fancy-pants bean chili

I adapted David Lebovitz's Chocolate Chili to a) use an InstantPot to cook the beans and b) not have beef (though I did end up using beef bouillon). Recording my modifications here because it's something I'd happily make again:

Chocolate Bean Chili

• 2 pounds (900g) dried red or variegated heirloom beans (I used a mix of pinto, red, and kidney beans)
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 glug oil

• 3 teaspoons smoked salt 
• 2 to 4 dried chiles (I used chipotle, with seeds)
• about 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
• 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder (if available otherwise use an additional teaspoon of red chile powder)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 cups (50cl) beer (I used an IPA)
• 2 cans (15oz, 200g each) crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 ounces (55g) unsweetened chocolate (or 3 ounces, 85g, bittersweet chocolate, in which case skip the brown sugar)
• 4 teaspoons bouillon
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar or lime juice (I forgot about this....)

First, the beans: soak them overnight, then drain, rinse, and add to instantpot. Add 8 cups of water, a few smashed garlic cloves, and a glug of oil. For this particular mix of beans, I used 8 minutes at high pressure, natural release. It is a lot of beans!

Prepare the dried chiles by chopping them up (remove the seeds if you don't want it to be spicy) and pouring boiling water over them (just enough to cover). When they've softened, drain them.

When you're ready to actually make chili, saute the onions in the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat until they turn translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the drained chiles, salt, garlic, chile powders, oregano, cumin, and paprika, and saute for another minute, stirring continually to avoid burning.

Add the beer, tomatoes, and chocolate (plus sugar if you're not using bittersweet chocolate). Stir and add the beans, plus as much cooking liquid as seems necessary. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the bouillon, if using. Simmer for 45-60 minutes, until the flavors have melded. If it seems like you need it, add the vinegar or lime juice.

serves: 10-12

A dish for a cold spring day

This recipe - Victor's grandmother's - is one of the most beloved and oldest in my original orange binder. It's written on the back of a Dean's List letter from my college days and shows its pre-binder origins in the large grease stain that covers much of the writing. I'm not sure how many the casserole is supposed to serve, but it disappears with a speed that probably isn't terribly healthy. I did serve it with a green salad, though.

Eleanor's Bean Casserole

• 1 can B&M beans
• 1 can pork & beans
• 1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 can lima beans, drained & rinsed (if you can't find these, just use an extra can of butter beans)
• 1 can butter beans, drained & rinsed
• 1/2 lb bacon, either thinly sliced before cooking or crumbled afterward
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 C chopped onions
• 1 tsp mustard (whether this should be "prepared" mustard or the ground mustard is a matter of much debate - the recipe tastes good with either)
• 2/3 C packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp vinegar (I usually use apple cider or white)
• 1/2 C ketchup
• 1/3 C molasses

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the beef and onions in the bacon fat; drain off excess liquid. Mix the remaining ingredients with the beef, onions, and bacon in a large casserole dish. Cook, covered, in a 325 F oven for one hour; remove lid and cook an additional hour.  (If you save a tiny bit of the cooked bacon and crumble on top, it will be very very slightly fancier...)

Chicken and Fennel Potpie

I hinted at this recipe once before; I'm not sure why I waited so long to make it again, as it is delicious.

Although the original recipe has a specific crust, it's pretty similar to the one we learned in our pie-making class a few years ago. Since we're both comfortable making that recipe, that's what we used (although we used bacon drippings in place of lard, both because it's what we had and because, well, why the hell not?). (Kate's basic recipe can be found many places on the web; she discusses both the recipe and a bit of the technique here.)

Basically any kind of poultry could work here; although it's nice to have the ham, too, it's definitely not necessary. Leftovers make sense, but when I made this last I didn't have leftover chicken, so I poached a large breast in a mix of broth and white wine and used that. The amounts are very much approximate, too.

Chicken & Fennel Pot Pie
adapted from As American As Apple Pie

• pie dough (enough for one crust - probably half a recipe, since most make enough for both a top & bottom crust, and this pie just has the top crust)
• 1 potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 fennel, cut into small cubes
• 1 carrot, cut into small cubes
• 1/2 C peas (optional)
• 1 1/4 C chicken stock (approximately)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp anise seeds
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (I always use Wondra for making gravies/sauces)
• 1 C cream or half-and-half
• 1 Tbsp Pernod (optional)
• 3/4 C ham, cut into small cubes
• 1 1/2 C cooked chicken or turkey, cut or shredded into bite-sized pieces
• dash of Tabasco
• salt & freshly-ground pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt the butter and add the onion and anise; cook 5 min. Whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, about 2 min. Whisk in the 1 C warm broth and keep whisking until smooth. Heat to boiling; simmer 4 minutes. Whisk in the cream and continue cooking until thickened, 5-6 min longer. Remove from heat; stir in Pernod if using. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally, about 10 min.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add potatoes, and cook until tender (about 8 min). Drain and stir into gravy.

Combine fennel and broth in a medium saucepan and heat to boiling. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until tender (about 4 min). Drain, but reserve the broth. (Add more broth, if needed, to make 1 C.) Stir into gravy.

Stir in the chicken and ham and add a dash of Tabasco and a little salt & pepper, to taste. Transfer to a large buttered pie plate (9" or 10").

Roll out the dough and transfer it to cover the pie. Trim and flute the edges. Brush with the milk. Cut a vent (or vents) in the center of the pie.

Bake until golden brown, about 25 min. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

serves 6

Saturday supper

Saturday: roast chicken; roasted sweet potatoes; napa cabbage with balsamic vinaigrette

Just our usual Zuni chicken dinner, with the addition of the salad. We've both been really craving uncooked greens recently, and fortunately Victor likes his salads just as unadorned as I do. So, nappa cabbage sliced as for slaw and tossed with this dressing. I made the dressing with Rockridge Orchard's "Rocksalmic" faux balsamic vinegar - it was delicious but came out tasting like honey-mustard dressing. I don't know if that was because of the vinegar, or the particular (strong dijon) mustard I used, or what.

snowed in

We're having a cozy few days as we wait for the roads to clear. Fortunately, I had planned a couple of fairly elaborate meals, so we've been eating well *and* keeping ourselves entertained.

First, a pair of recipes from the always-awesome Smitten Kitchen: carrot soup with miso and scallion meatballs with soy-ginger glaze. These were both wonderful and pretty dang easy to make. The glaze was so good that V kept trying to think of new uses for it (he tried it on ice cream, but unfortunately he said it made the ice cream taste "like blood").

Last night we made chicken stew with sweet potato biscuits. I couldn't quite bring myself to use all the butter called for in the chicken stew recipe, but made it with a single stick of butter instead. Also definitely a recipe I'll be making again (though hopefully in a situation where we won't be required to eat it all ourselves....).