Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

This would be really good with ground beef and fresh onions, but I’m all out.

Directions

• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 T onion flakes (or half a fresh onion)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t cumin
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 t cajun seasoning
• 1 T chipotle powder or to taste
• 1 bag quorn crumbles (or any vegetarian meat crumble)
• 2 7oz cans El Pato Salsa de Jalapeno or Tomato
• 1 7oz can Chipotle Sauce
• 1 can black beans
• 1 T brown sugar
• splash of Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Saute Onion and Garlic in olive oil for three minutes.  Add seasonings and crumbles.  Saute until crumbles are cooked through.  Add the rest of the ingredients through vinegar.  Simmer, covered for 45 minutes.  Stir and add balsamic vinegar to taste.

The seasonings are all approximate.  I eyeball everything.

Leftover Steak Pasta

That’s Pasta with leftover steak, not leftover pasta. We had two ribeyes that didn’t get finished on Saturday, so I threw this one together last night and it was surprisingly good.

Steak Pasta

• 1/2 lb leftover steak (or however much you have), thinly sliced
• 1 T Olive Oil
• 1 T Butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 C peppers (more would have been good, but not for my vege-phobe)
• 1/4 C onions
• 1 t minced capers
• 1/2 t Basil
• 1/2 t Parsley
• 1/2 lb hot cooked linguine
• 1 t grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat oil and butter. When shimmering, add onions and peppers until softening. Add garlic and saute until golden. Add minced capers and stir to combine. Lower heat to medium-low and add steak. Warm steak through, being careful not to overcook. Add linguine and mix until coated. Toss with parmesan, season to taste and serve.  This is good hot or cold.

Spice Rubbed Pork and Avocado-Corn Salsa with Rice & Black Beans

My Fruitpie really liked this menu.  The salsa is one of her summer favorites.

Spice Rubbed Pork

• 1lb (or so) pork loin roast
• 1/4 C kosher salt
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 T Brown Sugar
• 2 t Cinnamon divided
• 6 C water
• 1 t Ground Cumin
• 1 t Chili Powder
• 1/2 t Paprika
• 1/2 t Amchur (or lemon pepper)

Combine salt, sugars and 1t cinnamon with 6 cups water.  Stir until dissolved.  Place pork in a container or plastic bag with brine mixture and refrigerate for eight to twelve hours.  Do not brine for much longer than that or it will be more like ham than pork.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix remaining spices plus remaining teaspoon of cinnamon.  Remove pork from brine, pat dry and rub with spice mixture.  Put pork in a roasting pan and let cook until temperature reaches 155 degrees; about 45 minutes.  Let sit for ten minutes before slicing.

Avocado-Corn Salsa

• 2 large Tomatillos
• 3 small Avocados
• 2 ears corn
• 1/3 C red onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 T lemon or lime juice
• 1-1/2 t Tamarina (found in Indian markets and some supermarkets)
• salt to taste

Remove husks from tomatillos, wash and broil or grill until skin is slightly charred.  Chop into quarters and add to food processor.  Chop two avocados and place them in the food processor with the tomatillos.   Add onion and garlic and blend until smooth.  Add Tamarina, juice and salt to taste.  Shuck and scrape two ears of corn into a large bowl.  Chop remaining avocado and mix with corn.  Pour tomatillo mixture into corn mixture and gently blend.  Chill.

Rice & Black Beans

• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 C chopped onion
• 1/2 C chopped red bell pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 C water
• 1 t chili powder
• 1/2 t cajun seasoning (Tony Chachere)
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t thyme
• 1/4 t ground red pepper
• 1 t brown sugar
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 C hot cooked long-grain rice
• Black Pepper to taste

In a large, heavy pot or saucepan, heat oil.  Saute onions and pepper until tender and add garlic.  Saute until garlic is golden and add the next nine ingredients (through beans).  Stir until well combined and let simmer until beans are tender.  Remove from heat and stir in rice.  Season with black pepper to taste.

Fried Chicken

I had never made this before, but Fruitpie requested it this morning so I made it up as I went.

• 2lb chicken pieces
• 4 C ice water
• 1 C White Vinegar
• 1 C Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 C flour
• 1 t Goya Adobo
• 1 t Creole Seasoning
• 1 t black pepper
• 1/4 t paprika
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1/2 C panko
• Oil for frying

Fill a large bowl with first four ingredients and set aside.  In an 8×8 baking dish (or other shallow dish/pan), mix together flour, panko and seasonings.  Heat oil in a heavy pot or pan (I used my cast iron pot for lack of skillet).  Fill to about 1/4 inch depth.  Heat over medium high heat until shimmering.  Dredge first batch of chicken pieces (however many will fit in the pot) in the flower mixture and add to pot.  Cook for about ten minutes on each side and drain on a rack.  (Paper towels will work if rack is unavailable, but it will not be as crunchy)  Continue until all of the chicken is cooked.

Mystery Beans

I had a can of mystery beans in the pantry forever.  The label had long ago fallen off and I couldn’t remember if they were cannelinis or kidneys.  It turns out they were small kidney beans.

• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1/2 red pepper diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 packet sazon
• 1/2 ham bouillon cube
• 2 T olive oil (I’m guessing)
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 15oz can beans
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat oil in heavy sauce pan over med-high heat.  Add onion and pepper and saute until soft.  Add garlic and saute until golden…add more oil if neccessary.  Sprinkle with sazon and dissolve in ham cube.  Open can of beans, leaving lid slightly attached.  Keep lid covering beans and rinse under sink until liquid runs clear.  Pour beans w/water in can into the pot and add brown sugar.  Stir to dissolve sugar, reduce heat and simmer until thickened.  Add salt & pepper to tast and a little chipotle powder if you’d like it a little spicy.

Easy Banana Cream Pie

This is insanely simple, but my girl likes it.  I have a ton of variations.

1 or 2 bananas

1T lemon juice

1 C crushed vanilla wafers (I love the ones at Henry’s, but Nilla will do)

1/4 C melted (I Can’t Believe it’s Not or real) butter

1 large package Jello sugar-free Banana Cream or Vanilla pudding mix

2 1/2 C Milk

Cool Whip

Slice bananas and mix with lemon juice.

In a separate bowl, mix melted butter with cookie crumbs and press into a pie dish.  It will be crumbly, but do what you can to at least cover the bottom of the dish.  Layer half of the sliced bananas over the crumbs.

In another bowl, mix the pudding mix with the milk as directed.  It will get pretty thick fairly quickly.  I don’t always beat the mix for the full two minutes as long as it’s all mixed up.  Carefully spread the  pudding over the bananas.  If there are any bananas left over, layer these on top of the pudding.

Chill for at least ten minutes, but preferably two hours.  Before serving, top with cool whip.

Variations 

1. add sliced strawberries to the banana mix.  If they aren’t very sweet, mix them with a little splenda.

2. Pour melted chocolate over the crumbs before layering with bananas.

- melt two squares of semi-sweet chocolate with 1/2 stick of butter.  Microwave on high for 90 seconds, stirring at 30 second intervals.

Add 1/4 C sweetened coconut to pudding mix.  When set, sprinkle whipped cream with a little toasted coconut.

Banana Chocolate Chip cookies

• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C white sugar
•  1/3 C Margarine
• 1/4 C Butter
• 1 overripe banana
• 1 egg
• 1 t dark rum
• 1 1/3 C flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.   Cream together together sugars, butter and margarine.  Add rum, banana and egg and blend well.  In another bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder.   Slowly fold into wet ingredients.  When well mixed, add chocolate chips and blend.

Drop tablespoonfulls on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes.

Yield: 3 dozen

Fruit’s Favorite Ribs Updated

Rack of meaty babyback pork ribs
1 sweet onion cut into eighths
1 tsp minced garlic
olive oil
adobo
montreal steak seasoning
about a 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
honey

Season ribs with tenderizer and adobo and set aside.  While chopping onion and garlic, bring water to boil in a large skillet.  Add onion and garlic to pot and cut rack in thirds.  Add ribs to the pot and return to boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 90 minutes.

When ribs are ready, remove from skillet and preheat grill.

Place ribs on grill and baste with BBQ sauce. After about four minutes, turn and baste again. Continue until they’re just about ready to remove, intermittently sprinkling with Montreal steak seasoning. Pour honey over each side and grill for a few more minutes to glaze on.  Just before removing, add more honey to meaty side.

Bring in and serve my happy Fruitpie!

Caramel Tamarind Glaze

I think this would be good over just about anything.  I made it to glaze a ham with, but I suspect it would be delicious with ice cream or even cooked down to caramel candy goodness.

1/4 C Butter

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1 T Tamarind Concentrate (or whatever kind of Tamarind-like flavor you can get your hands on.)

1/4 C coffee (I used the stuff that had been sitting in the pot from the morning)

Melt butter in a medium saucepan.  Add brown sugar and set heat to medium, stirring frequently.  When the mix starts to look like caramel, add the tamarind.  Stir for a minute or so until combined and add coffee.  If you would like it to be more liquid, add more coffee…if you want it thicker, add less.  Stir mixture for a few more minutes and kill the heat.  Brush over salty meat or let cool to add to whatever sounds good.

Creuset Envy

Many years ago, I would help my ex babysit at her regular gig near my parents’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Y did very well for themselves…and they seemed really too good to be true…like the 90s version of Leave it to Beaver or something. They lived in this beautiful ranch style home that was meticulously landscaped and always spotless…right down to the kids rooms. They had a great kitchen complete with a sub-zero fridge and double ovens. Mrs.Y was usually very sweet and friendly, but the one thing that could make her go apeshit was if she caught someone using a metal utinsel in her pots. We would often make spaghetti for the kids, and every time the little girl would remind us to always use the plastic spoons with a look of fear in her eyes. We used to shrug this oddity off…I mean, come on it’s a pot. I thought it was because the inside was white and she was anal. What difference does it make what the inside looks like when you just fill it with stuff anyway?

Well, Mrs.Y, I totally understand now…at least seven years later. Those weren’t pots…they were Le Creuset…and if it were me, there would be a separate set of pots for the babysitters.