I don’t think we have so much of a food problem in this country as we have a cooking problem in this country. People think that cooking is a chore, and it’s not. It’s the way we demonstrate our love to our family and friends. It’s what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. It’s a sacred act, not a chore. And it should be given the due reverence that it deserves.
I’m not opposed to taking a few shortcuts now and then in the kitchen. Especially when it comes to dried beans and lentils which can take forever to prepare. Here is a quick and easy black bean soup recipe that hit the spot on this cold, dreary evening. This soup can easily be made vegetarian by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons chili powder
½ teaspoon oregano
1 C Chicken or vegetable broth
3 cans (15 ounces each) Black Beans
Black pepper
Salsa
Shredded cheese
Fresh herb, like basil
Directions
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook about five minutes then stir in cumin, chili powder and oregano and continue cooking until onions are translucent. Add chicken broth. Puree one can of black beans, add to pot. Add second can of black beans (do not puree). Drain and rinse last can of black beans and add to pot (do not puree).
Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes stirring often. Add black pepper to taste.
Top with salsa, shredded cheese and fresh herb.
This is the coolest and easiest way I have ever seen to peel garlic! Video comes from Saveur.com
I enjoyed another fantastic lunch at the Fifth Street Koffee Haus in downtown Vinton, Iowa today. Today’s soup was their Hearty Tomato. I paired that with this week’s sandwich special of Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella panini.
The Hearty Tomato soup was other worldly. Creamy with chunks of tomato, onion and cheese throughout. I ordered the cup and immediately wished I would have ordered the bowl. The Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella panini was the perfect fit for this soup bringing back memories of one of my favorite childhood comfort foods. The
Owners Lynn Yundt and Autumn Nielsen do a fantastic job with the Fifth Street Koffee Haus offering a wide variety of breakfast and lunch items as well as serving the best coffee in town. Make sure you frequent them often!
The only regret I have when I cook salmon is that I live in Iowa. Some day, I will have a fresh Chinook salmon flown in from Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. That or hope that my niece Kelly is kind enough to send me a fresh caught Alaskan salmon on her next Alaskan fishing trip. But C’est la vie… I live in Iowa. I’m stuck with frozen fish, but as Susan said, “I’d rather eat frozen fish than no fish at all.”
Here is what I did with the frozen filets I had in my freezer.
Pecan Encrusted Salmon with Dijon Butter
Ingredients
¼ cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ tablespoons honey
¼ cup dry bread crumbs
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
4 (4 ounce) filets salmon
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, for garnish
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F°.
2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
3. Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture. Lightly press the bread crumb mixture into the fillets
4. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper and spoon more Dijon butter over the filet, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.
Lemony Dill Peas
Ingredients
1 cup water
2 cups frozen green peas
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried dill
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Black pepper to taste
1. Add water to a medium-sized pot and bring the water to a boil, covered. Add the peas, cover partially, and let boil for about 4 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, drain (water can be reserved for making vegetable broth if desired), and rinse the peas with cold water (to stop cooking). Return the peas to the pot and stir in the lemon juice, dill, and mustard. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve immediately.
Don’t get me wrong, a steak grilled over a hardwood charcoal fire is always fantastic. Sometimes though you just need to change it up. That’s when making your steak au poivre fills the bill.
Steak au Poivre (steak with pepper) is basically a steak with a black pepper gravy. It is extremely delicious and relativity easy to make. The fact that an open flame is involved is only a bonus!
I served tonight’s steak with garlic mashers made from new potatoes and steamed green beans.
Steak au Poivre
Ingredients
4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 ½ inches thick
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon
1 cup heavy cream
Directions
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle all sides with salt.
Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, the bottom of a cast iron skillet, or using a mallet and pie pan. Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the steaks, on both sides, into the pepper until it coats the surface. Set aside.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rare, cook for 4 minutes on each side. Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean.
Off of the heat, add 1/3 cup Cognac to the pan and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or firestick. Gently shake pan until the flames die. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the teaspoon of Cognac and season, to taste, with salt. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and serve.
Garlic Mashers
Ingredients
4 large red potatoes
2 large white potatoes
1 Whole Bulb Garlic (Peeled)
1 Stick Real Butter
1 C Sour Cream
½ T Kosher Salt
½ t Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Directions
Boil potatoes, garlic and salt until fork easily pierces. Drain water. Add butter, sour cream and black pepper. Mash potatoes with old-fashioned ribbon potato masher making sure all ingredients get evenly combined.
One of the reasons I love to cook is to make those people in my life happy. They all have different favorites of the things I make and get very excited when I make one of their favorites. I made one of my son Greg’s favorite meals tonight: stuffed bell peppers.
Here is the recipe.
Ingredients
1 C White Rice
6 Bell Peppers
1 lb. Italian Sausage (Remove Casing)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes w/Ital. Season
1 t Italian Seasonings McCormick
2 C Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
6 Slices Provolone Cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 400° F. Prepare rice according to directions on package. Remove tops of bell peppers and remove seeds. Blanch peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove from water and drain. In large skillet, brown sausage until no longer pink and drain excess fat. Stir in seasonings, tomatoes and rice and heat through. Stir in cheese and heat until melted. Remove from heat. Divide mixture into peppers. Place peppers in baking dish and and top each pepper with one slice of provolone cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool about ten minutes and serve.
I arrived home very late tonight so it was a quick meal of pasta with the left over Pesto di Noce from Monday night. Susan and I were still just a little hungry after the pasta so she suggested that I cut up some tomatoes and drizzle some olive oil over them. That smart young lady got me thinking. Why not chiffonade some basil and mix that in too. In less than five minutes we had a delicious tomato salad.
Here’s all there is to it:
Cut up in somewhat large chunks your favorite tomatoes. I used Romas as that is what I had. I wish I could say they were fresh from my garden but July’s tempest did my tomatoes in. Chiffonade some basil and sprinkle it on top. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the basil and tomato. Sprinkle a little kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. A little shredded Parmesan and there you go; a tasty tomato salad!
Eating well doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money… Which reminds me, are you taking Slow Food USA’s $5 Challenge September 17?
Tonight’s dinner was Pesto di Noce (Pesto with Walnuts) served over a grilled Flat Iron Steak along with green beans Amandine.
Pesto is typically made with Pine nuts. However for this pesto I toasted some English walnuts and added a few sun dried tomatoes. The walnuts give the pesto just a slightly different flavor and the sun dried tomatoes add just a hint of sweetness.
This recipe originally called for a flank steak, however in my area flank steaks are very hard to find. I use the new kid on the block, the flat iron steak, as a worthy substitute whenever a recipe calls for flank steak. If you would like to read more about the flat iron steak simply click here. Flat Iron Steak
I also had some left over crostini from the weekend. I am planning a whole article on the versatility of crostini in the near future so that will have to wait until then. For now, here are the recipes for the steak, pesto and green beans.
Flat Iron Steak
In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup soy sauce, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. In a glass bowl, baking dish or my preference a zip lock type baggie, pour the mixture over a flank steak. Let steak marinate for 30 minutes, turning once. I like to use a zip lock type bag because I feel it holds the marinate next to the meat much better and all you simply need to do is flip the bag every once in a while.
On a hot grill, cook steak over high heat, 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. When steak has reached desired doneness, remove from heat and allow to cool for several minutes. Slice the steak against the grain in ½-inch-thick slices. Plate and top with pesto.
Pesto di Noce
Ingredients
1 ½ cups packed basil
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup toasted walnuts
¼ cup finely grated Pecorino
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan (you may use all Parmesan if you wish)
2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
2 cloves garlic
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Process basil, oil, walnuts, Pecorino, Parmesan, tomatoes, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped; season with salt and pepper.
Green Beans Amandine
1 lb. Fresh or frozen whole green beans
¼ Sliced almonds
¼ C Real Butter
½ t Kosher Salt
1/8 t Fresh ground pepper
Steam beans until tender-crisp. About 10 to 15 minutes. Melt butter in skillet over low heat. Add salt, pepper and almonds. Right before serving, heat butter, almonds, salt and pepper over medium heat. Stir until almonds just begin to brown. Add beans and fry while continuously stirring for three to four minutes. Serve immediately.
What can I say… you can never get enough pesto. As Susan said while eating tonight, “On the seventh day God created Pesto.”
Just saying…
The Blind Guy Cooks 
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