Heart Sisters' Garden Black Bean Soup

Okay, please ignore the fact that I have been incognito for, er, a long time.

Some interesting developments: Mr. Heart and I have been tending our very own little garden this summer which has involved harvesting a large number of scallions and salad greens which have been wonderful! I also have five or six pots of herbs which has been a thrill too--I can just lean out the back door and snip off a bit of greek oregano (which is growing like crazy) or fresh basil or thyme. Hopefully August will turn some of the small green tomatoes we see peeking out into fresh, lucious fruit. Alas, our pepper plants seem to be very unhappy with all this rain and the cool temperature. I should have known. Sister Heart warned me.

She should know because she's been working on a farm this summer! Ah, the way sisters' lives orbit one another and weave together. So she has been a bounty of first hand knowledge (and produce!) Because of her Mr. Heart and I have resolved to plant english peas next summer. The ones she shared with us were like candy. There's nothing like having so many delicious fresh veggies at hand. I've been doing my best to hit up the small farmer's market near my office every Thursday, and the bigger one downtown when I have time.

I want to get the recipe down on paper because I got it from Sister Heart (!) and she inspired me to make it the very same day. These are more like a set of guidelines really, because you can put whatever you have on hand straight in. I've included my contributions and Sister Heart's so that you can get a sense of the variety (and health benefits!). This makes 4-5 "cup" size servings and maybe 2 -3 "bowl" size servings. Pictures will come later!

Heart Sisters' Garden Black Bean Soup

1/2 lb dry black beans, rinsed and sorted
2 cans of vegetable broth + 2 cups water (I used canned broth, Sissie used the water from blanching 864168161 lbs of peas)
1 white onion, minced
1 tomato, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
2 scallions, chopped
1 clove of garlic or garlic scape minced
1 1/2 tsp sea salt (this is an estimate... put in as much as you like!)
1/2 tsp cumin (ditto)
1/2 tsp black pepper (ditto)
1/2 TBS fresh chives
1/2 TBS fresh thyme
1/2 TBS fresh oregano
1 TBS olive oil

Sister Heart's version also included:
fresh parsley
carrots
kohlrabi greens
radish greens
purslane (has 5 times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids as spinach)
wood sorrel (has lots of medicinal properties)

The latter two are edible weeds!

Optional Toppings
1 lime, juiced
greek yogurt or sour cream
grated cheddar cheese

1) Bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil in a dutch oven or large heavy bottomed pot. Add the beans and half the onion and half the salt. Bring back to almost a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and mostly cover. Simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender but not split!
2) Meanwhile, in a non-stick skillet, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add remaining onion, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, any greens, salt, cumin, and black pepper. Sauté until the tomatoes have fallen apart and the rest of the vegetables are tender. Add scallions and fresh herbs. Toss to combine and remove from heat until the beans are done.
3) Once the beans are tender, add the sautéed vegetables to the beans. Turn heat up to medium and heat to incorporate flavors and cook off some of the liquid. Season to taste.
**At this point I also went at it with my handy-dandy immersion blender to make it a little smoother. Cook's Illustrated recommends using a potato masher to achieve the same effect. I'm pretty sure Sister Heart left her's au naturel.
4) If serving immediately, stir in lime juice. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and a TBS of grated cheese. Goes great with quesadillas!

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Otherwise, freeze in handy single serving portions for those nights you don't feel like cooking or need a heartening pick-me up meal.

Minestrone

As mentioned in the previous pumpkin post, I made a big batch of chili and an even bigger batch of minestrone to feed the hungry pumpkin carvers and satisfy both the carnivores and herbivores at my table.

I've only made this minestrone soup once before for a college potluck and I don't know why I didn't revisit it sooner, as it is super tasty and perfect in these chill November evenings. Canned tomatoes, dried herbs, vegetable broth, a couple of potatoes, orzo, all affordable and easy to work with ingredients that result in a wonderfully full-bodied vegetarian soup.

Minestrone
adapted from a recipe found on the internet many many moons ago. thank you internet!
Serves 4 -5

1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, diced (I omitted this)
1 teaspoon olive oil
cornstarch
14oz can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1⁄2 teaspoons dried basil
pinch dried rosemary
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
6oz diced mixed root veggies (I used potatoes and carrots)
3 cups vegetable stock
1 1⁄2 oz tiny pasta shapes (I used orzo in this batch, but used ditalini in the past)
2oz cooked chickpeas (canned is fine)

1) Put the onion, garlic and celery in a pan with the olive oil and sauté for about 5 minutes.
2) Add a little cornstarch, stir and cook for a minute or two.
3) Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, root vegetables, water and stock.
4) Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.
5) Season to taste, add the pasta and chick peas and simmer until pasta is tender, about 8 - 10 minutes more.
6) Add a little water if the soup is too thick. Serve hot.

Pumpkin (Pie) Party!

So let's travel back in time a bit to a week before Halloween, when Sister Heart and her roomies came over for a pumpkin carving party! When Sister Heart and I initially discussed this, she said "We can carve pumpkins and bake pumpkin things!"
"Like what?" says I, "I have never baked with pumpkin."
"Erm, I don't know," she says, "Pumpkin... pumpkin?"

I don't think you can get more pumpkin pumpkin than pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin puree. Having never even tasted pumpkin pie before, not to mention never having baked with pumpkin, and my constant reminder to you all that I am kind of scared of baking, I was somewhat apprehensive, but this turned out AMAZING. Even after being stuffed from eating chili and minestrone, we managed to fit large slices of this pie (and heaping spoonfuls of fresh whipped cream) into that second belly that we all have that is reserved for dessert.

Note: The pumpkin purée does take about an hour and a half to prepare, so I just did this earlier in the day and then refrigerated the purée until we baked the pie after dinner. It made a bit more than I needed, so my pie was almost over flowing, but it was delicious anyway. I also used store bought pie dough (I feel no shame) but I would encourage you to use your own homemade variety, if you are so inclined. I bet you could easily get away with subsituting canned pumpkin in this pie as well.



Pumpkin Pie
from The Joy of Cooking with slight mods.
1 9" pie

1 unbaked pie dough (I used Pillsbury)
2 large eggs
2 cups cooked pumpkin purée (see recipe below)
1 1/2 heavy cream or evaporated milk (I used a can of evaporated milk and the rest in cream)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt

1) Position rack in center of the oven. Preheat to 425ºF.
2) Building up a fluted rim, line a 9-inch pie pan with the pie dough.
3) In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk thoroughly.
4) Warm the pie dough in the oven until hot to the touch, leaving the filling at room temperature. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the crust and bake 35 -45 minutes, until firm. Cool complete on a rac. Pie can be refridgerated up to 1 day. Serve cold or at room temperature with fresh whipped cream.

Pumpkin Purée
from The Joy of Cooking
a little over 2 cups

1 small sugar pumpkin, ~ 3lbs

1) Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2) Wash and split the pumpkin into quarters with a cleaver or heavy knife. Cut out steam and scrape out stringy pulp and seeds. Cut each quarter down into 4-inch pieces.
3) Place pumpkin rind side down on an oiled cookie sheet and cover tightly with foil. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours until very soft.
4) Remove from oven and allow to cool until cool enough to handle. Scrape flesh free of the rind and purée in a food processor.
**Note: If the purée seems too loose and wet, you can allow it to strain through a cheesecloth for 30 -60 minutes. I didn't need to do this.

Corn Muffins

Last fall, at the my place of employment (which shall herein be known as The Workplace), I initiated something I like to call Taste of The Workplace. It's an opportunity for anyone who wants to to bring in a tasty dish or baked good to share with others, potluck style. It is also combined with a food drive and recipe swap. What a great way to get all the coworkers sitting down to eat and chat together and spread good will at the same time!

In the past I have done spinach and artichoke dip and apple bread (two recipes which I am shocked to discover I have yet to share with you all... I will remedy that eventually). I tend to shy away from desserts because I get the sense that people often bring desserts to these things, since tasty baked sweets lend themselves to this style of potluck better. So I decided on corn muffins which can be sweet (I served them up with butter and Trappist strawberry jam) or savory (there was supposed to be chili at the event, which would have been the perfect duo, but alas, that fell through). They seemed to be a big hit.

I'll admit that despite starting this tradition, I don't feel like appetizers/baked goods/side dishes/snacks are really my forte, so I am never completely satisfied with my contributions to these events. I'll have to leave my thinking cap on.

The honey addition to these was inspired by this fabulous corn bread we would get at a restaurant called Red Star in Pittsburgh. They'd bring the cornbread out to you in a hot cast-iron skillet. It would be topped with a crisp sugar-honey crust and was generally moist and delicious. That is what I think corn bread/muffins should be like. Did these live up to the memory? Not quite, but they were still very tasty. Alas, I think Red Star has since updated their menu and the corn bread has disappeared. Let us have a moment of silence and a corn muffin in it's memory.

Corn Muffins
from The New Best Recipe
Makes 12 muffins

2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fine stone-ground, yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
8 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
honey (my addition!)

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2) Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl to combine; set aside.
3) Whisk eggs in a second medium bowl until well combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar to eggs; whisk vigorously until thick and homogeneous, about 30 seconds; add melted butter in 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition.
4) Add half the sour cream and half the milk and whisk to combine; whisk in remaining sour cream and milk until combined.
5) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix gently with a rubber spatula until batter is just combined and evenly moistened. Do not over mix! Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among muffin cups, dropping it to form mounds (do not level or flatten surface of mounds).
5) Bake until muffins are light golden brown and a skewer inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 18 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Remove muffins from oven. While still warm, drizzle about a teaspoon of honey over each muffin. Cool muffins in tin 5 minutes; cool 5 minutes longer on a cookie rack, then serve warm.

Homemade Fettucini with Pesto, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Balsamic Chicken

I had a day off from work last week and felt compelled to use my time towards culinary purposes. I had hoped to mimic a wonderful recipe from my friend Bobicus, which is deliciously entitled "Angel Hair with Grilled Chicken and Macadamia-Arugula Pesto" and which fails to mention that it also contains mango. But this is me we're talking about. There was no arugula in the grocery store, and when it came down to a tiny bottle of Macadamia nuts versus a large bag of walnuts for half the price, you know which I went for. I did try getting a mango. But apparently I don't know how to tell if a mango is ripe. Because when I sliced it open it was a hard, unappetizing white and I mourned the loss of such a wonderful fruit. Le sigh.

So I dug up this recipe for homemade pasta and this recipe for homemade pesto sans lemon juice and went to work. I tossed some chicken in a pan with a bit of salt, pepper, and brown sugar, then let it simmer in white balsamic vinegar. On a whim, I added sundried tomatoes at the end. And it was kind of all of alot of delicious.



Homemade Fettucini with Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes, and Balsamic Chicken
Serves 2

1/2 batch of fresh fettucini
1/2 batch of fresh pesto (or your favorite jarred pesto), about 1/4 of a cup
1 TBS olive oil
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp brown sugar
2 TBS white balsamic vinegar (red would work too)
1 1/2 TBS sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and minced.

1) Fill a large pot half way with water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2) While water is coming to a boil, heat olive oil in a medium sized non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add chicken, salt and pepper, and sprinkle brown sugar over top. Sauté chicken until starting to brown, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Add vinegar and turn heat down to low. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes, until liquid in pan has thickened and reduced.
3) Once water is boiling, add fettucini. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until tender. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Transfer fettucini back to warm pot.
4) Put pesto in a small bowl. Add 2 TBS of reserved cooking liquid and stir until creamy. Add more liquid if necessary. Add pesto to the pasta and stir until thoroughly coated. (I didn't add quite all the pesto, I had a couple TBS left over).
5) Add chicken and sun-dried tomatoes to the pasta and toss. Serve with crusty italian bread!

Challah

And I'm back! With what the nerd and me can only term a "flurry of blows." Meaning I will probably follow my usual M.O. of posting many tasty recipes all in a row and then going off into hiding.

But what a recipe to come back into action with! Yes, ladies and gentleman, I, the professed "non-baker" have, in fact, baked bread. Not just any bread, but the delicious challah bread of Jewish fame. My cousin asked me to bring a challah to their break fast post-Yom Kippur, and not knowing where to buy a challah in my new neighborhood, decided to bake one.

Yes, I'm a little crazy. Please don't call the men in the white coats. Unless they are professional chefs, come to whisk me away to a glorious fantasy cooking land. Then please. Give them my number, even.

But believe it or not, I did bake a challah and it didn't suck! In fact, my family was very much impressed an my mother was totally shocked. "I would never bake a challah," she said, "Good for you."

Not that it's hard or rocket science. Well, baking is a bit like rocket science to me. I am very interested in rocket science, but the math/physics of it are completely beyond me. Same with baking. No matter what I read or watch about baking, I am still in the dark about how adding eggs HERE instead of HERE will make something tough or runny or fluffy. Or how too much liquid/flour/mojo can make something rise or fall or have a "nice crumb."

So when I misread The New Best Recipe's directions and began to add an extra quarter cup of flour, even though the dough didn't need it, so I then began to add tablespoons of water to get it to stick together again, I was fearful. I was also afraid that our yeast was not going to be fast rising enough, as the date on it was from July. However! I Persevered. And baked a very challah-looking and tasting-challah. I think the crust was a little tough (perhaps due to the extra flour/water mishap?) and the first bout of rising didn't result in much, er, rising, but when I left it out the next day, it just about tripled in size.

I did all the work the night before, then fridged it overnight, and took it out the next morning to rise some more and come to room temperature. I did this, knowing I was coming home early from work. I'm not sure if you are really supposed to leave it out for a WHOLE day, but according to Smitten Kitchen, if you fridge it you should leave it out for 5 hours to come to room temp so I did.

It was tasty! I made mine in a round shape for the Jewish New Year and we ate it with honey. Mmm.

Challah
Makes 1 large loaf
from The New Best Recipe with mods.

3-3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (I think I actually used regular all-purpose and it came out fine)
1 envelope instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg seperated (reserve white for eggwash)
4 TBS unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 1 TBS water, room temp

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, mix together the 2 eggs, egg yolk, melted butter (cooled!!), and 1/2 cup water. Add the flour mixture; using the dough hook, knead at low speed until a ball of dough forms, about 4-5 min *adding the remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1 TBS at a time if necessary*
2) In a small bowl, whisk th egg white together with remaining 1 TBS water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
3) Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large owl, turning the dough to coat it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Gently press the dough to deflate it, cover again and let rise until doubled in size again, about 1 hour.
4) Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 2 pieces, one roughly half the size of the other. Divide the large one into three pieces. Roll each piece into a 16" rope, about 1 inch in diameter. Line the ropes up side by side and braid them together, pinching the ends of the braid to seal. Twist into a circle and pinch the two ends together. Repeat this process with the smaller piece of dough, with ropes of dough about 1/2 inch in diameter. Place the smaller braid circle on top of the larger one. Then loosely drape the loaf with plastic wrap and either:
a) (For baking today) ...let rise in a warm place for 30 -45 min, un til increased in size by about a third.
b) (For baking tomorrow) ...refrigerate overnight! The next day, take the dough out about 5 hours before baking and let come to room temperature and rise (mine doubled in size! though it didn't rise much during the first rising periods)
5) Adjust oven rack to middle-lower position and pre-heat to 375ºF. Remove plastic wrap from dough and brush with the remaining eggwash.
6) Bake the loaf for 30 -4 0 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted in thes ide of the loaf reads 190º. Allow loaf to cool completely over a wire rack before slicing and devouring!

Recent additions to the cookbook library...