Spicy Kidney Beans with Tomato and Yogurt Sauce

These cold windy fall evenings are perfect for rich spicy curries. And we all know how much of a curry obsession I have so when I saw yogurt, goat cheese and kidney beans in a recipe I was all over it. This recipe is perfect so there isn't much for me to add. Three chilies made for a very spicy curry though so be warned if you like to take it easy on the heat scale.

I paired it with Helfrich Gewurtraminer and some almond naan and couldn't have been happier. It seems crazy but Gewurtraminer and curry is amazing. The wine was a easy sweet spice and fruit wine with okay body but after a few bites of curry and it just popped, making both the wine and the food that much better. Learning this fact has only helped fuel my obsession for two of my favorite things.

Spicy Kidney Beans with Tomato and Yogurt Sauce

1 1/4 cup of dried kidney beans

1 cup of yogurt
2 tablespoons of chickpea flour
1/2 cup of goat cheese, mashed with a fork

1 small clove of garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
3 - 4 fresh chilies, finely chopped

2 tablespoons of oil
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida

1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of garam masala

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped


Soak the kidney beans overnight in enough water to cover. Drain, transfer to a medium large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer until the beans are tender - roughly 1 hour. Drain the cooked beans and set aside.

Whisk together the yogurt and chickpea flour until smooth. (The chickpea flour helps to prevent the yogurt from curdling. I made my own by putting some chickpeas through the coffee grinder.) Mix in the mashed goat cheese, stirring well to make sure the cheese breaks up evenly throughout the yogurt. Stir in the garlic, salt, turmeric, cayenne, and chilies. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a medium large pan over medium heat. When hot, toss in the ginger and asafoetida and stir and fry for a few minutes. Now add the tomato and garam masala and simmer until the tomato thickens - roughly 5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked kidney beans and yogurt mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency. Garish with the parsley and serve over hot rice.

Original recipe from Lisa's Kitchen Blog.

Fig and Bacon Brussles Sprouts

I've finally found a recipe that makes brussles sprouts delicious.

Actually that's a lie. What this recipe really does is manage to combine figs and bacon cooked together to perfection, the flavor juxtaposition of which is so amazing you forget there is brussels sprouts on the plate as well. Chewy sweet figs coated in salty bacon fat is surprisingly great. Bacon alone makes sprouts edible but this is a whole other league of yum. Don't take my word for it go try it.

Jacob made a variation of this the evening we were baking the chocolate bacon cake and found ourselves with a lot of left over bacon to play with. Those brussles sprouts were swimming in bacony goodness and then ramped up with some fig vinegar. They were good but I wasn't in love with them.

So when I went to cook these sprouts Jacob was a little dubious quipping, “didn't I make this same thing a couple weeks ago?” I defended my recipe choice claiming it would be amazing and totally different while in reality the only reason I was trying this was I had CSA brussel scprouts and wanted an excuse to buy figs. All I was hoping was that I wouldn't fail epically.

The joke was on us both. We started nibbling on the sprouts while waiting for the random curry I was also making to finish. Both of us had the same reaction of stopping to stare at one another wide eyed and a bit impressed. They only got better as the figs had time to get more and more chewy. Then he had the inspired idea to add some apple vinegar which made the sprouts somehow even tastier. I think the slightly sweet fruity vinegar worked out better in the dish than the balsamic vinegar that the original recipe calls for.

Playing in the kitchen with someone who really knows food is amazing fun, but making a professional foodie something that is rewarded with yummy noises and that delighted look of stunned satisfaction is somehow even better. Bacon and figs...who knew?

Fig and Bacon Brussels Sprouts

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces of bacon, chopped
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 cup dried figs, stemmed and quartered
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Pour oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped bacon and cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to crisp, about 8 minutes.

Add sprouts, figs and water to pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then cook undisturbed until sprouts are tender, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and continue to cook until any remaining liquid evaporates.

Add vinegar to taste just before serving.

Original recipe from Mark Bittman in the New York Times.

Chocolate Bacon Cake

This cake is what happens when you spend time drinking with a chef and say crazy things like “how would one go about making a gluten free cake with port, bacon and chocolate?” And said cooking expert is just wacky enough to take the question as a challenge, not only making it happen in a very tasty way but never once cocking an eye brow at the weird idea. So together Jacob, the chef with multiple “most unique” cooking titles and I threw together this chocolate bacon cake for the birthday party of our celiac friend Q. It was a big hit and a lot of fun to make. Two packages of bacon were cooked in the making of this delicious dessert.

The only problem with this cake is that it will conquer even the greatest sweet tooth. I highly recommend making it next time you need the most creative baked good possible, just remember to eat truffle sized amounts of it and have large amounts of chocolate and bacon loving friends around to help you conquer the cake. It's that rich and evilly tasty. Somehow the sweet flourless cake combines perfectly with the bittersweet salty bacon frosting. The powdered sugar makes it nearly perfect.

Oh did I mention this cake is out of this world but absolutely not something that follows the French diet at all? Yeah whoops. It was just so good I had to write about it anyway. It was a big hit.

FOR CAKE:

1/4 cup red wine reduction
1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Or invest in a 9-inch silicon pan which requires no greasing or lining.

To make a wine reduction pour most of a bottle of a decent red wine (something bold like tempranillo or syrah) into a saucepan over medium low heat. Keep on a gentle simmer until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrupy consistency.

Stir chocolate (I used half bittersweet and half semisweet), butter, wine reduction, and vanilla in heavy large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until thick and pale, and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 6 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into lukewarm chocolate mixture. Fold remaining egg mixture into chocolate mixture.

Place prepared pan on baking sheet. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 55 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan; transfer cake to platter. Remove parchment paper.

Original recipe from Epicurious.com with creative embellishments from Jacob.

FOR FROSTING:

4 ounces bacon fat (rendered from 1 package good quality bacon)
4 ounces 100% cacao dark chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
powdered sugar for decoration

Use your preferred method for cooking bacon, setting aside rendered fat. While fat is warm run it through a sieve to strain out the ugly left over bacon pieces. Reserve cooked bacon for decorating the cake later.

In a small double boiler gently melt together 4 ounces of the bacon fat and 4 ounces of dark chocolate. When melted add heavy cream and stir to combine until homogeneous.. Allow mixture to return to almost room temperature at which point it will thicken enough to smooth over the cooled cake. Place in refrigerator until frosting is firm, about 20 minutes.

To make your own powdered sugar place about a 1/2 cup regular granulated sugar into the blender. It seems crazy but it works, don't try try to substitute the food processor for this it won't accomplish anything. You might need to agitate the sugar occasionally to get a uniform powder consistency.

I then used a damask stencil, placed it over the firmed frosting and sprinkled powder sugar over it. Using the left over bacon, chopped into small pieces I a framed the stencil decoration.

Eggplant and Chickpea Stew

Instead of writing a novel in November I'm going to try to put that same sort of frantic writerly spirit into getting back to blogging about food. I'm hoping to write something here everyday in November. Horrible foodie that I am I have been eating, cooking, and generally carrying on in the kitchen plenty lately I just haven't been posting about it. And I've been eating such amazing things it's wrong of me to not be talking about them. Somewhere along the line since the last time I wrote there was chocolate bacon cake which the world needs to know about.

I'm starting with something something simple but tasty. It's hearty and warm so it's perfect for the chilly fall weather when I know all I want is soups and stews, bonus points if there are copious amounts of beans involved. There are a lot of ingredients but they all come together easily. The only hard part was frying the eggplant which I would skip all together when cooking this again, it didn't contribute anything to the dish other than extra fat.

Eggplant and Chickpea Stew


3/4 cups dried chickpeas

8 tablespoons ghee, or a mixture of butter and olive oil
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 green chillies, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder

2large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 cup water
1 pound fresh spinach, trimmed and coarsely chopped

small handful fresh cilantro chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
fresh ground black pepper

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water with a drop of lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until the chickpeas are tender. Drain and set aside.

Preheat an oven to 325°. Meanwhile, heat 6 tablespoons of the ghee or butter and oil mixture in a large, deep saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the eggplant and fry, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until the cubes are well-browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the remaining ghee or butter and oil to the pan. When hot, add the ginger, chillies and cumin seeds and fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until the seeds turn dark brown. Toss in the asafoetida, wait a few seconds, then stir in the tomatoes. Add the coriander, paprika, cayenne and turmeric and cook until the tomatoes reduce to a thick sauce, about 10 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the chickpeas, eggplant and spinach. Remove to a casserole dish, cover, and put in the preheated oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, garam masala, salt and pepper just before serving.

Recipe from Lisa's Kitchen Blog.

Julia Child is a Cruel Mistress

This saucy pile of potatoes covered in fat and oil is so not diet friendly. Not for the Montignac Method, not for anyone. So I won't be posting the recipe here. It's just that after not posting for over a month I needed to get back into the swing of things. And after spending two days cooking this for a friend's highly esoteric monk fish roasting party someone needed to see this madness.

So behold Salade Nicoise a la Julia Child. Or as I will be calling it from now on Bitch Salad.

It seems simple enough until you're boiling those potatoes you can't seem to convince your CSA to stop sending you every week, that your friends are sick of you pawning off on them. About then when it's too late to turn back you really read the recipe and see it is three recipes hidden in a recipe for a freaking salad. Two different vinaigrettes and a potato salad? Seriously?

My potatoes committed some sort of explosive suicide while I was wire whipping (Julia is kind of kinky, I always thought of it as a whisk) the first vinaigrette. At which point I gave up and went to a wine tasting and thought about not cooking for awhile considering everything I've tried to make this week was an epic failure.

My spirits were a little higher this afternoon when I skipped out of work half way through the day and gave the potatoes a stern talking to. They weren't pretty and were over done but with the other vinaigrette coating them they were plenty tasty. I have to give it to Julia Child she is a huge picky fussbudget but it's usually for a reason. That one bite of potato salad was the best I've ever had and not just because I miss potatoes. It was delicious and subtle, with scallions making up most of the favor instead of the unfortunate cloying German mayonnaise and mustard version that is so popular.

The fun really started when I got to pile massive amounts of random vegetables and fish on the potato and lettuce bed. I'm actually surprised at how tasty it looks. Hopefully the carb eaters of the world will enjoy it. If it's a disaster after following all of Julia's wacky instructions I really might make the fella take over the cooking. The one thing I can say for this recipe is it didn't ask me to taste raw eggs to check the seasoning which was an actual instruction last time I cooked out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Oh that Julia Child she's a character.