So... since August, every foodie magazine has front covers with all kinds of fattening food & desserts. January rolls around and it's a whole new picture! Low-fat this, Diet That.... Food Blogosphere is chock full of "healthy recipes". Does that mean that now isn't the time to post my puff pastry, butter-ridden, sinfully good Christmas Evedinner recipe? Fine. I'll wait. Valentine's Day is just around the corner! Okay, I admit it-- I over-indulged with the rest of you. I've been cooking healthy! Honest! I made a gorgeous pot of vegetable minestrone soup. Did I photograph it? No! Just this weekend, I had a craving for beans. The Latina side of my genetics loves beans, just as the German side of my DNA adores potatoes. I make a pretty tasty batch of refried beans, if I do say so myself. Since I cook meatless at least once a week, I stock up on Trader Joe's black beans. We love them. My cravings were being very fussy, though-- I wanted Red Beans & Rice and had not soaked any beans overnight! No problemo! I love my Digital Pressure Cooker.
A quick soak is easy peasy to do. There's a debate, I've read, whether or not to salt beans before or after cooking them. I always salt them at the time I cook them, and it works great for me. You can easily do all of this on a stovetop. I keep preaching that, once you realize that pressure cookers do not explode (they're much fancier nowadays) you will fall in-love with pressure cooking. I promise you that! I covered the beans with water, and two teaspoons of kosher salt--closed the lid and turned the digital timer to "two minutes". A quickie lesson on pressure cooking-- once the trapped heat/steam builds up inside (because of the tight seal of the gasket and lid) the pressure cooker cooks for 2 minutes. Essentially, it took about 15 minutes for all of this to happen. I simply press the large button, to release the steam and let the beans sit for up to 1/2 hour. I drained the beans and now, it's time to get the aromatics going--
Garlic! I used two big cloves of garlic and 2 small onions, chopped. My digital pressure cooker has a "brown" feature-- love it! So I added a little olive oil, and cooked the onion until tender...then I added the garlic. Now, what kind of spices should I use? I looked at "Creole Seasoning" at the supermarket, but I didn't like the preservatives and M.S.G. in them. I figured I could make my own seasoning, since I hoard spices anyway.
So, here they are-- dried oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, Lawry's Seasoned salt, dried basil & celery salt. I liked to "bloom" my spices by cooking them for a couple of minutes. I really think it packs more flavor.
I also added about one tablespoon of tomato paste, which I cooked for 1 minute longer...
I added about a quart of water to the pot, the quick soaked beans and some smoked ham that I had diced, and two bay leaves. (Many recipes use sausage, but this ham was leaner.) I added just enough water to cover everything by no more than an inch. I turned the digital timer on to 25 minutes of pressure cooking. Stovetop, I'd guess you'd want to cook these for at least 90 minutes. So.... don't you think pressure cooking is a "microwave slow cooker"?!
More traditional pressure cookers require that you pour cold water on the lid, so that you can release the steam. My version has a button that I press. My cats scatter when I do this! (It does get a little loud.)
Done! The only thing that I wanted to adjust was the thinness of the beans. Granted, cooking beans on a stovetop for a long period of time does thicken liquid-- but that did not deter me. I thought about it, and...
Using a slotted spoon, I removed the beans from the liquid; then, I decided to drain the beans to remove all of the liquid. I whisked cornstarch and water and used it to thicken the liquid. Perfect!
Then, I returned the thickened liquid to the beans...
I tasted the beans and I did my "Happy Dance". I've been to New Orleans a few times, and I love to order red beans-- followed by beignets at the Cafe du Monde. I might not have true Southern roots, but I think I nailed it!
All I had left to do was to fluff the brown rice...
All you need is to add extra hot sauce, if you want more heat to this!
This is healthy, I tell you! All that fiber...brown rice... I ate two bowls of this, without any guilt and it really makes you feel full for a long time. ( I made sure that my husband ate two bowls so we could make music together.) Detox or toxic? Hmmm.... I guess this isn't totally "meatless", because there's ham in here. Are you ready to buy a pressure cooker? I bought this model on QVC, about ten years ago. It's made by Cook's Essentials.
I've got some great recipes to post, but they aren't exactly "diet food". I figure that the non-diet, detox recipes should be slowing down in another week or so? In the meantime, I'm making meatless dinners, more fish and cutting back on red meat-- just like most of you! How's it going?
When my brother and I were little, my father would drive us to Oxnard, California-- where his family lived. We'd pack into the back of his small Red Volkswagen Bug (we're talking in the early 60's) for the road trip. In between dad being the refereee between squabbles from the kids in the backseat, he started a tradition to ease the boredom. In the city of Buellton, California, there's a restaurant called "Andersen's Pea Soup". We'd eagerly look for the billboards that had the logo of their mascots, Happea and Pea-Wee that comes up every 100 miles, or so. Countdown... the games begin to see who will spot a bulletin board first!
The drive from Monterey, California to Oxnard took about five hours-- but to us, that felt like a week! The reward was that Dad would stop for us to enjoy a meal at the restaurant. I still remember ordering "The Traveler's Special". I always chose a bowl of pea soup, a vanilla milkshake and the onion bread. What a weird combo! When my son was little, I carried on the tradition, when we'd head south to visit Disneyland. To this day, my son and I still love pea soup.
When Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, posted her Chunky Style Pea Soup, I felt childhood memories coming back. I had to make it! I've made split pea soup before, including a crockpot recipe that's pretty good. What I liked about Deb's version, was that you needed to make a ham stock ahead of time. I also liked that she added Yukon Gold potatoes to the soup-- Yukon's are my all-time favorite potatoes. Let's begin:
I was really pleased to find these ham shanks at my "Mom and Pop" grocery store.
I was even more pleased to see how much meat I got for less than $3.00! I'm definitely going to buy another one to keep in my freezer.
I proudly wear the tiara for "Gadget Queen". I'll take it! I am particularly fond of my digital pressure cooker-- especially when I don't want to make the stock one day ahead (because I was craving the soup).
After adding 3 quarts of water, to the ham hocks (these were shanks, actually), I pressure cooked them for 30 minutes. See how easy it is to release the steam? I push the button and it's "Old Faithful"!
Perfect ham stock in 30 minutes!
I remove the ham and let is drain and put the ham stock in the refrigerator-- then into the freezer for a quick chill. That way, the fat is easier to skim off. Now, for the rest of the soup preparation...
The ham is easy to pull off the bone. I did a rough chop and set it aside.
I am a soupaholic. I haven't bought a canned soup in ages. I've learned that soups are so forgiving, in that I really don't measure that often. As long as I have a mirepoix (celery, carrot and onion), some herbs and homemade chicken stock-- I'm in business! Sometimes I chop the mirepoix by hand, but another of of my favorite gadgets, a Cuisinart Food Process does a great job!
I like to pulse/chop the carrots and celery first and then the onion (I don't want mushy onions). Easy!
Now for the peas-- I used a whole package, picked through them and washed and drained them.
I've made six quarts of homemade chicken stock just a few days earlier. I grab 3 quarts, according to Deb's recipe. The rest of the quarts are in the freezer.
In some olive oil, I begin cooking the mirepoix, then I add the garlic at the end, so it doesn't burn.
I grab some fresh thyme from my backyard, and two bay leaves. Instead of using kitchen twine, I save those wonderful bands that are used to wrap celery. Then, I add the package of split peas.
Last, I add the ham and chicken stock and let this come to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes. I didn't photograph adding the diced Yukon Gold potatoes-- I was a bit distracted at how thin my soup seemed. I double checked Deb's recipe and it was a total of six cups of stock... okay...
I send a "tweet" to Deb and mention that 6 quarts sure seems like a lot. She tweets back that, "yikes", she'd made a mistake! I need 3 quarts of stock total-- not 3 quarts of each! (Deb has, since, edited her recipe for the rest of you.) Rescue 9-1-1 is pictured above. I quickly scoop out about half of the stock and add one more bag of peas (I bought an extra one, thank goodness) into a small pot with about 1 quart of stock. On high, I cook the peas and in 30 minutes they are soft and ready to be added back into my Dutch Oven. End result-- four quarts of beautiful and chunky pea soup. I used my immersion blender, just like Deb did. I don't like my pea soup to be completely pureed-- it's purely texture. If you like it that way, go ahead!
Now that I got the texture of the soup the way I wanted it, I hesitated on adding smoked paprika (like Deb did). You see, I'm a big fan of Old Bay Seasoning. I uploaded this photo on the Old Bay Seasoning Facebook page and I won a prize! I have no idea what it is, but I'd be happy to get more of this. I use this in my egg salads and in most of my soups. This was the perfect choice to compliment this soup!
On the left is the fresh bowl of soup. The next day, I thought that the soup was even more flavorful and super thick. On Day #3-- it was gone. My son took some home with him, and he just loved it.
I give this recipe two enthusiastic thumbs up! Thanks, Deb, for the lovely recipe. I forgive you for the typo, because I've done that myself. In a way, you did a big favor for me. The stock that I scooped out became the most delicious lentil and sausage soup-- that I have, yet, to blog about! Come see what Deb's Souper Sundays has posted tomorrow, including this one. If you've recently made a soup, salad, stew or sandwich, send it off to Deb. You can be included in her weekly Sunday roundup!
As soon as I receive my prize, from Old Bay Seasoning, I'll share what I got with all of you. The recipe, with my minor adaptations is posted below. If you're receiving this via email or Feedburner, please JUMP to my blogsite to print them.
The weather in Northern California has been very strange. Today, we had temps in the high 70's and it was really muggy. Monday, we had grey skies and Tuesday we were hit by a heavy storm. Go figure.
I decided to make a Bean & Bacon Soup Recipe that I posted many months ago-- before I learned how to take better food pictures. It's amazing what a difference a macro lens can make! I also tweaked a few things, and adjusted that in the recipe a little bit.
I grabbed a bag of Great White Northern beans. Since I made the soup on a whim, I didn't pre-soak the beans overnight. I used my pressure cooker to do a quick soak, but you can also you a regular pot. I simply rinsed and sorted out the beans, put them into my pressure cooker, covered them with water and a pinch of salt and let them cook for 3 minutes (a regular pot takes about 5 minutes). I turned off the pressure cooker (mine is digital) and released the steam. In a regular pot, just turn it off and let them sit for about an hour. NOTE: I see no reason why you can't use drained and rinsed canned beans, instead.
This is a simple soup to make-- you need a mirepoix, which is a fancy word for chopped onion, celery and carrots. I actually did a rough chop and pulsed them in my food processor.
For the bacon, I removed some from the freezer and sliced them with a very sharp knife.
You want them a little crispy...like this. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Reserve some bacon fat and cook the mirepoix for 3-5 minutes, then I added one clove of garlic. I added 2 Tablespoons tomato paste (for a richer flavor; the season with about 1 Tablespoon of fresh or dried thyme (I used dried).
In a Dutch Oven -- in this case, I used my pressure cooker-- add the bacon and mirepoix.
I thawed the last of my homemade chicken stock, but you can certainly used a good quality chicken stock (Trader Joe's or Kitchen Basics are my favorite commercial brands).
Add chicken stock , beans, vegetables, one large can of diced tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and cloves, and pressure cook for 25 minutes. If using a dutch oven, simmer all the ingredients for about 1- 1/2/ hours. You could, certainly, use a slow cooker for this, too! You can mash some of the beans to make the soup thicker. I prefer to take about 2 Tablespoons of potato starch, ladle some broth in a bowl and whisk it together-- the soup should thicken nicely. The printable recipe is at the bottom of this post.
This is one of those hearty soups that men, in particular, seem to love. I think men have a "thing" about bacon...at least in my house!
I froze half the soup for one of those work nights when I'm too tired to cook. A salad and some hearty bread makes this a filling meal. It reminds me of Campbell's Soup from my childhood-- only a whole lot better!
I have been recording Melissa d'Arabian's show (Food Network) because I watched this season's "...Next Food Network Star", and she was declared the winner. We definitely enjoyed her simple perfect crispy chicken a l'orange and cripsy potatoes. This time, I decided to try her Succulent Braised Pork with Black Beans. Melissa's Show is called "$10.00 Dinners", which many viewers (including me) thinks is a very risky title. I do think that the $10.00 price tag takes into acccount that many of Melissa's choices of ingredients should be items that would be in any kind of well-stocked pantry.
I confess-- I'm one of those OCD folks who doesn't like to run out of my pantry and refrigerator staples. I do shop once a week, and I always carry a list. The only thing I needed to buy for this menu was the pork butt roast...
...that happened to be on sale for $1.69 a pound. The smallest one I could find weighted 4 pounds.
Have you ever bought tomato paste in a tube? I always keep a box (or two) on hand. It's perfect when a recipe wants 2-3 Tablespoons of tomato paste. I no longer have to open a can of tomato paste and then try to figure out what to do with the rest--though, I've read that you can freeze it. The problem with that, is I forget they're in the freezer!
The rest of the ingredients were, indeed, in my pantry and fridge-- a mire poix (carrots, onion and celery), fresh garlic, salt and pepper, beef broth (you could use chicken) and red wine. Whenever I shop at Trader Joe's, I buy red wine (for cooking) for under $5.00 a bottle. I never buy cooking wine-- it's yucy and salty. Surprisingly, some of TJ's inexpensive wines are quite good to drink with dinner. (Then again, I'm not exactly a wine somelier.) Not pictured is flour, because I was too lazy to measure it. Ha!
Melissa's recipe calls for 2 pounds of pork butt roast. Fine, I'll freeze the other half for either a BBQ pulled pork recipe or even a Mexican themed pulled pork. So that means, I had about $3.50 invested in a meal for four. Not bad!
I cut one half into six large pieces... and chop the vegetables. It's time to sear the pork in olive oil. I adore my cast-iron Dutch Oven. It's heavy, but I love the way it sears and braises.
Back in the day, when I first started cooking on my own, I could never get that beautiful golden crust when I tried to sear meat. I finally learned that you MUST have the meat dry...no moisture on it, please. I also learned to get the oil HOT... I look for a rippling in the oil and just as it's starting to smoke, throw those puppies in the oil jacuzzi. Don't crowd them, either. Fortunately, all six pieces fit in the Dutch Oven just fine.
The next thing I finally figured out, is- DON'T PLAY AROUND WITH THE MEAT for at least 3-5 minutes. Oh, look! C'mon, isn't that pretty? Can't you hear it sizzling? Sear these on each side from 3-5 minutes and remove from the pan...
... and set these aside. I had to stand back and admire my Dutch Oven's work...
It's those beautiful brown bits (fond) that is going to give the veggies a wonderful flavor and color..
...like this. I cook these for about 5-7 minutes, until softened. Ready to build up more flavor? Garlic is always a great way to start. I used to burn garlic, until I learned to add fresh garlic at the end. Burnt garlic is bitter.
Using my Zyliss garlic mincer, I add fresh garlic... then the tomatoe paste and cook that for about 3 minutes. Next, the flour is added and cooked for a couple of minutes-- to get rid of the raw flavor.
I moved the veggies aside and added 1 cup of red wine... which sounded like s-h-h-h-h. This thickened up really fast!
This really smells fabulous! Next, the beef broth is added...
...then the seared pork is placed into the sauce, along with the juices. My oven is preheated to 325F. NOTE: You could, very well, use a slower cooker (or a pressure cooker) at this point. I happened to be home all day, so I didn't mind using my oven. I added a little more water, per Melissa's instructions-- just until the liquid reached the top.
Last, but not least, I cut some of my scroungy looking Italian Parsley and added some Bay Leaves. Into the oven for about 3 hours...
Now, here's where I deviated from Melissa's entire menu. Melissa made black beans (kicked up with vinegar) and drop biscuits with green onion to go with this. I found this to be an "odd" combination. I admit, that I'm not a huge bisquit fan-- but I'm also not from the South. I nixed the biscuits, and opted to make rice, flavored with fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice.
I read the reviews on her black beans, and they were so-so. So, I went back to my fool-proof recipe for black beans that are a little spicy. I was guessing that Melissa was trying to do some sort of Cuban/Latin menu-- so I figured that cilantro and lime would tie in well.
For the beans you can soak them and cook them according to package directions. Or, you can used canned black beans (and these are always in my pantry)...
...because I think they are just as good, much easier and I pay about $1.00 a can.
Drain them, reserving about 1/4 of the liquid. Rinse them well and put into a pot.
I use about 1/4 tsp of Chipotle Chile Powder (this stuff rocks, because it has a nice smoky flavor and it packs heat)....add more, if you don't mind having your tongue on fire. I use about 1 teaspoon of cumin and some kosher salt. That's it! Heat slowly and set aside... (before serving, squeeze a little fresh lime juice, if desired).
For the rice, I cook white (or brown rice) according to package directions. When it's cooked, about the juice of 1-2 fresh lime juice and about one cup of fresh chopped cilantro.
...2 1/2 hours later, the house smelled like something really good was happening.
OMG! This is comfort food! It's time to eat, and we're hungry.
You can see the rice peeking out from underneath this tender plate of braised pork.
The beans deserve a little Lite Sour Cream...
The sauce is amazing and non-greasy. My husband is anxiously awaiting...
Mmmmmmmmm. This reminds me of Osso Bucco... only it's a lot less expensive. In fact, I do think this entire meal stayed within $10.00-- excluding my pantry items I already had on hand.
I think that the braised pork dish would pair perfectly with polenta. It would soak up the sauce (and I would double it, it's that good) and that is exactly what I will do the next time I make this-- and I shall. Craig, who is stingy with rating recipes as "five stars" gave this one two eager thumbs up!
The black beans are delicious, but I don't think I'd pair them with this with this dish, next time. I think they are polar opposites-- the pork has a Parisian Bistro theme and the beans are more Latin inspired. But, that's me... maybe you'd like to try Melissa's version of black beans and drop biscuits. You can view her entire menu here.
What really made this dinner special is that-- after my whining that I didn't want summer to end-- we got a little unexpected rain. I have to say, that the sweet sound of rain made this wonderful meal really feel like a comfort food dinner. I hope that you try this dinner and that you enjoy it as much as we did-- and we shall, again and again.
