White Beans and Chard

This is with many thanks to my good friend Diane N. We came home to my house for dinner one night with a whole fish to cook (a Shad I think.) We were tired after a whole day of cooking at Alberta's, and this is what Diane came up with for a side dish that combined vegetables and stick to your ribs carbs all in one. I think that we used spinach, but I love it with swiss chard best. Really any green is great.

Clean your greens. If you are using chard or kale tear the leaves into bite sized pieces save the stalks and chop coarsely.

Put a couple of tablespoons of good (extra virgin) olive oil in a deep sauté pan on low heat. Crush a few cloves of garlic and cook very slowly till garlic is light golden. Add the stalks add to pan with a pinch of crushed red pepper. Sauté a few more minutes and then add a drained, rinsed can of cannellini beans. Squeeze in juice from a lemon and add a couple of tablespoons of water. Salt and pepper to taste. When the beans are bubbling add the greens. Cover and cook until just tender, taste for seasoning and add a little more oil.

This is good as a leftover. So far everyone has loved this, even kids.

New Twist on Oven Baked Chicken

I really had a problem figuring out what to make for dinner and changed the menu as I encountered obstacles. I had originally decided to make pizza but changed the plan when I realized there were some cooked pinto beans that had to be used. So I decided to use the beans to make bean tacos and make pizza another night. Typically Luis uses canned, refried beans so it was new for me to try this with freshly made beans.

The beans that have to be used are whole and in a lot of broth. I will have to mash them and re-cook them with a bit of oil - aka refried beans. Using a potato masher, I mash the beans in the container while I heated a bit of oil in a medium-sized skillet over a medium-high burner. However, as I am mashing the beans I realize that they are way too soupy for bean tacos. I probably should have drained some of the fluid prior to mashing. So again I decide to change the menu and just serve refried beans.

Now I have to change my original plan for the chicken. With bean tacos I would have used a simmered sauce recipe for chicken. However, changing my plan has given me less time to really achieve the right flavor for a simmer sauce. Plus I realize that I am too hungry now to take the time. I want dinner to be made quickly and decide to do oven-baked chicken but I am going to make it more spicy. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prep a cookie sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil sprayed with olive oil.

I open a package of boneless chicken thighs (about six thighs) and rinse them in lukewarm water. I decide not to dip the thighs in eggs or milk (mostly due to laziness) so I set them aside while I prep the breadcrumbs. I use a bit over a cup of breadcrumbs, mix with 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 2 teaspoons of thyme, and a bit of salt and pepper. I roll the thighs around the breadcrumb mix, put each one on the cookie sheet and pop she sheet into the oven. (Usually the oven is still pre-heating when I pop the chicken in.)

As the beans are re-frying, they are thickening up but they are still not thick enough to make into bean tacos so I feel justified in changing this meal the way I did. I turn them off for now since the chicken is still cooking and I need to make a bit of sauce for the chicken.

I heat the comal over a high burner and roast two fresh tomatoes and two garlic cloves. When the skin of the tomatoes starts to blister, I take them off the comal, remove the skins and place in the blender with the roasted garlic. I puree the tomatoes and garlic then heat a bit of oil in a medium-sized saucepan and pour the puree into it. I add 1 teaspoon of oregano and a bit of salt and pepper for flavor. I let this cook until the sauce gets a bit darker.

I check the chicken and turn over the thighs. The side of the thighs that was on the cookie sheet is nicely browned and crisp so it is the perfect time to turn them over. I set up each plate with a quarter of an avocado, thinly sliced and wait for the chicken to finish cooking (total cooking time is 25 to 30 minutes).

Albondigas - Translation; Mexican Meatballs

This recipe for albondigas was taught to me by Luis. Every once in awhile he suddenly remembers some dish from childhood and calls his mother for the recipe. This is one of those meals that actually is best if you can prepare a day in advance because the flavors enhance when it is set aside and reheated the following day. Still it is a meal that takes about 90 minutes overall to prepare and is good for a group of about six.

In the morning, I set aside about a cup and a half of pinto beans (or black beans) to soak for the day. The water should be almost 3 inches above the beans because they will expand as they soak. Additionally, if you have a curious cat like we do I suggest soaking them in a plastic container and setting it in a corner that discourages investigation. I learned my lesson once when Zorro pushed a glass bowl with a lid off the stove just because he was sure there was something he could eat in it.

Cooking your own beans is optional really; you can use canned pinto beans, black beans or even refried beans. Bean tacos are also a nice alternative; you spread a heaping soup spoon of beans lenghwise on a corn tortilla, roll it and fry it in oil. You have to be careful with vegetarian refried beans because the water in them causes the oil to pop.

So later in the day about an hour before I want the meal to be prepared, I drain the beans, rinse them and put them in a pan with water to cover them plus about an inch. I then turn the burner to medium and let them cook until soft. One way to test for doneness with pinto beans is to remove a bean or two from the water and gently blow on them; if the skin peels back with your breath they are done.

As the beans are cooking, I fill a large pan with water and turn the burner on high. I need this to boil the albondigas before cooking them in the sauce. I then take a package of ground beef (the one I used was 1.29 pounds), two eggs, and 3/4 cup of raw white, long grain rice. Additionally, I added a bit of salt, pepper, chili powder and nutmeg for flavor. I am still working on the balance and with the final product didn't notice any significant impact - good or bad - of these additions. I will update with appropriate amounts when I figure it out. I mix these ingredients in a bowl with my bare hands until I feel the mixture go from sticky to smooth and well-blended. I now form the mixture into small balls - about an inch in diameter. I ended with 30 albondigas. The water started boiling as I was just starting to form the albondigas so I can now gently drop each one in the water. I am going to cook them until they start floating to the surface; about 10 minutes.

As I wait for the albondigas to cook, I start on the sauce. I add two cans of cut tomatoes, half a medium onion and two cloves of garlic to a blender and quickly puree and set aside. The albondigas are already floating so I bring the pan over to the sink. I carefully pour about four cups of the water into a measuring cup because I will need some of this for the sauce. I drain the rest of the water and return the albondigas to the pan, with the tomato puree and just enough of the reserved water to get the sauce just over the top of the albondigas. You might need to thin the sauce as it is cooking so keep the reserved liquid just in case. You can always just add water as well but it isn't as flavorful. Finally, I add a bay leaf and turn the burner to medium and let these cook for 30 minutes.

If you are using whole beans for this meal, to serve you simply put a ladle of beans on the bottom of a bowl and add some albondigas and sauce on top. You can serve with quesadillas or plain tortillas. A nice avocado salad or just plain sliced avocado is also a nice side.