I've Moved!

Update your bookmarks - I moved to my new domain name and have switched over to WordPress (sorry Blogger).

http://www.culinarycolleen.com/

It's still under construction, but all of my posts have been migrated. There seem to be a zillion design options in WordPress, so I would love some feedback on how I've set things up so far.

Three Bean Chili

What I love about making chili is that it’s so easy to improvise. It turns out differently every time, but only gets better and better.

I used three types of beans for this version – black, pinto, and kidney. The base consisted of cooked down onions, red bell pepper, and poblano pepper. A few chipotle chilis gave it a smoky heat, and a mixture of ground chili, cumin, coriander, and oregano rounded out the flavor. We made this to eat while watching the first Pats game of the season, so adding a bottle of beer seemed appropriate.

This chili was the perfect match for beer and football. Beware though, it was quite spicy.

Three Bean Chili

Vegetable oil
2 large sweet onions, chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. coriander seed, toasted and ground*
1 tbsp. cumin seed, toasted and ground*
1 tbsp. Mexican oregano
1 tsp. hot chili powder (not a chili blend, just chili powder)
3 chipotle peppers, chopped
1 12-oz bottle of dark beer (we used Brooklyn Brown)
1 28-oz can of whole tomatoes
1 14-oz can black beans
1 14-oz can pinto beans
1 14-oz can kidney beans
1/3 c. cilantro, chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Juice of half a lime
Avocado, for serving
Greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving

*I toast the whole seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly brown and fragrant, and then grind them.

Cook the onions in some vegetable oil over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add the chopped poblano and red bell pepper. Cook for another 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft and lightly caramelized.

Add the garlic, coriander, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and chipotles. Cook for five minutes.

Add the beer and turn the heat up to high. Cook for about five minutes and add the tomatoes, crushing them before adding them to the pot. Once the tomatoes are simmering, add the beans.

Cook the chili for about an hour, adding water if it gets too dry. Right before serving, add the cilantro, scallions, and lime juice. Top with sliced avocados and a dollop of greek yogurt or sour cream. Crack open a beer.

Doubles

While brainstorming “tropical” things to cook for dinner on the night of the hurricane, Matt thought of a dish he had tried called Doubles. They’re a street food from Trinidad and Tobago that he described to me as spicy, curried chickpeas sandwiched between fried flatbreads and served with a variety of hot sauces and chutneys. I was sold.

We threw together a probably not-very-authentic but extremely tasty version of Chana Masala as the filling, and then found a recipe for the fried bread, which are called “bara,” on Saveur. For sauces, we used both a store-bought chutney and Jamaican jerk hot sauce. It was a perfect thing to cook on a (very) rainy day.

Doubles

For the Filling

Vegetable oil
½ a yellow onion, chopped
1 fresno chili pepper, seeds removed and minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 ½ tsp. garam masala
1 ½ tsp. chili powder
Shake of turmeric
2 tbsp. whole milk yogurt
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 can of chickpeas, drained
Handful of cilantro, chopped

Start by sautéing the onion in some oil over medium heat. When it starts to soften, add the fresno chili, garlic, and ginger. Let this cook for a couple of minutes until softened, and then add the cumin, garam masala, chili powder, and turmeric. Cook for another minute or so, until the spices are fragrant. Add the yogurt and tomato paste. Let this mixture cook down so that it resembles a paste (about five minutes).

Add the chickpeas and just barely cover with water.

Let the mixture cook until the chickpeas are heated through. Then, scoop out roughly a half cup of the mixture and blend.

Return the blended chickpea mixture back to the pot.

At this point, you just want to cook it until the flavors come together. We let it sit on the stove while we cooked the bread, adding a little bit of water here and there if it dried out too much. Add the fresh cilantro at the very end before serving.

For the Bread
(Adapted from Saveur)

1 cups flour
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1 ¾ tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. sugar
3/8 c. water

Whisk together the flour, years, turmeric, salt, and sugar. Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil the dough and transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, transfer to a warm place, and let it rise for about 1 ½ hours.

After it has risen, divide the dough into 8 1-ounce portions and form into balls. Press each ball until it resembles a thin disk.

Heat some vegetable oil to about 325 degrees and fry the bread one portion at a time, flipping once, for about 30 seconds total.

Transfer the breads to a paper towel lined tray and sprinkle with salt while they’re still hot.

Assembling

I assembled all four “sandwiches” before serving and put them on a platter, but you could also just make them as you go.

We topped our doubles with a drizzle of jerk sauce and a nice heap of mango chutney. It was a spicy, sweet, and crunchy combination of goodness!

Restaurants: A Single Pebble

I had read some mixed reviews of A Single Pebble but thought the menu looked really tasty, so Matt and I thought we would try it for lunch last week. While I’m not exactly sure they serve very authentic Chinese food, everything tasted really fresh and surprisingly light.

I got the Spicy Sichuan Noodles with Chicken. The chicken was incredibly moist and was served on top of the noodles with some lightly sautéed bok choy. The sauce had a kick, but wasn’t as spicy as I had expected. The noodles themselves were great, and the portion was very generous!

Matt ordered some Scallion Pancakes. These were definitely the favorite out of everything we ordered. Even though they were fried, they didn’t taste greasy. They also actually tasted like scallions.

Matt also got the Pan-Fried Vegetable Potstickers. The posticker wrappers had that nice chewy-crisp texture, but we thought the filling was just a little bland. They weren’t bad, but weren’t the standout.

We shared the Coconut Tapioca Pudding for dessert. It was intensely coconut flavored without being too sweet. It was layered with fresh, tart blueberries and topped with some toasted coconut. It was simple and fantastic.

The lunch menu was very reasonably priced, I thought. The dinner menu does seem a little pricy, which seems to be part of why this restaurant gets criticized, but I think the freshness of the food is worth it. I’m hoping to make it back here for dinner before my time in Burlington is over!

A Single Pebble
133 Bank St
Burlington, VT 05401