Not just rice and beans

Here's why I love cooking. Take a simple pile of dried beans and turn them into something sublime. Without a whole lot of muss or fuss.

A few months ago, I took the hint from a few of the blogs I follow to order some heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo. There were so many beans, it was hard to choose, so I went for the starter pack, which had five types. Those beauties you see up there are cranberry beans. They were the start of the inspiration. It was MLK day on Monday, so I was home, and it was sleety and cold, and I was going to be around for awhile, so around noontime, I put a pound of the cranberry beans (about two cups) in with about four cups of water and a half an onion into the slow cooker on high for as long as it was going to take. This is the Rancho Gordo suggested method, which I'd used once before with good success. No soaking, no preplanning, just some beans, water and a half an onion, and a lazy afternoon.

I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but with a pile of cooked beans, there were options.

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Linguine ala Carbonara - Extreme

First of all, Happy New Year!  I started this post just after New Year, and am just getting around to finishing it off.

My New Year's eve experiment was to do a recipe out of Jim Lahey's new book, My Bread. Walnut bread, with raisins and a subtle cinnamon flavor. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. Fortunately, it was fantastic!! My first foray beyond the pretty basic no-knead approach I'd been using since Bittman first popularized the technique a few years ago. But I digress. Hopefully, I'll make it again, and report back.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square, where I discovered fantastic sandwiches. Fantastic. If you've never been, go.  You won't be sorry.  It's hard to imagine getting wound up over a sandwich, but check it out, you'll see.

But it's called Dave's FRESH PASTA, so I thought if they were so good at sandwiches, they'd have to be wizards at pasta.  I hadn't ever paid much attention to fresh pasta before, other than the gluey stuff you get at the supermarket. At Dave's they've got four or five basic pasta types (plain, black pepper, tomato, spinach). And they say a pound will serve 3 or 4.  But when I saw the size of a half-pound black pepper linguine, I figured it would never be enough, so got another quarter pound  The half pound would've been fine -- lesson -- listen to the experts.  

I've been making Spaghetti Alla Carbonara for years, and it was always a family favorite.  With bacon as a central character, how could it not be?  This was to be different, however.

First, I used guanciale instead of bacon, that I procured on my last trip to Seattle, to Salumi.  I'd been wanting to try guanciale for some time, and Salumi had some on their special board, so I picked up a quarter pound to bring home.  Guanciale, by the way, is pork jowls.  Cured.

So I got a pot of water going for the pasta, and got the diced guanciale going in the skillet.  Meanwhile, I mixed two beaten eggs with a few glops of half-and-half, and a half cup or so of parmesan cheese made nice and fluffy by my new microplane and quite a few turns of the pepper mill.

When the guanciale was crisp, it was time to immerse the pasta for a couple of short minutes, until al dente tender, a quick drain, back into the pot and add the egg mixture and the guanciale.  Stir quickly to let the eggs cook in the heat of the pasta, and serve while hot.

The pasta was unlike anything I'd ever had.  It had taste. A depth of flavor that I really don't expect from pasta.   And texture -- silky but with some backbone..  And the carbonara treatment was perfect to accentuate all the fun of the fresh pasta.  I think I'm now spoiled.  It's going to be difficult to go back, except that it's not as easy to keep fresh pasta in the cupboard for months on end.

Extreme Coffee

I like coffee, but I'm not obsessed.  A good brew from a good independent coffee bar usually is enough to satisfy me.  Awful diner or convenience store coffee is a big turnoff.

Nothing prepared me, however, from an impromptu foray into the coffee temple that calls itself Barismo in East Arlington.  Susan and I were next door in 13 Forest, checking out potential art, when I remembered that Barismo was right next door, and we had some time on our hands (unlike my usual visits to the area to Thailand Cafe, fantastic fast Thai food).  Time is what we needed, because we found out that we knew NOTHING about coffee. 

It's not immediately clear upon walking in what the business is.  There are small bags of coffee on the shelves, along with a variety of coffee gear, none of which looks familiar.  There is a whiteboard on the wall with different kinds of coffee you can get.  Espresso, capuccino (I know that), then siphon and pour over.  Huh?  No tables and chairs either but two small batch roasting machines behind the counter, along with two friendly baristas, one of whom was happy to answer our many questions the first of which was "what should we order?"  A question that was not as dumb as it sounds, because we were unfamiliar with the offerings.

And the answers.  Well, I had to admit to our new friend that I hadn't understood most of what he'd just told me, regarding growing regions, roasting methods, grind, brew, temperature, equipment.


We started with an espresso.  Which, we were told, would be of uncertain size, because they brew it for optimum quality, rather than for a particular cup size.  OK.  What we got was a thimbleful of espresso that had only what I could call a sour taste.  Not bad, sour, necessarily, but not the usual bitter strength of an espresso.  I thought it was a taste I could get used to, and maybe even like.  Susan was turned off.  But it was gone so quickly that it was hard to tell.  (Well, we did share that little thimbleful).


Next, the siphon.  Two cups for seven dollars.  Actually two little glasses, probably 3-4 ounces each. It took our friendly barista about ten minutes to prepare the device and deliver the coffee.  It was unlike any coffee I'd ever had.  I'm sure there were a lot of adjectives I could have chosen.  Fruity, floral, rich.  It definitely changed taste as it went from hot hot to just hot, to warm.  I'd tell you the kind of coffee they used, if I could remember. You can see the method below, from heating up the water to the prescribed temperature, to cooling it down with a wet towel to get the coffee to descend once the steam pressure subsides.







While we were finishing up these little glass they let us try a capuccino (pictured at the top), which was the best cappuccino I'd ever had. The foam was rich, not airy, and the taste complex. And the cappuccino art stayed intact to the bottom of the little cup. I'd have that again, for sure.

We didn't get to try the pour over method, which looks like using a hand-poured Melitta filter but the filter basket has deep ridges that allow the water to seep through the sides of the basket, not just the bottom, optimizing the flavor extraction. Next time!

So, if coffee is more than just of cup of joe, go here, at least once, just for the experience.

Slow roasted heaven...I mean tomatoes with goat cheese

If you have an afternoon or evening free, to enjoy warm aromas in your house, then you must do this.  The provenance of this is unclear, but all paths have led to Orangette.  One via Bon Apetit, the other on her Orangette blog..  I tried the first one last year, and it ranks with the most tasty things I've ever had.  So I tried it again this year, and it did not disappoint.

Start with one of those boxes of tomatoes you can get at the farm stand, the ones intended for sauces.  I don't know what kind these were.  They're the ones pictured in Bean and Green Saute with Tomatoes and Eggs.  There may still be some at your farm stand, so hurry.

Slice them in half lengthwise, and pull out the seeds.  (I may try this sometime without doing this step.)  Put in a roasting pan.  Pour oil to about 1/4 inch in the pan, and some more on top of the tomatoes.  Sprinkle generously with dried oregano, then some salt and very lightly with sugar.  Put in a 250 degree oven for an hour.



After and hour, flip them over, and put them back in for 45 minutes.



Flip them over again, and sprinkle on some minced garlic and return to the oven for 15 minutes.  (The original called for adding the garlic after removing them from the oven, which is wonderful, but so garlicky you can't talk to anyone for a couple of days.  The 15 minutes in the oven took the softened the edge of the garlic.)

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped fresh mint, and let cool for a couple of hours.

Serve with a smear of goat cheese over crusty bread.  Repeat.

When you get tired of it, try it rolled in a flatbread with labneh.  Just as good!

Into the freezer: Start with a pot of beans, Part 4

The beans were great.  But enough is enough.  There were beans enough for another dish, and that other dish will come some day.  Into the freezer they went, to emerge when some new inspirations strikes.

See the rest of the series:
Start with a pot of beans
Bean and green saute, with tomatoes and eggs: Start with a pot of beans, Part 2
Bean soup: Start with a pot of beans, Part 3
Into the freezer: Start with a pot of beans, Part 4


Check out the October blog carnival on legumes hosted by Cook Sister inspired by My Legume Love Affair on Well Seasoned Cook.

Bean soup: Start with a pot of beans, Part 3

There were still PLENTY of beans left after the first two dishes this week, but I was in the mood for something a little different.  Looking at the contents of the fridge, I found I had some vegetables that needed using up.  Opportunity.  Plus, the beans were comfortably bathed in lots of good cooking liquid.  Soup, I thought.

What I had on had were some string beans, half a red bell pepper, and some more greens.  I got the string beans and bell pepper going in a saucepan with a little olive oil and garlic, and cooked until they started to soften, about 10 minutes.  To this, I added the beans and bean cooking liquid, and then added another cup or so of water while rinsing out the bean storage container.  This was about right.  Brought that to a boil, and then reduced to a simmer, for another 15 minutes or so.

Just before serving, I added the juice of one and a half limes to the pot, and after spooning the soup into the oversized mug, added a teaspoon or so of zest from the lime.  This gave the whole dish a vaguely Mexican slant.  The soup had earthy notes from the beans, mid-tones from the veggies, and high notes from the lime.  I ate it accompanied by some bread, but serving it over a corn tortilla (or with tortilla strips) would have been entirely appropriate.

See the rest of the series:
Start with a pot of beans
Bean and green saute, with tomatoes and eggs: Start with a pot of beans, Part 2
Bean soup: Start with a pot of beans, Part 3
Into the freezer: Start with a pot of beans, Part 4


And, there's an October blog carnival on -- legumes hosted by Cook Sister inspired by My Legume Love Affair on Well Seasoned Cook.

Bean and green saute, with tomatoes and eggs: Start with a pot of beans, part 2

Two containers of wet and wonderful beans from the weekend's cooking.  What to do next?  A new cooking challenge for me this fall has been a foray into the world of CSA -- community supported agriculture.  I signed up with Enterprise Farm this summer, and as a result I get a box of produce each Wednesday, that demands attention, especially as the next Wednesday rolls around, and I haven't eaten everything that won't keep from the previous week.  This week, it was dandelion greens.  More greens.

So I had to use greens.  And, I had bought a big box of field tomatoes from Wilson Farm that were going to be used for slow roasting (stay tuned!!), but I had plenty more to use.  I've discovered only recently how terrific tomatoes are when they're cooked.  Either a lot, like with slow roasting, or just a bit, when added to a saute pan with other things.  Even so-so tomatoes burst into sweetness and complex flavor when cooked. Try it -- you'll see!

Beans, greens, tomatoes.  A good start.  Heat some olive oil, add a smashed clove of garlic and a couple of chopped tomatoes (seeds and all).  Cook for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to reduce in size.  If you cook longer, they'll practically disappear, concentrating the tomato flavor even more, but I was hoping to recognize the tomatoes when was done.  Add the chopped greens and let until they start to wilt, and then add the cooked beans with some of the bean cooking liquid.  Bring to a boil and simmer for as long as you can to meld the flavors.

Looking at all the soupy goodness caused two inspirations.  One, was to serve it over polenta, which works well with anything runny.  And the other was to poach a couple of eggs in the simmering pan, so that they'd ooze out all over when it was time to eat.

Seasoning was a salt, pepper and half teaspoon or so of chili powder.   Mine came from Chimayo New Mexico, but whatever you have, I'm sure will be great.

This beat my expectation.  The taste was great, but the texture was superb.  The runny egg imparted a silky feeling to the whole thing, and a rich flavor to the concoction.  I'll be trying that trick again sometime soon.

See the rest of the series:
Start with a pot of beans
Bean and green saute, with tomatoes and eggs: Start with a pot of beans, Part 2
Bean soup: Start with a pot of beans, Part 3
Into the freezer: Start with a pot of beans, Part 4

And, there's an October blog carnival on -- legumes hosted by Cook Sister inspired by My Legume Love Affair on Well Seasoned Cook.