fridge). 
3. When mixture has cooled, add dill, mint and egg white.  Mix well.  Fold in feta cheese and set aside.
4. Mist a 9x9inch casserole dish (1 1/2 quart volume) with olive oil.  Cut or gently tear each phyllo strip into 4 sections (approximately 3 inch wide sections).  Place 3-4 strips across casserole, overlapping slightly and letting phyllo hang over both ends of dish.  Place an additional 3-4 strips going in the opposite direction.  Mist strips with olive oil.  Continue layer as such until all strips are used, misting each layer.
5. Spoon spinach mixture into center of dish and gently spread evenly across phyllo.  Fold strips over to cover all spinach.  Mist lighly with olive oil.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly brown and crispy.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.  This makes about 4 entree portions or 8 side portions.

Reheating: The microwave can make the phyllo mushy, so I recommend using a toaster oven to reheat portions.  Also, the phyllo will continue to brown on re-heating, so keep that in mind.

February Can Jam: Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon Pickle

This month, the canning gurus in the Tigress Can Jam chose carrots as our mystery ingredient.  Having just thought about jam, I wasn't so sure where I was going to take this one, and then I read further.  Carrots are prime candidates for pickles! I love pickles.  For a very long time it was just your standard kosher dills.  Then all manner of cucumber pickles.  And slowly, as I explore more foods and flavors, I will pretty much at least try anything pickled (well, vegetables anyway).

Luckily, our Tigress also pickles and was very clear (thank goodness!) about the requirements needed to can carrots.  Carrots are lovely and sweet, but this means that in order to be processed in a hot water bath, they need very specific amounts of acid.  I'm interested in completing the full year of the can jam, so, as you can imagine, I took this very seriously.

Seriously means more books! This is never a problem in my house (except for the lack of space for more books), so I would like to mention two books that are now essentials in my canning library.  The first that I checked out was The Joy of Pickling which has loads of recipes spanning the globe.   These recipes are not just for hot water bath canning and I will definitely be turning to this one a lot. 

The book that won out for this time around - Ball Complete of Home Preserving - may have edged its way into primary reference status.  The directions are clear, concise and yet detailed.  More detailed than the other books that I've looked at, and so I felt even more comfortable with the process this time around.  It was here that I found the recipe for Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon Pickle.  Yum!

This also gave me a chance to break out the mandoline that I purchased months ago, but had avoided.  The carrots and daikon radish were to be julienned before they were pickled, and I was determined.  And I was largely successful at first (beginners luck?) and then found that the slicer blade was working better than the julienne blade and so I was getting some wide carrot slices that didn't quite break out into julienne form.  A work in progress, I'm sure.

Once my vegetables were (sort of) julienned, I added vinegar (a fresh bottle of 5% white vinegar to be sure the acidity was spot on), water, sugar and grated ginger to a large sauce pan and brought the pickling liquid to a boil.  Vegetables went into the mix for one minute, and then the good stuff began!

The recipe called for an optional star anise in the bottom of each jar.  I went with it and added about 5-6 peppercorns as well.  This was my only modification since I didn't want to mess with acidity ratios.  I packed the vegetables into the jar, topped with hot pickling liquid and sealed the jars.  They were processed for 10 minutes. 

As I write this, the jars are still resting (oh sweet procrastination!) and so, like last month, I haven't yet tried my pickle out of the jar.  I will be opening a jar on Sunday, so expect a full report (and a marmalade report coming very soon also!) shortly.

Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon Pickle (adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

• 3 cups white vinegar, 5% acidity at a minimum
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 lbs carrots, julienned
• 2 lbs daikon radish, julienned
• 6 whole star anise
• about 36 black peppercorns

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids according to instructions. 
2. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar and ginger.  Heat over a medium-high flame until boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar. 
3. Add julienned vegetables and stir for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.
4. Place 1 star anise and about 6 peppercorns in each hot jar.  Pack vegetables into hot jars, leaving a good 1/2 inch head room.  Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables. Remove air bubbles with nonmetallic instrument.  Add more pickling liquid if needed to keep 1/2 inch head room.
5. Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar.  Screw band until resistance is met and continue tightening until finger-tip tight.
6. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are covered by at least 1 inch of water.  Bring to a high rolling boil and process for 10 minutes.  Remove canner lid and remove from heat.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars to cool.

Note: The book says this recipe will make 6 pint jars.  Mine worked out to be 4 pint jars with a bit leftover, but not enough for a whole jar. 

Stir It 28: Food Lovin' Fundraiser for Haiti

Friends,

I've been asked to participate in what promises to be a fun and tasty fundraising event at NYU - Stir It 28, a collection of food bloggers, local businesses and people who care coming together to raise money for two relief organizations (see press release below for more information).

To buy tickets, please go to www.flanboyanteats.com and click on the banner for the Stir It 28.  Please come! It will be a great event with a variety of treats for Chinese New Year, prizes, drinks and more!

The event is being held at the NYU School of Nutrition and Food Studies, 35 W 4th Street, 10th Floor from 4-7pm this Sunday February 21st.  Drop a comment if you have any questions.  Thanks so much!

       

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

STIR IT 28: Food Bloggers Join Forces With Share Our Strength and Yéle Haiti To Benefit Haiti Relief Effort 

Bloggers in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles mobilize the at-large culinary community to raise money for Haiti relief.

 

Atlanta, GA (February 12, 2010) - Food bloggers from coast to coast have joined forces to raise a targeted $50k to aid in the Haiti relief effort. STIR IT 28: Food Bloggers Align for Haiti Relief is a culinary event taking place simultaneously in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sunday, February 21st from 4:00pm to 7:00pm EST and 4:00pm to 7:00pm PST in Los Angeles. , One hundred percent of the proceeds from the campaign will benefit Share Our Strength and Yéle Haiti.  Participating chefs, food bloggers, restaurateurs and home cooks from each city will prepare incredible and diverse dishes and luscious cocktails for guests to enjoy.

 

As part of the campaign, donations are being accepted during the entire month of February for those who are unable to attend one of the nation-wide events.  Donations can be made via PayPal and advanced tickets to any of the 5 events can be purchased by visiting flanboyanteats.com or cococooks.blogspot.com cococooks.blogspot.com. Tickets are $30 in advance, with limited door sales in each city. 

 

"We are so grateful to Flanboyant Eats, The Duo Dishes, Coco Cooks and all those food enthusiasts, cooks, chefs and bloggers who have come together for STIR IT 28 to raise funds for Haiti Relief.  We know that long after the attention wanes and the media is no longer focused on this disaster that the people of Haiti will need food, water, medical care and supplies.  And they need to know that people care.  Thank you for caring and sharing your strength!,"  says Debbie Shore, Co-founder of Share Our Strength. 

 

Organized by food bloggers Bren Herrera, chef and author of Flanboyant Eats, Chrystal Baker of The Duo Dishes and Courtney Nzeribe of Coco Cooks, the trio lead the effort to bring increased awareness to Haiti's devastation, following the January 12th earthquake that brought down the city of Port-au-Prince.  

 

"It's a day of solidarity and a way for the culinary community to celebrate life, hope and restoration to the island through food," says Bren Herrera, a Cuban native whom is familiar with the plights of third world islands suffering from poverty and hunger.

 

The Atlanta event will be hosted by Bren Herrera in historic West End at SPACE Atlanta, with live entertainment and a DJ, two cash bars serving a signature cocktail called “Stir it Up.” Serpas True Food (GQ magazine top 10 new U.S Restaurants) is a featured participating restaurant offering Creole cuisine, among other notable restaurants and chefs. Montaluce Winery is donating wine for the event, as well. The Los Angeles event will be hosted by Chrystal Baker and held at the private home of Greg at SippitySup.com in the Hollywood Hills. Grey Goose vodka and LA brand attaché Christophe Namer partner with Natalie Bovis-Nelsen of TheLiquidMuse.com to create signature cocktails, as well as specialty sangrias from Fre Alcohol-Removed Wine and Sutter Home Wine. Chicago will be hosted by Courtney Nzeribe at Three Peas Art Lounge, while NYC will be held at the NYU Department of Nutrition & Food Studies. D.C. details to come. 

 

STIR IT 28 community sponsors include SPACE Atlanta, Montaluce Winery, The Liquid Muse, Three Peas Lounge, The People Brokers Public Relations, Word of Mouth Atlanta,  SonnyNite Audio, Party City, Graphic Mail, T-3 True Graphics, RH Media Group, Trader Joe’s and G-PAN. 

 

For more information, please visit flanboyanteats.com, cococooks.blogspot.com, theduodishes.com and the Official Facebook Event Page

 

About Share Our Strength

 Share Our Strength® is the leading national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. By weaving together a net of community groups, activists and food programs, Share Our Strength catches children at risk of hunger and ensures they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Working closely with the culinary industry, Share Our Strength creates engaging, pioneering programs like Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation®, the nation's premier culinary benefit; Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale®, a national grassroots effort; Share Our Strength's A Tasteful Pursuit®, a touring dinner series; Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out ®, a week-long program involving thousands of restaurants nationwide; and Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline®, a cooking-based nutrition education program. Visit Strength.org and learn more about our goal of ending childhood hunger in America by 2015.

 

About Yéle Haiti

Yéle Haiti is a foundation started by Grammy-Award winning musician, producer and social entrepreneur Wyclef Jean that is changing lives in this desperately poor but optimistic nation.  Through Yéle Haiti, Wyclef uses music, sports and the media to reinforce projects that are making a difference in education, health, environment and community development. In practical terms this translates to over 3,000 new jobs, close to 7,000 children being put in school, more than 8,000 people a month receiving food and approximately 2,000 young people a month learning about HIV/AIDS prevention.

                                                                                                                                                                                   ###

 MEDIA CONTACT OR PRESS INQUIRIES

Kisha Cameron | The People Broker 

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