Blue Palate

A Yuctatan breakfast (photo credit: joiseyshowaa)

I’m definitely a savory breakfast person.  I’ll take hashbrowns over pancakes any day, and biscuits call out to me more than any version of danish or muffin. When I traveled to England and Ireland and ate my first fry up, I discovered the joys of beans for breakfast, and have been trying to conjure ways to serve them with eggs ever since.

With a big pot of leftover black beans needing inspiration this morning, I decided to make the “full breakfast” of the Americas: huevos rancheros. However, after a little research, I discovered my version of this popular Mexican breakfast is actually a closer cousin to huevos motulenos, the classic breakfast of the Yucatan Peninsula. While rancheros call for tortillas, eggs and the eponymous ranchero sauce, motulenos always incorporate black beans, the star of my Saturday morning.

I decided to use some bagged spinach for extra nutrients. The result: a healthy, inexpensive savory breakfast and enough protein to sustain my frosty morning run.

Saturday Morning Quick Huevos Motulenos
Heat 2-4 servings of leftover or canned beans in a large skillet. Add veggies, such as chopped spinach, frozen corn, diced bell pepper, etc, if desired. Crack desired number of eggs onto beans and cover. Turn heat to medium-low and cook until eggs poach to desired firmness. Serve beans on or aside heated tortillas. Serve with optional toppings, such as salsa (I used Trader Joe’s chipotle salsa) or picante, grated cheese, cilantro, sour cream, avocado, etc.

Photo credit: jmacphoto.com

A Dutch friend of mine once said he was appalled that Americans eat corn on-the-cob. “That’s what pigs eat,” he said. If that’s true, Dutch pigs must be happy pigs, because there’s nothing tastier ear of sweet summer corn slathered in butter and salt. Oink, oink.

Summer means sweet corn and cheap corn. My parents would buy it by the bushels in August and my dad would boil it, cut it from the cob, and freeze it. We ate like it was summer until November, about the time my Dad would announce we were eating the last bag. We savored the buttery sweetness, knowing we wouldn’t experience it for another nine months.

Feeling like I haven’t had my corn fix this summer, I bought three ears for a dollar and remixed a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Black Bean and Corn Salad. Cook’s warned not to even attempt to use frozen or canned corn, as only fresh would do. Amen. Here’s my version:

Black Bean, Avocado and Corn Salad

3 ears of sweet corn
1 can of black beans
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes or 4-5 small tomatoes sliced into wedges
1 cup diced onion or scallion
2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno or 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, chopped

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, diced or pressed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
juice from 1/2 lime

Boil the corn for 5 to 7 minutes. Cool and cut kernels from the cob. Drain and rinse beans. Whisk dressing ingredients and toss beans and corn with dressing and remaining ingredients. Serve over romaine or alone with warm quesadilla or corn tortillas, or with tortilla chips as an appetizer.

Black beans are a true Blue Palate Special. They’re full of protein, folate, fiber, magnesium, iron and other wonderful nutrients. Black beans low in fat and can cost as low as $0.49 per can. And prepared my special way they can be quite delicious and served a variety of ways. This recipe takes about 15 minutes.The total cost for the recipe was around $3 and will feed 2-4 depending on how it’ s served.

Black Beans a l’Awesome

Chop one half of a yellow onion and one anaheim pepper. Saute in a little olive oil on medium heat until tender. Add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp powdered chipotle or chili powder and 1 tsp salt. Saute for two minutes. Add one small can of diced tomatoes. Mix until tomatoes are coated and cook until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Drain two cans of black beans and add to mixture. Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat.

Ideas for serving:

Spoon beans atop baked russet or sweet potatoes or fresh-baked corn bread.
Serve with warm corn tortillas.
Serve with cooked brown rice and pico de gallo.
Add to a burrito, along with some lettuce, rice, cheese and salsa.
Served alone, topped with a little cheddar cheese, sour cream or avocado.

It’s probably really bad blog etiquette to promise to post something and then fail to do so. A few posts ago I wrote that I would share a recipe for Kapustnica, a holiday soup from Slovakia, in my Christmas Day post. Not only did I not share a the recipe, I didn’t even write a Christmas Day post.

Excuse? I was cooking, of course. I didn’t host Christmas dinner this year, thank goodness, but agreed to bring an appetizer, side and dessert to my sister’s house. My agenda for the 24th and 25th included preparing a Christmas Eve dinner of stuffed chicken breasts, whipped sweet potatoes and sauteed greens for my husband Peter and I, as well as a lemon cheesecake, cornbread stuffing (I made the cornbread), and a vegetable platter for the Christmas Day festivities. It was all lovely, but I didn’t get a chance to write my blog post and I was left with severe kitchen fatigue.

As for the Kapustnica recipe, I will rely on my husband Peter’s Christmas Day post in his blog. He made the soup this year, and can proudly add it to the half-dozen or so recipes he can make from scratch. As for kitchen fatigue, here are a few solutions for anyone who starts feeling dizzy at the sight of a spatula this time of year:

Crock pot meals - Did you know you can roast a whole chicken in a crock pot? There are hundreds of recipes for the Crock Pot (or slow cooker for the brand wary), most of which require throwing a few ingredients in the crock and waiting 6-8 hours. My favorite is sliced onions, bell peppers, two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a jar of marinara. Serve with pasta or rice. Simple, cheap, delicious.

Take-and-bake pizza - My friend Carol reminded me of this one. Papa Murphy’s or any other fresh take-and-bake is far better than frozen in my opinion. And there are coupons everywhere - we found some in the Sunday paper. All you need is $8.99 and a hot oven.

Amy’s canned soup - The best canned soup ever. Not the cheapest, but way more filling than Campbell’s. Open, pour into bowl, heat in microwave. No spatula required. Serve with crackers or bread.

Local fast food joint - I don’t recommend fast food from the average establishment, but there are a few that are Blue Palate worthy especially in times of kitchen fatigue. In Portland, I recommend Zach’s Shack and Burgerville. California has In-n-Out. Almost every town has a locally owned drive-in, burger shack, or taco cart. Fast food has its place. As long as you don’t eat chili cheese fries more than a couple times a month your arteries should be fine.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, food-filled Christmas! I’m sorry I didn’t post, but my family will agree the cheesecake was well worth it.

Periodically in Blue Palate I will share recipes - my Blue Palate Specials. Whether they’re old favorites or new experiments, they will always be affordable and usually include healthy adaptations. My first Blue Palate Special falls into the experimentation category. While Hungarian Mushroom Soup is simple to make and one of my all time favorites, my first attempt was this morning, (again) inspired by the blanket of white outside my kitchen door.

I perused several cookbooks and searched my two favorite cooking websites for recipes, but surprisingly the only source I could find for a true Hungarian Mushroom Soup was my trusty Moosewood Cookbook. I decided to make a few adaptations just to make up for it and here’s what I came up with:

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2 tsp butter
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1 lb white button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp sweet paprika (not spicy or smoked)
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp salt, more to taste
Juice from 1/2 small lemon
2 tbsp cooking sherry (optional)
3 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup milk (whole or low-fat)
1/2 cup sour cream
ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium soup pot. Add onions and saute until soft. Add mushrooms, saute 2-3 minutes. Add paprika, dill, and salt. Stir until vegetables are coated. Add lemon juice and sherry and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Gradually stir in flour, one tablespoon at a time. Add broth and reduce heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

Coat the mushrooms and onions with the spices.

Slowly stir in the milk and black pepper. Add more salt if needed. Add sour cream and whisk, making sure not to let the soup come to a boil. Heat at low temp until hot. Serve with crackers (I love Ak-Mak) or crusty bread.

We had our soup with Ak-Mak crackers. It would go great with a hunk of crusty bread and butter, too.

I like this recipe because it’s not too rich. Some versions leave you feeling like you just drank a pint of heavy cream. Rather than cream being the dominant flavor, the savory mushrooms stand out an you’re allowed to experience the subtlety of paprika and dill. Like most soups, this one was better the second day.

It’s snowing today in Portland, a once or twice a year phenomenon. When inclement weather strikes I go wildly domestic and get a strong urge to bake. Snow on the road meant I had to find a recipe that didn’t require a trip to the store. Cookies? No chocolate chips or raisins. Brownies, at least the ones I like to make, required more than the stick and a half of butter I had on hand. I had a box of expired scone mix I bought in California a year ago and left at my parents. My stepmother returned it to me when they visited for Thanksgiving. They obviously don’t bake scones. But old scones didn’t sound appetizing.

A half bag of chopped pecans, remnant from a great Thanksgiving pie, gave me the answer. Coffee cake. Warm coffee cake with a cup of hot joe on a snowy day sounded damn near close to absolute perfection.

Coffee cake with strudel topping was the first thing I learned to bake and I remember making it for my family when I was 10. That page in our old Joy of Cooking is forever encrusted with brown sugar and stained with butter.

About 20 minutes ago we started to smell the cinnamon. I don’t know the exact word for when you first start to smell a dish that’s baking in the oven. That first whiff of chocolate in brownies or apples in a pie. I like to call it “breaking.”