White Bean with Grilled Shrimp and Sausage

With a pantry full of different variety beans, I've been on the lookout for recipes that will show off those heirloom beans. What better place to find something amazing to cook, than on the site selling the beans? I liken this to something one of my wise friends once said when I complained about a doctored up to the point of almost inedible pumpkin pie recipe. "Libby's has a vested interest in you loving their recipe enough to keep buying those cans of filling. Why mess with what they've already figured out?" she asked me. Same principle applies here  - if anyone wants me to succeed at bean recipes, it's those folks at Rancho Gordo...hence their recipe for this dish.

Let's just start here - I love the humble food of beans and I can eat them just about any way, from plain to doctored up in all manner of fancy recipes. When I finished putting together this particular bowl of deliciousness, I couldn't stop eating the product of my labors. With the sausage, there's just enough of a tang to please the taste buds. I love every component of what goes into the recipe. It is one of those dishes where you can take delight in loading up your fork with just the right amount of shrimp, bean, sausage, and arugula to make for sheer joy at the resulting spoon of yummyness. Does anyone else rate recipes like that? Every bite is good, some are perfectly composed to produce a measured bit of perfection. And those are the ones that make you keep eating!

White Bean with Grilled Shrimp and Sausage
Recipe courtesy of Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans

1 pound medium gulf white shrimp (shelled and de-veined)
1 cup dried Rancho Gordo white beans such as Alubia Blanca or Royal Corona
6 ounces Italian sausage (we use Caggiano from Sonoma)
1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped fine
1 yellow onion, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
2 small celery stalks, diced fine
1 Tbsp. butter
1 cup arugula
Salt and pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup bean cooking liquid
Serves 4   (or one greedy, bean-loving cook)

Pre-soak the beans in 4 cups water overnight. Drain beans.
In a large pot, bring the beans up to a simmer in 4 cups of fresh, salted water (1 tablespoon). Cook until tender, let cool in liquid and reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
In a sauté pan, render sausage in 1 tablespoon of oil, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic, and cook until tender. Add beans and the 1/2 cup cooking liquid until emulsified. Add butter and take off heat. When butter is melted, add arugula.
Meanwhile, salt and pepper shrimp. Drizzle with olive oil and grill on high heat about 2 minutes per side. Place bean and sausage mixture in bowl and top with grilled shrimp.

Basic Meatloaf

There have been two different times when I've been prompted to get rid of excess stuff in the kitchen. The first came when we gutted our old kitchen and completely remodeled that room. Do you know what a huge chore it was to take every single cooking/baking item I owned and cart it to another place in the house where it sat for 6 weeks! The dining room was filled with kitcheny things, as was Tim's room. No, I didn't make my kid sleep with a toaster oven in his bed and spatulas hanging from his closet - he was away at college so the empty room seemed like a perfect overflow storage space. Except for that part about having to lug all those gadgets and gizmos all the way up the stairs...and then down again, when the new kitchen was finally finished. More recently, I went through a similar purge cycle when we moved. Knowing you're paying by the pound to schlep everything you own from one state to another does make you evaluate carefully just how much you really want or need the stuff you've had laying around forever...or at least, since the big kitchen remodel of 2001!

Where am I going with this, you might ask? This is a cooking blog, not a home organization site. Here's how I'm tying the above anecdote of me getting rid of stuff to meatloaf - after vowing to never again buy specialty gadgets I don't really need, guess what I purchased right after Christmas? A meatloaf pan that comes complete with a rack inside, to allow all those juices to go to the bottom of the pan, away from the cooking meatloaf. Another gadget, but not a bad one. Just the sight of all that grease lying separated from my completed meatloaf made me feel a little healthier and like every penny of the cost was worth having one more item to find storage for in my kitchen.

If you've been reading long enough, you probably remember Paula Deen isn't one of my favorite people. I will say, however, that absence really must make the heart grow fonder because not having seen Paula in years - and, more importantly, not having heard that fakey, syrupy "y'all" used over and over and over, I can actually think about her without wanting to gag. Plus, her meatloaf recipe did actually turn out moist and tasty. Because I still haven't learned how to take a picture of meats without making them look so disgusting as to be rendered inedible, I'm forgoing a photo. Y'all just have to take mine and Paula's word that this is a satisfying down-home main course for dinner.  ;-)


Paula Deen's Basic Meatloaf

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.
Topping:
Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Red Bean and Green Grain Taco Bowl

This is a rather dreadful picture of a rather fabulous dish 

When you get to my age, there's not a whole lot to want for Christmas. This is partly because you already have a life time's worth of stuff and also because what you really crave/desire/covet/need, you can generally go out and get on your own. Even so, a thoughtful gift from the heart is always a blessing...like say when a loved one gives you beans. Ummm....yes, you read that right. For Christmas this year, my darling daughter sent me a heavy box full of various types of Rancho Gordo heirloom beans. (Who knew beans could be considered heirloom?????) Maybe this sounds like a weird item for a daughter to give to her mom but, in this case, a sweet note let me know that Emily made this choice because she thought I might want to create some of my mom's legendary beans. Truth is, I've never attempted to make my own for the very reason that my mom was so famous for hers. How can you compete with perfection? It's not like Edith, queen of the "a little bit of this, and maybe a dab of that, cooked until it seems right" school of cooking left me any kind of recipe to follow!

So now I have my own assortment of beans to work with, along with a recommended recipe from the Bean Giver. Emily let me know that this is the dish that caused her to fall in love with Rancho Gordo beans and, after making my first batch tonight, I can definitely understand her sentiment. The recipe is from....where else, Smitten Kitchen. As with so many of Deb's recipes, when you first look at the entirety of instructions it all seems lengthy and complicated but, in this case, the dish came together in a very straightforward way.

Red bean and Green Grain Taco Bowl
Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

GRAINS
2 fresh poblano chili peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves (from one bunch)
3/4 of a medium onion, roughly chopped (Mince the last 1/4 to use as a topping)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups water or broth  (I used water here and in cooking the beans. There was some worry that not using broth might make the rice taste "puny" but that's definitely not the case! The grain mixture cooked up perfectly and tasted fabulous.)
1 cup uncooked wheat berries (Yea, try finding that in a small town in Missouri! I substituted with rice but you could also use quinoa)
Salt to taste

BEANS
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 finely chopped chipotle from a can
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups water or broth
1/4 pound dried small red beans
kosher salt to taste

FIXINGS
Minced white onion or pickled red onions, lime wedges, hot sauce, sliced avocado, pico de gallo, cheese or tortilla strips

Soak red beans. Cover red beans in an inch of water and soak over night

Make green grains: Combine poblanos, cilantro, onion, and garlic with a splash of cooking broth or water in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Combine rice, remaining broth, 3/4 of green puree and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover, and reduce to a very low simmer. Cook for 18 minutes or until rice is tender. (Mine took longer). To restore the bright green color, add in the remaining green puree and cook for an additional 5 minutes. (I didn't do this. It looked green enough to me and it certainly tasted yummy enough to stop, without the additional step.)

Make red beans: Heat olive oil over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add beans and their soaking liquid plus an additional cup of water. Bring to a boil for 10-15 minutes. Lower heat to a gentle simmer. Add chipotle, cumin, oregano, and tomato paste. Cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar to let the beans breathe. Let cook for 30 minutes, adding additional HOT water or broth as necessary. At this point, check every 5 minutes, adding hot water when needed. When the beans are almost done, add salt (but not before). NOTE: my beans took quite a bit longer than this, even though I'd soaked them. But, in the end, they tasted great.

Assemble and eat: Add your desired ration of grains to beans and top with desired fixings. I could see where any of the toppings listed above would be a  great accompaniment to the rice and beans. In my case, I used only avocado  and a bit of cheese. Something about the texture of that avocado with the rice and beans made every bite something to savor. Honestly, this is a bowl of goodness I could've kept eating all night long as each bite made me want another...and another... and another.

Banana Pudding

Who says you can't wear moose pajamas while taking tea? 

Banana pudding isn't something I normally associate with high tea but, for the circumstances of the tea where I served these, cute little jars filled with banana goodness seemed just right.   Originally, I had planned to take my friend Terri to a high tea in Lee's Summit when she came to visit.  Too bad she chose the weekend of a Kansas City ice-storm so severe that most businesses pre-emptively closed their doors to keep people from going out and slipping on the ice. (Just like I later managed to do while trying to give Funston a morning walk.)    With the tea room closed, there was nothing left to do but make some scones, brew some tea, and hold the most informal formal tea ever. Definitely the first time I've sat at a makeshift tea table in my pajamas. 

I'd been wanting to make Smitten Kitchen's banana pudding for a long time. In fact, I went so far as to buy the exact same adorable little Weck jars that Deb advocated and then never got around to using them until this icy cold January weekend. Truth is, the jars were much smaller than I'd imagined. After filling two cute tea sized jars, I spooned the rest into a big cereal bowl. Genteel eating at tea, unbridled gluttony later. 

Smitten Kitchen includes the recipe for miniature homemade vanilla wafers and, honestly, I had every intention of making them until I saw you can now purchase the same teeny variety of this cookie in  your local grocery store. In my defense, I'd just returned from Montana when Terri arrived so there wasn't a lot of time to spend in the kitchen before she came. As a hostess, who wants to be bound to the kitchen making a Deb intensive recipe??? Not this girl! 

The pudding came together great, with a rich, creamy texture and plenty of banana flavor.  It’s either going to be good news or bad news when I tell you the mixture should be made a day ahead. Me? I’d just as soon have things already prepared long before whatever event I’m cooking for, but I definitely also understand how you can get something this delicious cooked up and then be desperate to dig in immediately. The pudding will taste fine once it is set but, trust me, it will be way way better given a night to set up and baste in it’s own yumminess. 

If you don’t have twee little jars, you can also make this pudding in an 8x8 pan. You’ll need to use a full batch of the homemade wafers and probably make double the whipped cream for the top, if prepared in this way. 

Banana Pudding 

Recipe Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

Custard

3⁄4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar

1⁄4 cup (35 grams) cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

6 large egg yolks

3 1⁄2 cups (830 ml) milk, preferably whole

2 tablespoons (30 grams) butter, cut into a few bits

1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla

1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark rum (optional, but think it has an amazing impact here)

Wafers

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

Seeds from 1/2 of a fresh vanilla bean

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/3 cups (176 grams) all-purpose flour

Assembly

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

4 large firm-ripe bananas, thinly slices

Make the custard: Whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt and yolks together in the bottom of a large saucepan, ideally 4-quarts to protect against splattering as it simmers. Drizzle in milk, whisking the whole time so that no lumps form. Place over medium heat on the stove and bring up to a simmer, stirring. Once simmering, stirring, until custard thickens, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in butter, vanilla, and rum. Let chill in fridge for several hours or overnight to finish thickening. You’ll have 4 cups custard.

Make the wafers: Heat oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a large bowl, combine sugar and vanilla been seeds, rubbing them together so that the abrasion from the sugar granules helps release the maximum vanilla flavor. Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat to combine. Sprinkle baking powder and salt over batter, beat to combine. Add flour and once again, beat just to combine.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Using your tiniest scoop (yes, I actually have one that holds about 1 teaspoon), spoon or even a 1-teaspoon measuring spoon, scoop the dough (you can then roll it in your palms for a more perfect final round shape) and space at least 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, keeping a close eye on them. You’ll want them to be nicely golden at the edges before you take them out. Let cool on racks. Yield: About 80 1 3/4-inch cookies.

Assembly: Beat heavy cream with 2 teaspoons sugar until soft peaks form. Line the bottom of 8 1-cup dishes with a wafer cookie. Add custard (you’re looking to use about 1/3 of it total right now). Top with a layer of bananas. Repeat twice with more cookies (you can break them up to get them to fit better in small cups), custard and bananas. Dollop each pudding with whipped cream; chill (I prefer to do so with lids on so the whipped cream doesn’t dry out) for a few hours and up to a few days.

Whoops...I forgot to get a picture of this before I'd already dug in

Eight Can Crock Pot Soup

The red crock pot has my soup. How does it look? 

I often think of soup as a satisfying dish you can spend all morning making - dicing vegetables, cutting up potatoes, stirring soup stock and, best of all, filling your kitchen with the aroma of homemade goodness. On a cold winter day, there's little more satisfying than busying yourself in the kitchen, knowing a big pot of soup awaits the end of your efforts.

This soup is, however, the exact opposite of what I've described since all you do is open up a bunch of cans and then wait for the crock-pot to do its magic.  It's easy and a good choice to serve up at a luncheon. Which is exactly what I did - and will do again, in the future.

One last specific note about this soup. The chili peppers in the Rotel tomatoes do add some spice.  I use the mild version and it still has a little bit of punch.

Eight Can Crock Pot Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 can Rotel tomatoes (tomatoes with chili peppers)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can Veg-All mixed vegetables
1 can chili WITH BEANS
1 can chili WITHOUT BEANS
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can vegetable soup

Directions:
Brown and drain ground beef. (OK...so I lied. This part involves more than opening a can.) Then add, but DO NOT DRAIN the Rotel tomatoes, corn, veg-all, chilis, diced tomatoes, and the soups. Turn crock pot to LOW, may simmer all day. Any leftovers can be frozen.

Buche De Noel

                                                           My version

I usually leave making the traditional buche de noel to Emily as she's good at it but, with no daughter in town this year, it fell on me to do the honor of creating a fake log cake.

What I like about the recipe Emily makes (beyond the obvious fact of one less thing I have to cook) is that it is actually a reverse to the usual chocolate cake with white center variety. Her version is a yellow sponge cake with chocolate ganache filling. I know...whoever heard of a blonde log, right? The original has white icing (snow?) but Emily usually uses more of the filling to make a light covering of dark on the outside. Realism aside, who cares? Hers tastes great and looks beautiful.

Before I detail what a disastrous time I had actually getting a final product to serve for our Christmas Eve dinner, let me start with the explanations and excuses. It was very late when I started making the components for the cake. I'm never all that alert at night and way less so when I've spent the entire day making other dishes, getting the house ready for company, and obsessing over the things I still needed to do. Chores I would normally NEVER leave to the last minute (little details like wrapping gifts) but did, this year. UGH, Christmas stress at its finest.

I made the cake batter, put it in the oven and then, because I was clearly out of my head, overturned the cake onto the kitchen counter. I don't even know how to explain what went wrong from here but, in trying to get it to a clean kitchen towel where it belonged, my cake fell apart completely. And so did I. It was late, I was tired, and I just wanted to scrap the whole project. I did scrap my ruined mess but I couldn't let go of the vision of serving this cake up as part of my menu for our Christmas Eve guests.

So, here we go again. 7 more eggs cracked and separated. The whites looked great beat to stiff peaks and I felt like I was finally on a roll to a successful roll. Until something went wrong with the batter. For some reason still not quite clear to me, my cake in batter form was looking way more like a very sticky bread dough. I tried adapting by throwing in more flour (did I leave a cup out?) but nothing could bring the mixture to what I knew it should look and feel like. Yes, believe it or not, I scrapped that batch and started AGAIN. At least I still had the whites mixture ready to go but that still meant I had to use seven more eggs. Are you keeping count? This means my buche du noel had now gobbled up 21 eggs, with no promise that there would ever be an actual finished cake to enjoy. Ahh, the joys of cooking.

Third times the charm, or 21st egg is the secret. Something like that. The cake finally got finished and, while not as good as Emily's, it was lovely to look at and pretty delicious. I followed the King Arthur recipe on the outer icing but, next time I make this, I'll do it Emily's way with just a light covering of the ganache. And I'll make sure I have plenty of eggs on hand.

Buche De Noel
Recipe from King Arthur Flour (and there is an excellent how-to video on their website)

CAKE  (This makes a lovely light sponge cake)
7 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup milk (2%, whole or fat-free, or half & half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon creamy hazelnut flavor (optional, but very good)
simple syrup or hazelnut syrup or hazelnut liquor for brushing cake
confectioners' sugar for dusting the towel
CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1/8 teaspoon creamy hazelnut flavor
FROSTING BARK
1 1/3 cups white chocolate chunks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and spritz with cooking spray.
To make the cake: In a large bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar, continue beating the whites until medium peaks form. Set whites aside.
In a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, including the remaining one cup of the sugar. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the egg yolks, oil, milk, vanilla and hazelnut flavoring until blended. Mix on medium speed until lightened and pale lemon colored. Add the dry ingredients and continue to mix, about 1 minute until well incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a large spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter, 1/3 at a time. Use gentle motions to preserve the air in the whites.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown on top and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly.
To make the ganache: While the cake is baking, heat the cream until just simmering. Add the chopped chocolate and remove from the heat. Stir gently until the chocolate melts completely. Remove from the pan and place in a large bowl to cool. You may refrigerate or freeze the ganache to speed the cooling.
Once the ganache is cooled to pudding consistency, whip with a whisk or hand mixer until fluffy and frosting like.
Remove the cake from the pan by lifting the parchment paper. Place cake side up on the counter and trim off the edges of the cake to make rolling easier. Turn the cake over on a large, clean kitchen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Peel off the parchment paper.
Roll the cake up as though the towel were the filling. Cool the cake, rolled up, for 20 to 30 minutes.
Unroll the towel and remove it. Brush the cake with the simple syrup; let it sit for 5 minutes so the syrup can soak in.
Spread with the prepared ganache filling and re-roll. Place in the fridge to chill for 20 to 30 minutes. The roll can be wrapped tightly and frozen at this point for up to 3 months.
To decorate the cake: Melt 8 ounces of white chocolate very slowly over low heat in a double boiler. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and spread a thin layer of chocolate over the entire surface. Return to the fridge to set up, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add a second layer of white chocolate to the cake, spreading the chocolate to resemble tree bark. A fork may be used to add texture by dragging the tines through the cooling chocolate. Once the chocolate has firmed, decorate as desired with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, cocoa or chocolate curls.
Cake will keep for about 3 days in the fridge, well covered. Let it warm up on the counter before serving.

Emily's version

Green Bean Casserole

Lots of folks love green bean casserole and don't consider it a holiday meal if that particular dish isn't on the table. I'm not one of those people. Up until this year, I hadn't tasted the dreaded green bean/soupy mess mixture for years and would have been perfectly content to let the rest of my life go by in the same green bean casserole-less state.

What changed my mind and made me search for a recipe I could tolerate was knowing that Gianne loves this same concoction I detest. In fact, I'd heard her tell someone that she didn't consider it a true holiday meal unless a green bean casserole showed up on her plate. Normally, I might've asked her to bring her version to the Christmas Eve dinner we were sharing with her family but how do you ask someone living with five people and two dogs in a hotel room to cook up a holiday dish? After selling their house right after Thanksgiving, the C family had been holed up in their tiny room at the Chase Suites, waiting to pack up the car and start the long drive to Washington state on...CHRISTMAS DAY! All of the details of their suddenly nomadic existence made my heart hurt. It also compelled me to try to create a beautiful Christmas Eve meal that would include their favorite foods...right down to the dreaded green bean casserole.

Not having made this dish in...pretty much forever, I asked Gianne what version she liked. Given a sketchy outline of what constituted a perfect green bean casserole in her eyes, I started searching the internet and found this version. Remarkably, I actually kind of liked how it turned out. Gone is the gloppy soup mixture I remember being the binding component of long ago casseroles. Instead, you get a less heavy cream sauce and LOTS OF ONIONS. How can you go wrong with a heavy layer of those crunchy Durkey onions?????

Now that Gianne and family are safely in their new home on the other side of the country, I doubt they will be coming to future holiday dinners here in Parkville, but I may well try this dish again, come Easter, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas 2017. And I'll think of my sweet friend.


THE BEST GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Recipe courtesy of the Novice Chef blog
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1.5 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 - 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
6 oz french fried onions

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish, set aside.
Blanch the beans: In a large pot, bring about a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil. Add the green beans and boil for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and stir to combine. Then add the half and half and simmer until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in all of the green beans. Transfer green bean mixture to prepared casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs and then layer the french fried onions on top.
Place casserole in the oven and bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes. If your onions start to brown too quickly, cover the casserole with foil. Serve immediately.

(You can assemble this dish the day before. If you do it that way, leave off the breadcrumbs and fried onions until you get ready to put the casserole in the oven. Add about ten minutes to the cooking time and cover with foil part of the time, to keep the onions from getting too brown and crispy.)