Black Bean and Pepper Jack Burgers

I might as well call this the Bean Blog because there's a bit of an overabundance of bean posts.  This may be a bit boring but it's my journal and the truth is I love them and look for opportunities to make them into dinner as often as I can.   I find them very satisfying to the belly and a great weeknight option.  They can be made from items easily attainable at any of the corner fruit markets that are common in our Chicago neighborhoods  So I don't have to go to a supermarket (always a good thing.)

This particular recipe, Black Bean and Pepper Jack Burgers was chosen because it got really good reviews on the Fine Cooking website (this is free content, so the link to the recipe should work.)  Looking at the ingedients, I figured it couldn't possibly be bad.  More amazing about it is that there's half a cup of old fashioned rolled oats included in the mixture.  That an eighth of a cup per burger and you will never notice.  Besides that, the general cast of mexican flavors is represented:  beans, pepper jack cheese, cilantro,  green onions, cumin for spice and an egg to bind.  Basically, it is all mixed into a bean paste and then formed into patties to chill.  Then they are cooked until nicely browned on both sides.  A cast iron skillet will give you the sear you really want.

Toasted buns elevate any burger. Seriously, it makes a huge difference.

Toasty and warm.

I served on toasted buns with some salsa and avocado for toppings.  We were really happy with these.  Even my 8yr old agreed that the bean patty was tasty, though he didn't want a bun.

Lentils, the Little Engine that Could.

I don't expect you to get excited about lentil tacos.  I don't expect anyone to get excited about them. What is to get excited about a humble brown bean?  They are just kind of blah and plain.   But if there's no meat in the house and you need to make some kind of dinner in a flash, lentils can be a life-saver.    They take to all sorts of flavors and cook up in 15 minutes without need for soaking ahead of time.  I have a few lentil go-to dishes for dinner: a warm lentil skillet with bacon, a lentil soup, a lentil salad with crunchy things added and a sharp vinaigrette.  And recently I came across this recipe for a lentil taco and I was intrigued.

This idea for lentils as a taco filling came from Pam Anderson's How to Cook without a Book, Meatless Meals.  It seemed like a reasonable preparation to me.  Lentils cooked like a spicy chili, but with more of a taco flavor than a chili flavor and reduced a bit more to thicken up.  The filling then gets scooped in a warm tortilla and when topped with all the yummy garnishes you like on a taco.

I won't say it exactly copies a spicy beef or chicken, but it approximates it enough to fool the mouth, especially when combined with all the toppings and the tortilla.   It is kind of like a spicy bean dip.

I'm linking you to the recipe here and encouraging you to give it a try.  I will say I doctored her spices a bit.   So... drop the oregano from the recipe and instead add 1 teaspoon of ground coriander and a good healthy pinch of cayenne.  And, after everything has simmered together, finish it with a light splash of cider vinegar (trust me!)    Check for salt and warm up those tortillas.

As far as toppings go, I did a cabbage slaw.  This is nothing but bagged shredded slaw mix, seasoned with salt and pepper and, yes again, tossed with some vinegar, but this time rice vinegar to taste.  This will give you a bright crunch to balance the spicy lentils  And now you have cabbage and lentils, this is shaping up nicely in terms of a nutritious taco.

I also like some chopped fresh cilantro and some hot sauce too.  Pico de gallo would also be nice.  Husband added some shredded cheese because that's how he rolls.  Whatever you like on tacos is what you should put on them.   Guacamole adds good fat and nutrition!

These are even better the next day after the spices and flavors have melded.  Also, you can roll up lentils and cheese in a flour tortilla and bake it until melty and warm to make a baked burrito.  First cover with foil and then remove toward the end so it gets toasty.  Serve with sour cream and garnishes of your pleasing.  This makes a damn good bean burrito.  You will like this recipe more than you think you will. 

And no animals were harmed in the making of this segment.

Black Bean Soup from CI

Black bean soup is one of my favorite soups to make.  I like to puree it until it is nearly smooth but with just a little bean texture.  The smoothness of the soup is really comforting and it fills my stomach and makes me feel satisfied.

There's so many good recipes for black bean soup out there.  I know you have your favorite.  The one I go back to again and again is from Cook's Illustrated No. 72.  It has a little cumin and hot red pepper flakes in it.  You can't specifically taste the spices in the soup but they give it some warmth and depth that I really love.  I've talked about the recipe before but never just plain typed it out.  So here you go.  It is the perfect thing to make in the upcoming months.  BTW, this recipe can be cut in half easily but you can freeze the soup too, if you want to make the whole thing.  You can leave the ham out or use some bacon, just remove before pureeing.

Black Bean Soup

Dried beans tend to cook unevenly, so be sure to taste several beans to determine their doneness in step 1. For efficiency, you can prepare the soup ingredients while the beans simmer and the garnishes while the soup simmers. Though you do not need to offer all of the garnishes listed below, do choose at least a couple; garnishes are essential for this soup as they add not only flavor but texture and color as well. Leftover soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 or 4 days; reheat it in a saucepan over medium heat until hot, stirring in additional chicken broth if it has thickened beyond your liking.

Makes About 9 Cups, Serving 6

Beans
1	pound dried black beans (2 cups), rinsed andpicked over
4	ounces ham steak , trimmed of rind
2	bay leaves
5	cups water
1/8	teaspoon baking soda
1	teaspoon table salt
Soup
3	tablespoons olive oil
2	large onions , chopped fine (about 3 cups)
1	large carrot , chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
3	ribs of celery , chopped fine (about 1cup)
1/2	teaspoon table salt
5 - 6	medium cloves of garlic , minced or pressedthrough garlic press (about 1 1/2 tablespoon)
1/2	teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2	tablespoons ground cumin
6	cups low-sodium chicken broth
2	tablespoons cornstarch
2	tablespoon water
2	tablespoons lime juice , from 1 to 2 limes
Garnishes
	lime wedges
	minced fresh cilantro leaf
	red onion , finely diced
	avocado , diced medium
	sour cream

1. FOR THE BEANS: Place beans, ham, bay, water, and baking soda in large saucepan with tight-fitting lid. Bring to boil over medium-high heat; using large spoon, skim scum as it rises to surface. Stir in salt, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer briskly until beans are tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours (if necessary, add another 1 cup water and continue to simmer until beans are tender); do not drain beans. Discard bay. Remove ham steak (ham steak darkens to color of beans), cut into 1/4-inch cubes, and set aside.

2. FOR THE SOUP: Heat oil in 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking; add onions, carrot, celery, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic, pepper flakes, and cumin; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in beans, bean cooking liquid, and chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 30 minutes.

3. TO FINISH THE SOUP: Ladle 1 1?2 cups beans and 2 cups liquid into food processor or blender, process until smooth, and return to pot. Stir together cornstarch and water in small bowl until combined, then gradually stir about half of cornstarch mixture into soup; bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, to fully thicken. If soup is still thinner than desired once boiling, stir remaining cornstarch mixture to recombine and gradually stir mixture into soup; return to boil to fully thicken. Off heat, stir in lime juice and reserved ham; ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately, passing garnishes separately.

Black Bean Burgers

These black bean cakes are from a Fine Cooking (94) article on alternative burgers. The recipe is from John Ash, a chef known for California cuisine. You might think that there's little to get excited about when talking bean cakes, but these are anything but blah. They have poblano chiles, green onion, cumin and chile powder mixed in with the beans so they're really flavorful and they will satisfy the craving for mexican flavors. There's a tomatillo-avocado salsa that goes alongside and I also made just a straight, bracingly hot tomatillo salsa (Rick Bayless' recipe) too. We loved these and I will definitely make them again. I might double the recipe though, because I think they would have been great leftover but we ate all four cakes (made from a 15 oz. can of beans.) I served them with a lime cilantro coleslaw.

Everyone should be able to get the recipe in the post above (rather than the link in this post.) PLEASE let me know if you can't, because I'm still trying to figure this Sharethis thing out.

Poblanos stuffed with Quinoa, Black Beans and Corn.

This recipe is a hybrid of the quinoa pilaf I talked about at the end of my last quinoa post and a recipe from this month's Body & Soul magazine. The magazine has a recipe for great looking poblano pepper stuffed with a mixture of quinoa, black beans, mushrooms and corn, and dotted with goat cheese. But when I read the recipe, the quinoa was just boiled and the salsa didn't appeal to me. I knew my quinoa pilaf (from Veganomicon) would be better because the quinoa pilaf is cooked with sauteed onions, garlic, some tomato paste, and spiced with cumin and ground coriander seed. It has a ton of mexican flavor just on its own. So I decided to use that pilaf and toss it with black beans and corn and stuff it in poblanos a la the magazine recipe.

The poblanos are roasted and skinned. Then you make a small incision to remove the seed pod and seeds and stuff it with the quinoa mixture. Some salsa goes on the bottom of the baking dish (I used a homemade tomatillo salsa instead of the one in the recipe.) and the stuffed poblanos sit on top. Some fresh goat cheese is dotted on and the dish gets covered loosely with foil and goes into the oven to heat through. (The magazine recipe says to stir some goat cheese into the quinoa mixture too, but I skipped that because I thought it would be too rich.)

To plate, you spoon some salsa on the plate and top it with a gorgeous stuffed pepper and garnish with chopped cilantro. These are fantastic! Definitely company-worthy. Should you not like goat cheese, you could sprinkle on some grated Monterey Jack. You could also dot the heated stuffed peppers with some queso fresco just before you serve. And these can easily go vegan just by skipping the cheese altogether. You wouldn't miss it. There's a lot of flavor (and some heat from the poblanos) going on here.

Two from Bobby

I know he's not new or anything and I've enjoyed his shows. But ever since eating at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, I've been kind of enamored with him and his style of cooking. Our brunch was so over-the-top delicious that it propelled me into an infatuation with modern tex-mex. He uses all the familiar mexican ingredients but the combinations are bright and fresh and just a little different. I bought the Mesa Grill Cookbook and have been spending a lot of time with it. The photography in the book is gorgoeous and all the dishes sound so enticing. But the recipes are complicated. There are a number of garnishes and sauces to be made before you can get on with the making of the actual dish. This is the kind of cooking you do for fun, not when you're under pressure to get dinner on the table. So I've started with probably a couple of the least complicated and time-consuming dishes in the book. A Roasted Cauliflower and Green Chile Soup and a Honey and Chile Glazed Salmon with Black Bean Sauce and Jalapeno Crema.

If you've made a Cauliflower Soup, you'll find no surprises with this one. Instead of steaming the cauliflower, you roast it and then it gets pureed with chicken broth and reheated with a little cream. The twist is that you make a roasted poblano puree and swirl that into the soup. This give it some heat and a little interest. There also what he dubs "goat cheese taquito" you float on top for a little garnish. These are really just a warm goat cheese nacho but the crunch of the chip and the tang of the goat cheese lend a lot to the simple bowl of soup. I searched the web but could not find a link to recipe for you. Let me know if you really want it and I'll get it to you.


Next up is the Honey-Ancho Chile Glazed Salmon with Black Bean Sauce and Jalapeno Crema. But first I wanted to show you the lovely wild coho salmon I had to work with. 'Tis perfect, I think. Okay, so the title of thi recipe pretty much says it all and actually the dish is pretty simple to execute. The glaze is just honey, dijon mustard and ancho chile powder. The black bean sauce is black beans, chicken broth, onion, garlic, cumin, and a chipotle whirred up in a blender to a smooth sauce. And the jalapeno crema is sour cream blended with a roasted, jalapeno puree. Instead I used some of the poblano puree that I had leftover from the soup prep. And I spiked it with some green chile tobasco. I also adapted the recipe by using a can of black beans instead of cooking my own. You can find the exact recipe and a detailed description of the preparation here.

The black bean sauce goes down on the plate and the glazed salmon sits on top. Then you dollop some of the jalapeno cream around. My picture isn't as pretty as the one in the book. If you put the cream in a squeeze bottle you could be really fancy. I had some pineapple salsa in the fridge so I put a little on top of the salmon too. The star of the show is the black bean sauce. Really delicious, smooth and creamy. I ate the leftover beans with eggs, salsa and tortillas this morning. .... doesn't get better than that.

A Vegetarian Venture

Since I read recently how it could make a positive impact on our environment, I've been trying to eat vegetarian more often. And while I've got a few good meatless meals in my repetoir, it is always good to try some new ones. The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley of Angelica Kitchen in NYC offered some interesting choices. This amazing book has really enticing, sophisticated recipes (and a cute chef.) Moosewood Cookbook it is not. I started with a pasta of cauliflower, raisins and pinenuts that was like nothing I've ever tasted before and very restaurant-y. Next I went with this recipe of White bean, Squash and Sage Ragout over polenta. I went for a layered presentation of polenta, some sauteed garlicky greens and then the vegetable stew. It looked good and smelled good but I overcooked my beans and they got mushy. I thought it was still OK. Dear husband took a pass on leftovers the next day - not a good sign.

Undaunted by this less than successful attempt, I moved on to another vegetable stew. This one from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, one of my favorite cookbooks. Moroccan Chickpea Stew is a little labor intensive, but worth it. This stew is like an exotic chili, full of chickpeas, spinach, tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices. Great dish.

Another fun one that scored major points for vegetarianism with Dear Husband is Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos. At first he grimaced at the idea of sweet potatoes in a burrito; but he changed his opinion soon after tasting. This one is from Sara Moulton Cooks at Home, an oldie but a goodie in my cookbook library. These are pretty simple to put together and they come off more as a snacky, indulgent dinner, rather than a healthy one. But they are in fact quite healthy, especially if you use some of those health conscious tortillas that are now available in most supermarkets. (They have no trans-fats and usually added fibre. Some are low carb, some low fat, low-cal, some whole grain: pick your fave. I find they taste pretty good) So if you combine that, with beans and sweet potatoes and you don't overdo it with the cheese, then you're golden. Golden and crispy brown, that is.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito

2 sweet potatoes, about 10 oz each
2 T veg oil, plus a little more for brushing
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2t ground cumin
1/2 t ground chili powder
1 1/2 c thoroughly cooked black beans, or one 15 oz can, rinsed and drained
1/2 c veg stock or water
kosher salt, pepper
grated nutmeg to taste
Eight 6 inch flour tortillas
2-3 scallions, white part only, thinly sliced
1 c. monterey jack cheese

For garnishes: grated shredded romaine, sour cream, and/or chopped pickled jalapenos

Preheat oven to 400. Prick the potatoes with a knife in several places and bake in a small baking pan until very tender. 1 to 1 1/2 hours

Meanwhile, heat 2 T. veg oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer, stir in the cumin and chili powder and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the beans and veg stock, cover and cook until beans are soft and the flavors have blended, about 5 minutes. Use a fork or potato masher to coarsely mash the beans. Taste and season with salt and pepper. You should have about 1 1/2 c.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and cool. (Keep the oven at the same temp.) When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, halve and scoop out the flesh. Place flesh in a small bowl and mash with a fork. Discard the potato skin. Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. (I don't like nutmeg much, so I went really light.) You should have 1 1/2 - 2 cups.

Spread the tortillas with roughly equal amounts of the bean mixture and top with equal amounts of the potato puree. Sprinkle on equal amounts of scallions and cheese. Roll the tortillas into cylinders and arrange seam side down on a baking sheet (large enough to hole them in one flat layer,) Brush the tops with veg oil. For softer burritos, cover with foil and bake until warmed through, about 20 minutes. Bake uncovered for crispy burritos - that's the way we like them.

If you use bigger tortillas, you make less, of course. I made three big ones from one large sweet potato and 1 can of black beans.

For you Fine Cooking readers: I've got the black bean falafel in mind for a dinner very soon. Sheri - I can't forget the picture you posted of those. Plus I think there's a black bean burger from a recent issue that I haven't gotten around to making.

Jalapeno-Baked Fish a la Rick Bayless

This recipe is from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday. I've had this book for a while but haven't cooked much from it. I don't know why because Rick Bayless' recipes are always very reliable and tasty. But this day I was looking for something to do with some mahi mahi and came up with this recipe after a suggestion from one of the CooksTalk people. Well, I don't have enough good words to say about this simple delicious preparation, Jalapeno-baked Fish with Roasted tomatoes and Potatoes. It is easy to put together and it includes a side dish in the preparation. (That scores major points with me.) Plus there's some heat involved which makes my dear husband happy. Mahi mahi is a fish that can stand up nicely to a spicy prep, but you could use other fish too. There's a few extra dishes involved because you have to use a food processor to put together the salsa under which the fish and potatoes are baked. But you aren't using any pans, so I think it balances out. Baking a dish is always an easy dinner. You put it together and into the oven it goes. No trouble until the timer goes off and you can relax and think about a side dish or salad. I served spinach alongside ours and I think it made a great accompaniment. We were surprised at how good the potatoes were. I wasn't sure I'd like potatoes in a tomatoey sauce, but it works!

Tortilla Soup

This recipe for tortilla soup is from Fine Cooking (#50) and I'm going to include it here. But you'll notice that my picture which accompanies the post has shrimp and scallops in it and not the chicken that the recipe calls for. That is precisely what I love about the recipe. It is completely adaptable. The soup consists mainly of a simple, flavorful broth studded with beans, corn and tomatoes. This a thin, chile-flavored tortilla soup broth. Some tortilla soups are thickened with masa (the dough used to make tortillas) and they have a thicker, corny texture. I don't know which type is more authentic; I just want you to know what you can expect if you decide to make it.

To this spicy broth, you can add the cooked chicken as the recipe describes. Or you can buy a rotisserie chicken and shred that up, or you can cook shrimp and/or scallops in the broth to make a spicy seafood soup. You can even try the rib-eye version which is included in the original recipe. I have never made it with beef, so I can't say what that would be like.

So, there's the broth (see recipe), there's the protein of your choice, there's the vegetables (corn, beans and tomatoes) which are a snap to prepare and then there's the garnishes. You can pick a couple or do all of them. I like to do all because they aren't a big deal and you get a great, luscious bowl of soup at the end. I do think the avocado, tortilla strips and lime are essential. The tortilla strips, of course, because it is tortilla soup and the avocado because it is really neat to have a bite of dense cool creaminess in your bowl of hot, spicy soup. And the lime really brightens everything.

And for the drama. You stack up all your ingredients in the bottom of an empty bowl so you literally have a tower of beans, corn and tomatoes. You could even heap on some tortilla strips for flair. Then you ladle the hot, aromatic broth into the bowl around all the ingredients right in front of your guest (read: husband) and serve the garnishes (queso fresco, avocado, chopped cilantro, sour cream, more tortilla strips...) on the side. Dear husband thinks you've made this gourmet soup, which you have; but he thinks you've gone to a lot of trouble, which you haven't. That's the magic of it... Feign exhaustion, and let him tend to the dishes.

Chicken & Tortilla Soup
by Martha Holmberg

Be sure the broth is very hot so that it heats up the ingredients in the bowl and offers a strong contrast with the cool, smooth chunks of avocado. The spice level is very low—just a slight chile warmth—so if you prefer more of a kick, add more chili powder or use a hotter powder. This recipe is easily doubled.Serves two as a light main course or substantial first course.
ingredients

1 Tbs. vegetable or olive oil, plus another 1/2 to 1 cup for frying the tortillas
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (from about 1/2 small onion)
1 Tbs. chili powder; more to taste
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 skinless chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless)
Salt to taste
4 cups homemade or low-salt canned chicken broth (I use Pacific brand)
Fresh cilantro: six 2-inch stems for the broth, plus 1/4 cup roughly chopped leaves for the garnish
4 fresh corn tortillas, 6 inches across, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips
1/2 cup corn kernels (canned is fine)
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup diced fresh tomato

For the garnish:
1 ripe avocado, diced and tossed with a squeeze of lime juice
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco, feta, or ricotta salata
2 dollops sour cream
Lime wedges for serving

how to make

Put 1 Tbs. of the oil in a large saucepan or small soup pot, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until the onion has softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder and tomato paste and stir with a wooden spoon to mix and cook briefly; take care not to let the chili powder scorch.

Season the chicken thighs lightly with salt and nestle them in the chile paste, turning them once so they’re entirely coated. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the broth and adjust the heat to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook the chicken, turning once, until it’s extremely tender when pierced with a knife, 30 to 40 minutes (add a little more broth if the pan is drying out). When the chicken’s done, remove it from the pan, let it cool a bit, and cut or shred it into bite-size pieces, discarding any bones and bits of fat or gristle; set aside.

If there’s any visible grease in the pan, spoon it off, add the remaining broth and the cilantro stems and simmer, uncovered, until the broth has reduced by about one-third and is quite flavorful, 20 to 30 minutes.

While the broth is reducing, fry the tortillas: Linke a plate with two layers of paper towels. Fill a small, high-sided saucepan with enough oil to come to about a 1-inch depth. Heat the oil over medium heat; when it reaches 375°F or when a strip of tortilla sizzles immediately when dipped in the oil, add six to eight strips of tortilla. With tongs or a long fork, "scrunch" them for a second or two so they take on a wavy shape. Fry until the strips aren't bubbling much and have become golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to the paper towels. Repeat with the remaining strips.

Divide the shredded chicken, the corn, black beans, tomato, and tortilla strips between two large soup or pasta bowls. Reheat the broth if necessary so it’s piping hot and pour it over the ingredients in the bowls. Serve immediately, and let each diner add the avocado, cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and a big squeeze of lime juice at the table.

Variations

Rib-eye version: Instead of the chicken thighs, use an 8-oz. rib-eye or other tender cut of beef. Trim all the fat and silverskin and cut the meat into bite-size strips, slightly more than 1/4-inch thick. Toss the steak with a little salt. Start the recipe by heating the 1-Tbs. oil until quite hot, add the steak, and stir-fry it to brown the outside. The meat will cook more in the broth, but if you like your meat medium or well done, continue cooking it a few more minutes at this point. Remove the meat from the pan and reserve. Continue with the recipe above, skipping the chicken, of course.

From Fine Cooking 50, pp. 58
photo: Scott Phillips

Kitchen Notes:

I have gone to the trouble of frying tortilla strips for this, but you can just use broken, store-bought chips or homemade baked chips. If you fry them, make extra for leftovers, snacking and salads. They're irrestistible.

If you don't cook chicken in the broth, you don't have to worry about degreasing.

You can really make this hotter and give it a stronger chile flavor by reconstituting a dry chile (ancho or guajillo,) pureeing it and frying it with the onion before you add the broth. If you want to try this, I can e-mail you more exact instructions.

For the scallops, I cut large sea scallops in half, lengthwise, to make two thin coins. Shrimp could also be cut in half lengthwise, cut in bite size pieces, or left whole.

For the corn. Usually, I'll buy a cob, cut the kernels off and microwave them in a bowl with a tablespoon of water. I cover the bowl with plastic wrap and nuke for a minute and the corn is done enough for the soup. You can use canned corn too. Frozen tends to be limp.

In the mood for super healthy? Add some baby spinach leaves to your stack of ingredients. They will wilt immediately as they are flooded with the hot broth.

I don't use Pacific brand canned broth, that's the recipe author's choice. I use Swanson, low-sodium chicken broth.

Salsa

Click here to watch Jack peel tomatillos.
And here you can see Jack put the tomatillos in a broiler pan. Bear with me here folks, this is a learning process.

The Fish Taco

I think this is my third go 'round with the fish taco. The past two times haven't been bad but I have thought of things that I could do better. This time I was really happy with the outcome. the taste came pretty close to Baja Fresh's, a fish taco we really like. I think I really nailed the sauce and I'm not going to mess with it anymore. I used a 50/50 mix of sour cream and plain non-fat yogurt. (1/4c each) I've used mayo in the past. If you google fish tacos, you'll likely see mayo called for in most recipes. But yogurt seems to provide the tang that I'm looking for and a thinner quality that mimics Baja's sauce. Then you need a healthy dose of fresh squeezed lime (a half, juiced) and some chile to your taste. I used a minced red jalapeno and a little of the adobo sauce from a can of chipotles. But the key ingredient gleamed this time was a couple teaspoons of cider vinegar. That's what brought it close to my ideal flavor, which is really tangy. For the fish itself, I used Mahi Mahi which I cut into strips and seasoned with Penzey's adobo spice blend. You could probably just make your own spice mix, but this was an easy way for me. I prefer a "grilled" fish taco as opposed to a fried one. The fried are great, no doubt about it, but this is home cooking we're talking about here. I cooked the fish strips in a non-stick saute pan, browning on both sides and cooking through. Then I kept them warm in a pre-warmed bowl covered with foil while I heated the tortillas. The other key ingredient to a great fish taco is shredded cabbage. We've tried napa, savoy, and plain old green cabbage. And it is the plain old that pleases us most, very thinly sliced. I think it is the cabbage that makes you yearn for a tanginess in the sour cream. It sort of gives you a slaw effect on the taco. Baja Fresh also serves some pico de gallo on the top of theirs. Since it is December in Chicago and fresh tomatoes aren't very good, I used some tomatillo salsa, homemade, for a fresh, hot opposition to the creamy, zingy sauce. We like corn tortillas for our fish tacos. But googling will give you many recipes using flour, so use what you like.

Turkey Black Bean Tamale Pie

We didn't host Thanksgiving this year so I had only a limited amount of leftovers. I decided to use my precious turkey on this recipe by Rick Rodgers, a cookbook author and frequent contributer to Fine Cooking magazine. This is his recipe for Turkey Tamale Pie. I have no former experience with Tamale Pie, so I can't compare it to others. But this was delicious. (Jeanette, if you're visiting, I was thinking of you and Mark the whole time I was making this.) You make a sauce with jalapenos, onions, garlic, tomato sauce and chili powder (I added some some cumin, ground coriander seed, cayenne and chipotle powder to our sauce to spice things up a bit more.) And then you mix in some chopped turkey meat, black beans and corn.

This is all heaped into a baking dish and covered with a cornmeal crust. Then the whole concoction (dare I call it a casserole?) is baked to bubbly goodness. Did I mention you cover the cornmeal with some shredded sharp cheddar cheese? The cornmeal crust is made from stone ground cornmeal and water - no fat is cut into the dough which makes this recipe reasonably healthy. The only oil you use is to saute the aromatics and there's not a huge amount of cheese. I halved the entire recipe. It fitted nicely in a medium size oval baking dish. This one is about 2 inches deep.

Dos Salsas

We did mexican for Father's Day, skirt steak, rice, beans, guacamole, tortillas and dos salsas. I made two old-favorites from Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen(my favorite of his books): A charred tomato-jalapeno (en la molajete) and a tomatillo-serrano.
As tomato season rolls in, you can produce some amazing dishes using his recipes.

Skirt Steak Tacos

Roasting Tomatillos






Roasting garlic






Toasting dried chipotle chiles that will be rehydrated by soaking in water




Everything prepped and ready to be blended





into salsa

I will never tire of tacos. It is just not possible. A little something warm tucked into a tender corn tortilla, drizzled with salsa and I'm in heaven. These tacos though, are a more than just a little something. I’ve been making this dish for at least 10 years and we're always happy with it. There are a lot of steps to get it all together (as you’ll see in my photos.) But if you plan to spend the day at home, cooking, this one is worth your time. This is a Rick Bayless recipe for Seared Skirt Steak with Chipotle, Tomatillos and Garlic . There are so many levels of flavor involved in each bite that you accept why each step was necessary and you smile that you've made something so good and complex and you smile.

The recipe was originally written to be served just as a steak, smothered with onions, whole roasted garlic (see recipe) and a cooked salsa. But of course it does great sliced on a taco too. I think this is the kind of Mexican dish that American fajitas were originally based upon. Here's a picture of the meat simmering in the sauce. I should have taken a shot of the meat first being seared.





Seared Skirt Steak with Chipotle and Garlic
Arrachera con Chipotle y Ajo
From Rick Bayless’ Mexican Kitchen. Serves 4

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For About 1c essential roasted tomatillo-chipotle salsa

3-6 (1/4-1/2 oz stemmed, dried, chipotle chiles (or canned chipotles in adobo)
15 cloves garlic unpeeled
8oz (about 5 med) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Salt, about 1/2t, plus some for sprinkling on steak
Sugar, about 1/4t.
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1T. olive or veg. oil
Four 5-6oz pieces of beef skirt steak, trimmed of exterior fat
1 med. white onion, thinly sliced
1/2t cumin, preferably freshly ground
1/2t black pepper, preferably freshly ground
2/3 c beef broth
Chopped cilantro, for garnish


1. Making the salsa. For dried chiles, toast them on an ungreased griddle or heavy skilled over med. heat, turning regularly and pressing flat with a spatula about 30 seconds. In a small bowl, cover the chiles with hot water and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure even soaking. Drain and discard water. ( or if using canned, removed from canning sauce)

2. While the chiles are soaking, roast the unpeeled garlic on the griddle, turning occasionally, until soft (they will blacken in spots) about 15 minutes; cool and peel. Roast the tomatillos on a baking sheet 4 inches from very hot broiler until blackened, about 4-5 minutes, then flip and do the same on the other side.

3. Combine tomatillos (and their juices), rehydrated or canned chiles and 3 cloves of the garlic into food processor or blender, and process to a rather fine-textured puree. Taste and season with salt and sugar. Set aside.

4. Finishing the dish. Heat the oil in a large (12 inch) heavy skilled (preferably cast iron) over med. heat. When very hot, pat the steaks dry, sprinkle with salt, and lay in the pan in a single layer. Sear well on both sides until meat is rare to med. rare, 3-4 minutes. Remove to a rack set over a plate.

5. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly, until it begins to brown (but still stays crunchy) about 5 minutes. Add the salsa to the skillet along with cumin, pepper, and remaining 12 cloves of roasted garlic (yes, left whole) Stir as the salsa reduces for several minutes, sten stir in the broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Return the meat to the skillet and let it warm through, about 5 minutes or until meat is done to your liking. Taste the sauce and add a little more salt or sugar if necessary.

6. With a spatula or slotted spoon, transfer the steaks to a serving platter, then spoon the sauce, onions and garlic over and aroung them. Sprinkle with the cilantro and you’re ready.

Notes: The salsa can be prepared several days ahead. The green chiles in one of the above photos were for another recipe. They are not used in the tomatillo-chipotle salsa.

Variations: Steak can be replaced by other rather thin-cut steaks or thin-cut pork-chops. Whole garlic could be left out, reducing to only 3 cloves needed for the salsa.

Skin Deep

My love affair with plantains started at Frontera Grill. I had them just as they are here, sauteed in a little butter until brown on both sides, dolloped with crema and sprinkled with queso fresco. Think of the dish almost as potatoes browned in butter served with sour cream. But there is a gentle sweet banana flavor. They're so good. I can't go to Frontera without ordering them as a side dish. It is hard to fine plantains that are as ripe as you need them to be. So buy some yellowish ones with just the beginnings of black and let them sit on your counter until they are completely pitch black - then they are ready for some loving.

You might notice, I'm a little more generous with the crema and queso fresco than they are at Frontera.

Butter-Fried Plantains with Thick Cream: adapted from Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican

Mexican Crema or sour cream thinned with heavy cream
Queso fresco- mexican fresh cheese, like farmer's cheese. crumbled.
3 med, very ripe plantains, you need really black ripe plantains for this recipe
unsalted butter

Peel the plantains and slice on the diagonal into 1/4 inch thick ovals.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Arrange the plantains in a single layer in the pan. Fry until deep golden brown, 3-5 minutes per side. If necessary, do in two batches, keeping the first batch warm in a low oven. Transfer to warm serving plate.

Garnish with cream and crumbled cheese, serve.

New Year's Day Tacos

Think back to the tacos of your youth: the ground beef in a crispy shell from a box(or maybe you were lucky and got fresh tortillas.), orangy juices dripping from the side. The toppings: iceberg lettuce, tomato, shredded yellow cheddar cheese, salsa from a jar. It was one of my most beloved dinners as a kid.I still like to make a taco dinner once in a while. But I've made a few changes. Instead of the seasoning packet, I use a recipe from an article in Cook's Illustrated that sought to reproduce that taco beef flavor, but with all natural ingredients. The meat tastes just like you would remember of the one from the Lawry's packet, but it is made with onions, garlic, chile powder, cumin, coriander, tomato sauce, cider vinegar...

I make up some tacos and top them with homemade tomatillo salsa, tomatoes, cilantro, and some crumbled fresh mexican cheese. We'll have simmered black beans and rice on the side. On a really special day, I'll fry corn tortillas crisp to make fresh taco shells.

Braised Mexican Chuck Steaks

Here is Bistecas Rancheros, the second recipe that I've tried from All About Braising. These are chuck steaks, cut thin and into small pieces, and braised with potatoes, poblano chiles and a flavorful tomato sauce. I liked that this was a one-pot meal. It tasted good, but I think I might do it without the potatoes next time because we prefer rice with mexican flavors. The potato-tomato combination made it a little strange to me. The leftover meat was once again turned into some mighty fine tacos.

The Taco: the world's most perfect food.

I first heard of Molly Steven's "All About Braising." from the people over at CooksTalk. This cookbook is based on, you guessed it, braising or slow cooking with low heat and moisture. Molly Stevens is a highly regarded chef who has written numerous books. In this book, her recipes are unique versions of basic braises. She likes to pair meats with interesting things, for example Whole Chicken braised with Pears and Rosemary or Zinfandel Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots & Fresh Sage. I find her reicpes very enticing and I've always enjoyed her articles for Fine Cooking magazine, so I decided to get the book. I found it for a great price at Half.com. The first recipe that I tried was Braised Pork Country Ribs with Chipotle , Roasted Tomatoes & Red Peppers. It turned out good, but not so deliciously wonderful that I need to make it again soon. As per her suggestion, for leftovers, I shredded the cooked meat from the ribs and added it back to the flavorful sauce to make pork tacos. These tacos were more yummy than the original dish. But really that shouldn't surprise me, doesn't everything taste better on a tortilla?

Mole Making

I don't know about others, but whole turkey breasts are not something that I often cook. I'll do the occasional turkey chili and that is about it. But recently I bought a turkey breast because it seemed like such a good value. At 99 cents per pound, I could get more than a couple meals from it. With the holiday coming so soon, I didn't want to prepare it in a traditional way. Roasting one half for the boys would be smart; and then I could do something "interesting" with the other half.

After thumbing through cookbooks, it became apparent that turkey is often paired with mole sauces. I love mexican cooking and do a great deal of it, but I have never made a mole sauce. It just seemed too exotic and difficult because there is so much blending of flavors. How would I know if it even came out right? Mole is a complex-flavored mexican sauce that often includes: nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, and chiles. But this recipe didn't intimidate me. The Simple Red Mole recipe that I decided to use came from the Joy of Cooking, 2nd edition. Rick Bayless was a contributor. I compared this recipe to Bayless' mole recipes in his other books and it was very similar. I decided to use tomatillos (ala the Bayless books) instead of the canned tomatoes that the Joy of Cooking recipe called for. But other than that, I stuck to the recipe.

First, I needed to de-bone my turkey breast. A turkey, is anatomically, nothing more than a large chicken. I tried to keep that in mind as I proceded. I was concerned that the bird would be difficult to work with because it is heavy and cold. It turns out that de-boning a turkey is easier than a chicken because being bigger makes it easier to see what you are doing. When you give a lesson to someone on how to de-bone a chicken breast, you should USE a turkey breast! Where to align my knife was so much clearer to me, I think I learned a lot and will be better at boning out chickens because of it. I have a new, razor sharp, Wusthof knife and it made light work of gliding along the rib bones and freeing the meat. But that is enough of Butchery Talk for today.

One breast half was removed and simply roasted in the oven for children's dinners and sandwiches. The carcasse was also roasted to make a broth. And the other breast half waited in the fridge for the mole...



I spent the day toasting and soaking ancho chiles, chopping almonds, garlic, onions, and mexican chocolate, roasting tomatillos, sauteeing various items, blending and straining sauce... It was gloriously fun. The turkey breast was browned and then braised in the finished mole for close to an hour. I couldn't believe how fast it was done. I used a meat thermometer and took it to 170. The results were good. The mole tasted like what I hoped it would. I've had fabulously more complex moles at Frontera Grill that really have to grow on you. This one tasted good right off, "a starter mole." It had the sweet dark flavor of the chiles and raisins, the acid of cooked-down tomatillos, onions, garlic, almonds, mex choc., cloves, and cinnamon. I served the turkey sliced and doused with the sauce and warm corn tortillas on the side. I'll admit that my presentation of the Turkey Mole is somewhat lackluster, but I was exhausted from mole-making! I made up for it the next day...




with the leftovers: turkey enchiladas. Mmmm.

Veggie Tacos

Put anything in a tortilla and I am happy. Here, for example, is a taco made of sauteed swiss chard, mushrooms, tomatoes and white beans also know as "leftovers." A little salsa turns this into a great lunch for one.