Black-Eyed Peas with pork jowl

 New Year's Day we just had to have the southern dish to celebrate the day. It is suppose to bring you good luck and prosperity. Black-eyed peas with hog jowl and greens.

It was a beautiful day, clear sky in the 70s...I think we were the warm spot in the country. My husband was out jet skiing, my daughter had a friend over and they were trying out her new mini bundt baking thing...it makes pretty little cakes. I'll show you how they turned out later.

For the black-eyed peas I had picked up some smoked pork jowl that they had in the New Year's display case at our local supermarket, along with the peas, and greens. I trimmed it, diced it and rendered the smoked jowl. Then added, celery, onions, and garlic (all diced and chopped nicely). About a pound of the black-eyed peas that were frozen instead of fresh this year. Then some chicken broth that I had in the freezer, enough to cover the peas about an inch. or so. Seasoned with some savory, bay leaf, and peri-peri sauce (from South Africa) I didn't need to salt it much because of the smoked jowl is a little salty, but you can salt and pepper to taste. Cook for an hour or two until everything is tender and the right thickness that you like.

The hog jowl is a lot like bacon and you can use this or ham hock in it's place. It was a nice buttery texture that melted in your mouth when the dish was all finished. Right near the end add the kale, or the greens that you have and cover until tender.

We went out to walk the beach while they were cooking. There was no wind and it was so comfortable, and it was so beautiful at sunset. We came back to enjoy our New Year's meal.

Just as good as I remember, and everyone cleaned their plate.

 Have a great New Year everyone!

White Bean and Tuna Salad - Martha Monday

Today is Martha Monday and I am posting this on Monday! I know, I know, mark the calender!! It was Ana from Sweet Almond Tree turn to choose, and this is what she picked. You can see the recipe here.White bean and tuna salad was just what I needed today, and I actually finished it in daylight!

Oops, now that's better with some smoked salt and pepper! I made just half the recipe because my daughter never has liked tined tuna. So this was perfect size for me and lunch the next day, but my husband ended up eating  the rest of it when he came home late for dinner.

I just did a few things different again due to what I have on hand. I used shallots instead of onion, and soften them when I  warmed the beans with grapeseed oil. I also added the tuna while it was warming so the tuna would be warm too. It did kind of blend it together too much where it didn't photograph very well. I didn't have the red wine vinegar so I used some Chinese Black vinegar, it worked nice due to being slightly sweet like balsamic vinegar, and a little Chinese shao hsing (rice cooking wine). Cilantro instead of parsley. I used arugula/spinach mixed greens, and shaved some asiago cheese on top. I loved the different flavors that came together so well and the olives added just the right touch of tang that it needed.  I really enjoyed it, perfect for these hot afternoons in Florida! With this salad being so easy to put together I will be making it again for sure!



Cranberry Beans, Sausage, and Kale

It was such a pleasure when I spotted these beautiful pink and white speckled beans at the local Amish market...and if you know me I just had to pick some up. While I have used fresh black eyed peas on New Year's Day, they were packaged in a shrink wrapped container and were pretty much ready to use. They are also called Shelly beans, and I did have to shell them myself, but I got a small amount so it was kinda fun to do. Easy enough to figure how to use these pretty beans as well. Just gently boil them until soft around 20-30 minutes.

I decided to try them while my husband was out of state driving his father home to Michigan, my daughter and I could make a meal of it. We were at Whole Foods and picked up some fresh Cuban sausage. I cooked the sausage with the beans first, then sauteed in a skillet.

With a little bit of my garlic Parmesan olive oil I cooked some shallots and garlic. (I didn't have any onions) add the sausage and brown it the way you like it.

Add the beans and some of the liquid used to cook the beans. You can also use any firm white bean if you can't find cranberry beans, like cannellini beans. I also added some fresh sage from my garden sliced or chopped finely.

Some organic kale we also picked up from Whole Foods was on sale. Wash it and tear it off from the tough ribs. You can probably add the kale and cook it down a bit before adding the cooked beans, but if you cooked the beans slightly under add the beans at the same time with the cooking liquid..and it will steam the kale nicely.


Sprinkle with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Top with some fresh grated cheese like Parmesan, I used asiago because that is what I had in hand. It didn't get in the photo though....

Served with rice because that is what my daughter wanted and it was a good meal for the both of us. This is definitely a meal you can make a little or a lot of. If you like it a little spicy you can add some red pepper flakes or use spicy sausage. I will make this again for sure...


...and next time I won't be in such a hurry to snap the photo...promise!

Hopefully this will be the last of the busy season on the beach until December when they all come back...it was even this busy at sunset at the beach that we can usually always find a place to park.

so we just walk out to the water and mosey on up the beach...

...until the crowd thins out and we see this...we did get asked to take a picture of some tourists from Maine visiting for Spring Break, they had the whole family here and they couldnt get over seeing the sun set over the water...they get the sunrise!


Enjoy your weekend...next I'll bring dessert!

A Few FunThings

I ran across some fresh cranberry beans and garbanzo beans at our Amish market. I have never had them fresh like this before so I had to pick some up.

I have never shucked beans before either, so this was fun in small batches, I'm sure it would get old if I had to do a whole bunch.

Here is the fresh green garbanzo bean...funny to see them like this all green and fresh. Have you had them like this? How did you prepare them?

I cooked them in water until tender, and then sauteed them with shallots and some greens. What would you do?

Remember that turmeric root that I planted? It grew into a beautiful plant, and I used the leaves cooked in some dishes I made. A while back I was able to harvest some more of the roots.

I will cook with some and then plant some more again. I have it in a clay pot and planted some in the ground as well. It was fun to do, the one in the pot grew bigger than in the ground. I planted some ginger a few years back but did not harvest the ginger each year, so they come back every summer and produce some beautiful flowers and a nice green foliage near my back border. I wonder if the turmeric will come back and flower?

Next I love sweet potato fries, but when I make them at home I never deep fry anything, so when baking regular sweet potatoes they are so moist it is hard to get them crispy without frying. So I baked some Japanese sweet potato fries, seasoned nicely, they are dryer and turned out great! Of course these were in a little long, but I do like them crisp. Now I want to find the perfect dip for them, any ideas?

Finally, I picked up this herb at the farmers market last weekend. I have never seen this before, it's culantro, also known by many other names. Found in and used widely in Mexico, the Caribbean and through south Asia. It tastes similar to cilantro, but a little stronger. It is supposed to be easier to grow than cilantro, which is good because I just can't seem to grow cilantro, or parsley for that matter. It likes partial shade so I have it in a pot on my front porch. I'm excited to try it. Have you ever used this culantro before?

Hoppin' Skippin' John

For New Year's Day this year we had some black-eyed peas and greens, it took me a month to post it, man I even missed posting it for Chinese New Year. The problem is I didn't really go by a recipe (yes, I know that's not an excuse, but it's the best I have), but I went by several recipes plus with a little bit of this and a pinch of that...so it made it a little difficult to post. Living in the south the stores here have everything fresh, ready, and available for making black eyed peas and greens. they will evean wash and tear the greens for us in several differnt kinds to choose from. Then they put it on sale at a very good price so you really can go wrong. Eating this on New Year's day is believed to bring good fortune. I bought some fresh shelled black eyed peas and kale instead of turnip, or collard greens...just because I know my family will eat kale and enjoy it.

Never working with fresh black-eyed peas before I went by what it said on the package. So I boiled them for the amount of time on the package...if you were using dried you would want to soak them over night, and drain, then cook them is fresh water for twenty minutes or until tender..

I used and adapted from the recipe on the package and the Hoppin' Skippin' John recipe from Graham Kerr's Best cookbook.

ingredients:

1 pounds black-eyed peas (fresh or frozen)
or 1 cup dried
1 small onion,or large shallot (I used) finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 garlic clove, minced
2 bay leaves
4 whole cloves freshly ground
1 tablespoon loosely packed thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried savory
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or Red pepper flakes to taste
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper to taste
3 cups water or broth
2 cups torn greens (collard or kale or what eve you like) washed and stems removed

Hot cooked rice

In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven or stew pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat and cook shallot until soft about 3 minutes. Add celery, thyme, bay leaves, ground clove and garlic cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the peas, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer till the peas are tender but not mushy, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add the greens and cook for about 5 minutes add more water if needed.Remove the bay leaves and squeeze a little lemon juice and you can add fresh parsley to top it off. Serve over rice.



I didn't use ham in my Hoppin' John, but I didn't make a pork roast to serve with it. Pork is also eaten on New Year's day. I seasoned it with a blend that I picked up at the German store. Cooked it until it reached 160 degrees. I still have to cook my pork all the way through, I know you can go less nowadays, but I just can't do it. Since this was such a lean pork loin roast I watched it carefully not to over cook it and have it dry out.

Of course this could be eaten anytime of year...and I always love the pan drippings over the moist meat, so full of flavor, better than any gravy!

Such a lazy day after dinner. Our neighbor's cat has adopted us (I think that's what cats do choose where they want to hang out) he will come in and make himself at home now instead of a quick walk through visit. He knows now that Tucker is so old he doesn't have to worry...

...he can walk right by him and not wake Tucker up. He is such a sound sleeper now that he can't hear much any more...it sucks getting old.

Aww...he must of fallen asleep on the futon in the bonus room after he unloaded the groceries and read the sports page...hehe

Neggie must of been going through some cookbooks on the couch in the living room before it wore him out...I wonder what recipes he is dreaming of? I hope he wrote them down...oh...to have such a rough animal's life

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers

Another meatless meal, not that we are trying to cut down on eating meat, we just enjoy many vegetarian meals. I try to incorporate many grains and veggies in our meals....even if I have to sneak it in there. We didn't eat these as burgers, but you could. Actually I couldn't find my can of organic black beans so I used pinto beans instead. I asked my daughter if she wanted me to make it with garbanzo beans or pinto beans an she chose garbanzo so I used pinto...haha just kidding. She wanted the pinto beans, but I think they were a little too soft for this recipe. They were good and full of flavor, they just might not work on a bun like the black bean patties would. I used Japanese sweet potato which is white flesh and slightly dry, but plenty sweet in my opinion.


Black Bean Patties

ingredients:
1/2 onion (I used shallots) chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 shiitake fresh mushrooms chopped (or baby bella)
1 handful fresh basil or cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon savory
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sriracha, or any hot sauce to your liking
1 can of black beans (I used pinto)
1/2 sweet potato diced and cooked (boiled)
3 tablespoons ricotta cheese (optional...I had some I wanted to use)
1/2 green chili (I used serrono chili)
1/2 cup panko bead crumbs (or cooked quinoa and oats)
1 egg slightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

First saute onions mushrooms and garlic, in some olive oil. I used a food processor to make these, but I think it would work just as well...maybe even better if you just mash the potatoes and beans instead of pulsing in the processor.

I pulsed the onion, mushroom, garlic mix with the basil or cilantro, then added the beans...pulse a few times, then the potatoes and ricotta, pulse some more. Try not to over process...you can even leave some beans out if you'd like some left whole.

In a bowl whisk the egg, then mix in the remaining ingredients. Mix it all together and form into patties. If it seems too moist add some more crumbs until it holds together nicely.

Cook 6-7 minutes per side or you could bake them at 375 degree F oven for about 25 minutes until golden or browned the way you like it.
What I like about these is you can add so many different ingredients to adjust them for your family. Like you could add corn, bulgar or other grains, more hot spice or less, flax, sesame or other seeds...a little dijon or curry paste?
I like them a little moist, but then I don't eat them on a bun either...

..but they were good with some chipotle powder mixed with Greek yogurt. My daughter (the sour cream eater) said I really liked this sauce on these! My husband got home late and when I told him what I had made for dinner...he wasn't so sure about them, but he ate his fair share! Next time I will leave a little more texture in there and not use a food processor.

My husband finally brought the tall ladder home...so tall it's a little scary...

..so I could pick some mangoes, all the ones that were lower are already picked. The problem with this variety of mango is they don't change color when they are ripe, you pretty much have to squeeze to tell. Otherwise they sit in a bowl for a few days. Just when I was ready to make the climb...a storm rolled in with thunder....just where I wanted to be when the lightning came.
Funny these both were from that tree, I have quite a few large mangoes and many smaller ones too. I wonder why?

I have to figure out something to make with the mangoes...I usually just eat them! I'm not big on eating fruit with meat, but any ideas what I can do with all these mangoes?...and yes I've given many away and the squirrels are still eating too!

This is linked to My Sweet and Savory Meatless Mondays

Black Beans and Rice

A friend of mine who now lives in the Huston area was visiting my family (and hers) in Michigan this summer. She was talking with my sister and said she likes reading my blog but would like to see more gluten free, dairy free recipes. I do have several recipes already that are gluten free, and even dairy free (or easily made dairy free), but I have not labeled as such. I am not that well informed on where you can get gluten except wheat. So with that I believe this could well be a gluten free/dairy free recipe. So here's one for you Kelly!

When I make my black beans I never use a recipe, so I think that's why it took me so long to post them. My daughter loves black beans and would eat black bean soup every other day if she could. The soup is another one I don't really make by a recipe. I do always have black beans on hand whether it's organic canned or organic dry beans. I just bought a pressure cooker so now I can make dried beans fairly quick!

Anyway I tend to make them more the Cuban style black beans, because that is what we are used to around here. Cuban style black beans also work well for my husband (who doesn't like it as spicy as I do) Cuban style doesn't add a lot of heat.

I will do my best to write the recipe for you...I could of sworn that I wrote it down the last time I made these...now where is it? You know I will come across it after I have already posted this!

Black Beans and Rice

ingredients:
2 cans of organic black beans (or 3 cups cooked from dried)
2 tablespoons oil (for sauteing the onions and garlic)
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic smashed then chopped
2-3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano (I used Mexican oregano)
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (I used this instead of sugar)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup red wine (optional) or sherry
water with the cooked dried beans or you can add some broth with the rinsed canned beans
salt and pepper to taste when beans are cooked


directions:
If using dried beans wash and pick through 2 or 3 cups and soak them overnight in 6 cups of water, drain. In a 6 quart pot add water and beans and a little olive oil to keep in from foaming (like you would in a pressure cooker). Cook beans for 1 hour.

In a large enough pot or Dutch oven add some oil and saute the onions with a little salt to draw out the sugar (some like green peppers, but my husband doesn't so I skip them) until tender, add the garlic cook just until fragrant (we don't want to burn the garlic. Add the cumin, oregano, stir cooking for a minute. Add the beans with the water they were cooked in (or if using canned rinse well and add a little water or broth) bay leaves, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, wine or sherry. Sometimes I will add some recaito - cilantro cooking base if I have an open jar in the fridge. Cover and cook for 20 - 30 minutes stirring occasionally, and you can adjust the liquid to your preference. Salt and pepper to taste...remove bay leaves.

Serve it over rice, like my cilantro rice . Garnish with some toppings of choice, like diced tomatoes, onions, or a slice of lime, fresh cilantro, crumbled cheese, or like my daughter does she tops it with...you guessed it...sour cream.

If you have any questions feel free to ask, I hope it was clear enough. Or if you have any additions that you like to use in your beans and rice, please share!

Feijoada ~ My Way ~ (Brazilian Stew)

All I want to say is, I don't know what made me research this and make it, but I am glad I did! I am definitely keeping this recipe in with our regulars. I came across this bean and pork meat stew, feijoada served over rice, it is the national dish of Brazil. It was said that it originated in the sixteenth century from slaves, where the dish was first made using all parts of the pig such as ears, feet, snouts and what ever else they could use and cooked with beans. I suppose like the chili recipes in the US, and paella in Spain, feijoada has many different recipes, each family or region has it's variation. This hearty meal is traditionally served on Saturday and is a celebration meal served with family and friends. I can see why, it makes a lot!

I started out by stopping at our German meat market and store Geiers Sausage Kitchen and had a blast checking out all the different sausages, fresh and smoked. I ended up getting some bangers, and some just made hot off the skillet potato pancakes that I took home and ate for lunch...

I also picked up some Bavarian cured bacon to use in the feijoada, some polish sausage, and smoked chorizo. A lot of the recipes called fore dried beef to add some depth, but I found mine had plenty of depth with out it. It is also commonly made with black beans, but my husband is not crazy about them so I mixed in some pinto beans. Pork is usually the star, but again I had my reason for not using much. This is my version after plenty of research! I will try to get the amounts down for you, but as always with cooking (not baking) nothing is exact!

Feijoada

• 1 1/2 cups dried black beans -soaked overnight
• 1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans -soaked overnight
• 3 or 4 slices of bacon (I used Hungarian bacon cut in small cubes like lardons)
• 1 link smoked chorizo -sliced
• 1 lb Polish sausage (I used one large one)
• 1 lb eye round steak -cubed (not the best choice, but ok)
• 1 lb ox tails
• 3 shallots or 1 yellow onion - chopped
• 2 carrots - diced
• 2 stalks celery -diced
• 4 cloves of garlic - sliced
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp Mew Mexico green chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 5 dried chilies
• 6 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 bunch of parsley chopped with stems
• 4 cups broth (I used organic beef broth) and some water to cover

Near the end I added some cubes sweet potato and chayote, you can add butternut squash or skip it. I was going to add some chopped cilantro to it at the end too, but forgot!

After the soaked beans are rinsed and added to a pot with broth, start to cook them. I used my crock pot for this because it was one thing that was large enough to hold it all. Because I bought fresh polish sausage I pricked some holes in it and roasted it in the oven with the ox tails for 30 - 40 minutes. While the sausage is roasting and the beans are started, in a large pan , saute the bacon to render the fat, then brown the lean beef.

Add the shallots, celery, carrots, and cook 2 -3 minutes, then add the garlic and tomato paste, cook a little more. I then added the coriander, chili powder, salt, pepper and smoked paprika.

Slice the chorizo sausage to add to it. Some recipes had you slice the polish sausage and some had you leave it in big chunk, so I did both with that!

Combine the meat and remaining ingredients...

I added some water to cover everything to cook in my crock pot. It probably took another 3 - 4 cups of water, (you can use more broth is you wish) once you add all that meat to the beans...

If using a crock pot cook on low for around 8 to 10 hours or on high for 5 0r 6. I had it on all day around eight hours. I started high for about an hour to get it going then turned it low for the remaining time. Then we went out a played on the boat all day, and the last hour or so I added the sweet potato. (Of course that is optional)

If making it on the stove top, it cooks for around 3 hours until everything is cooked through and tender.



The meat should be falling off the bones...if using meat with bones, like ox tails or pork ribs...
Don't forget to remove the bay leaves and dried whole chilies.
Serve over some nice fluffy rice.


Traditionally served with steamed kale, orange slices and toasted manioc flour. I only had cassava flour, which I understand is too fine to use and just wouldn't work, so I skipped it. My kale was a little sorry looking, but that's okay, it wasn't the star!



We all loved this dish, and I am so happy I tried it. I brought some to work for my co-workers, and I still had some left over to freeze for later. It sounds like a lot of work, but it was not really(and it was worth it)...the hardest part was trying not to forget anything!

Now I have to find some of this manioc flour!

Tenha um bom dia!

This recipes has been added to Joanne's Regional Recipes. Joanne has continued this and can be found at her blog Eats Well With Others. Thank you Joanne for letting us join in the fun!