Creole Red Beans & Rice

That's a big ol' pot of love, folks

Well, try my hardest, I didn't quite make my goal of getting a post up this weekend, alas! In part, I actually blame this recipe for my delay, since I was doing my best to take down an entire pot of this tasty Louisiana treat before the week- another goal I didn't quite get to. But I digress. Since moving down here and getting settled, I've been really excited to sample all the local flavors and start working on my own versions of them. So far, my favorite two have been red beans & rice and shrimp po'boys, both of which I have been tinkering with in the new Humble Kitchen (look for a Roasted Shrimp Po' Boy to be appearing soon!). 

Much like a lot of the food that I love to cook and share, this Louisiana staple has its roots in necessity. Beans (either dried or tinned) are a very inexpensive staple, as is plain and simple rice. Naturally, red beans & rice is a great go-to dish that is wildly satisfying to the soul, and also a comfort to the wallet. Since I am now a stay at home mama, I am not only charged with taking care of our little love, but also taking care of my big love and making sure that they are both well-fed. The babe is pretty easy, so most of my food focus is on keeping Kyle and I well fed on a very tight budget. So after a little research (mostly on Epicurious and Food Network as well as the back of the bag of small red beans I purchased!) I started to piece together my recipe from what I had on hand, and what I could spend out of my budget. My method for rehydrating the beans was done somewhat out of error (I had meant to soak the beans overnight, but forgot the night before), but I think it still turned out very well, just be sure to start the beans early in the day if you plan on having them that night, or keep it simple and do an overnight soak. 

I've got to take a moment and give a little respect to the guy manning the meat counter at our local Albertson's- not only was he incredibly knowledgeable about their offerings, he had a lot of great suggestions for how to use their various meats & fish offerings-  very inspiring! It's amazing to walk into a run of the mill grocery store and be greeted by such a beautiful meat/fish counter with so many offerings from local sources, truly awesome!

I'm not sure exactly how "authentic" my red beans & rice came out to be, but I feel confident that it was a good representation of the local flavor. It's a great way to stretch your dollar and fill hungry bellies without feeling like you're skimping. 

Red Beans & Rice (pieced together from sources noted above)

-1 lb bag of dried small red beans, picked over & rinsed

- 3/4 lbs fresh cajun sausage (Andouille works very well)

- 3 stalks of celery with leaves, washed & diced small

- 1/2 a sweet onion, diced small

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced fine

- 3 tbspns Creole seasoning (I used a mix of "Slap Ya Mama" and "Cajun Land")

- Louisiana hot sauce (I used Crystal "Extra Hot"), optional

- Sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper

- Olive oil

-1 cup long grain rice, prepared to package instructions

After picking over and rinsing beans well, combine with six cups of water and a hearty sprinkling of salt in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Lower temp to just barely simmering, cover almost full with lid (leaving a small opening for steam to escape), and leave beans to fully soften- about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. If liquid level drops below beans, add more water accordingly. When beans are fully cooked, mash about half the beans with a potato masher or a large wooden spoon- this will help thicken the liquid and give a great texture to the final product. 

In a large saute pan over medium heat, add sausage and a little water (1/4" or so) and steam until sausage is cooked through (if working with pre-cooked sausage, skip this step). Remove sausage from pan and pour off water. When cool enough to handle, slice sausages into diagonal rounds. Return pan to stove, add a light coating of olive oil and saute sausage rounds until golden brown. Transfer sausage into Dutch oven with beans and stir to combine. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and saute celery and onion (1/2 a green pepper diced up is also a great addition if handy) until softened and onions become translucent but not brown. Add in garlic and continue to cook an additional 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Season vegetables with Creole seasonings to taste, and add into bean & sausage mixture. After combining all elements, check for seasoning and adjust accordingly, adding additional Creole seasoning, salt & pepper and hot sauce if using. Allow mixture to come together over low heat for a couple of hours if possible- the longer, the better!

To serve, ladle beans over servings of cooked white rice, and serve with hot sauce, ice cold beers and big hunks of french bread for sopping up the sauce. 

White Chocolate & Dried Cranberry Cookies

I’ve had this post half started for a couple of weeks now (what up, slacker), but somehow keep losing my train of thought, or get distracted by some sort of shiny object, whoops! I don’t have anything particularly earth shattering to say about how these cookies came about other than I had a pregnancy fueled cookie craving (or at least that’s what I’m blaming it on!), a giant bag of dried cranberries and some white chocolate chips on hand. Interestingly enough, I couldn’t find any recipes for cranberry-white chocolate cookies, so I went to the old standby- The Joy of Cooking- and scanned the cookie recipes for something that would fit what I was looking for. The recipe for White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies had all the right things I was looking for and with a little modification for what I had on hand, I got the perfectly satisfying cookie I was looking for without having to leave the house to hit up the grocery store or bakery, and all was right in the world.

I’m a huge fan of the dried fruit/chocolate combination, and the tart, chewiness of the cranberries balanced very well with the smoothness of the white chocolate. I was happy that they also go the seal of approval from my husband (a true connoisseur of baked goods), as well as the boys at my all male office. I can usually tell when a baked good goes over well if the tin is empty before 1PM, and one of my bosses was sniffing around for extra cookies well before that time.

White Chocolate & Dried Cranberry Cookies

(recipe modified from The Joy of Cooking’s White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies)

-- 2 ½ Cups all purpose flour

 - 1 Tsp. baking soda

-- 1 Cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

-- 1 1/3 Cups organic white sugar

-- 2/3 Cup packed light brown sugar

-- 2 Large eggs

-- 1 Tsp. vanilla

-- 1 Cup dried cranberries

-- 1 Cup white chocolate morsels or coarsely chopped white chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add in cranberries and white chocolate. Spoon generous teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets (about 1 ½ inches apart) and bake for 15-18 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. 

A True Lunch Break

Almost every day, I bring my lunch to work from home. Usually it consists of leftovers from a previous meal, and a lot of times it takes shape in the form of a salad. I do my best to keep my lunches relatively light and satisfying, since there is nothing worse than sitting at your desk feeling the creeping onset of a food coma- especially when your desk lacks any sort of privacy from the rest of the office! It also may sound a little silly, but I enjoy taking a few minutes to “time out” from my daily tasks and actually enjoy my lunch whenever possible- I bring cutlery from home, stash a cloth napkin in my work bag, and make an attempt to actually have a lunch break as opposed to wolfing down some non-descript take out item while scanning over spec sheets (not that this doesn’t happen on occasion!).

During my massive re-nesting/cooking marathon of the past weekend, I was attempting to figure out a way to combine items I had on hand that I could stretch out over a couple of lunches that was a little outside of my usual routine. I get daily email newsletters from one of my favorite publications, Real Simple, and I remembered seeing a tomato & garbanzo salad that had looked appealing, and decided to play off of the concept. I had made a HUGE batch of Slow Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic on Sunday (I really should not be allowed to go to the Farmer’s Market without adult supervision!) and I had done a long drag through the market’s olive bar- one of my favorite destinations- and had picked up some olives and balsamic marinated mushrooms. I swapped out the garbanzos for Cannellini beans, which I had on hand, and the end result was a perfect salad for lunch- packed with protein, tasty veggies and loads of flavor. I was able to get three full lunches out of the mixture, and will definitely be making it again. By using the slow roasted tomatoes, the salad can be made year round, since the roasting will get rid of any mealy texture or less flavorful tomatoes in the off-season. When fresh tomatoes are in season, adding ½ a rough chopped fresh tomato brings and interesting and appealing play on flavors in the two tomato style. The salad would also make for a great hors d’ oeuvres applying the same concept- allow guests to build their own bruschetta with toasted bread, ricotta, baby arugula (baby spinach works well also) and the bean salad- wildly easy, and a perfect flavor combination.

The longer the salad sits, the better, so I would recommend starting this the night before, and dividing it up in the morning, so the beans have a chance to meld with the other flavors, and the arugula will remain crisp until lunch time. If you’re looking for a single container lunch, omit the side of ricotta cheese and toss in some cubed feta with the salad. This salad is a great way to implement simple ingredients into a very satisfying meal using minimal prep time and effort.

Bellissimo White Bean Salad
(Recipe makes enough for 3 lunches, 2 dinners or as an hors d’oeuvres for a crowd)

- 1 Can Cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
- 6 Slices Slow Roasted Tomatoes, rough chopped
- 3 Cloves Roasted Garlic, chopped (garlic will break down when combined into salad)
- ½ Ripe Roma tomato, diced
- 6 Olives, pitted & quartered (I used kalamata and Moroccan green)
- 6 Marinated mushrooms, quartered
-2 Tbspn fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- Fresh baby Arugula
- Cracked black pepper & sea salt
- Basil leaves (3-4 per serving)
- Part skim Ricotta cheese (1/4 cup per serving)
- 1Tspn. fresh grated lemon zest (per serving)
- Sliced rustic bread (2 slices per serving)

In a good sized container, combine beans, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, olives and mushrooms. Add a little of the oil from the roasted tomatoes and season with salt & pepper to taste. Mix ingredients well, cover and refrigerate overnight if possible before dividing.

Chiffonade basil leaves by stacking leaves into a neat pile, roll lengthwise and slice into thin rounds. Separate the ribbons with fingers & combine with ricotta & lemon zest in a small sealable container.

When dividing for lunches, place approx ¾ cup of bean salad into a sealable container and top with a hearty handful of baby Arugula (placing on top will prevent rapid wilting) and seal. Pack ricotta mixture & bread separately, and when ready assemble into lunch portion bruschetta and take a few minutes to relax and enjoy.

Satisfying & Light Weeknight

Once again, menu planning from The Book (as it will now be referred to) strikes with great success! My husband and I are heading to Philadelphia to see a dear friend from college get married this weekend, so I didn’t want to do a lot of grocery shopping this week since we would be on the road, and were some items that I wanted to use up before we headed out of town. I had flagged Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Artichokes and Pancetta the second it graced the cover of Food & Wine’s April 2010 issue, and knew it was a flavor combination I wanted to work with. I have a lot of respect for Batali as a chef- he seems to really know who he is, both as a person and a chef, and he has a wonderful backstory to his rise to fame.
I love a simple pasta dish, especially something that can be thrown together easily on a week night without feeling like an afterthought. Following Batali’s flavor profile, I amended the components for what I had on hand, and the result was a perfect after workout spring supper that was wholly satisfying. By switching to an unrefined whole grain pasta, I upped the fiber and grain intake, and I thought he pairing of the light artichokes with the hearty fettuccini made for a great balance. I also switched out the pancetta for leaner prosciutto, helping to lighten up the dish further. The dish was only further confirmed a success when my husband not only cleaned his own bowl, but happily devoured my leftovers when I offered them up for sacrifice. Paired with a bright salad, Whole Wheat Pasta with Artichokes & Pancetta is a perfect spring meal.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Artichokes & Prosciutto
(inspired by Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Artichokes & Pancetta)

- 6-8oz. jar marinated & quartered artichokes
- ½ Red Onion, sliced thinly
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4oz. Good quality lean prosciutto, sliced into ribbons (freeze the prosciutto for 10-15 minutes to make slicing easy)
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- Zest of ¼- ½ a lemon
- Scant ¼ cup dry white wine
- ½ Package of whole wheat fettuccini or spaghetti
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Chopped flat leaf parsley or fresh basil (optional)

Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a rolling boil, and build sauce while water is coming to temp. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a high sided pan or wok (big enough to hold pasta when cooked) and add in prosciutto. Keep prosciutto moving & cook until well crisped, but not burned. Transfer to paper or kitchen towel to drain. Add in a little more olive oil and sauté artichoke hearts until warmed through, breaking up if pieces are large. Add in onion and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until onion begins to soften. Introduce garlic, and cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant and softened. Pour in wine and lemon juice, stirring to combine and cook until slightly reduced. Drop heat to low, add in lemon zest, stir to fully incorporate and adjust flavor with salt and pepper to taste. Sauce can be set aside while pasta is cooked. Follow recommended cooking instructions for pasta, reserve about ¾ cup of cooking liquid and drain well. Add cooked pasta to sauce with cooked prosciutto and toss well, adding some of pasta cooking liquid to loosen sauce to a light consistency and have even coating on pasta. Sprinkle liberally with fresh parmesan cheese and herbs (if using) and serve immediately.

Artichoke

Ours Go to Eleven

In getting further acquainted with my little treehouse kitchen, I have been doing my best to not over-buy pantry items as, well, we don’t actually have a pantry, but rather a very small built-in cabinet (half filled with glassware) and a small wire rack. With minimal space, and half of it being in plain sight, I have done my best to be conscious of my dry goods and non-perishables and what I really “need” to have in order to be able to throw together a quick meal in a pinch. In this thought, I have come up with the eleven pantry (seven in the dry goods category, and four in the long shelf life realm) items that I almost always have on hand that have saved my neck when time is of the essence. In no particular order:

 1) Pepper Creek Farms French Grey Sea Salt: I had first encountered this French salt when I purchased it as part of a holiday gift basket for my mother. As I have mentioned before, I would install a salt lick in my apartment if I could, I am a huge salt fan (occasionally to my husband’s dismay). Pepper Creek has produced a wonderful, earthy salt that is perfect in just about any dish. This salt has a high moisture content, which helps to retain nutrients.

2) Pastene Kitchen Ready tinned tomatoes: I advocated the versatility of Pastene in my tomato sauce recipe and with due reason- in a cross comparison of fresh taste, value and shelf life, this brand is a winner. Some other brands seem to have a more metallic taste, but something about Pastene’s crushed tomatoes always taste a bit fresher to me, perhaps for nostalgia’s sake. One tin can make plenty of sauce for four, and are also great when employed in stews.

3) Carr’s Water Crackers: Although more of an entertaining staple, these water crackers can always be found in my cabinet, thanks in no small part to discovering the 5 sleeve variety pack available at wholesale markets. Kyle and I are both huge cheese aficionados, and anytime guests are in the house, or we just don’t feel like really cooking, a plate full of cheeses, fruits, and cured meats is bound to be on our coffee table. I’ve tried other varieties of water crackers, and I hate to say it, but they all pale in comparison. They are light, airy and the perfect vessel for presenting a good cheese. The toasted sesame and cracked black pepper are my favorites.

4) Penfold’s Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet (2006): I first came across this blend about 3 years ago back in Maine when it was discovered by both my family and Kyle’s at about the same time. Upon discovery, I think we all bought up as much of the ’06 as we could find, as it seemed to have a better, more well rounded flavor and mouth feel than the ’07. Sadly, we have drank the rest of our stash of the ’06, which is still available in some areas, but the ’07 is still a good find. It retails for around $10/bottle so it’s a guiltless wine that is not only drinkable but great for cooking with, making it a double whammy. Not strictly a pantry item, but since I use a lot of wine in my cooking I figured it was a good addition!

5) Barilla Fettuccine Rigate: A bit more difficult to find than regular fettuccine, but worth the hunt. Like it’s close relative, penne rigate, this fettuccine has small ridges, which make it ideal for being paired with light sauces, and given that it has the classic flat shape of a fettuccine noodle, it doesn’t buckle under more robust sauces to boot. It holds any sauce beautifully, gives you a full even bite of flavor and cooks to al dente quickly and evenly.

6) Goya Cannellini Beans: When I have the time, I prefer to soak my cannellini beans overnight for cooking. However, when time is of the essence, I go for the Goya. With a quick drain and rinse, these beans are extremely versatile- they can be added to soups, cooked with tomatoes, served with any meats and have a beautiful texture when blended with fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil for a quick cocktail spread. They are also great tossed in a salad for an easy protein boost. At around $1.50/can, you really can’t go wrong.

7) Panko Bread Crumbs: This probably stems from my days as an actual restaurant chef some years ago, but I do have to agree that I like the texture of panko so much better than the standard bread crumb. They are a little coarser, very light, and take on any seasonings very well. I use them predominantly in fish breading, as they let the flavor of the fish really shine, and maintain a crispy coating. They also work well as a binder for anything from meatloaf to crabcakes.

8 Garlic: I always have at least one head of garlic on my “island” (I use that term loosely, as you can tell by the photo of my galley that it’s really just a re-purposed leaf table) at the ready. There really isn’t any dish that I won’t throw garlic into, as it is such an easy way to get a lot of fresh flavor into a dish for very little money. In addition to classic sauté and sauce application, it becomes wonderfully sweet and soft when roasted as a whole clove with olive oil for a spread, or it can be ground down raw and salted to add to fresh vinaigrettes to perk up simple greens. For a perfect add on to fresh wilted greens, I am a fan of crisping up thin slices in a little olive oil to make garlic chips.

9) Lemon Zest: Kyle has been poking fun at me for my recent obsession with lemon zest. Like garlic, there really isn’t anything I won’t add it to. When I finally got the chance to unpack my four sided Microplane greater, there wasn’t any dish that was safe from a zesting! I love the bright, subtle lemon flavor the zest adds, especially in the winter time when produce can be a bit bland. Added to cannellini beans, sautéed garlic and a little wilted spinach, you’ve got yourself a great side dish, all out of the aforementioned staples! The dexterity of lemon zest can range from the sweet to the savory, and with a good fresh lemon, you can get pretty good shelf time out of it.

10) Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese: A good turn of the grater over any dish can perk up just about any simple dish. I prefer this variety over straight Parmesan, as it has a little bit more of a nutty flavor. It is much more worthwhile to spend a little extra on this cheese, as the payout will be in the flavor. Regular pre-grated cheese in a can has a lot of additives to give it unrefrigerated shelf life, and has a flavor likeness of unseasoned bread crumbs in my opinion. Freshly grated cheese incorporates well into sauces, melts evenly over pasta and lends itself well to crusting under the broiler. As an added bonus, rinds can be added to soups and stocks for extra flavor.

11) Flat Leaf Italian Parsley: For most of this winter, I was buying bunches of fresh Italian parsley at the market, and storing it in damp paper towels with a little water in a pint glass on my kitchen windowsill. Most of the time I’d end up losing half of the bunch as I couldn’t get to all of it before it started to turn. Now that I am the proud grower of a beautiful herb container garden (check out The Humble Home for tips), I never worry about it going to waste. It is extremely easy to grow, even in a small pot in a window, and well worth the 10 minutes to sow, as there is minimal upkeep, just a little watering. Once you have gotten your herb plant started, it’s so easy to maintain, there’s really no reason not to keep a few pots around to jazz up pantry meals. I find the flat leaf has much more flavor than the curly and is a ridiculously easy way to add a little color and fresh crunch to absolutely any dish. It’s an old trick employed by pretty much every restaurant out there, but there is something I find really appealing about a fresh spray of chopped herbs across a plate of food. The same theory goes for cilantro, chives, baby arugula or any other fresh varieties.

So those are the staples for my kitchen- what are your go to pieces that have bailed you out in an emergency, or the items that are standby for those weeknights when your energy is low?