"Delia Smith's Winter Collection" - Black Bean Chilli with Avocado Salsa - for that "not quite" First Day of Spring

Date I made this recipe:  March 24, 2015

Delia Smith's Winter Collection by Delia Smith

Published by:  BBC

ISBN: 0-563-36477-7

Purchased at Barnes and Noble Used Books – Har Mar Mall, Roseville, MN

Recipe:  Black Bean Chilli with Avocado Salsa – p. 122-123

So spring arrived on March 20^th this year and that was a good thing.  Snow arrived on March 22^nd this year and that was a bad thing. 

Around these parts, we tend to laugh at the calendar's version of any climate-related event like spring because we really don't have one.  Spring, that is.  We have winter and road construction.  Spring, if you want to call it that, is brief.  So brief that if you're not paying attention, you might miss it.

Oh, we've had semblances of spring this year, evidenced by nary a drop of snow and warmer temperatures than we are used to i.e. in the 40's and 50's (and even a few moments of high 60's and 70).  After last year's Polar Vortex, this is something to celebrate.  And according to the weather experts, we had as much snow on March 22^nd as we did for the past 39 days.  Well, that's bragging rights material to be sure.

But as these things go, spring will likely "spring ahead," just like daylight savings time, taking us from winter (whenever it ends) to our equally short summer and then back to winter in no time.  I don't make these rules.

So when the snow was falling down upon us, all thoughts of making a "spring" dish in honor of the first day of spring flew out the window.  Instead, I turned my attention to Delia Smith's most-aptly-named Winter Collection cookbook.

That cover art?  That's what our lawns and trees looked like the other day.  Delia gets it.  And Delia's recipes reflect that as many, like the ones for braised roasts, fit nicely into the "not-quite-spring" slot.  In my humble opinion, roasts, soups and stews are good year-round which is a relief considering winter lasts almost year-round in these parts.  Kidding.  Nine months, tops.  Kind of like a pregnancy.

As per usual, whittling down the recipes from this book proved difficult.  One of the recipes, "Warm Roquefort Cheesecake with Pears in Balsamic Vinaigrette" – p. 92 and 93, sounded so good I want to revisit that for my holiday party in December.  Others, like "Roasted and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto" (p. 99) and "Beef in Designer Beer (p. 124-125)" were in hot contention for the recipe du jour, as was "Meatballs in Goulash Sauce" (p. 115).  And then I flipped the pages to the "winning" recipe – "Black Bean Chili with Avocado Salsa."

So why that dish over the others?  Because "avocado" signals spring and summer.  I mean, I'll eat guacamole any time of the year but really, are we not all thinking of summer patios, "guac" and chips and tequila shots?  Okay, maybe that last part is just me.  Anyway, it triggered my taste buds plus black bean chili sounds so healthy, right, and spring or no spring, it's time to start getting into my best shorts and flip flops shape, STAT!

Now you should know that this dish takes some time to prep in that you have to soak the beans overnight (or carve out 3 hours the day of to make them) and then you have to cook them for 2 hours and that's just the bean-cooking portion of our program, not the entire prep/cook time.  But was it worth it?  Yes, it was.  So just do this on a day when you've got fingernail-filing time on your hands.

Delia Smith also produced a Summer Collection cookbook and once this "spring" thing is over, my thoughts will turn to that book with new recipes.  I can't wait...for any of it.

And PS—Delia Smith is "Britain's best-selling cookery author."  I love how it's "cookery," not "cook book."  So British.  As it Delia's spelling of "chilli" with two "l's."  Also, why do the Brits pronounce "banana" "bah-naan-er." There's no "er" in banana!  There is not.  And unfortunately, no banana recipe in this book either.  Shame, that.

Black Bean Chilli with Avocado Salsa – serves 4-6

For the chili

1 lb braising steak cut into very small pieces (Ann's Note:  round steak, chuck roast or stew meat work best.  I used chuck.)

8 oz black beans

1 oz fresh coriander (reserving leaves for the salsa)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 green chillies, de-seeded and chopped small (Ann's Note:  I used one large jalapeno)

1 rounded tablespoon plain flour

2 – 14 ounce cans chopped tomatoes

1 large red pepper

Juice of ½ lime

Salt

For the salsa

2 large, firm tomatoes

1 ripe, firm avocado

½ small red onion, finely chopped

Reserved chopped coriander leaves

Juice of ½ lime

A few drops Tabasco sauce

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

To serve

4 tablespoons creme fraiche (optional)

Either pre-soak the beans overnight or start this recipe 3 hours ahead of time and begin by placing the beans in a large saucepan, covering them with cold water and bringing them up to boiling point and boiling for 10 minutes.  Then turn the heat off and let them soak for 3 hours. 

When ready to assemble, pre-heat the oven to 300F.

Strip the leaves off the coriander stalks into a bowl, cover with clingfilm  and place them in the fridge.  Ann's Note:  yet another British word – "clingfilm."  Translation?  "Saran Wrap."  Then chop the coriander stalks very finely indeed.  Ann's Note:  so polite, those Brits! ("...very finely indeed").  Also, this was the first time I've ever heard of using the stalks instead of the leaves but I liked it.  It reminded me of chopping chives yet with a completely different flavor profile.  Or should that be "flavour?"

After that (the chopping), take a casserole (4-pint and oven-proof), heat half the oil in it and cook the onions, garlic and coriander stalks and chillies gently for about 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a plate, spoon in the rest of the oil, turn the heat up high, add about a third of the beef and brown it well, keeping it on the move.  The remove it and brown the rest in 2 batches.  Now return everything to the casserole and sprinkle in the flour, stir it in to soak up the juices, then add the drained beans, followed by the tomatoes.  Stir well and bring it up to simmering point.  Don't add any salt at this stage – just put the lid on and transfer the casserole to the oven to cook for an initial 1 ½ hours.

Towards the end of that time, stir the pepper in to join the meat and beans.  Put the lid back on and give it a further 30 minutes' cooking.

While the meat finishes cooking, make up the salsa.  Skin the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them, then leaving for exactly 1 minute before draining and slipping the skins off when they're cool enough to handle.  Then cut each tomato in half and, holding each half over a saucer, squeeze gently to extract the seeds.  Now chop the tomato flesh as finely as possible.

Next halve the avocado, remove the stone, cut each half into 4 and peel off the skin.  Chop the avocado into minutely small dice, and do the same with the onion.  Finally combine everything together in a bowl, adding seasoning, the juice of half the lime, half the chopped coriander and a few drops of Tabasco.

Before serving the chilli, add salt, tasting as you add.  Then stir in the rest of the coriander leaves and the juice of half the lime.  I like to serve this chilli with some plain brown basmati rice.

"The New Hamburger & Hot Dog Cookbook" - Chuck Wagon Western Bean (and weenie) Casserole

Date I made this recipe:  April 28, 2013

The New Hamburger & Hot Dog Cookbook by Mettja C. Roate

Published by:  Weathervane Books

©1965 (Hamburger) Part I through page 152; © 1975 (Hot Dog) Part II through Chapter XXI

Recipe:  Chuck Wagon Western Bean Casserole – p. 28

Okay, I know I’m a little weather obsessed, but when temperatures hit the high 70’s, then it’s about time we have some picnic food, am I right?  Right!  That said, I do believe I jinxed the weather by making this dish when the weather was warm two days ago, because today, May 1^st, the day I am writing this recap, it is fixing to snow.  It is actually fixing to snow another 6 to 8 inches.  On May Day.  Nature hates us.

But for one, brief shining moment there, it seemed like spring and if you listened carefully, you could hear the “whoosh” of grills firing up all over the Twin Cities.  When you’ve had enough, you’ve had enough and we had had enough and so dam the torpedoes, the grills are coming out! (Well not my grill because it needs a few tweaks but you get my drift.)

Now silly me thought that a book featuring hamburger and hot dog recipes would somehow have one that combines hamburger and hot dogs but sadly, there was only one recipe that did so and it was a Hot Dog and Beef Loaf. One look at my husband’s face suggested no way was that gracing the dinner table.  It sounds like it is similar to a meat loaf but nuh uh, nope, he was not buying it.  I refrained from mentioning that there was a Jellied Hot Dog recipe that we could have, mostly because even I didn’t want to eat that thing. 

Part of the problem, if it is a problem, is that the hamburger section of this book was written in 1965 and the hot dog portion in 1975, so it sounds like these two sections were never meant to be together.  But some crafty marketing person at Weathervane Books did what many people do – throw the word “New” in the title and you have yourself a whole new product.  But this only solved part of the problem, right because I was still looking for a recipe using both meats. 

And so dear reader, I created my own version of Chuck Wagon beans using both hamburger and hot dogs and ta-dah – instant hit!  And it was so easy – make the recipe as directed and then fold in hot dogs (diced small so they fit in the casserole dish) and what the heck – throw some sliced hot dogs on top for good measure and decoration. 

The other reason I selected this recipe is for pure nostalgic reasons:  I cannot remember a potluck in my childhood that didn’t feature some sort of beef and bean bake.  My mother made doctored-up baked beans but never added beef and so getting this at a potluck was a real treat.  Several grocery stores now carry a version of this dish so if I need to satisfy my craving in a hurry, I just head right to the deli.  But if you want to take a moment to make a picnic in a bowl, this is the dish for you: it’s got ketchup, mustard, beans, hamburger and, compliments of Ann, hot dogs.  Perfect!

Now…if only I could do something about this weather…. (Breaking weather update:  It is now May 3^rd and it is snowing.  That is all.)

Chuck Wagon Western Bean (and Weenie) Casserole – serving size not given

1 pound hamburger

1 #4 can pork and beans (*see notes below)

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 large onion

½ cup catsup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

*a #4 can is roughly equivalent to 5 cups. 

The author suggests variations as follows:

• Substitute 1 #2 can butter beans and 1 #2 can pork and beans for the #4 can of pork and beans. (a #2 can is roughly 2.5 cups or 1 lb 4 oz.).  I used this substitution.
• Substitute 1 #2 can black-eyed peas and 1 #2 can pork and beans for the #4 can of pork and beans.
• Substitute 1 #2 can chicken peas and 1 #2 can pork and beans for the #4 can pork and beans.
• Substitute 1 #2 can lima beans and 1 #2 can pork and beans for the #4 can of pork and beans.
• Substitute 1 #2 can pork and beans and 1 #2 can macaroni and cheese for the #4 can pork and beans.
• Substitute 1 #2 can pork and beans and 1 #2 can spaghetti for the #4 can of pork and beans.

Sauté the hamburger until quite brown and separated.  Drain off any excess fat.  Add the beans and the other ingredients.  Stir well, taking care not to mash up the beans in the process.  Place in a 1 ½-quart covered casserole dish in a preheated 350F oven for 40 minutes.

"A Table In Tuscany" - Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) (Bonus recipe: Stuffed chicken)

Date I made this recipe:  April 21, 2013

A Table in Tuscany – Classic Recipes from the Heart of Italy – Collected and Illustrated by Leslie Forbes

Published by:  Chronicle Books

ISNB:  0-87701-832-4

Recipe:  Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) – p. 91; Bonus Recipe: Stuffed Chicken (La Gallina Ripiena) p. 135

As previously reported, we have not been blessed this year with springtime weather, instead bracing ourselves for snow and more snow.  So I can see where you might be tempted to think that this recipe for Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) is sort of a “screw you” to Mother Nature but you’d be wrong.  This recipe selection is a result of going to the opera.

On Saturday, April 20th, a friend invited me to a performance of Turandot by the Minnesota Opera.  This opera, written by Tuscan Giacamo Puccini, is set in China and tells the story of a cold and cruel princess, Turandot, who kills all suitors who do not correctly answer the three riddles she poses to them.  And then along comes Calaf, the unknown prince, who does correctly answer the three riddles and gets to hang on to his head.  I know—feel the love, right?

So I came home and thought about what to make the next day (Sunday is typically cooking day in our house) and at first thought something Chinese to go along with the opera’s theme.  But then I thought about pasta to honor Puccini and that also made sense because Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China, and then I got real creative and looked to see where Puccini was born (Tuscany) and thought “aha!” – risotto, the Italian version of rice – perfect!! (By the way, one of my uncles was named Giacomo, which means James.  He later switched it to James but the family calls him Jack as that is how “Gia” is pronounced.  As far as I know though, he does not write operas.)

In the interest of disclosure, Andy and I have cooked from this cookbook, A Table in Tuscany before, making the Stuffed Chicken dish several times over including Thanksgiving and Christmas (I’ve included the recipe as a bonus below).  But since I was bent on making risotto, I tried a new recipe.  I can’t say I’ll repeat it though, as it was good but not great (unlike the stuffed chicken which is fantastic).  Plus, I felt that the recipe needed a few adjustments.

First, the recipe calls for beef stock and I just thought the beef flavor was too heavy for “spring” risotto and all those spring vegetables.  Were I to make it again, I’d use a chicken stock or even vegetable for a lighter flavor.

Next, the recipe called for greenish tomatoes and good luck finding those the day before a snowstorm, and so I used regular.  They were quickly pulverized by the stirring that needed to take place to make the risotto.  Had I to do it over again, I’d make the risotto and then add the vegetables so they don’t turn mushy.

Next, risotto is a tricky bugger to make (and one that my Sicilian family never put on the stove – ever).  You need to find the right balance between creamy and al dente and I think we cooked it too long.  This was all my fault – I just didn’t want to eat al dente risotto and so suggested to my husband that he cook it a bit longer.  It was still creamy but was “this close” to becoming paste.  Clearly, I am lacking the gene needed to totally nail this dish.

Finally, as I was eating it, I said to Andy that I thought it could use a little lemon zest to brighten up the dish and to perk up the vegetables.  This was as close as I got to a “foodie” moment.  I think I was right on this one though, and so suggest you try it to see how it goes.

As it turned out, I got a reprieve of sorts on Sunday when I made this dish as the weather was somewhat decent but on Monday night it snowed again and it looked like Winter Wonderland around here. My favorite radio station, The Current, played Christmastime is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and also played Sleigh Ride in the background as the DJ’s were talking.  I love a radio station with a sense of humor.  Even more hilarious was the week before, the Twin Cities was testing out tornado sirens for tornado awareness week and damned if we weren’t having a snowstorm at the time.  It’s kind of hard to take the directive to “take cover” seriously when the snow is swirling but with any luck, it won’t be long before the snow is gone and the weather warms up and all is well (sans tornados).

Happy “Spring!”

Spring Risotto (6 servings)

1 lb 2 oz Italian Arobrio Rice

11 oz greenish tomatoes, diced

12 oz zucchini, diced

7 oz green pepper or asparagus, diced

4 oz carrot, diced

1 onion or leek, chopped

Beef stock (Ann’s Note:  Directions don’t say how much to use so I bought a re-sealable carton and heated about half of it, adding more as needed.)

5 oz butter

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Cook the onion in the oil in a saucepan and when beginning to brown, add all the vegetables except the tomatoes.  Cook 10 minutes over moderate heat and add tomatoes and salt and pepper.  Cook for 15 minutes and then pour in the rice and a little hot stock.  (Ann’s Note:  I recommend that you cook the vegetables separately and add the tomatoes at the very end and maybe cook for 1-2 minutes until softened but not mush.  Doing it this way almost turned the vegetables to mush and the tomatoes totally disintegrated.)

Continue adding the hot stock every few minutes as the rice absorbs the liquid.  It should take 20-30 minutes for the rice to cook to the ‘al dente’ stage.  Then stir in butter and serve.

Bonus recipe:  Stuffed Chicken (La Gallina Ripiena) – serves 6

1 large boiling fowl with giblets

2 carrots

1 stick celery

1 onion

Salt

1 leek

Olive oil

For the stuffing

2 slices ham or Mortadella sausage; chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped

3 slices bread, soaked in milk

6 tbsp pecorino cheese, grated

8 oz ground (minced) veal or lean beef

1-2 eggs

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

½ - ¾ tsp nutmeg

First make the stuffing.  In a large frying pan gently cook the chicken giblets in the oil until they change color.  Chop finely and reserve.  Add the sausage, meat and garlic to the pan and cook just until the meat starts to brown.  Mix with giblets, herbs, bread, cheese and 1 beaten egg.  If this does not bind the stuffing, add another beaten egg.

Clean, wash and dry the inside of the chicken.  Pack loosely with the stuffing – the stuffing tends to swell in cooking and you don’t want an exploding chicken.  Sew up both ends of the chicken so that nothing can escape.  Put in a large flame proof casserole with the carrots, celery, onion, leek and salt and cover with water.  The water should be about 1 inch over the chicken.  Bring to a boil and then simmer over a low heat for about 2 ½ hours, until the chicken is cooked.  Remove it from the pan, cut the threads, carefully lift out the stuffing which should be quite solid, and serve both the chicken and the stuffing sliced thinly and garnished with either fresh thyme or Tuscan salsa verde.