January 2013 - Its Not Easy Eating Green

Chili Tamale Pie

January 30, 2013 - 7:14 am | Breads and Doughs, Gluten-Free, Grains, kid-friendly, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Southern, Tex-Mex, Uncategorized

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Tuesday was the last night in a week long freeze that had the whole family (and much of the Northeast) cooped up in the house. It’s too cold to play outside and too cold to take the twins out at all. The one time I did venture out for anything more than a grocery run or a trip to Ama and Papa’s house was a disaster. That’s when I discovered the hard way that it was so cold that even the baby wipes I keep in the car were frozen. Trust me when I say that you are very happy you were not with us at that moment.

When it’s this cold we all crave comfort food. To me comfort food equals casseroles. My love for casseroles has many reasons. I love that the effort in making them is front loaded so that you have time to clean up the kitchen while the casserole bakes, and I love that you can easily hide lots of veggies in them which makes them kid-friendly as well as mom-friendly. But I mostly love casseroles because they are warm and comforting; that’s a good thing when you are as cold as a penguin with male-pattern baldness.

Of course, I also love casseroles because many of them fall into the category of “retro” food. Most of us grew up familiar with all sorts of casseroles, and many of us have had more than our fare share of bad casseroles. Very few things are as bad as a casserole thrown together with canned soup, frozen overcooked veggies and huge tough boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I don’t think that casseroles deserve their lazy housewife image. Many good casseroles take lots of attention, skill and quality ingredients to turn out just right. Cassoulet is certainly not a simple weeknight meal, and even a good macaroni and cheese requires that the cook know just the right blend of cheeses, milk, pasta and other ingredients to provide a finished product bursting with the right blend of cheese and creaminess.

This casserole checks all my boxes. It’s warm, I’ve hidden in a decent amount of veggies, it’s full of cheese, chili and yummy cornbread. It’s my take on the classic Tex-Mex casserole; tamale pie.

Tamale pie recipes vary all over the place. They are in theory a meat filling with a cornbread topping. Unlike last week’s recipe, I’m not terribly concerned with being authentic here. I just like something that tastes good, stretches the chili out across more meals and warms me up.

This basic recipe is wonderful just as is it, but it’s also has all sorts of potential for adding new things to it. If you really want to warm up, switch out the peppers for hotter ones: use pasillas, a serrano or even a little chipotles for a smokey flavor. Adding beans to the chili here would not be frowned on, and you could chop up any sort of veggie you want it. You can do what you want with this casserole, but I’m a big fan of simple. It’s cheesy, it’s warm, it’s good. So, enjoy!

Beef Chili Tamale Pie
serves 6
This is a simple casserole which combines the classic flavors of chili, cheese and cornbread. Because it is easily warmed up in the microwave, it can be made ahead of time.

Cornbread Topping:
1 cup corn meal
1-1 pound package frozen corn, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon drippings
1 tablespoon sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 oz Co-Jack, Monterrey Jack or Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided in three parts
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Vegetable and Chili Sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 poblano or pasilla pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups Texas Beef Chili without beans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron pan over medium heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the peppers, onion, tomatoes and salt and cook until all the vegetables are very soft and beginning to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking pulse the corn in a food processor several times until it is chopped, but not pureed.

In a bowl, combine the corn meal, sugar, garlic, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. In another bowl combine the corn, buttermilk, garlic, eggs and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in 1/3 of the cheese.

Use a blender or food processor to blend the vegetables up into a smooth paste.

Return to skillet and add chili. Bring mixture up to a simmer then remove from the heat.

Spread 1/3 of the shredded cheese over the chili.

Then evenly spread the cornbread batter over the top.

Mix the chili powder with the last 1/3 of the shredded cheese and sprinkle over the top of the cornbread batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the casserole is evenly brown and the center of the casserole springs back when lightly touched.

Texas Chili Means NO BEANS

January 23, 2013 - 5:00 am | Autumn, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Sauces/Condiments, Sides, Soup, Tex-Mex, Winter

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Real Texas chili is good by itself or on almost anything–like enchiladas

Chili is a highly personal food. Much like the variety of preferences in Thanksgiving stuffing, every Texan has their own idea of what makes Texas chili authentic. They agree on almost nothing: ground beef or cubed, spicy or mild, tomato or no tomato, beer or no beer, and especially the chilies. Two or three Shiner Bocks into any night in Texas, and you might find yourself in a heated debate on what makes it real Texas Red. Texans agree on only one thing about their chili–NO BEANS!

I can’t possibly discuss chili without telling you about Robb Walsh’s The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos published by Ten Speed Press. This book is a goldmine of information on the history of Tex-Mex cuisine. There is a whole chapter dedicated to chili, and no less than nine historical recipes for the real stuff. Each recipe is decidedly different which proves that a single recipe for real Texas chili is more of a myth and a taste memory than something that exists. In it’s simplest form, chili con carne is a beef stew made from cubed beef or ground beef which is cooked with chilies and cumin. From there on the gloves come off and the differences come out.

There are only about three rules to making real Texas Red, and except the no-beans rule, even these are not set in stone. First rule: no beans (have I mentioned that yet?). Second, use lots of cumin; how much is up for debate, but it better be in there. Third, use more than one type of chili. Ideally these should be real dried chilies, not chili powder. The third one is the one that catches me up because I don’t have any whole dried chilies. They are pretty expensive around here, and I just don’t need them very often. I should probably keep a stock of Ancho chilies around since they are mild and can be used in almost anything, but I don’t. I have twins (my current excuse for anything I’m just too lazy to deal with).

There are other rules that are up for debate. While many people say that real Texas chili is tomato free, most of the chili I had in Texas did, in fact, contain tomatoes. However, they aren’t necessary, and I like the rich, almost chocolaty flavor that a tomato-less chili offers. Another rule that sparks heated chili debates is whether the chili should be made with ground beef or cubed beef. I like both. Ground beef is most common, even in Texas, but there’s something special about a chili made with chunks of chuck that are cooked till super tender then “shredded” into a bowl of falling apart, chili heaven.

Anyone not from Texas is sure to think the whole no-beans thing is a bit silly and not really that important, but its oh-so-important to us. So why no beans? Robb Walsh provides the best answer:

“In most of the rest of the country, chili has one purpose – it is a hearty one-dish meal. But in Texas, chili has a wide variety of uses. It can be used straight or diluted as a sauce. It’s a popular topping for tamales, to make it into a meal, you combine it with beans, tamales, tortillas, enchiladas, scrambled eggs, or any number of other things. Texans don’t have anything against eating beans with their chili. They just have a lot of other ways to eat it.”

He’s right on too. Growing up in Texas, chili was on top of everything. The snack-bar at my high-school served chili (and neon-orange cheese goo) on top of nachos, burritos, french fries and even baked potatoes (I’m probably forgetting something). Restaurants topped enchiladas, burritos and chimichangas with chili (oh, I miss you Chuy’s). Even the IHOP where I waited tables served chili topped omelets. Chili is to Tex-Mex what Parmesan cheese is to Italian-American food; its on top of everything.

My chili recipe is a blend of several recipes from The Tex-Mex Cookbook, as well as a few of my own touches. It’s true Texas Red flavor, made more accessible for my Yankee family kitchen. I’ve found that using a blend of Ancho chili powder and hot paprika offers an authentic flavor, yet with a still manageable heat level. Paprika is anything but a dominant ingredient in most Texas chili, but the flavor is rich and full bodied and the heat is just on the cool side of hot. If you want something even milder, then you can substitute out the hot paprika for sweet paprika. If you want something hotter change out the hot paprika for Arbol or Chipotle chili peppers. Whatever you use, you will like the result. This recipe is simple: nothing too fancy or complex, but it’s true Texas flavor and NO BEANS! Enjoy!

Chili Con Carne (Texas Red)
Makes about 6 cups

This is a milder version of an authentic style Texas chili. Containing no tomatoes, it’s a versatile sauce that can top anything from Fritos to cheese enchiladas, or it can be served up in a bowl with a sprinkle of onion and and handful of shredded cheese on top.

2 pounds stew meat cubed into 1/2 inch pieces and dried of any moisture (preferably chuck)
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ground Ancho chili
2 tablespoon hot paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican if possible)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons corn flour (masa harina)

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the beef and cook until any liquid has evaporated and the meat is browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Add the onion and continue to cook until the onion is tender and starting to brown, about another 5 minutes.

Add the chili powders, cumin, black pepper and salt. Stir until all the meat is covered in the spices and continue to cook for another minute.

Add the bay leaves, oregano and broth. Stir to mix everything together. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until the meat is very tender and beginning to fall apart, about 1 1/2 hour.

Using a potato masher or the back of a large spoon, break the meat up until most of it has fallen apart but there are a few chunks still visible.

In a small bowl combine corn flour with 1/4 cup of cold water and stir until a thin paste forms. Pour the paste into the chili and stir until the corn flour mixture dissolves into the chili.

Return to a simmer long enough for the corn flour to cook, about 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve with chopped onion and cheese, or over enchiladas, corn chips, burritos or whatever you want!

If you’re interested in Robb’s book, here’s a link to it…

Vegetarian Boston-Style Baked Beans

January 16, 2013 - 5:00 am | Beans, kid-friendly, Local, Main Dish, Meatless Meals, Recipe, Retro Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

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This past week marked the anniversary of a truly terrible and bizarre piece of Boston history; the great molasses flood of 1919 when a tsunami of molasses covered two blocks of Boston’s North End with a 15 foot wave of hot, sticky molasses. If you take a look at these pictures from the Boston Globe you’ll see the absolute devastation that the molasses flood brought to the densely packed neighborhood. Boston was the center of the molasses universe in those days as the area was home to many rum distilleries. Because of its abundance, molasses also was a key ingredient in local cuisine.

Molasses was the main sweetener for early settlers too. American style baked beans were introduced to the Pilgrims by local Indian tribes. While the Indian tribes used maple syrup and, the Pilgrims used molasses that was readily available and familiar because it was imported to Europe from the West Indies. The early settlers used molasses to sweeten everything from bread to beans to desserts such as Indian Pudding. While many Americans are not familiar with Boston Brown Bread and Indian Pudding, almost everyone is familiar with baked beans. While even today in northern New England they still use maple syrup, using molasses to sweeten the beans turns plain baked beans into Boston Baked Beans. It’s no surprise that the combination of beans and molasses became so popular that it earned Boston the name “Beantown”.

Traditional Yankee cuisine is still available here, although it’s a little harder to find than it used to be. Baked beans and brown bread were the traditional Sunday meal for much of New England for hundreds of years because it can be made ahead of time and kept warm; so locals could observe their religious rules of not cooking on the Sabbath. Now, there are restaurants that still serve traditional baked beans, but they are more of a novelty than a sought-after dish, except maybe by tourists. The real exception to this is Durgin Park – a touristy, yet all the same historical restaurant that still serves traditional Yankee fare. Here you can still get Yankee pot roast, baked beans, brown bread, Indian Pudding and cracker crumb cod. I worked right next to Durgin Park for several years, and it is where I was first introduced to Yankee cooking.

Whenever I want to tackle a traditional dish I’m torn between modernizing it or embracing the traditional recipe. Never has this been more so than with baked beans. Living in New England I feel obliged to make such a traditional dish the way it was intended: the way I first encountered it at Durgin Park fifteen years ago. But, that’s just foolish, because I want to make them vegetarian; that’s not the way they were intended. So, with this recipe I’ve thrown out the rule book and instead embraced the spirit of the original recipe. This is still a hearty winter dish full of rich sweet flavors, but I’ve replaced the fatty pork belly with a hearty dose of veggies. Not really an even trade is it? All the same, this is still a full meal, especially when paired with a slice of the heavy and hearty classic brown bread.

The brown bread is another traditional recipe. For this one I have adapted several very old recipes which I found in a few ancient cookbooks I have around. They all have variations of the same recipe. Most of them call for equal parts of rye and graham flour and corn meal. All of them call for sour milk and baking soda. I noticed that most new recipes for brown bread use whole wheat flour, white flour and corn meal, not rye flour, but why add white flour to a recipe that traditionally calls for something much healthier? The quick bread is sweetened with molasses and steamed – always. I use a Bundt pan (or you can use a tube pan) placed in a dutch oven for steaming instead of the traditional can, but the finished product is still hearty, sweet and the perfect accompaniment for the beans. It’s even better toasted with butter and jam the following morning. Enjoy!

Baked Beans
Serves 8
These beans re-heat beautifully in the microwave. Just add a half cup of water, cover and cook for 10 minutes on 50% power, stirring once half-way through the cooking time.

2 cups great northern or navy beans soaked overnight
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped fine
4 cups water, divided
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until it begins to simmer then add the onions, celery, carrots and apple. Cook until the onions are translucent, about five minutes. While the vegetables are cooking combine the molasses, brown sugar, tomato paste, cloves, bay leaf, mustard powder, whole-grain mustard and vinegar in a small bowl. Add the molasses mixture once the vegetables are soft. Add two cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil.

Place the soaked beans in a large oven-safe dish. Pour the vegetable and molasses mixture over the beans and seal tightly with a piece of foil. Put the baking dish on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours.

When 2 hours have passed, remove the pan from the oven and stir the beans. Add the salt dissolved in another cup of water. Recover the beans with foil and return to the oven. Check once an hour stirring the beans and adding more water as needed. The finished beans should be a rich brownish-red in color and very tender. The total cooking time will vary depending on the type of bean you use; about 4 hours for navy beans and 6 hours for the larger great northern bean.

Steamed Boston Brown Bread
Makes 1 large tube pan loaf, about 30 slices
This is essentially a graham flour bread that is leavened with baking soda instead of yeast. Most of us don’t have a steamed pudding pan hanging around, and I don’t even have a 1 pound coffee can. So, this recipe is adapted to use a large dutch oven and a standard metal loaf or Bundt pan. This means that it produces a much larger than normal loaf. If you’re not that into brown bread, you can half this recipe and steam it in a 1 pound coffee can (oh, and the cans really don’t hold one pound of coffee anymore, but people still refer to them as such). Do not use a glass loaf pan for this as it could shatter when steamed on the stove.

2 cup rye flour
2 cup graham flour
2 cup corn meal
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup molasses
3 cups buttermilk

Grease a 12-cup tube pan or Bundt pan and set aside. Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a large dutch oven set over medium-high heat. While the water boils, combine the flours, salt and baking powder. In another bowl combine the molasses and buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape the batter into the loaf or Bundt pan and lower the pan down into the boiling water. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the bread until it is firm to the touch, about two hours.

When the bread has finished steaming use a pair of tongs inserted into the center of the tube to raise the pan out of the pot of water. You can use a paper towel to soak up any water or moisture that has collected around the edges of the bread. Heat an oven to 325 degrees. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes to dry out the edges of the bread and prevent the bread from becoming sticky. When the bread is done, remove and cool for ten minute before turning the bread out onto a wire rack. Serve immediately warm or toasted the following day. Can be kept covered for three days or frozen for two months.

Bean and Sausage Stew

January 9, 2013 - 10:18 pm | Beans, Green, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Soup, Vegetables, Winter

A Month of Legumes, Week 2: Chickpea Fries

January 2, 2013 - 7:08 am | Beans, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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With all the celebrating last week, I forgot to mention that I’m making good on a year old promise. Some of you may remember that last year I planned to do a series of recipes using the best winter staple: beans, or more particularly legumes. Of course last year I was severely lacking the energy to get up from the couch, much less do a series of posts on anything. So, last week’s Hoppin’ John Cakes was the first of these recipes and today’s post is edition number two. Never fear, these recipes aren’t the beans you fear. These recipes showcase how versatile legumes really are. From black-eyed peas to chickpea flour, I’ll show that the star of winter cooking is not really a food to fear but one that is your best weapon against the mid-winter lack of produce blues.

There’s a store down the street from me that sells an almost complete line of Bob’s Red Mill products. I love to go in and buy bags of things I’ve never seen anywhere else, or things that just look interesting. This is how I’ve come across coconut flour and the 13 bean mix that I love so dearly in winter for soup. It’s also how I came to discover chickpea flour. What’s not to like now that one of my favorite beans is in flour form, and I can do so much more with it.

First I tried adding a bit of it to pancakes. Don’t try chickpea pancakes; take my word on that one. After that disaster, I decided to see what other people were making with it. Time after time, I ran into people making chickpea fries, but they were all deep fried. We’re not really frying in the house these days, so I wanted to come up with a recipe that would bake well. Turns out, that’s easy because they just bake up beautifully. I boosted the flavor level from the recipes I saw by adding a little garlic and oregano to my chickpea mix before firming it up. The finished product is crispy on the outside and soft and only slightly beany on the inside. Served with tzatziki, like this delicious recipe from David Lebovitz, these fries will be a huge hit whenever you serve them. Who knows, you may even fool the kids with these. Enjoy!

Baked Chickpea Fries
serves 8
This recipe can easily be doubled or halved for a large or small crowd. If you have a convection oven, bake these at 400 for an even crispier outside.

2 cups chickpea flour
4 cups water
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt for seasoning

Prepare a loaf pan by lining with parchment or waxed paper to create a sling for the chickpea mush. Spray with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Heat water in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan until boiling; add salt. When water comes to a rolling boil whisk chickpea flour into water in a slow steady stream. Continue to whisk until almost no lumps remain, but if there are small lumps then that’s okay. Stir in pepper, garlic and oregano. Cook for an additional minute stirring continuously. Remove from heat and pour into the prepared loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool. Refrigerate until cold, about two hours.