Recipe for Simmered Black Beans

A friend of mine just told me about a recipe she just tried for Mexican Simmered Black Beans. She got it off of the New York Times dining section from March 11, 2009, and she loved it. It seemed like a good, simple meal, so here it is:

Simmered Black Beans

The key to a great pot of black beans is using enough onion, garlic and salt for seasoning, and then cooking the beans for a long time at a slow simmer. In Mexico, a sprig of epazote or a few dried avocado leaves are usually added to the pot. Those ingredients aren’t as easy to find as cilantro, which is what I routinely use to season the beans.

1 pound black beans, washed and picked over for stones

2 quarts water

1 tablespoon canola oil or extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus additional for garnish if desired

Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste

1. Soak the beans in the water for at least six hours. If they will be soaking for a long time in warm weather, put them in the refrigerator.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, about three minutes. Add half the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute. Add the beans and soaking water. The beans should be covered by at least an inch of water. Add more as necessary, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and skim off any foam that rises. Cover and simmer one hour.

3. Add the salt, remaining garlic and cilantro. Continue to simmer another hour, until the beans are quite soft and the broth is thick and fragrant. Taste. Is there enough salt? Does it need more garlic? Add if necessary. Let sit overnight in the refrigerator for the best flavor.

Note: If you can get hold of a sprig of fresh epazote, add it to the beans in step 3.

Yield: Serves six

Advance preparation: The cooked beans will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator and will freeze well.

Ginger Garlic Bluefish Recipe

Tip: this recipe calls for ginger and scallion. As with scallions mentioned in an earlier article, grate the ginger root until you're sick of grating, use the portion you need, and store the rest into a Ziplock bag in the freezer so it doesn't spoil.

I'm posting this recipe because I wrote about how bluefish can be purchased for as little as $2.29 a pound in Boston.

Ingredients:

• Bluefish fillet (or whole, cleaned mackerel)
• Salt
• Garlic
• Cooking oil
  
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger (preferably fresh)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
  
• 1/4 cooking rice wine/sherry (optional)
  
• A few drops of sesame oil (optional)
• Chili sauce (optional)
  
• A sprinkle of scallion (thinly sliced)
  

Like mackerel, bluefish is a fishier tasting fish, and some people are turned off by it. But making blue fish with ginger and garlic will diffuse the strong taste. This will also work on a whole mackerel. You can choose to grill, broil or bake the fish, but I prefer grill or broil, as the charred taste complements the fish.

1) Marinate the fish.
When I cook, I usually improvise, so these measurements don't have to be exact. Take your bluefish fillets and dust a light layer of salt and garlic all over it (can be substituted with garlic salt). Brush some cooking oil on both sides of each fillet. Let it sit in your refrigerator for a few hours.

2) Make the sauce.
Whisk together the ginger, soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, sesame oil, and chili sauce in a small bowl. Sprinkle the scallion into the sauce.

3) Brush more oil over the fillets. Grill/broil/bake the fish at a high temperature (preheated to 450 F). Check after 8 minutes. If you're using a whole mackerel, you may want to turn it over after 5 minutes and return it to the oven for another 5. The fish is ready when you can see that it's flaky. Fish does not take very long to cook.

4) Remove fish from oven. Spoon sauce over the fish. Serve hot. It's very good with white jasmine rice and green, leafy veggies.

Crepes are French Tortillas!

A simple cheap dessert recipe for crepes. But note that this basic crepe can be used for either savory crepes or sweet! I prefer mine with either dulce de leche or nutella and banana.

2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Combine eggs, milk, flour, oil and salt. Beat until smooth.
2. Grease a medium sized (about 6 inches) skillet with butter. Heat skillet. Remove from heat. Spoon in 4 tablespoons of batter. Lift and tilt skillet to spread the batter until the bottom of the skillet is covered evenly. Return to heat. Brown on one side only (it's important that you don't flip it) and invert onto plate when the up side is no longer gooey. Butter pan occasionally in between crepes. Fill with filler goodness to your liking!

You can store any extras you make in the freezer. Just remember to separate each crepe with waxed paper in an airtight container. Thaw for an hour before eating.

Summer Rolls (not the ones you find when you put on a bikini!)

I find eating summer rolls to be extremely refreshing, the perfect combination of cool and salty. Of course, eating these in the summer would probably be a better idea than eating them in the dead of winter, but inspiration struck last night.

I cooked the shrimp and split them lengthwise in half. I got the wrappers for $1.25 (for about 30) and the rice sticks for $0.89 (for 8 bunches). I soaked the rice sticks in hot water for 20 minutes and dipped each wrapper individually to soften it just prior to wrapping.

Cost breakdown:
Shrimp ($19.99/2 lb bag. I used about 1/4 lb) = $5.00
Scallions ($1.19/bunch. I used about 1/10th) = $0.12
Rice Sticks ($0.89/package. I used 1/4 package) = $0.22
Wrappers ($1.25/package. I used 1/3 package) = $0.42
TOTAL = $5.76

I made so many that I ate some for lunch the next day! Yum!

Ramen's Undeserved Stigma

Yes, we all wrinkle our noses when we think of our late nights in college when we resorted to instant ramen noodles for a quick bite. But we have to admit that ramen noodles taste good, and it is really okay to eat it once in a while.

If you really need to watch your sodium, you could trade in the MSG packet for broth or stock that you made yourself. But I personally don't think that MSG is really that terrible for you as long as you don't eat it everyday. I seriously doubt that anyone living in Japan can go through one day without any MSG (it's in almost everything they eat), and yet they generally live longer than Americans.

In fact, there are restaurants in Japan that serve instant ramen noodle soup with different toppings. Here's an interesting article from the Cape Cod Times about a ramen noodle restaurant. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/LIFE/807160301

So, this is what I just had for lunch. A bowl of ramen noodle soup with a poached egg and some leafy green vegetable, with a sprinkle of sliced scallion. Let's do a cost analysis.

I purchased a 6-pack of Nissin's Top Ramen for $.99 from the soup aisle in the supermarket. I used only 1 pack, making it $.17.

The scallion was $.89 a bunch. I used just a few sprinkles. Let's say, 1/30 of the bunch, making it $.03.

I used one medium egg. $1.99 for a dozen medium white eggs. That's $.17.

Leftover green leafy vegetables. In this case, I used an Asian vegetable called Shanghai choy, which was $1.49 a lb. This is about 1/10 of the 1-lb package. $.15.

My lunch was $0.52. The preparation time was 10 minutes. It was filling, warm, and perfect for a cold winter's day. In terms of calories it's about 500. Not ideal, but still better than McDonald's in nutrition and in price.