Black Bean Enchiladas

Black beans have become one of my favorite foods. Black beans, green pepper, red pepper, corn, olive oil and lemon juice go so well. Black beans, salsa, and cheese in an omelet. YUM! Black beans are just good. No mealiness that is found in other beans. Lots of protein and meatless.

I found this recipe through Prevention magazine, which to me, is a really great resource for fitness and good food recipes that are healthy.

So here are the ingredients:

NOTE: Ingredients for a changed serving size are based on a calculation and are not reviewed by the author or tested. Please also consider scaling up or down cooking containers as needed.

• 4 cloves garlic, minced (yes 4 cloves)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups salsa, divided
• 12 corn tortillas (6" each), warmed according to package directions
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, well drained
• 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 3 cups finely shredded lettuce
• 6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

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Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 13" x 9" baking dish with cooking spray. Another recipe that uses a clear Pyrex dish.
2. Put a good sized blob of olive oil in a stove top skillet (the original recipe called for just cooking spray, and that wasn't enough.) Heat over medium-high heat. Cook the garlic, onion, bell pepper, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and black pepper for 5 to 7 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
3. Mash the beans and add to the skillet with 3/4 cup of the salsa. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through.
4. Spoon about 1/4 cup of bean mixture onto each tortilla. Roll loosely and place seam side down in the baking dish.
5. Combine the tomatoes and the remaining salsa and pour over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until hot.
6. Divide the lettuce among 6 plates. Top each with 2 enchiladas and 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Serves 6 people. Or four really hungry people perhaps. These were yummy and very filling. I used rounded half teaspoons of all the spices except cumin and it was pretty warm, so if you aren't into spicy you might want to cut the spices. I also used canned tomatoes that had chilies in them because that's all I had, so that might have added to the heat. Make sure you use 6" tortillas. I used 8" ones and I had to squeeze them into the pan. Also, use Paul Newman salsa because it's awesome.

Eating Down East

When you're spending the day on the lawn by the beach with a rolling cooler, what better to do than make beer sundials? This was pretty much the level of cuisine for the week that the Bartrams and the Hotalings spent in Maine, but it was perfect for vacation.

First night picnic in the Hotalings' back yard.

The menu was of Drew's choosing, I believe - barbecued chicken, Three Ingredient Wonder, and squash casserole.

For dessert, lots of gelato. Strawberry Balsamic, Strawberry Limeade, Lemon, Chocolate Bourbon, Espresso Chip, and my personal favorite, Caramel Sea Salt.

The freezer was a bit wonky, so we just had to eat it all in one sitting.

A subsequent bbq - lots of veggies, since we're all adults now.

One of Clare's excellent fruit salads.

More chicken, and a Riesling from Rick's Wine and Spirits.

Em has chosen her dinner.

A brief pause before dessert - Drew and I sat outside with Dad and listened to stories while drinking a rather large bottle of Russell Orchards hard cider.

After the sun set, and all of the turtles and dragons and castles in the clouds went to bed, it was time for berry pie, pound cake, and pumpkin bread. Clearly the decision has been made that paper towels are probably good to keep on hand when we eat.

Dinner at the Bartram's. Can't find the switch for the light above the dining room table, so we went for a romantic atmosphere. Thank heavens for that box of candles that were on the dresser in my room (in a box marked "Colonial Williamsburg," strangely enough.)

Pork tenderloin, dirty mashed potatoes, roasted green beans, really good grainy bread, and some leftover grilled veggies from the night before. Also, note the awesome plates - like many things in our house, they reminded us of our grandmother, who had the same plates. Dad informed us that they came from the Grand Union.

The Hotaling contribution to dessert. A Maine classic.

Mom had made brownies for brownie sundaes, so we each had a brownie and ice cream and half a whoopie pie. And then some people had another half of a whoopie pie (not me!)

On the other side of the cribstone bridge was The Salt Cod Cafe - after having one of their amazing blueberry muffins at the Orr's Island Library book sale, I was interested in one of their lunches. As you can see, Emily and I had a lovely al fresco luncheon.

Iced tea, corn chowder, and a turkey and hummus wrap. I could eat a lunch like this every day.

Find of the trip goes to Em. Macaroni and cheese loaf. No idea what the loaf part is made of.

It wouldn't be vacation without hotdogs! And more Three Ingredient Wonder and squash casserole. There was supposed to be a salad too, but after the gelato incident with the weak freezer, the fridge was vacuumed and cranked up, and started to work too well. After chopping up all of the non-lettuce parts of the salad, we discovered we had a spring-mix-cicle in the crisper!

On the last night, we went to the Cribstone Grill(e?), which was on our side of the bridge. This is someone's lobster being cooked in the hut next door.

Waiting to hear "Rick, party of six!"

A lovely way to end a week in Maine - some of the best breaded haddock I've ever had!

If you're ever in Ipswich...

make sure to visit Riverview Pizza. There isn't really a view of the river (though you can walk out the door and be there in a moment), but there is pizza. And it is excellent. This claim is all the more remarkable because I rarely find a pizza I love. Usually there's too much sauce, or it's too spicy, or the crust is tough, or it's too greasy. But this...oh, this was heaven.

Can't you just tell by Leah's smile this is going to be good pizza? If only they still had the bowling arcade game with the awesome music in the corner...

All Riverview serves is pizza and drinks. No grinders. No salads. All the pizzas are the same size. They didn't have iced tea, so I had a Shirley Temple instead, and Leah had a ginger ale.

The ambiance is everything. Wood paneling, red vinyl booths, lots of awesome old beer signs like this and high quality paintings like the one above Leah's head.

After we ordered our pizza, the place settings arrived. Yep, that's wax paper, metal forks, and plastic knives.

I had a really marvelous chicken and mushroom pizza.

Leah had half extra cheese, half peppers and black olives.

Oh, and then we stuffed ourselves. We'd spent the day exploring in the sun, so a second round of ginger ales was required. The pizza was so well-balanced, and with a lovely sweet sauce...Ipswich may have a bunch of awesome restaurants, but next time I'm there, I don't know how I'll bring myself to go anywhere else!

The First Alto Wedding Cake!

Or the remnants, anyway, because it was so tasty I forgot to take a picture earlier :)

Grilled Pineapple

I don't know where I even saw grilled pineapple. I'd never tried it before, but I'll definitely make it again! I don't know about everyone else, but I love pineapple. When it comes to fruit platters, forget the melon, especially the unripe honeydew, I go straight for the pineapple. It is always so nice and juicy and just the right amount of sweet, unlike canned pineapple which is way to sweet for me. So we were in the hamlet of Amenia today, stopped at Label Shopper, the famous Drugworld and Freshtown (no, we did not get a chance to go into Tractor Supply where they have clothes "for the womens"). Freshtown had pineapples for sale $2.99 each. Nice deal. Even better than the GU Market in Millertown: Town of the Future which has them on sale this week for 3.99. So when Mom and I went into Freshtown for Niagra Heavy Startch, I picked up some pineapple. What made the deal even sweeter was that the cashier charged me $2.00 instead of 2.99. I don't know if it was computer error or if the produce department made the sale sign wrong, but what's done is done.
So, we had planned for steak tonight and I thought it would be best to let me grill the pineapple first before the raw meat went on the grill. I didn't really want my pineapple to taste of beef. So we just fired up the grill and put the pineapple on.
You'll need a nice ripe pineapple. Smell the bottom of the pineapple at the store. If it smells sweet and the rind is turning yellow, you're in good shape. Then, twist the leaves at the top off. I cut right down the middle of the pineapple then cut each half in half. You could cut the pineapple in long pieces or smaller ones, but not too small since you don't want them to fall between the grill grates. Cut out the core and trim off all the rind. I didn't get to crazy and get all of the leftover spiny parts off. I found the more I cut and trimmed the more slippery it became.
Then, mix 3 tablespoons honey, 1-2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice (I did some of each) and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper together. After I mixed it all up I just dumped it into the bowl that I had put the prepared pineapple into and tossed it around to get everything coated. Throw it on the grill and grill each side about 4 minutes or until they get nice grill marks on each side. Since I made the dessert before dinner, I wanted to keep them warm, so I just put them in the oven on what our oven calls Warm and Hold, which is just really low heat. When I took them out after dinner they were still warm and juicy and oh so very tastey.

Ninjabread Men

Summery Cherry Cobbler

Last weekend I decided that I wanted to make cobbler since summer finally seems to be appearing, but I didn't go grocery shopping until Monday afternoon, so I decided to hold off until this weekend. With many boys descending on my apartment tonight and tomorrow for Tom's bachelor party, I thought it would be nice to have some baked goods on hand to feed them with, so the cobbler is baking as we speak (write?), and it smells deeeeelicious!!!

I found this recipe in the archives of a food blog I really enjoy, Andrea's Recipes. I made a few small modifications to account for ingredients I don't have around the house, but her recipe is essentially repeated below. I can't wait to taste it and I'll let you all know how it comes out :-)

Ingredients:

Cherry Filling:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 cups fresh or frozen pitted tart cherries
• 1 tablespoon Triple Sec (the original called for hazelnut: Frangelico or Di Saronno Amaretto)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• scant 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon and nutmeg (the original called for allspice)

Biscuit Topping:

• 2 cups White Lily Self-Rising Flour (or for those of us in the north who can't get White Lily Flour *sniff*, 2 cups all purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon baking powder)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 large egg
• cinnamon sugar mixture

Process:

• Preheat the oven to 375° F.
• FILLING: In the saucepan whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Add cherries, liqueur, vanilla, and allspice and melt together over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes and transfer to the casserole dish.
• BISCUITS: Add the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon to the food processor bowl and pulse 3 or 4 times. Add the butter pieces and pulse about 10 times, no more 
  (or do this by hand, cutting the butter into the dried mixture until crumbly, using a fork or a pastry cutter)
   Whisk 3/4 cup whipping cream and egg in a large bowl. Pour the flour mixture into the large bowl and stir just until the dry ingredients are wet. Gently knead the dough in bowl just until it comes together. If you overwork the dough, the biscuits will be tough.
• ASSEMBLE: Use an ice cream scoop to form the biscuits and drop them over the cherries, spacing apart. Brush dough with whipping cream and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough.
• BAKE: Bake in the preheated oven until the cherries are bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve hot or warm with vanilla ice cream.

Here are a few sexy photos of the final product:

Food Co-Op Exploring

I'm over/up in Albany for the holiday weekend and, after a few email exchanges compiling lists of potential tastiness for the weekend, Sars and I decided to wait to go to the groceria until I arrived. Our Altos Gatherings tend to revolve around food, cooking, snacking, grazing. The two of us came up with a weekend plan balancing real meals and easy munchies for work time and fun times. We made a final shoppin list while Friedrich acclimated to all the fun new places to explore in our hostess' appartment and then we were off. Sars had heard all sorts of good things about a nearby food co-op, so we decided to check it out first and then swing by the Chopper House (read: Price Chopper) to grab the few processed, not-so-good-for-you and consequently not-sold-at-food-co-op items on the list. We discussed Food, Inc. in the car and tried to walk a balance between responsible consuming and not grossing ourselves out so much that we wouldn't be able to eat our krispie treats. [Side note. Sars: "Sooo...that one bag of marshmallows is enough for ONE batch? Let's get twoooo.]

The co-op - Honest Weight Food Co-Op - was just as amazing as the recommendations suggested. Fantastic selection, cheap enough prices to make it do-able without compromising fair trade for things like organic chocolate and real 100% juice, and very user-friendly. The veggies-and-fruit section could have been bigger, but I suspect it will be once we continue through summer. My favorite part, of course, might have been the lovely, delicious range of cheeeeeses. I miss passing through the fancy cheese shop on the way to the train in Philly to spend my rather generous cheese budget (yes, I had a separate line item in my monthly budgeting to keep me in really good dairy products. Pretty sure I spent more on cheese than was decent, but who cares about decent when there's a good cheese in front of you?). Well, we tried some samples and I knew immediately that we would be getting the locally-produced pesto goat cheese spread that I tried. Mmmmmm. I would go back all the time just to keep an eye on their local selection.

I think Sars' favorite part might have been the bulk grains, nuts, flours, etc. area. Huge - and I mean HUGE - variety. As she said as we started walking through it, "Why would you ever BUY granola in a store when you can make it yourself?" We managed to snag some organic, fair-trade dark chocolate chips for our lazy pain au chocolat (along with the ready-to-bake croissants we got at the Chopper House). I also spotted a great giftie in the chocolate section for Rhianyn, as part of the celebration for her passing her drivers' exam: raw, unprocessed cacao beans. !!! I don't know if I've ever actually seen them before; I'm almost scared what she'll do with them, but it'll be fun and adventurous, I'm sure. I *doooo* have that stone mortar and pestle that Victoire made me buy years ago...

It was a lovely, foodie adventure that culminated in lots of great eats (like curried chicken and some carrot & sweet potato chips). I'm sure Sars will become a loyal customer, and perhaps even a co-op member. Now I just need to find a similar place in the "Quiet Corner" of CT...

Citrus Zester Update


So I used my new favorite tool again today to zest some lemon and I learned a lesson. Although the tool's ergonomics are very different from other kitchen tools used in zesting, and for the better I might add, this lovely tool can still do the same damage to your hands and fingers as a classic grater. I was grating a lemon and I got a little too close to the blade!!! Must be careful!

My Favorite New Kitchen Gadget

It seems that each cook has their favorite part of their kitchen. The appliances, the cookbooks, the ingredients, the memories from their kitchen. For me it is the tools that I love. I love to go to a kitchen section in a store and look at all the cool tools to use. Vegetable peelers, mini choppers, knives, cutting boards, lemon juicers, spatulas, reamers, melon ballers, funnels (they're like fancy tunnels, right Erin?), pastry blenders, I could go on forever. I love all those cool gadgets that I can use to make the process of cooking much easier and smoother.

I love making lemon bars and other lemon deserts like lemon meringue pie, which of course requires lemon juice and lemon zest. Well I finally had to bite the bullet and get a lemon zester.
The above picture is the zester, which is super cool because if you pull on the gray end and push the red button on the other end it pulls out of itself. When you're finished adding your lemon zest to your ingredients, you can easily slip the zester back together. Sleek and small it fits very nicely into your kitchen drawers and doesn't take up a lot of room.

The first time I used it was to make the Lemon Lentil Soup which Erin made earlier in the month. And contrary to popular belief the lemon flavor of Lemon Lentil Soup does not come from Lemon Curd.

Now I have a feeling that some people will comment on me lacking such a vital tool in the kitchen, but for a while I used bottled lemon juice and dried lemon peel in recipes just because Mom always did that. And in a pinch, for a recipe that calls for just a few tablespoons of juice or peel I think the bottled stuff is great. However, after using this zester I almost feel like I want to buy real lemons to use in every recipe that calls for lemon just so I can use my new tool!!! And after this very long discussion about lemons, I feel that the lime is often overlooked in its ability to liven up recipes. Limes are way cool too. Perhaps now I shouldn't call my favorite new gadget a lemon zester, but a citrus zester so I don't offend anyone in the produce section or appear prejudice towards any fruits or vegetables.