Beans!

Hi there,

Sorry I missed you all last night.  I did make beans; I just didn't feel like writing about them when they were done.

So these were black beans from scratch.  I soaked them overnight, drained off the soaking water, and added about 8 c. of water to a pot with 2 c. of the soaked beans.  Then I put in a ham hock, brought it to a boil, and turned it down to a simmer for about 2 hours, setting the pot lid slightly ajar. If you can get it, adding a couple tablespoons of epazote spice greatly reduces some of the...er...bean side effects later.

At the end of Hour 1, I opened the pot to discover the ham hock had turned an alarming shade of blue, as if I had immersed a Smurf in the pot by accident.  At the 90- minute mark, I threw in some salt, black pepper and two bay leaves.  I hold off salt until near the end because adding it too early makes the beans tough, in some people's opinion.  By 2 hours, the ham hock was just plain black, which was a great improvement, to my way of thinking.

When the ham hock is fork-tender, the beans will be done -- but you shouldn't take my word for it -- check and make sure they're cooked through.  The bigger the beans, the longer they take.  When the hock's done, take it out.  You now have two choices.  You can shred the meat and toss it back in (which I do on the grounds I hate to waste anything).  It's up to you if you want to chop up the rind and include it as well.  But if you taste it, you'll find it's given off most of its flavor to the pot of beans, as was intended, and you can decide to throw it away.  You can serve the beans with or without the cooking liquid, too.  It's nice to sop up the broth with some garlic bread.

I hope you'll take some time to make beans from scratch.  Canned ones are fine, but it's nice to be able to control how much sodium is in there and what other flavors you want to add.  It's also much less expensive.

Until next time, I'll see you at the market!

Potato Salad 2 ways!

OK,

So here are two potato salad recipes you can modify to fit your needs.  For both, cut the potatoes into about 3/4" - 1" cubes and boil them until they are fork-tender and put into the oven at 450 degrees or on the grill for about 10-15 minutes, or until they develop some light brown spots, keeping an eye on them so they don't burn - especially if you have them on the grill.  Then, do this:

Asian Sweet Potato Salad:
I used a cup of diced raw sweet potatoes.

1 T. rice wine vinegar
3 T.  sesame oil
2 t. soy sauce
1/8 t. of Chinese 5-spice and freshly-grated ginger
1 t. sesame seeds.

You can also add in some cilantro or chopped granny smith apples.
Toss the sweet taters in the dressing.  It's best at room temperature.

Potato Salad Puttanesca.

This is  a g-rated website, so all I'll say is Puttanesca was first created by ladies, who, um, worked....late at night...helping men feel better about themselves....

Ahem.  This dish is usually done as a pasta with a tomato-based sauce and a couple of anchovies, but I wanted it to be meatless so you wouldn't have to worry about it going bad at your picnic.

3 c. cooked and roasted, fork-tender potatoes (I used baby white ones from the market, but red or yellow-skinned would work too.)
2 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
3 cloves roasted garlic
2 t. capers
red pepper flakes to taste
and you might want to add in:  some kalamata olives, some italian parsley, some arugula or asparagus...or even some chopped scallions.  

I hope you have a blessed Memorial Day.  Tomorrow I'll make some black beans as a warm side dish. Until then, I'll see you at the market!!!

Memorial Day Sides

As promised, here are the first two in a series of recipes for Memorial Day side dishes.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!  Because of the number of ingredients, I've formatted them as traditional recipes - don't let that scare you, though - you can make these!

No-cook Carrot Salad

This has a Middle-Eastern inspiration and takes only 30 minutes start to finish.  Since there's no mayonnaise in the dressing, you don't have to worry about leaving it out on the picnic table -- although chilling is always a good thing.  If you make it ahead, add the almonds and parsley right before serving.

1/2 lb. carrots, grated on the box grater - the side with the big holes.  (About 2 c.)
If you can get the beautiful multi-colored carrots (dark red to pale yellow) available in our farmers' markets right now, they make the salad really pretty!
1/2 c. finely chopped parsley
1/4 c. slivered almonds (toasted or raw - your choice)
1/3 c. golden raisins - or Sunmaid has a 3-color raisin blend that is beautiful in this dish.

Toss these together in a bowl.  Now make the dressing:

1/3 c. lemon juice (1 good-sized lemon)
2/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil (time to pull out the good stuff - see "ingredients" tab)
2 t. honey
3/4 t. cumin
1/2 t. coriander
1/2 t. paprika

Whisk together in a bowl.  I added about 1/3 c. plus 1 T. into the salad and put the rest aside for another use.  Serve immediately.  That's it.  No, really...that's it.  The recipe's over now.

Macaroni Salad
This is one of my favorite things in the world to eat. 

2 c. macaroni, cooked according to package directions.  Check them at the shorter end of the time range given; you don't want them too soft or mushy.  Rinse them with cold water and drain
1/3 c. finely chopped celery (about 1/8" pieces)
1/3 c. finely chopped onion (I used red - it looks pretty - use what you like, about 1/8" pieces)
1 hard-boiled egg, diced (about 1/8" pieces)

Now make the dressing; whisk together in a bowl:
1/2 c. mayonnaise (I use a vegan product; use what you like)
1/4 c. lowfat Greek yogurt
pinch of dried mustard powder
1/2 t. dry or 1 t. chopped fresh tarragon

Gently mix the dressing into the salad with a rubber spatula (the kind you use to scrape out a bowl).  Taste; add some salt and pepper to taste.  Chill immediately and serve cold. 

Please enjoy these dishes!  Tomorrow I'll have a roasted potato salad for you with some other goodies.  Oh, and if you've been trying to post responses and having no luck, try again - I changed some of the settings last night and you should be able to post now.

'Til tomorrow, I'll see you at the market!