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.

Rigatoni with Grilled Eggplant, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Mint

I had pretty much been through all of my standard food magazines last week, so I reluctantly picked up a copy of Martha Stewart Living at the airport. I was skeptical, but I got a pretty amazing recipe out of it: Pennoni pasta with grilled eggplant, burrata cheese, thai chilis, and mint. It looked pretty incredible, so I used it as inspiration for my dinner the next night.

Whole Foods was out of burrata, so I used buffalo mozzarella to get a comparable creamy texture. I also couldn’t find a Thai chili in my quick grocery trip, so I used a serrano. Finally, I went with rigatoni instead of searching out the Pennoni pasta shape. I was in a hurry to get dinner on the table!

The grilled eggplant gave a great charred flavor, but also turned nicely creamy when mixed with the pasta. The combination of the eggplant and buffalo mozzarella made a luxuriously creamy sauce. The mint gave it some brightness and the chili gave it a nice kick. Another bonus - the dish came together extremely fast.

Rigatoni with Grilled Eggplant, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Mint
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living
7 oz. rigatoni
Extra virgin olive oil
1 medium eggplant
1 serrano chili
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ tsp. lemon zest
½ tbsp. lemon juice
Fresh mint, thinly sliced
3 ½ oz Buffalo mozzarella
Salt and Pepper

Heat the grill to high. Cut the eggplant lengthwise in ½ - ¾ inch slices and brush with olive oil. Grill, turning occasionally, until soft and cooked through.

Transfer to a cutting board and let cool. Chop coarsely.

Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic until golden. Add the chili about halfway through cooking the garlic. When the garlic is cooked, add the cooked eggplant. Season with salt.

Cook the pasta to al dente, reserving some pasta water. Add the pasta to the skillet, along with a small ladle of reserved pasta water, the lemon zest, and lemon juice. Keep adding pasta water until the sauce reaches the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper.

Finally, remove from the heat and stir in the burrata and mint.

Summer Rolls

I absolutely love Vietnamese summer rolls, so last weekend I decided to learn how to make them myself to get my fix. I find that a lot of places make them too far ahead of time (I’m looking at you, Whole Foods); by the time they come to me, the rice paper loses the nice chewy texture. The natural solution was to learn to make them myself!

I read a lot of recipes and kind of combined them so I could use the fillings I wanted. I usually order them with shrimp and pork, but I made them at home with just shrimp to keep it simple. I used lots of herbs – cilantro, basil, and mint – as well as some cooked rice noodles, lettuce, carrots, and cucumber. I love when they’re served with that peanuty hoisin sauce, so that’s what I tried to replicate. I used a recipe from this website, which called for hoisin sauce, peanut butter, garlic, and chilis. It turned out to be exactly what I had in mind.

All of the components can be made ahead of time. I boiled the shrimp for just a couple of minutes and shocked them in cold water to stop them from overcooking. I poured hot water over the rice noodles and let them soak for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes – just enough to get them soft, but not mushy. I find that they turn out perfectly when I rinse them in cold water when they just start to get chewy. The rest of the ingredients just require chopping. The real trick is to get them rolled correctly, which I found takes some practice.

Ingredients

Summer Rolls

Rice paper
Cooked shrimp, sliced lengthwise
Rice noodles, cooked
Carrots, shredded (I used a peeler to achieve this)
Cucumbers, cut into long, thin strips
Romaine lettuce
Fresh cilantro
Fresh basil (Thai basil would be even better)
Fresh mint

Dipping Sauce

1 c. hoisin sauce
¼ c. smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 hot chili, minced

Start with all of the summer roll ingredients ready to go. The assembly happens fast.

Dip a rice paper into a bowl of hot water (but not boiling). Remove it as soon as it gets soft (this takes less than a minute, but varies depending on how hot the water is obviously).

Lay the soft rice paper out on a plate and start adding fillings. I probably should have started with the shrimp so that they looked nicer in the end, but I just went for it with the first filling I had next to me.

On top of the lettuce, I added cucumber, carrots, all of the herbs, and a small amount of rice noodles.

After adding the shrimp, I tucked in each end as best as possible (kind of like you’re rolling a burrito).

Not the prettiest of the bunch, but still delicious.

For the dipping sauce, simply puree all of the ingredients. I may have added a little bit more rice vinegar to suite my tastes. The recipe is pretty flexible. You’ll also need to adjust the amount of chili depending on which kind you’re using and how spicy you want the sauce.

These summer rolls were a great summer starter to have with our grilled satays.

Grilled Scallions with Romesco Sauce

Spring onions with Romesco sauce is a popular Catalan combination. I couldn’t find spring onions at the store last weekend, so we did the same thing with scallions on the 4th of July. It turned out to be a great recipe for summer grilling.

There are tons of recipes out there for Romesco. It’s typically a sauce of pureed almonds, garlic, olive oil, dried peppers, and sometimes tomato. We have had a lot of success with José Andrés’s recipe, which we usually vary depending on what we have on hand at the time. This time, we grilled most of the ingredients instead of roasting them in the oven. It’s one of those recipes that will come out great no matter what, and is good on just about anything. I will definitely be making it again soon with grilled shrimp.

Grilled Scallions with Romesco Sauce
Adapted from José Andrés’s recipe

Ingredients
3 large plum tomatoes
2 large red bell peppers
1 medium onion (halved but unpeeled)
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 dried ancho chile
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar
1 slice bread, crust removed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon pimentón
Scallions (thickest you can find)

Instructions

Grill the tomatoes, bell peppers, and onion whole on the grill until very charred.

When they’re blackened and soft, peel and seed them.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chile and fry until darkened and slightly puffed, turning once, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl and add enough water to cover. Let it stand for 30 minutes. Then, peel and seed it.

Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the almonds; sauté until lightly toasted, about 1 minute.

Add the chile, tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, almonds, bread, olive oil, garlic, vinegar, and paprika to a blender. Blend to a course puree and season with salt. Keep the sauce at room temperature while you grill the scallions.

To prepare the scallions, simply coat them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Put them on the grill over high heat and remove when slightly charred.

Have the napkins ready and dunk the grilled scallions into the sauce. I would also recommend opening a bottle of Cava!

Swiss Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Spinach with raisins and pine nuts is a classic Catalan dish that I’ve made several times as a side, with great results. I saw some great looking swiss chard at the store last weekend and thought the chard/pine nut/raisin combination would make a great side dish with the rest of our Spanish feast that night: a quick vegetable Fideau, roasted red peppers, and garlic shrimp.

I mostly followed a recipe in The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas. The recipe calls for boiling the chard prior to sautéing, a step I found kind of unnecessary and think I would omit next time. I also tweaked a couple of things such as toasting the pine nuts prior to adding them to the dish.

Swiss Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts
Adapted from The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas

Ingredients

1/3 lb swiss chard (weight after stems removed)
Olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 Tbsp. raisins
1 Tbsp. pine nuts
Salt and pepper

Instructions

The recipe calls for dropping the leaves (with stems removed) into boiling water and cooking for 5 minutes. Then, she says to drain the leaves, put them back in the pot covered with cold water, bring them up to a boil, and let boil for an additional 10 minutes. Again, I would omit this and just sauté the chard for a little longer. This step might apply, though, if you’re using a heartier green, such as collards.

Meanwhile, I sautéed the onion and garlic in some olive oil. In a separate, dry skillet I toasted the pine nuts until just golden.

As the items on the stove were cooking, I poured some hot water over the raisins to soften them.

When the chard was cooked and the onion/garlic mixture soft, I added the chard to the skillet along with the toasted pine nuts and softened (drained) raisins. After seasoning with salt and pepper and sautéing for just a few minutes, it was ready to go.

As with the spinach, the bitter chard goes perfectly with the sweet raisins and the crunchy pine nuts. I’m not sure if the pictures does it justice (still working on my photography skills), but it is one tasty dish.

Grilled Pizza

Ok, so I know the picture isn’t great, and my first attempt at grilled pizza was far from perfect, but it was still pretty delicious.

We just bought one of those little Weber charcoal kettle grills and I naively thought it would be as easy to use as a gas grill. Turns out I have a lot to learn. Once we finally got the coals lit and the grill going, the heat didn’t last very long. We were able to barely grill this pizza, but didn’t get to make the second pizza I had in the works.

Anyways, I had planned on making this pizza according to the instructions on Serious Eats. I had all of the ingredients prepared in advance – caramelized shallots, sautéed cremini and shitake mushrooms, grated pecorino, and chopped chives. We took a shortcut and used some pizza dough from whole foods that I cut in half, stretched out (in an odd shape as you can see above), and brushed with olive oil. Once we put it on the grill, oiled side down, it just didn’t seem hot enough. Instead of the recommended 1 – 1 ½ minutes on the first side, I had to let it cook for over five minutes. Once I flipped it, I added the mushrooms, onions, and cheese. Since we didn’t use a lot of cheese and the rest of the toppings were still warm, I left the grill uncovered for most of the time.

Thankfully, it eventually did get crisp at the bottom. I added some chopped chives and some flaky sea salt at the end. Despite the hiccups with the grill, it was actually VERY delicious. I plan on making many more attempts this summer.

If anyone is actually reading this, I would love some tips on how to get (and keep) charcoal grills hot!

Marco Canora Night – Part 2

Marco Canora’s ribolitta is made with a type of kale called cavolo nero (aka black cabbage, or Lacinato) and served with lots of parmesan cheese and crusty bread. The recipe can be either made with a meat stock, or with water to make it vegetarian. It’s so comforting, but extremely healthy as well.


I don’t think I had ever tried cavolo nero before. It’s a sturdy green that’s actually kind of funky smelling when raw. The recipe calls for it to be chopped extremely fine, which is not easy when you’re trying to chop eight cups worth! We read that one of his tricks is to freeze it overnight and then simply crumble it into the soup. Unfortunately, we didn’t think that far in advance. The results, though, were totally worth the effort.

Ribolitta

Ingredients


Olive oil
3 c. each carrots, celery, and onion, finely diced
1 small head (or half a large head) of savoy cabbage, chopped
1/3 c. + 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
8 c. finely cavolo nero, very finely chopped
5 c. cannellini beans, 3 c. pureed and 2 c. whole
10 c. water or meat stock

Instructions


Start by sautéing the carrot, celery, and onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft but not browned. Be patient - this takes a little while. The pot should be covered for most of the time.


Next, add the savoy cabbage and cook for just a few minutes until it wilts.


Then add the tomato paste and stir until combined.


Add the cavolo nero.


Cook for about 20 minutes.


Add the water (or stock) the whole beans. When it comes to a boil, add bean puree and simmer away. I’m not sure if there’s an exact simmer time, but we let it go for about an hour.


Top the soup with parmesan cheese, olive oil, and crusty bread or toast points and there you have it: a yummy, comforting bowl of soup perfect for the winter.

Marco Canora Night – Part 1

Matt and I are huge fans of Marco Canora, his restaurant Hearth, and, mostly, his wine bar Terroir. Terroir is probably what I miss most about living in the East Village.

Anyways, Matt bought his cookbook recently and has been making a lot of the things that we usually order at his restaurants. His tomato and egg bruschetta is probably what we order most at Terroir. One time the bartender joked that they started firing up the bruschetta when they sat Matt and me walk by.

The best thing we’ve tried at Hearth has been the pan-roasted hen of the woods mushrooms. They sound like a simple side dish on the menu, but they are to die for. We more recently discovered his ribolitta - a Tuscan kale soup topped with a generous amount of parmesan – which is also a favorite.

We made all of these things for dinner on Sunday night: the tomato and egg bruschetta and mushrooms for appetizer and the ribolitta for main course. I’m splitting the entry into two parts because I took a lot of pictures of everything!

Tomato and Egg Bruschetta


You would never believe how good the simple combination of eggs, tomato sauce, olive oil, and bread is.

His technique involves mixing the egg whites into the cooked tomato sauce and then lightly poaching the egg yolks on top of the sauce until it’s warm, but still runny. At Terroir, you can’t actually see the pieces of egg white in the sauce. When Matt first made this recipe, we found it had too many whites. We reduced the number, but I think we still need to work on our technique. We also modified it a little bit by putting dried oregano in the sauce and fresh basil on top, which I think is done at Terroir.

The key to the whole thing is using really good ingredients: the best canned tomatoes (see note at the bottom), fruity extra-virgin olive oil, high-quality dried oregano (Marco Canora suggests Sicillian oregano), flavorful bread, etc.

Note: Not all canned tomatoes are created equal! I had always used San Marzano tomatoes, but Serious Eats did an interesting canned tomato taste test and found that Trader Joe’s brand are the cheapest AND the tastiest.

Ingredients
Four 1-inch-thick slices of country bread
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
4 large eggs
1 small garlic clove, thinly sliced
Pinch of crushed red pepper
One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes with their juices, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of good, dry oregano
Fresh basil, for garnish

Instructions
Preheat the broiler. Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil, arrange on the baking sheet and broil for about 3 minutes, turning once, until golden and toasted. Place the toasts in 4 shallow bowls (note: we used 3 slices of bread and just ate the extra sauce!).

Arrange 5 small bowls on a counter. Crack the eggs: Reserve 1 of the whites in one of the bowls and one yolk in each of the other 4 bowls. Refrigerate the remaining 3 egg whites for another use.

In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil with the garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook over moderate heat until the garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and oregano, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Beat the egg whites with a fork and gently fold them into the tomato sauce. Cook over moderately high heat just until the whites are set, about 1 minute. Using the back of a spoon, make 4 indentations in the sauce. Slide a yolk into each indentation and cover the skillet. Cook over very low heat just until the yolks are warmed but not set, about 1 1/2 minutes. Spoon the sauce and yolks over the toasts, drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on top, garnish with the basil, and serve right away.


Mmmmmm…runny egg yolk.



Pan-Roasted Hen-Of-The-Woods Mushrooms


Hen-of-the-woods mushrooms (also known as maitakes) can be expensive, but they’re so worth it when cooked like this. We found these beauties for about $20/lb at Formaggio.


This recipe basically calls for searing the mushrooms on both side in some olive oil and then basting them in butter, rosemary, and thyme. They turn out a little crisp on the outside, and soft and buttery on the inside.

Ingredients
1 pound hen-of-the-woods mushrooms
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I think you’ll notice that Matt snuck in way more butter than the recipe called for)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh-cracked black pepper

Instructions
Turn mushroom over to expose the stem. With paring knife, remove the core of the stem.


Using your hands, gently break mushroom into 8 pieces. In a 12-inch sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium flame. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper.


Place them in the heated oil, taking care not to overcrowd the pan, and cook for 3 minutes. When the mushrooms have a golden-brown surface, flip them with a spatula and continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes.


Add butter and herbs, and baste mushrooms for 1 minute. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil, and serve.

Next we made the ribolitta. To be continued…

Brussels Sprout Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

I talked about this brussels sprout salad that my friend Katie and I had at Hub 51 in Chicago in my very first blog post. For some reason, I thought to Google it the other day to see if there was a recipe for it online. Sure enough, I found it here and I made it on Friday night. I plan on turning a lot of people into brussels sprout lovers with this recipe. It is that good.

I had to adapt the vinaigrette recipe slightly based on what I had (like apple cider instead of apple juice concentrate and figs instead of dates). I should also note that the vinaigrette recipe makes over two cups of dressing. It’s a really great dressing though, so it’s not a bad idea to make a lot.

Brussels Sprout Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

For Mustard Vinaigrette:
2 Tbsp whole grain mustard
6 Tbsp white wine vinegar
3 ½ Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
½ c. apple cider
2 c. Canola oil

For Brussels Sprout Salad:
2 ½ cups Brussels sprouts
2 Tbsp dried cranberries
2 Tbsp slivered almonds
2 Tbsp dried figs
2 Tbsp manchego cheese, grated
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
¼ cup Mustard Vinaigrette (see recipe above)

Instructions:

For Mustard Vinaigrette:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together mustard, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt, pepper and apple cider. Slowly whisk in the oil.

For Brussels Sprout Salad:
Trim the leaves off around the stem of the Brussels sprouts and then peel apart each leaf. Bring 6 cups of water to boil. Place peeled Brussels sprouts in boiling water for 6 seconds (really, just 6 seconds). Quickly remove and place in ice water. When cooled, place on a tray to dry. In a mixing bowl, add the Brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, almonds, and figs. Toss with mustard vinaigrette. Place in a salad bowl and top with manchego and parmesan.


Aside from being delicious, it’s so bright and colorful. I think it might even be a new addition to our Thanksgiving dinner table!

Crosnes

I stumbled across these funny little tubers called Crosnes at the Union Square Greenmarket last weekend. I grabbed a handful before even looking at the price ($20/lb – yikes!).

I did a little bit of internet research and found out that they are a member of the mint family. They can be sautéed, fried, pickled, and even eaten raw. They’re originally from China and are sometimes called “Chinese Artichokes.”

When I showed them to Matt, he started calling them mealworms. I found a better nickname for them online: “butter sluts.”

I decided to sauté them to go with our dinner on Sunday. I put them in some piping hot butter and olive oil with a sprig of rosemary for just a few minutes and sprinkled liberally with salt.

They were very good! They had a similar texture to a potato, though not quite as starchy. The best way I can think to describe them is a cross between a potato and an artichoke. I think they would be really, really good pickled. I’m going to have to try that next.