Spicy Saucy Goodness

I put this on everything. You should too. It's based on a recipe from Chef Annmarie Langton, formerly of The Queen Truckstaurant. She used her version on her crab cake tacos, so it was made it in a larger quantity than one might need at home. I fiddled around with the recipe and came up with one I can make in varying amounts with ingredients in my pantry, and I make it to taste according to what I plan to serve it with. 

Spicy Saucy Goodness

Perhaps you find recipes without exact amounts annoying, but that's mostly how I cook. Sorry (not sorry).

A few tablespoons of your favorite mayonnaise (I like Duke's), sour cream, Greek yogurt, or a combination of all of them

Smoked paprika

Chipotle chile powder

Garlic powder

Real maple syrup 

Lime juice

Kosher salt

Glop some mayo in a bowl. Let's say you use the equivalent of 1/4 cup. To that, add about 1/4 teaspoon each of the smoked pap and the chipotle powder. Stir it in well. Dip your pinky in the mix and taste. Is it smoky? is it spicy? If yes, you're good. If no, then add a bit more of each and stir again. Add a pinch of garlic powder and stir it in. Now add about 1/2 teaspoon of the maple syrup. Please don't use pancake syrup. Add a big squeeze of lime juice. Stir the sauce again and taste again. Is it sweet? is it tangy?  If yes, you're good. If no, then add a bit more of each and stir again. Yeah, you get it. You might need to add more spice or smoke once you have the acid and sweetness in there. Does the sauce taste pretty good but still seem to be missing something? Time to add a pinch of salt. Stir it in well, wait a few beats for the salt to dissolve, and taste again. Keep doing all of the above until you get a sauce that tastes good to your palate. If all the various powders are starting to make your sauce seem too thick, then add a dribble of water. If you feel like you've gone way too far with the seasonings, add a little more mayo. 

Dollop on crab cakes, tacos, crab cake tacos, burgers, roasted vegetables, etc. or use as a dip for french fries or crudités.

Wait - stop the presses! 

I was about to hit "publish" on this post, but I discovered a shortcut to spicy mayo deliciousness (as if it wasn't already easy) and wanted to share it. Around Thanksgiving time, I bought several jars of jams from Blake Hill Preserves. (Though they didn't want to send me the samples I requested during Fancy Food Show time, I'm not bitter. But I never forget.) Anyhoo, their savory jams sounded interesting and I thought they'd be a good addition to the large scale cheese board that was to be our Thanksgiving dinner. I have also found them valuable for use in recipes that need a little zhuzhing up. A few teaspoons or so add a subtle sweetness and a punch of flavor--Blake Hill Roasted Garlic Savory Jam is especially useful in this regard. 

So, back to the sauce. 

Instead of using the smoked pap, chipotle powder, garlic powder, and maple syrup, I found that using a teaspoon-ish of both the chipotle & maple and fresh tomato jams in a quarter cup of mayo/yogurt/sour cream does the trick nicely. You may still need to add a pinch of lime juice and salt. Last time I made this, to have on tacos, Mr Minx requested that we save the last tablespoon of unused sauce so he could put it on his lunch sandwiches. Yeah, it's good.

Give it a try. If you do, please let me know in a comment.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on February 17, 2014.

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Nothing hits the spot on a frigid winter day like a bowl of soup. Especially a hearty soup made with a bunch of stuff that I usually keep on hand: frozen chicken thighs, chicken, and corn; canned tomatoes and chipotles; and chicken stock. A loaf of freshly baked bread is the perfect accompaniment.

If you don't have chicken, chunks of beef stew meat would work well, just cook the soup longer to ensure the meat is tender, adding additional stock if necessary.

Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder

2 links Mexican chorizo
1 cup chopped onion
salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 chipotle en adobe, plus 1 teaspoon of adobo sauce
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes and their juice
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 large red potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
honey (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Remove chorizo from casing and place in a 3-quart pot along with the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onion is translucent and the sausage has browned and broken into small pieces. (There should be more than enough oil in the sausage to cook the onion without burning; if you have some weird super lean chorizo, add a dribble of oil.)

Stir in the chicken and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer translucent. Add the chipotle, tomatoes, stock, and corn. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer soup for 45-60 minutes, until chicken is very tender. Add potato and cook an additional 10-15 minutes, until potato is done to your liking.

Pour in the half and half and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add a bit of honey if you think the soup needs some sweetness (I did) and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2-4

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Chipotle Catering Giveaway #sponsored

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and along with them come the requisite parties. In my office, we tend to do potluck, but after umpteen years of eating the boss's rubbery warehouse store shrimp cocktail, my co-workers and I greet the idea of our annual holiday party with something less than enthusiasm.

Sometimes a couple of us go in for catering from a local fast casual restaurant. Like Chipotle. Everyone's eyes light up when they see the spread of meats, beans, and toppings that they can use to customize their meal. It's so much better than Rhonda's cop-out big box store potato salad and Phil's crudite plate!

Chipotle can cater a party as small as 6 guests and as large as 200, and with only 24 hours notice. Chipotle's burritos, bowls, and tacos are familiar to everyone. They've always used real ingredients, prepared by hand, without added flavors, colors, or additives. And who doesn't love a taco? #tacotuesday is a thing for a reason.

Doesn't your party deserve goodies from Chipotle, too? You know it does! Learn more at Chipotle's Catering site. Once you pick up your order, all you have to do is unpack the boxes, and it's ready to go. Bowls, forks, napkins, serving spoons, and tongs are included.

You can try Chipotle Catering for FREE, cuz I am hosting a giveaway! The winner will get a card good for a spread of food to feed 20 people. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me where you plan to serve your free feast. I'll pick a winner on Monday, November 19th and contact you via email for your address so I can put your prize in the mail ASAP. Catering cards expire on Dec 31, 2018, but that's plenty of time to let Chipotle cater your party.

More rules (mine, not theirs):
Continental US only.
Must be 18 or over to participate.
Deadline: November 18th
You must include your email address in your comment so I can contact you!

Questions? Leave a comment and I'll try to answer you ASAP.

* 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 - South x Southwestern Hummus

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on November 5, 2012.

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I was in the mood for hummus. Not traditional hummus, mind you - I can't eat chick peas without suffering some painful consequences (I know, TMI) - but a reasonable facsimile.

My tastebuds were leaning toward a hummus flavored with tomatoes and red bell peppers, something Southwestern-ish, so I really wanted to use black beans. But lo and behold - I had none. I did have a cup of dried black eyed peas, however, and because I really wanted hummus (and was too lazy to walk to the store), I did a quick boil and soak, and then cooked the peas to tenderness. Beans are bland enough that just about any kind can be successfully used in a hummus-like preparation, but black-eyed peas are a little more South than Southwest.

Tahini is another traditional hummus ingredient, but just about any nut butter will do. If peanut butter is good enough for Alton Brown, then it's good enough for me. But I happened to have a can of tahini in the fridge, so that peanut butter hummus will have to wait another day. I did have bags of sundried tomatoes and sundried bell peppers (find them at nuts.com), which were rehydrated in boiling water, and the whole mess was bunged into the Magimix. (Sorry. Channeling Jamie Oliver there.)

Cumin and garlic are usually found in hummus, but to spice it up a bit more, I added some ground chipotle for a smoky kick. The result was quite luscious, and we scooped it up with chips made from stale flour tortillas.

South x Southwest Hummus

1/2 cup loosely packed sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup loosely packed sundried red bell peppers (or 1 jarred or freshly roasted red bell pepper)
3 tablespoons tahini
2 cups cooked or canned black eyed peas (or your favorite bean)
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or 1/2 canned chipotle in adobo)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
salt to taste
chopped scallions

Place sundried tomatoes and peppers (if using) in a saucepan with about a cup of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Drain tomatoes and peppers and chop coarsely. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the tahini, beans, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and chipotle. Blend until well puréed, adding olive oil to aid the process. (If you're using jarred bell pepper, you'll need less oil than if you use the sundried.) The texture should be thick enough to be scooped with pita or tortilla chips, but not so thick that the chip would break. Add salt to taste.

Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and garnished with chopped scallions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

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

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Gluten-free, Sugar-free, and Dairy-free Mexican Pasta and Meatballs

One of the drawbacks to being food writers is that it is all too easy to overindulge and put on weight. It's especially bad when we are working on projects where we have to go to a lot of restaurants in a short period of time and sample all manner of food and drink which is so delicious but so detrimental to our physiques. The Minx decided that she was overdue for a curtailing of her naughty foods intake and put herself on a month-long boycott of wheat, sugar, and dairy. I was not willing to go quite that extreme, but I certainly wanted to help by creating dinners that would suit her dietary restrictions.

The biggest challenge for me was to find a way to work my favorite food, pasta, into a meal that we could both eat. We remembered that, several month ago, we tried gluten-free pasta made from corn. It was tasty enough, but for me it didn't quite work with an Italian red sauce, my mind being too conditioned to the taste of semolina in relation to Italian cooking. I tend to associate the flavor of corn with Mexican food. That's where the idea came to me to create a red sauce with Mexican flavors.

I was going to make a meat sauce, but Kathy really had a craving for meatballs, so I had to not only bring Mexican flavors to the meatballs, but also find a way to avoid bread crumbs. Kathy suggested oatmeal, which worked perfectly. The recipe that follows is a low-and-slow, all-afternoon, labor-of-love kind of affair, but everyone should make a meal like that now and again. There's a real sense of accomplishment when you take the time to create something really flavorful and satisfying.

Mexican Pasta and Meatballs

For the sauce:

28 oz. can tomato puree
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste

For the meatballs:

1.5 pounds of ground beef
1 chipotle chopped
2 cloves garlic smashed
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

For the pasta:

1 pound corn pasta
4 teaspoons kosher salt

Start your sauce by sauteing the onions in a large sauce pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the onions have sweated and are slightly caramelized, pour in your tomato puree and diced tomatoes, Add the garlic and tomato pasta and stir to combine. Then stir in the chili powder, cumin, salt, and ancho chili powder. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat and cover. Let it continue to simmer with the cover on for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add cilantro.

After two hours, you can create your meatballs. Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl and mush it all together with your hands until everything is thoroughly integrated. Form the mixture into golf-ball-sized meatballs. Heat a frying pan until a drop of water will sizzle in it and add the meatballs. Regularly turn the meatballs with tongs until all sides of the meatballs are nicely browned. Then add the meatballs to your sauce and allow them to simmer in the sauce for at least another half hour.

To cook your pasta, bring five quarts of water to a boil and add four teaspoons of kosher salt. Pour in your pasta and stir. Use the instructions on the package as a guide, but use your own judgement. I find that the instructions for cooking corn pasta tend to overstate the cooking time. After about ten minutes, check a piece for doneness.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, put some in a bowl, set two or three meatballs on top, and then ladle sauce over the whole dish. The flavors will remind you of a Mexican restaurant while the textures and the visual with make you think of an Italian red sauce joint. There's also the added comfort of knowing that you're not eating wheat, dairy, or added sugar.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Braised Duck Legs with Winter Squash

We Minxes love duck. If we see it on a restaurant menu, one or both of us will order it, but we don't make it at home very often. It's not a particularly difficult protein to work with, but unless we're talking whole ducks, it can be quite expensive. (Whole ducks aren't exactly cheap, but they're not outrageous.) Raw duck breasts are a fairly elusive creature; Wegman's usually has the D'Artagnan brand in stock at a cost of around $30 per pound. Legs would probably be cheaper--if they sold legs in any form other than pre-confitted.

We end up buying our duck legs at Great Wall, a Chinese supermarket in Catonsville. I have heard that they sell breasts, but I have never seen them there. Tongues, sure. Feet, ok. But not breasts. I've also heard that H Mart sells duck, but again, I haven't found it there. So Great Wall it is. A pack of two legs sets us back a bit over $6, which I suppose isn't insane, but considering they have about as much meat as a chicken thigh, it's not cheap, either. In any case, we love duck and will buy it when the mood strikes/when we happen to be at Great Wall.

In the past, I've made cassoulet-type dishes with duck legs. I wanted to do something else this time, so consulted the Oracle (aka Google). The recipe that leapt out at me was one for braised legs with figs, star anise, and winter squash. The combination sounded good, but our grocery store didn't have any dried figs. We had a bag of dates in the pantry, so I decided to use them. Since I was already making substitutions, I looked for a way to make the dish mine. I didn't like the idea of having big chunks of vegetables in the finished dish, or serving it with rice. It would remind me too much of my mother's pot roast. While I loved the meat itself, I wasn't fond of the giant chunks of stewed celery and carrot, both of which my mother made me eat. Instead, I'd turn the winter squash into a puree and dice the other vegetables finely, so they'd merely flavor the sauce rather than serve as a vegetable. I was unsure of the flavorings though. I liked the idea of star anise, but would it be better in the squash than in the duck? Would it be redundant if I used it in both? So I consulted with my other Oracle, Mr Minx, who has the occasional flash of culinary brilliance. He suggested adding a smoky and spicy element, so I added chipotle to the duck along with the star anise. I seasoned the squash with salt and pepper only, so its mild sweetness could stand on its own.

The result was pretty terrific, if I do say so myself. The chipotle, while adding a good deal of heat, played nicely with the star anise, and the creamy squash helped soften the impact of the chile. The dates broke down in the sauce completely, adding a subtle sweet creaminess. We served the dish with pieces of crisp sourdough toast, which added a bit of textural contrast and was useful in mopping up the luscious sauce.

The dish seems a bit fussy, and maybe it is, but it's worth the effort. As a plus, the duck perfumes the whole house.

Braised Duck Legs and Winter Squash Puree (Adapted from Fine Cooking)

2 (12- to 16-oz.) fresh duck legs, trimmed of excess fat
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium stalk celery, diced
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
8-10 dates (8 if you're using the large medjool variety, 10 if smaller, like barhi or halawi), pitted and chopped roughly
1 whole star anise
1 chipotle en adobo, minced, or 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 medium winter squash (such as red kuri, buttercup, or kabocha)
Heavy cream
1 teaspoon Champagne vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat the oil in a large (8-quart) pot over medium-high heat. Add the duck legs, skin-side down, and cook until the skin is very well browned and crisp, turning once or twice to make sure they are browned all over. Use tongs to transfer duck legs to a large plate. Drain off most of the fat from the pan and add the carrot, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften, 5 minutes or so. Stir in the garlic, the chopped dates, the star anise, and the chipotle. Cook for an additional minute or two. Put the duck back into the pan and pour in enough broth to just about cover the duck. Increase the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer the duck until tender, 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

While the duck is cooking, preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the squash in half, scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the squash, cut side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 60-90 minutes, until the squash is very tender. Set aside and allow to cool until it can be handled without burning oneself.

Scoop flesh from squash into a blender container. Add heavy cream, a few tablespoons at a time, and puree squash until it's the consistency of baby food and very smooth. If you're using a squash with a fluffier, drier consistency, like buttercup, you might have to add water to help the blender along--I used about 2/3 cup of water and 1/4 cup of cream to my buttercup. Season puree with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a small saucepan and set aside.

When the duck is done, remove it from the pot. Turn the heat up to high, uncover the pot, and reduce the remaining liquid to about a cup. If there's a lot of fat floating on top, skim it off, but I find that the combination of the dates and the boiling emulsifies everything nicely. Once liquid is reduced, use a stick blender to puree the vegetables and dates into a smooth sauce. Add the champagne vinegar and season the liquid with salt and pepper to taste. Add the duck back to the pot and turn the heat to low.

Reheat the squash puree. Place a puddle of it in the center of each serving plate. Top with a duck leg and a few spoonsful of sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Serves 2, with extra squash puree and sauce.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder

Nothing hits the spot on a frigid winter day like a bowl of soup. Especially a hearty soup made with a bunch of stuff that I usually keep on hand: frozen chicken thighs, chicken, and corn; canned tomatoes and chipotles; and chicken stock. A loaf of freshly baked bread is the perfect accompaniment.

If you don't have chicken, chunks of beef stew meat would work well, just cook the soup longer to ensure the meat is tender, adding additional stock if necessary.

Creamy Chorizo, Chicken, and Corn Chowder

2 links Mexican chorizo
1 cup chopped onion
salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 chipotle en adobe, plus 1 teaspoon of adobo sauce
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes and their juice
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 large red potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
honey (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Remove chorizo from casing and place in a 3-quart pot along with the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onion is translucent and the sausage has browned and broken into small pieces. (There should be more than enough oil in the sausage to cook the onion without burning; if you have some weird super lean chorizo, add a dribble of oil.)

Stir in the chicken and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer translucent. Add the chipotle, tomatoes, stock, and corn. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer soup for 45-60 minutes, until chicken is very tender. Add potato and cook an additional 10-15 minutes, until potato is done to your liking.

Pour in the half and half and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add a bit of honey if you think the soup needs some sweetness (I did) and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2-4



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Corn Gazpacho

I was looking at a restaurant menu online and saw an appetizer description that turned me on: corn gazpacho with chipotle, extra virgin olive oil, and feta. I thought - I can make that! So I did.

And then I forgot to drizzle the soup with olive oil and feta before photographing it. You might not want to omit that part.

Spicy Corn Gazpacho

2 ears corn
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup almond milk
2 green tomatoes, cut into chunks (you could use ripe, if green aren't available)
1 chipotle en adobo, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 1/2" thick slice of country bread, broken into pieces and soaked in a bit of water until mushy
pinch smoked paprika
lime juice
salt
extra virgin olive oil
feta

Shuck the corn and cut the kernels off the cob. Place kernels in a small pot of boiling water and cook until corn is crisp tender, about 6 minutes (about halfway through, add the garlic). Drain, and, reserving a few kernels of corn for garnish, place corn and garlic in a blender with the almond milk. Blend to a puree. Strain the corn puree into a bowl through a strainer, pressing down on the solids to get all of the juice. Discard solids and place corn liquid back into blender. Add the tomatoes, chipotle, bread, and smoked paprika and blend well.

Season with plenty of lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve garnished with a slick of olive oil, some cubes of feta, and the reserved corn kernels.



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.

South x Southwestern Hummus

I was in the mood for hummus. Not traditional hummus, mind you - I can't eat chick peas without suffering some painful consequences (I know, TMI) - but a reasonable facsimile.

My tastebuds were leaning toward a hummus flavored with tomatoes and red bell peppers, something Southwestern-ish, so I really wanted to use black beans. But lo and behold - I had none. I did have a cup of dried black eyed peas, however, and because I really wanted hummus (and was too lazy to walk to the store), I did a quick boil and soak, and then cooked the peas to tenderness. Beans are bland enough that just about any kind can be successfully used in a hummus-like preparation, but black-eyed peas are a little more South than Southwest.

Tahini is another traditional hummus ingredient, but just about any nut butter will do. If peanut butter is good enough for Alton Brown, then it's good enough for me. But I happened to have a can of tahini in the fridge, so that peanut butter hummus will have to wait another day. I did have bags of sundried tomatoes and sundried bell peppers (find them at nuts.com), which were rehydrated in boiling water, and the whole mess was bunged into the Magimix. (Sorry. Channeling Jamie Oliver there.)

Cumin and garlic are usually found in hummus, but to spice it up a bit more, I added some ground chipotle for a smoky kick. The result was quite luscious, and we scooped it up with chips made from stale flour tortillas.

South x Southwest Hummus

1/2 cup loosely packed sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup loosely packed sundried red bell peppers (or 1 jarred or freshly roasted red bell pepper)
3 tablespoons tahini
2 cups cooked or canned black eyed peas (or your favorite bean)
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or 1/2 canned chipotle in adobo)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
salt to taste
chopped scallions

Place sundried tomatoes and peppers (if using) in a saucepan with about a cup of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Drain tomatoes and peppers and chop coarsely. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the tahini, beans, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and chipotle. Blend until well puréed, adding olive oil to aid the process. (If you're using jarred bell pepper, you'll need less oil than if you use the sundried.) The texture should be thick enough to be scooped with pita or tortilla chips, but not so thick that the chip would break. Add salt to taste.

Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and garnished with chopped scallions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pork Spareribs, Santa Fe-style

Who doesn't love pork ribs? Ok, apart from vegetarians and those who eschew eating pork...I'm betting they'd love them if they tried them! Not long ago I was looking for a rib recipe that didn't involve a lot of work. I found one with a flavor profile that I liked, and simplified it so it was easy-peasy. Just mix up the sauce, pour it over the meat, and braise. There's nothing more strenuous in this recipe than using a can opener, and the results are quite delicious. The sauce is mildly spicy, so if you want more heat, just add more chipotles.

Southwest Pork Ribs

1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 8oz can red chili sauce, or 1 cup homemade
2 canned chipotles en adobo
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 - 2 lbs well-marbled pork country ribs (with bones, if possible)
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 300F.

Combine first five ingredients in a bowl, mixing well to dissolve brown sugar.

Place pork country ribs in a single layer in a 9 x 13 baking pan. Pour over sauce. Cover pan and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours or until meat is very tender.

Degrease sauce and serve on the side.

Posted on Minxeats.com.