Southern Comfort

It's really excellent when you can begin a new year by not working for a couple of days, although it is a rude shock to come back to the office.  Today I've been writing a brief for a big mediation later in the week, answering e-mails and generally re-acclimating myself.  It was a lovely three-day weekend, but now it's time to pay the proverbial piper. 

I rarely talk about work here because 1) much of what I do is confidential and 2) I work in a very low-drama office considering that we're a group of litigators.  I work with nice people who do their work ethically and generally try to rebut what most people think of lawyers.

But anyway...the three-day weekend meant lots of cooking, including one of my favorite New Year's traditions, Hoppin' John.  I'll give a shout-out to Ramona over at Curry and Comfort, because she's the only other blogger I saw posting about this traditional Southern dish--hers is a fantastic-looking version flavored with and colored by curry.  It looks absolutely delicious, and it's a great take on the original dish.

Black-eyed peas are eaten on New Year's Day for good luck, and this dish marries them with long-grain white rice in a way that mimics the traditional Monday dish of New Orleans, red beans and rice.  Although the black-eyed peas are typically cooked with a ham hock, I have substituted a spicy chicken sausage that keeps the dish pork-free while still being in the same spirit as the original.

New Year's Day Hoppin' John
Inspired by a Recipe from epicurious.com

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 lb. chicken link sausage, casing removed and coarsely chopped
2 peperoncini peppers, crushed
1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas, washed and picked over
1 cup long-grain white rice or jasmine rice
3 cups water
3 cups chicken broth
Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, combine the water, stock, bay leaves and black-eyed peas.  If any peas float to the top, discard them.  Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat so the peas simmer.

After the peas are on, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  When it is hot, add the olive oil and allow it to warm before adding the chicken sausage and onion.  Fry the onion and chicken sausage until they are lightly browned.  Add the onion-sausage combination to the pot with the black-eyed peas.

Using the same skillet, lightly brown the bell peppers.  When they are soft, add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Add the contents of this skillet to the pot with the black-eyed peas.

At the half-hour mark, taste the peas for seasoning and add salt and black pepper as needed.  Crush two small peperoncini and add them to the pot.

When the peas are fully cooked and tender, which should be about an hour, add the rice to the pot.  Cover the pot and cook for an additional twenty minutes or until the rice is fully cooked, adding a bit of additional broth if more liquid is needed.

Once the rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and allow to sit for another ten minutes.  Just before serving, fluff the mixture with a fork.

Serves 6.  We served it with a green salad and popovers--the popovers weren't a perfect match, but David was craving them since we didn't have them at Chrismukkah.

Kale and Cannellini Beans, Two Ways: A Love Story

It's August in Anchorage, which means one thing:  rain, rain, and well, more rain.

The rain took a very brief hiatus on Sunday, just long enough for me to do the half-marathon with my training partner, Paul.  We had a personal best time, the sun was shining and everyone felt a little bit better about living in Alaska in August.  Until yesterday, that is, when the clouds and rain moved back in.

On the plus side, there's nothing like an Alaskan August to get you thinking about fall foods, including serious dark leafy greens.  I've already posted photos of the kale and white bean bruschetta from last Friday, but the classic Italian combination of cannellini beans and Tuscan kale is also fantastic as a side dish.  I even made a sandwich with a piece of fresh baguette from my favorite artisanal baker, leftover salsa verde (recipe here) and some fantastic parmesan.  It sounds strange, but trust me, it was crunchy, chewy and somehow soul-satsifying.

Basically, this is a dish that can turn into a soup, a side dish and an appetizer.  If you used canned white beans, you can skip the first step.

Tuscan Kale and Cannellini Beans
Adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2010

1.5 cups dried cannellini beans, rinsed and picked over
1 cup chopped yellow onion
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 dried bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
4 cups Tuscan kale, stems removed
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Red pepper to taste

Put beans in a large pot and cover them with cold water, bringing the water to at least three inches over the beans.  Bring the pot to a boil and let it boil briefly, about a minute.  Remove the pot from the heat, put a lid on it and let the contents sit for an hour.  Then, drain the beans, return them to the pot and add an additional eight cups of water, along with the onion, garlic and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the beans are tender but not mushy.  This should take approximately an hour to an hour and a half. 

While the beans are cooking, destem and roughly chop the kale.  When the beans are ready, add salt and kale and cook for an additional four minutes.

Drain the pot and transfer the beans and kale to a large serving dish, and the boiling liquid can be kept if desired to add to stock.  Add the oil, lemon juice and red pepper--I used tiny dried Italian peppers labeled peporoncini, and I would start with one and add another if I wanted more spice.  Gently combine the ingredients and add additional salt if necessary.

Serves up to 12 as a side dish, but I recommend setting aside some for the bruschetta:

White Bean Bruschetta with Kale
Adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2010

1/2 good-quality baguette, cut into 1/2 thick slices
1 garlic clove, halved
Extra-virgin olive oil
1.5 cups of the kale and cannellini mixture from the above recipe

Cut the baguette--I prefer diagonal slices, which also has the advantage of leaving the ends to snack on while cooking.  Rub the bread slices with the cut side of one of the garlic clove halves.  Brush the bread with the olive oil and toast under the broiler until just golden.

Top with the kale and cannellini mixture and serve.  Makes twelve appetizers.

You Call THIS August?

Alaskan Augusts are kind of unfortunate.  Sunny, high-60s days give way to rainy, damp, gray days.  On the plus side, it's now dark enough to easily get to sleep at night.  On the minus, you become all too aware of the fast slide into autumn, which--if we're lucky--is all of about two weeks in late September or early October.

I don't know about you, but this kind of weather makes me think about soup.  Hearty, hot, soulful food that I think of as fueling another day of work or marathon training.  It was in this frame of mind that I came across A16's Borlotti Bean and Mussel Zuppa with Zucchini and Grilled Bread.  This recipe is great enough to stand up to modifications:  small clams instead of mussels, dried cannellini beans for the borlottis.  If A16's version is better than the modified one, I don't want to hear it.

The recipe is a cinch, as long as you soak the beans the night before.

Alaskan-ized Zuppa with Clams and Zucchini
Adapted from A16 Food + Wine
Four main course servings

1 cup dried cannellini beans, picked over and soaked overnight
1.5 lbs. small clams in their shells
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 small zucchini, diced
1/4 tsp. dried red chile flakes
12 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick
2 tbsp. chopped basil
olive oil
kosher salt
fresh pepper

Drain the cannellini beans and rinse.  Start a fire in the grill for the bread, or preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  In a large, heavy pot, warm two tablespoons of olive oil on low heat.  Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about three minutes.  The garlic should color but not scorch.  Increase the heat to medium and stir in the zucchini.  Sautee for about five minutes, until the zucchini colors.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil, the chile flakes and the clams.  Cover the pot and cook on medium until the clams open.  Skim the clams out, making sure not to lose any of the liquid.  Remove the clamshells, then return the clams and any liquid to the cooking pot.  Add the beans, season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer on low for five minutes.

Put the bread right on the grill or, if using the oven, on a cookie sheet.  I recommend brushing both sides with olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper.  Cook until at least golden;  don't be afraid to let the bread get grill marks--it gives it a fabulously smoky flavor.

When the bread is ready, remove the soup from the heat.  Sprinkle the bowls with the basil and serve.