Bean Bolognese

Today, I woke up feeling gross and unhealthy and just yuck! (Might have something to do with a greasy carrot cake that I created yesterday--our house has dubbed it Frankencake, but more on that in another entry). Anyway, to balance my recent spate of unhealthiness (glutting myself with snacks and salt-roasted almonds) I decided that I would at least try making something healthy for dinner. I turned to the internet and the internet provided. I present: Bean Bolognese. The original recipe is from eatingwell.com.


Prep time: 30-40 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Pasta

1 15 ounce can of beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup water + 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2 large tomatoes

Dash of cayenne pepper
Dash of curry powder

Dash of dried basil
Dash of dried rosemary

Prep:

1. Rinse, and dry the beans. Take 1/2 a cup of the beans and mash them with a small fork.

2. Quarter the onion.

3. Chop the carrots into smallish pieces.

4. Smash the garlic with the blade of a knife.

5. Quarter and chop the tomato into small pieces.

6. Measure out 1/4 cup of water and add a teaspoon of lemon juice.

Steps:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onions, carrots, and salt. Stir it about and cover. Let it cook for about 7 mins. Stir occasionally.

2. Add the garlic. Stir. Let it fry for about 15 seconds. You should also be boiling some water for your pasta. Prepare your pasta as directed on the box. I find spaghetti takes 10 mins for al dente.

3. Add the water+lemon juice to your saucepan. Turn the heat up and let most of the liquid evaporate.

4. Add the tomatoes and the mashed beans. Turn the heat to medium. Stir the mixture thoroughly. You're waiting for the tomatoes to give up their liquid and turn the whole thing into a nice thick sauce. This will take 8 to 10 mins -- maybe more. Make sure to be stirring the thing around or it might burn at the bottom.

5. Throw in a dash of cayenne and curry powder.

6. Add the remaining beans. Heat thoroughly for 3 to 4 minutes. By this time you should have a nice thickish tomato-y sauce.

7. Dash in some dried basil and some dried rosemary, stir it around and turn the heat off.

8. Serve warm, with generous portions of sauce over your pasta.

Grate fresh Parmesan for extra deliciousness.

Butternut Squash Soup

Cold weather always puts me in the mood for something warm and hearty. I came across this butternut squash soup recipe on a friend's livejournal page and decided to give it a try (it sounded absolutely delicious). I've changed the recipe somewhat to fit my needs, but here's the original link: Cluegirl's Sleepy Hollow Butternut Squash Soup.

This is all that's left of my attempt. It was absolutely delicious. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Serves: 6
Prep: 1 hour
Cook 45 mins

Ingredients:

1.5 lb butternut squash
1 medium yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
6 baby bella mushrooms
1 quart of chicken stock

olive oil
sesame oil

red cayenne pepper
ground pepper
basil

Prep:

1. Peel, de-seed, and cut the squash into small pieces. (This is the hard part and takes the longest time--it took me 40 minutes!)

2. Quarter the onion.

3. Smash the garlic with the flat blade of the knife.

Steps:

1. Heat your pot (I used a dutch oven). Use three parts olive oil to one part sesame oil. Use enough to saute onions, garlic and butternut squash. Throw in a dash of cayenne pepper.

2. Saute for 6 minutes. Add the quart of chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Let simmer and cover for 30 minutes.

3. Using a wooden spoon mash the squash against the side of the pot. If the squash gives without resistance, that's good. If not, cover and let it cook for another 10 minutes. If done, add in the mushrooms. Dash some basil in. Give it a good mix. Simmer and cover for another 15 minutes.

4. Serve! Season to taste.

Enjoy.

No-knead Bread

Bread was made in our house last weekend and it was glorious!

The recipe we used was Jim Lahey's No-knead Bread reported in The New York Times.

Makes one round loaf

Things you will need:

5 Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven with lid (or ceramic, enamel or pyrex --as long as it can stand the high heat of the oven)

3 cups all-purpose flour (+extra for dusting and whatnot)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 5/8 cup of water

1 cotton cloth (not terry)

Steps:

1. Combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add water. Use hands to mix until the dough is sticky and "shaggy". Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm room for 12 to 18 hours.

2. Look at your dough! It's like a creature. 12 to 18 hours later it should have bubbles dotting its surface. It's beautiful. Name it if you wish.

3. Flour work surface. Place dough on it. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and then fold it on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit for 15 minutes.

4. With a little bit of flour on your fingers quickly shape the dough into a ball. Coat the cotton towel generously with flour. Put your dough ball seam side down on the towel and cover loosely. Let sit for 2 hours.

5. 1.5 hours into resting, preheat your oven with your dutch oven in it at 450 F.

6. When dough is done, carefully remove pot from oven and transfer dough seam side UP into the pot. Cover and place in oven.

7. Bake for 30 minutes with lid on. Then bake 10 minutes with lid off.

ENJOY!

Variations on Banana Bread

Banana bread has become a staple in our house. But the bananas... they have become scarce.

So. I wanted to make banana bread the other day--to get rid of 2 very freckled bananas. But 2 bananas are hardly enough for a yummy, moist, and banana-y banana bread! I looked around me and my gaze landed on my month-old apples. The slightly mealy ones. Inspiration struck.

Applesauce Banana Bread

2 freckled bananas

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup home-made applesauce
1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 325 F.

1. Mash the bananas. Add the applesauce. Add the yogurt. Mix.

2. Cream the sugar and the butter.

3. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla.

4. Pour in the banana mixture. Mix well!

5. Dump the all the dry stuff in. Stir only until completely mixed.

6. Pour into 9 by 13 inch pan.

7. Bake for 30 mins.

Applesauce!

I used two Gala apples, and one local apple from some Rhode Island farm.

You will need:
Apples
Cinnamon
Rum (optional)
Wooden Spoon

1. Wash and peel the apples.

2. Cut the apples into small pieces being careful to remove all the hard bits from the core.

3. Put them in the pot! Add water so that they are just half-submerged.

4. Put on the stove and turn the heat high. Stir.

5. Stir! Add cinnamon. Add a teaspoon of rum. Keep stirring. Mash the largish pieces of apple against the side of the pot.

6. When it is desired consistency, turn the stove off.

Simple!

Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Our cast iron dutch oven finally arrived on Monday! Not in time for us to make bread (unfortunately) but in time to make stew! Real stew, not stew that was accidentally created. (In retrospect, that rice "stew" was more like risotto).

We have named our dutch oven Jebediah and his lid is Goodwife Liddy. It's all very pilgim-esque--because he looks like he's from that era. He's a beautiful boy.

Seasoning:

Although our cast iron is pre-seasoned already (that is, cured) the consensus on Amazon reviews and the internet is that another round of seasoning would be best. Since it was my first time seasoning cast iron, I was understandably nervous. Anyway, I made a few errors that, should you wish to season your own cast iron for the time, you would like to avoid.

1. I used vegetable oil. A little TOO much vegetable oil. What this created was a slight stickiness that is only slightly annoying, but you know--ew.

2. I turned the cast iron pot and the lid upside down in the oven and used a baking tray to catch the burning grease drippings at the suggestion of the instruction manual. Well. I should have lined that baking tray because burning grease? Is impossible to remove. Literally. I seasoned Jeb on Monday and that baking tray is still undergoing experimental rehabilitation--and the prognosis is not so good.

Stew:

We kind of winged it and had to rush it so it is unlikely that you will need to follow what we did to a T to get a good stew.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried Black Beans
1/2 cup dried Pinto Beans
5 or 6 baby bella mushrooms
1 small box of frozen mixed vegetables
1 large tomato
1 handful of chopped baby spinach
1 pound of beef stew cuts (defrosted!)
1 1/2 cup of chicken stock
2 1/2 cups of water

1/4 cup of flour
Dash of garlic salt
Dash of cayenne
Dash of Italian Seasoning
Dash of Oregano
Dash of ungrounded black pepper

Olive Oil

Prep:

1. Cut the tomatoes. Cut the mushroms. Easy!
2. Take out the frozen veggies and let sit on the kitchen counter top. Easy!
3. Soak the beans until their skin is weird and wrinkly! Easy.
4. Mix the flour and garlic salt, italian seasoning, and cayenne in a bowl.
5. Using a paper towel, pat dry the defrosted beef.
6. Drop the beef in the bowl and mix around, making sure that each cut is nicely coated in the flour.

(This coating will seal the flavors into the beef!--and you can use the flour later to thicken the stew)

Cooking:

1. Put your pot onto the stove and heat it.

2. Add some olive oil into the pot after it has become hot enough. Add enough to brown your beef.

3. Put the beef pieces in. Using a wooden spoon, ensure that the beef pieces are evenly browned. Mix it up! Mix mix mix. If your meat is nice and dry, they'll brown quite beautifully!

4. After the beef has browned sufficiently, add in the chicken broth and the water. Add a dash of black pepper.

5. Add the beans (drain the soaking water first!)

6. Bring to a rollicking boil. Then lower the heat so that the stew is at a slow simmer, and cover the pot for half an hour.

7. Add the vegetables! Give it a good stir. Bring back to a boil. Simmer and cover for another 20 mins. It's at the point where you can add more flour to thicken your stew if you think it's too watery.

8. Turn the fire off and serve!

--

You will be amazed at how tender the beef has become! Onions and garlic would have been a great addition but we were completely and totally out. Oh well. Potatoes too.

Rice Stew--a food miracle

Rice Stew! I inadvertently made rice stew today and even though I bumbled through it (thinking I was making wild rice soup) it turned out better than I ever thought possible!

This stew is also called Leftover Surprise Stew!

Right.

Serves: 2 (but you can multiply the ingredients to make more)

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins


Ingredients:
Vegetable oil
Chicken stock
Milk

Five fresh mushrooms
1/2 red onion
2 medium cloves of garlic
1 medium sized potato
1/4 cup of "mysterious mushroom soup" (more on this later)
1 slice of honey-roasted ham (you can use other deli meats, I'm sure!)
3/4 cup of cooked leftover brown rice

a generous amount of dried basil
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of black pepper

Prep:
1. Wash and peel the potato.

2. Put the potato in the microwave and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 5 minutes. When done, take out and let cool. When you can hold the potato without burning yourself or your fingers, cut it up into pieces (size is up to you).

3. Quarter the onions. Smash the garlic with the flat blade of the knife.

4. Wash and slice the mushrooms.

5. Slice the ham into strips.

Steps:

1. In a medium-sized pot, pour in the vegetable oil. I accidentally added too much, but I think in this case you might prefer to err on the side of excess. Let the oil heat up. Heat should be medium.

2. Add the onions and the garlic. We are aiming to "brown" or "caramelize" the onions and garlic, so use low heat and keep them stirring. Be patient! The onions should start to lose their red pigment and become a faint purple.

3. Put the potato pieces in. Stir. Leave the heat on low. Stir for about 3 mins.

4. Dump the brown rice in. Stir the mixture up! Turn the heat up to medium. Add a dash of red cayenne pepper and ground pepper. Then, add more basil than you think you might want.

5. Put in the ham. Mix around. Leave the heat on medium-low. Let the ham's juices flow! Around 3 mins.

6. Now, add the "mushroom soup". Stir it up! Let it simmer for a bit.

7. Splash in some chicken broth. I wasn't measuring, but I would guess about 1/4 cup of chicken broth went in the mix. Stir it up.

8. Get your milk and splash in about a tablespoon. No need to be too precise.

9. Stir.

10. Hey remember your mushrooms? You've forgotten about them, but that's okay. Grab them and put them in. Now you've got to wait for them to let out their juices. Don't worry, just keep stirring. The heat should be on medium.

11. After about 7 mins, or until you think the mushrooms are done enough, turn the heat off and serve.


Enjoy!

Oh about the mushroom soup, my dear friend made home made mushroom soup and there were leftovers. That was the mushroom soup I used. That recipe soon to come! In the meantime, you could use campbell's mushroom soup and dilute about 2 tablespoons of it so that it comes up to about 1/4 cup.

Bread!

It's been rainy and gloomy all day but something exciting is going to happen today! My cast iron dutch oven by Logic will be arriving in the mail--which means that baking bread is within sight.

I am going to try the NYtimes N0-knead bread recipe this weekend and let you know how it goes. It's pretty exciting.

Also, I baked another batch of the banana bread yesterday, but instead of using plain yoghurt, I used strawberry yoghurt. It turned out quite delicious! It was less sweet too, because the bananas I used were not quite as ripe.