Chilis and Stews

When someone says chili, what comes to mind? Ground beef cooked with canned tomatoes, beans, and a packet of chili seasoning? I think that's probably the norm. That's the kind of chili that my Dad used to whip up using Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili kit. My Aunt Stasia, on the other hand, made a loose ground beef sauce that was closer to Coney Island sauce that was meant to be served on a hot dog. I blithely went along with the idea that either one was the Platonic ideal of chili until I picked up a copy of a cookbook that included thirty or so recipes for Texas chili. This type of chili, the book insisted, required chunks of beef and absolutely did not include beans of any sort. Real Texas chili doesn't even have tomatoes in it. Rather, it should include only beef, chile puree, and seasonings. After reading the subtle variations presented in this manual to one of the carnivore's most important dishes, I fell into the Texas chili camp. No more ground beef chili for me! Ok, so that's not entirely true. Ground beef chili definitely has it's place. For one thing, it's a quicker cook than chili made with hunks of pork or beef. And I'm more likely to have ground beef, chicken, or turkey in the freezer. Still, my heart belongs to Texas chili.

Chili isn't the only belly-warming stew-like substance on the menu at Chez Minx. I have tossed together many a supper-in-a-bowl in the fall and winter months. Scroll down to find links to some of my favorite non-chili creations.

Beef and Black Bean Chili

Chili Verde

Emergency Chili

Five (or More) Chile Chili

Green Chicken Chili

Kitchen Sink Chili

Lamb Tagine Chili

Minx Chili

Moroccan Chili

Spicy Smoky Chili

Spicy Smoky Turkey Chili

Whole30 Chili

Non-Chili Stews

Black Bean Ragout

Bloody Mary Beef

Chicken and Cannellini Bean Stew

Chicken and Dumplings

Lamb Fesenjan

Lamb Stew a la Chinoise

Sausage and White Bean Stew

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Observing Lent

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on March 14, 2014.

-----------------------------------------
Lent is upon us, and for you practicing Catholics, it's time for Friday fasting. No meat for you!  To help you with Friday meal planning, here are some of my favorite meat-free (but not seafood-free) recipes from Minxeats.

Alton's Mac & Cheese
Asian Pasta Salad
Avocado Soup with Crab Salad

Black Bean Ragout
Black Bean Soup
Clam Chowdah

Clamburgers
Corn, Crab, and Coriander Fritters
Crespelle di Mare e Pesto
Drunken Noodles with Seafood a la Minx
Gagooch (fried zucchini with eggs)

Greek Shrimp Pasta
"Healthy" Spinach Lasagna
Mushroom and Tomato Ragout with Polenta

Oatmeal Risotto with Roasted Vegetables
Panfried Tofu with Asian Caramel Sauce
Parisian Gnocchi with Caponata
Seafood Louis

Shellfish Etouffee
Simple Black Bean Burgers
Spicy Fish Soup
Spicy Korean Tofu
Tomato Bread Pudding

Warm Tofu with Spicy Sauce



Posted on Minxeats.com.


Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Viente de Mayo

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on May 20, 2013.

After seeing several Internet items extolling the virtue of making one's own corn tortillas, I thought I'd give it a go. Why not try it to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that means nothing to most Americans but, like St. Patrick's Day, is a good excuse to drink?

But we had a pack of corn tortillas in the fridge already, and, truth be told, Mr Minx isn't all that fond of tacos made with soft corn tortillas. (I know!) So instead of tortillas, I figured I'd make some other sort of fried thingy with my newly-purchased bag of masa. 

I noodled around online and found recipes for things called sopes, which appeared to be thick fried tortillas with a rim around the edge. But some of those recipes were similar to the rimless gorditas, which may or may not be split open and filled, depending on the recipe consulted. This blog (and others) calls them Salvadoran enchiladas, but if there's no chiles on them, etymologically speaking, how is that even possible? 

If I did call them sopes or gorditas and, heaven forfend, topped or filled them with something non-traditional or not from the proper region, the spirits of Mexican grandmothers will haunt me forever. Or so my research led me to believe.

I decided that the best--and safest--technical term for fried corn thingies made by a gringo like me would be Fried Corn Thingies. Then I would be able to top them with whatever my little heart wanted to top them with, without fear of repercussions from the Great Beyond. For our Cinco de Mayo dinner, that was a combination of chicken and chorizo, plus refried black beans and various condiments. On the side I served my version of esquites, and we washed everything down with passionfruit margaritas. Well, the original intention was to have passionfruit margaritas, but the Ceres brand passionfruit juice I purchased didn't taste very much like the tangy fruit in question. They were ok, but not anything to write home about. Especially if home is Mexico. Everything else, however, was muy bueno.

Fried Corn Thingies with Assorted Toppings

Thingies (recipe below)
Refried Black Beans (recipe below)
Chorizo Chicken (recipe below)
Chipotle Sauce (recipe below)
Easy Salsa (or your favorite salsa) (recipe below)
crumbly cheese, like feta or cotija
sliced avocado
fresh cilantro

Layer beans, chicken, chipotle sauce, salsa, and cheese on a Thingy. Top with avocado and cilantro. Devour and repeat.

Fried Corn Thingies 

2 cups masa
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Mix masa, water, and 1/4 cup oil into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 10 pieces. Form each one into a flattened disk about 1/4" thick.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan. Add disks a few at a time and cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, until it starts to brown lightly. Flip the disks, cook 2 minutes more on the other side, and remove from heat. Set aside until ready to eat.

When ready to serve, cook the thingies about 2 minutes per side in a bit of oil to crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Refried Black Beans

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Put beans and water in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently and vigorously, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the beans are mostly mashed. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Chorizo Chicken

1/2 cup chopped onion
vegetable oil
pinch salt
2 links Mexican chorizo
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
splash balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until softened. Remove chorizo from casings and add to onions, breaking up sausage with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until sausage starts to darken. Add the chicken thighs, broth, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer chicken about thirty minutes until tender.

Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool for a few minutes. With your fingers, two forks, or a knife and a fork, shred/chop the meat into small piece and add back to the pan. Turn up heat and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, skimming off most of the red oil that rises to the top. Stir in the garlic, brown sugar, and vinegar. Cook an additional minute or two and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle Sauce

1 canned chipotle in adobo, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch sugar
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Easy Salsa

2 large or 4 small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon lime juice
pinch cumin
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Saffron Rice and Beans

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on December 4, 2012.

Here's another quick weekday recipe from Mr. Minx.

Probably half of the dinners I cook during the week are pieced together from leftovers. One of the things I always hated as a kid was when my mother would serve reheated leftovers in the same form as they were served originally. Nine times out of ten, the meal was a pale imitation of the original, so I always prefer to reinvent the leftovers into some other type of dish. Besides, there's almost never enough food left over to serve exactly the same way. Case in point, a meal I put together the other day.

When I opened the fridge, our leftover inventory consisted of a container of steamed rice, some tomato sauce, and four thin slices of pot roast that Minx had ordered at our favorite diner a few nights earlier. My usual plan when I'm confronted with rice is to do a Chinese-style fried rice dish, but we had eaten Chinese food the night before, so I thought about other cuisines that use rice. That's when paella popped into my head.

Of course, paella is way too complicated, and I didn't have all the ingredients for it anyway, but I thought by adding saffron to the rice, I could build on the paella inspiration. Digging through the pantry, I found a can of black beans and, in the freezer, our usual stash of frozen peas. Rice and beans are a classic, and saffron rice tastes great, so this could actually work. Cooked all together with onions and garlic, the dish was homey and comforting, while having a touch of the exotic thanks to the saffron. I sprinkled the chopped pot roast into the dish for meaty goodness, but the recipe below excludes the pot roast because a) not everyone will have leftover pot roast in the fridge; and b) the recipe works great as a vegetarian dish.

Saffron Rice and Beans

2 cups cooked rice
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of butter
A few strands of saffron bloomed in 1/2 cup of warm water
1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
15 oz. can black beans
4 oz. tomato puree or tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen petite peas
salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro and scallion for garnish

Place a few strands of saffron in 1/2 cup of water to "bloom," or turn the water into a nice yellow color. While that's going on, open a can of black beans, dump them in a colander, and rinse the starch off under running water. With that prep work done, chop a medium onion and saute it in a pan with olive oil and melted butter. Once the onions are translucent, dump in the cooked rice and mix together. Add your garlic and the saffron water. Mix everything together well so that the rice takes on a yellow color. Add the tomato puree, and then add the black beans and the petite peas. Once everything is incorporated and heated through, season with salt, pepper, and the fresh oregano. Once on the plate, sprinkle some cilantro and chopped scallion on top for garnish.

Flashback Friday - Black Bean Ragout

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on March 21, 2013.

I cook most weekends and sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with meat. Especially if everything we have in that department is frozen into a giant block in the freezer. That's when I turn to canned beans, which we usually seem to have in great quantities. My favorite is black beans, which I find to be very versatile. I've used them to make hummus, veggie burgers, and even beans and franks. This time, I was feeling especially lazy and decided on a simple ragout of beans and tomatoes, flavored with chipotle.

We had a huge jar of pickled red bell peppers in the fridge; I had bought them by mistake, thinking they were an unusually-reasonably-priced jar of regular roasted peppers. The sweet vinegar tang of the peppers worked perfectly with the beans and tomatoes, and I didn't really need to use very much other seasoning, apart from salt and pepper and a bit of smoked paprika to reinforce the smokiness of the chipotle.

I topped the ragout with poached eggs made with Kenji's technique, as seen in this video I posted the other day. They were pretty gorgeous, as evidenced by the photo above.

Black Bean Ragout

1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 canned chipotle in adobo, seeded and minced
1 15oz can chopped tomatoes and their juices
2 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped pickled red bell pepper OR 1/4 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper OR 1/4 cup chopped fresh raw red bell pepper + 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar + 1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper

In a 2 quart saucepan, cook onion in olive oil and a pinch of salt over medium heat until the onion is translucent and just beginning to brown, about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, chipotle, tomatoes, beans, red bell pepper, and smoked paprika. Stir, raise heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover pot, and simmer until beans are very tender, about 45 minutes. If there seems to be too much liquid left, turn the heat up for a few minutes to allow it to evaporate. Smash mixture with a potato masher until it's a very chunky puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Top each serving with a poached egg or two, or eat as a side dish. Makes a nice burrito filling, too.

Serves 4

Posted on Minxeats.com.




Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Patties

This was one of those meals that I threw together to use up various oddball ingredients we had hanging around. We had just received a box from Washington's Green Grocer. In it were some finger limes and sweet potatoes; we had black beans in the cupboard amd feta in the fridge. I've been trying to make one vegetarian dish per weekend, so I figured I could use all of these things and come up with something pretty tasty.

Originally, I was going to make tacos, but then I found mini naan breads at the grocery store. They're soft and puffy like Greek pitas, and were a more substantial wrapper for the fairly substantial potato/bean cakes.

The cakes are slightly sweet, because of the potato, so the finger limes helped add acid. It wasn't quite enough acid for Mr Minx. He's not a fan of sweet potatoes, and he needed some spicy tomatillo salsa to cut the sweet. (My favorite tomatillo salsa is Desert Pepper brand. Hard to find, so I buy several jars at a time when I do see it.)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Patties

1 large sweet potato
Olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 scallions, chopped
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 clove garlic, crushed
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Panko breadcrumbs

To serve:
Warm flour tortillas or mini naan breads or greek pitas
Yogurt mixed with a little harissa to taste
Scallions
Chopped tomato
Extra feta cheese

Peel the sweet potato and cut into evenly sized chunks, about 2" square. Put in a saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain water and mash potatoes with a potato masher into a smooth puree. Scoop potatoes into a large bowl and set aside for a few minutes to cool.

While potato is cooling, wipe out the saucepan and add a bit of olive oil. Cook the onion and scallions until wilted. Add the black beans and cook, stirring regularly, for a few minutes until everything is warm. As you stir the beans, they should break down into a chunky mash - this is what you want. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then add the bean mixture to the bowl with the sweet potatoes. Stir in the seasonings and the egg until well combined. Stir in the cheese and enough breadcrumbs (up to 1 cup) to form a soft dough. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour to firm up even more (it will still be pretty soft).

When ready to cook, remove dough from fridge and form into patties about 2-2 1/2" in diameter and 1/4" thick. Cook in a large saute pan with a bit of olive oil until browned on both sides. You'll need to do this in batches. Drain cooked patties on paper towel-lined plates.

To serve: Place two or more patties on your bread of choice, Top with yogurt, scallions, tomatoes, and feta.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Observing Lent

Lent is upon us, and for you practicing Catholics, it's time for Friday fasting. No meat for you!  To help you with Friday meal planning, here are some of my favorite meat-free (but not seafood-free) recipes from Minxeats.

Alton's Mac & Cheese
Asian Pasta Salad
Avocado Soup with Crab Salad

Black Bean Ragout
Black Bean Soup
Clam Chowdah

Clamburgers
Corn, Crab, and Coriander Fritters
Crespelle di Mare e Pesto
Drunken Noodles with Seafood a la Minx
Gagooch (fried zucchini with eggs)

Greek Shrimp Pasta
"Healthy" Spinach Lasagna
Mushroom and Tomato Ragout with Polenta

Oatmeal Risotto with Roasted Vegetables
Panfried Tofu with Asian Caramel Sauce
Parisian Gnocchi with Caponata
Seafood Louis

Shellfish Etouffee
Simple Black Bean Burgers
Spicy Fish Soup
Spicy Korean Tofu
Tomato Bread Pudding

Warm Tofu with Spicy Sauce



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Rajma Masala - Sorta

I was looking for something vegetarian to make for dinner, something easy, with beans. I hadn't eaten Indian food in a while, so a recipe for rajma masala struck me. Only that dish is made with kidney beans. Kidney beans aren't my friend, so I decided to use my favorite bean instead - black beans.

The dish is pretty simple, despite the number of spices. It came together in a flash and was very tasty. As a plus, the spices made the house smell great for the rest of the evening.

Rajma Masala

1 cup chopped onion
oil
pinch salt
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
pinch cinnamon
pinch cloves
1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15oz can of chopped tomatoes and their juices
1/2 teaspoon amchor powder (dried green mango) or 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt to taste
chopped green onion or cilantro

In a medium saucepan, saute the onion over medium heat in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until softened and just beginning to brown. Stir in the garlic and jalapeno, then add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir constantly for about a minute until the spices are well-incorporated with the onions, then add the beans and tomatoes.

Cook for 15-20 minutes over low heat until the beans have softened, stirring occasionally. Add the amchor powder or lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve with basmati rice.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Viente de Mayo

After seeing several Internet items extolling the virtue of making one's own corn tortillas, I thought I'd give it a go. Why not try it to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that means nothing to most Americans but, like St. Patrick's Day, is a good excuse to drink?

But we had a pack of corn tortillas in the fridge already, and, truth be told, Mr Minx isn't all that fond of tacos made with soft corn tortillas. (I know!) So instead of tortillas, I figured I'd make some other sort of fried thingy with my newly-purchased bag of masa. 

I noodled around online and found recipes for things called sopes, which appeared to be thick fried tortillas with a rim around the edge. But some of those recipes were similar to the rimless gorditas, which may or may not be split open and filled, depending on the recipe consulted. This blog (and others) calls them Salvadoran enchiladas, but if there's no chiles on them, etymologically speaking, how is that even possible? 

If I did call them sopes or gorditas and, heaven forfend, topped or filled them with something non-traditional or not from the proper region, the spirits of Mexican grandmothers will haunt me forever. Or so my research led me to believe.

I decided that the best--and safest--technical term for fried corn thingies made by a gringo like me would be Fried Corn Thingies. Then I would be able to top them with whatever my little heart wanted to top them with, without fear of repercussions from the Great Beyond. For our Cinco de Mayo dinner, that was a combination of chicken and chorizo, plus refried black beans and various condiments. On the side I served my version of esquites, and we washed everything down with passionfruit margaritas. Well, the original intention was to have passionfruit margaritas, but the Ceres brand passionfruit juice I purchased didn't taste very much like the tangy fruit in question. They were ok, but not anything to write home about. Especially if home is Mexico. Everything else, however, was muy bueno.

Fried Corn Thingies with Assorted Toppings

Thingies (recipe below)
Refried Black Beans (recipe below)
Chorizo Chicken (recipe below)
Chipotle Sauce (recipe below)
Easy Salsa (or your favorite salsa) (recipe below)
crumbly cheese, like feta or cotija
sliced avocado
fresh cilantro

Layer beans, chicken, chipotle sauce, salsa, and cheese on a Thingy. Top with avocado and cilantro. Devour and repeat.

Fried Corn Thingies 

2 cups masa
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Mix masa, water, and 1/4 cup oil into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 10 pieces. Form each one into a flattened disk about 1/4" thick.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan. Add disks a few at a time and cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, until it starts to brown lightly. Flip the disks, cook 2 minutes more on the other side, and remove from heat. Set aside until ready to eat.

When ready to serve, cook the thingies about 2 minutes per side in a bit of oil to crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Refried Black Beans

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Put beans and water in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently and vigorously, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the beans are mostly mashed. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Chorizo Chicken

1/2 cup chopped onion
vegetable oil
pinch salt
2 links Mexican chorizo
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
splash balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until softened. Remove chorizo from casings and add to onions, breaking up sausage with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until sausage starts to darken. Add the chicken thighs, broth, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer chicken about thirty minutes until tender.

Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool for a few minutes. With your fingers, two forks, or a knife and a fork, shred/chop the meat into small piece and add back to the pan. Turn up heat and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, skimming off most of the red oil that rises to the top. Stir in the garlic, brown sugar, and vinegar. Cook an additional minute or two and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle Sauce

1 canned chipotle in adobo, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch sugar
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Easy Salsa

2 large or 4 small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon lime juice
pinch cumin
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Black Bean Ragout

I cook most weekends and sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with meat. Especially if everything we have in that department is frozen into a giant block in the freezer. That's when I turn to canned beans, which we usually seem to have in great quantities. My favorite is black beans, which I find to be very versatile. I've used them to make hummus, veggie burgers, and even beans and franks. This time, I was feeling especially lazy and decided on a simple ragout of beans and tomatoes, flavored with chipotle.

We had a huge jar of pickled red bell peppers in the fridge; I had bought them by mistake, thinking they were an unusually-reasonably-priced jar of regular roasted peppers. The sweet vinegar tang of the peppers worked perfectly with the beans and tomatoes, and I didn't really need to use very much other seasoning, apart from salt and pepper and a bit of smoked paprika to reinforce the smokiness of the chipotle.

I topped the ragout with poached eggs made with Kenji's technique, as seen in this video I posted the other day. They were pretty gorgeous, as evidenced by the photo above.

Black Bean Ragout

1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 canned chipotle in adobo, seeded and minced
1 15oz can chopped tomatoes and their juices
2 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped pickled red bell pepper OR 1/4 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper OR 1/4 cup chopped fresh raw red bell pepper + 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar + 1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper

In a 2 quart saucepan, cook onion in olive oil and a pinch of salt over medium heat until the onion is translucent and just beginning to brown, about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, chipotle, tomatoes, beans, red bell pepper, and smoked paprika. Stir, raise heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover pot, and simmer until beans are very tender, about 45 minutes. If there seems to be too much liquid left, turn the heat up for a few minutes to allow it to evaporate. Smash mixture with a potato masher until it's a very chunky puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Top each serving with a poached egg or two, or eat as a side dish. Makes a nice burrito filling, too.

Serves 4

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Safffron Rice and Beans

Here's another quick weekday recipe from Mr. Minx.

Probably half of the dinners I cook during the week are pieced together from leftovers. One of the things I always hated as a kid was when my mother would serve reheated leftovers in the same form as they were served originally. Nine times out of ten, the meal was a pale imitation of the original, so I always prefer to reinvent the leftovers into some other type of dish. Besides, there's almost never enough food left over to serve exactly the same way. Case in point, a meal I put together the other day.

When I opened the fridge, our leftover inventory consisted of a container of steamed rice, some tomato sauce, and four thin slices of pot roast that Minx had ordered at our favorite diner a few nights earlier. My usual plan when I'm confronted with rice is to do a Chinese-style fried rice dish, but we had eaten Chinese food the night before, so I thought about other cuisines that use rice. That's when paella popped into my head.

Of course, paella is way too complicated, and I didn't have all the ingredients for it anyway, but I thought by adding saffron to the rice, I could build on the paella inspiration. Digging through the pantry, I found a can of black beans and, in the freezer, our usual stash of frozen peas. Rice and beans are a classic, and saffron rice tastes great, so this could actually work. Cooked all together with onions and garlic, the dish was homey and comforting, while having a touch of the exotic thanks to the saffron. I sprinkled the chopped pot roast into the dish for meaty goodness, but the recipe below excludes the pot roast because a) not everyone will have leftover pot roast in the fridge; and b) the recipe works great as a vegetarian dish.

Saffron Rice and Beans

2 cups cooked rice
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of butter
a few strands of saffron bloomed in 1/2 cup of warm water
1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
15 oz. can black beans
4 oz. tomato puree or tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen petite peas
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro and scallion for garnish

Place a few strands of saffron in 1/2 cup of water to "bloom," or turn the water into a nice yellow color. While that's going on, open a can of black beans, dump them in a colander, and rinse the starch off under running water. With that prep work done, chop a medium onion and saute it in a pan with olive oil and melted butter. Once the onions are translucent, dump in the cooked rice and mix together. Add your garlic and the saffron water. Mix everything together well so that the rice takes on a yellow color. Add the tomato puree, and then add the black beans and the petite peas. Once everything is incorporated and heated through, season with salt, pepper, and the fresh oregano. Once on the plate, sprinkle some cilantro and chopped scallion on top for garnish.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Beanie Weenies

One of my mother's favorite easy suppers was franks and beans. She'd sauté a mess of onions first, then dump in two cans of Big John beans and several cut up Esskay hotdogs. In a short time, dinner was served, along with white bread for mopping up the sauce. (One of the rare occasions we ate white bread untoasted.)

We regularly had franks and beans for lunch at St Stanislaus, too, but it wasn't as tasty as Mom's. And definitely not as tasty as the spicy version I whipped up for dinner a few nights ago.

Hot Dogs and Black Beans

1/2 onion, diced
olive oil
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon sriracha
2 15oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
4 hot dogs, sliced (we prefer Nathan's)

In a medium saucepan, sauté onion in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Add next eight ingredients, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer the mixture for thirty minutes. Add the hot dogs and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with bread for mopping up the sauce.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Cassoulet

When I can find even the slightest coolness in the air, I automatically think to Fall. And when I'm thinking Fall, I automatically start to crave cold-weather food - even if it is still 85F outside. (I'm sure the availability of pumpkin spice lattés at Starbucks in early September has something to do with this.)

Recently I've been feeling like I'm in a food slump, and what better way to get out of it than to try something completely new? Something with a degree of difficulty. Like maybe...cassoulet. I've only eaten the dish once, at B&O American Brasserie, and I was surprised to find how much I liked it. Cassoulet is a hearty and soul-satisfying French peasant dish of fatty meats and white beans topped with crisped bread crumbs. I'm not a huge fan of beans. Well, I like them ok, but they don't like me all that much. Black beans, however, I have no issues with, so I thought why not make a Southwest twist on cassoulet?

More authentic versions of the dish involve confit duck and saucisson à l'ail - two ingredients not found on many local supermarket shelves. If one can find them, they're el mucho expensivo. (Wegman's and Shop Rite both have D'Argtanan duck confit at like $10 per piece.) Since I was already eschewing tradition with the beans, I decided to use el cheapo chicken thighs and relatively inexpensive and available-everywhere chicken sausages.

The results were, if I say so myself, ah-mayz-ing. The chicken was fall-apart tender but the beans still had lots of texture, the sausages added zing, and the crumb topping offered a much-needed crunch. The flavors were subtle, slightly smoky, and perfect on a chilly Summer evening.

Southwest Cassoulet

1 lb black beans, picked over and rinsed
olive oil
6 chicken thighs, bone-in, with skin
6 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chipotle (or 2 teaspoons smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb fully-cooked chipotle-flavored chicken sausage
salt

Crumb topping:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Place beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. You may also use the quick-soak method: in a large pot, cover beans by 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow beans to soak for one hour. Drain beans well in a colander before using.

In a dutch oven, cook chicken in a bit of olive oil over high heat, turning occasionally, until skin browns and renders its fat. Remove chicken from pot; remove and discard skin. Add sausages to chicken fat/oil in pot and brown on all sides. Remove from heat, cut into 1/2" slices, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Add onions and carrot and a pinch of salt to remaining chicken fat/olive oil in pot and cook over medium heat until onions become translucent. Stir in garlic and spices. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add bay leaf, beans, and chicken stock. Return chicken to pot. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about one hour.

When the beans are done, remove bay leaf and chicken from pot. Discard bones and break meat up into coarse chunks. Stir chicken and reserved sausage pieces into beans. Add salt to taste.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour bean and meat mixture into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Cassoulet before crumb topping

While beans are baking, make crumb topping. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat; add bread crumbs, salt and chipotle, and cook, stirring, until crumbs are crisp and golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in cilantro.

Raise oven temperature to 400°F. Remove casserole from oven. Smash some of the beans with the back of a fork to thicken mixture. Top with crumbs. Return and bake until crust is golden, about 10 minutes.

Cassoulet after crumb topping.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Meatless Monday - Black Bean Soup

I love black beans, but oddly, I seldom cook them at home. Then, I had the thought to make up a batch of black bean soup as an antidote to the meatfest we had scheduled one recent weekend. I had made reservations at Fogo de Chao to take advantage of the large Restaurant Week discount and knew that downing large amounts of fatty protein would leave my body crying out for something much leaner the next day. Unfortunately, one of our party had a change in plans so we scrapped the whole idea.

But I still made the bean soup. And it was good.

Black Bean Soup

1 poblano chile
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, roughly chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts sliced and thoroughly rinsed
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon finely minced cilantro
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained
3 cups veggie stock (or chicken, pork, or ham stock)

Roast poblano chile over an open flame (a grill, or a gas burner on your stove; alternately, place on a baking sheet and roast under the broiler). When blackened all over, place chile in a paper bag to steam. When chile is cool enough to handle, remove the blackened skin. Cut chile open, remove seeds and veins, and discard stem. Chop chile into about 1/4" pieces; set aside.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and leek; cook until vegetables begin to turn translucent and soften. Add garlic and about 3/4 of the roasted poblano (reserving the rest for garnish). Mix in cumin, add beans and broth and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 20-30 minutes. Remove soup from heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Puree soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a conventional blender. Reheat until soup has thickened slightly, 15 minutes.

Serve garnished with Cilantro Cream, Tomato Salad, and reserved poblano chiles

Cilantro Cream

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon chopped green onions
3 tablespoons sour cream
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tomato Salad

1 cup mixed small tomatoes (grape, yellow pear, etc.) cut in half or quarters depending on size
1/4 cup chopped pepper of your choice (bell, if you want mild, jalapeno if you want spicy, etc.)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Allow to sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend. Add more salt or sugar to taste.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Turkey Chili

I love chili, particularly Texas-style - thick, dark red, studded with chunks of tender beef, redolent of chiles and spices, and bean-free. It's a little warm outside to be cooking up a big old pot of rib-sticking goodness, but I had a package of ground turkey I needed to use before the expiration date. Oh, I had lots of ambitious ideas for the meat; potstickers; b'stilla; laab. But as soon as I mentioned the word "chili" to Mr Minx, followed by the words, "with tomatillos and black beans," I knew that I'd be firing up the Dutch oven that afternoon.

It was a bit of a relief to open a couple of cans and toss stuff in a pot. I really didn't want to wrestle with dumpling dough or filo anyway. The results were delicious, even if the meat was ground and there were beans in the stew. Somehow it seemed light enough for a hot day, too.

Spicy Smoky Turkey Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1.5 lb ground turkey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chile powder
4 oz lager-style beer
1 12 oz can of tomatillos, drained and chopped
1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes and their juices
2 chipotles en adobo, finely minced
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
brown sugar, honey, or agave syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Over medium high heat, heat oil in a large pot and add onion; cook until onion begins to turn translucent. Stir in the ground turkey. Breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, cook until turkey is cooked through and starting to brown. Add garlic and cook another minute or so. Stir in chile powder. Add beer, followed by tomatillos, tomatoes, chipotle, black beans, and stock. Bring mixture to a boil, turn down heat, and simmer for 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, add cumin and smoked paprika, and sweeten to taste. Cook an additional 30-45 minutes. If mixture seems too watery, either turn up the heat and boil off some of the liquid, or make a slurry with a couple tablespoons of corn meal and water, add to the pot, and bring to a boil. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper.

Serve with chopped scallions, cilantro, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced jalapenos, corn tortillas or tortilla chips, or whatever you like best with your chili.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.