Black Bean, Corn and Feta Salsa

Our staff had a terrific potluck lunch on Friday, January 20th and April Cushing made this yummy salsa.  Terrific with whole wheat Tostitos.

Black Bean, Corn, and Feta Salsa

 

Stir together in bowl:

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can white shoepeg corn (drained)

1 small container feta cheese (crumbled)

1 bunch scallions (chopped)

 

Dressing:  (this makes about twice as much as you'll need, so you can either halve these amounts or use the leftover dressing for a salad.)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2-3 tbl granulated sugar (to taste)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

 

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving, then stir.  Serve with Scoops Tostitos (or whatever you prefer).

Enjoy!

Not Your Average Maple Vinaigrette

One of my favorite restaurants is Not Your Average Joe's in Needham Center.  I used to belong to a book group that we named Not Your Average Book Group and we met there for lunch one Saturday a month. We had some trouble getting a table once a few of us were in the restaurant and ready to start our discussion and Joe personally helped us out (spoke to his management) and gave us a $25 gift card.  Yay for corporate responsibility!

In any event, I met some friends there the other night and had a wonderful spinach salad with Maple Vinaigrette dressing.  It was so yummy that I asked for the recipe ... and the hostess gave it to me immediately.  What great customer service!  I converted the recipe with a little help from Excel. The original yield was 2.75 gallons of Lemon Herb Vinaigrette (and a portion of that)  to make 1.5 gallons of Maple Vinaigrette. Here is my result for both recipes in reasonable amounts to make 1-1/2 cup of Not Your Average Joe's Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette:

1/8 cup lemon juice
5/8 cup red wine vinegar
1T diced red onions
1T chopped garlic
1T pure clover honey
1-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup smooth dijon mustard
1T curly parsley chopped
3/4 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/8 cup 10% blend oil (10% is 10% canola oil and 90% extra-virgin olive oil)

Next, combine these ingredients to make the Not Your Average Joe's Maple Vinaigrette:

1-1/2 cups Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette
1-1/2 cups maple syrup
1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
7/8 Tbsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. dijon mustard

Christmas Cherries

From Carol Gordon's Sleep On It

3 cans (1 pound each) pitted tart cherries, packed in water
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup Bordeaux wine
Seasoned whipped cream for garnish

1. Empty 1/2 jar of Trader Joe's Morello cherries and all their juice into large pot. Add the juice from the second jar, but reserve the cherries.  Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, lemon, sugar, salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
2. Place the cream in a medium saucepan and heat just until steaming (do not boil!) Whisk in the flour and allow to cool slightly and add to the berry mixture.  Add the wine and bring just to the boiling point. Strain and cool the mixture, discarding the boiled cherries.   Add the reserved can of cherries, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Serve by placing 5 oz. of the mixture in a glass bowl or compote and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream. We decided we might like this best over vanilla ice cream!

Christmas Blossoms

4 parts Absolut vanilla vodka, 1 part freshly-squeezed lemon juice, 1 part local (preferably Canelli's) honey. Gently muddle 2 leaves fresh basil in the glass.  Pour liquid over the basil.  Use a glass rimmed with sugar and a 'hint' of cinnamon. Add a splash of Campari for the holiday color.

Yummm!

Christmas Eve 2011

We found Honey Blossoms at the Barclay Hotel in New York City over Thanksgiving weekend and we've perfected them at home, adding a splash of Campari for a Christmas Blossom.  Christmas Cherries might be a new tradition here - we are trying it for the first time this year.

Winter Guacamole

We love guacamole. Especially on football day. Or golf tournament days. Well, that makes we love guacamole on any weekend day! Gerry's watching Tiger's tournament (has it really been only two years since that fateful Thanksgiving weekend and where is Elin these days?)

Gerry bought the ingredients and I took some time out from writing columns this Sunday afternoon to make the guacamole because I love making guacamole as much as eating it. Years ago a friend taught me to make guacamole with lots of fresh cilantro and that's how we like it. We also like it chunky instead of smooth but it's personal taste!

2 or 3 ripe avocados, sliced and coarsely diced
1 or two ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
1 T. freshly ground sea salt
1/2 lime squeezed or lemon if necessary
1 T. dried or 1 small can diced jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Let sit to meld the flavors. Serve any way!

Colin's Buffalo Chili

Colin loves anything hot and spicy. He has collections of hot sauces in the cabinets and the refrigerator. We even bought him a special plate with sauce cups and he uses hot sauce every time he gets the chance.

No wonder he loves chili, then. We had bison chili at Montana Joe's in Durham, North Carolina recently and that combination - buffalo and heat - is right up Colin's alley.

So today, I taught Colin how to make bison chili at home. The ground bison at BJ's Wholesale Club is about $3.50 a pound which is pretty good because it's sweet, delicious and low in fat. The finished chili has a bite though. Cut the chili powders if you need to.

Colin's Bison Chili

First, coarsely chop 1/2 cup of onion and cook it in 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large soup pot. Let it cook on medium for about 10 minutes. Brown the bison and 1-1/2 tsp. black pepper.

Mix together 1-1/2 T. salt, 1-1/2 T. dried basil, 1-1/2 T. dried oregano, 2 beef bouillon cubes, 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa, 2 T. sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, 2 T. chili power and 1 T. chipotle chili powder, 2 T. cumin, 2 T. paprika and 1/2 tsp. coriander.

Mince 1 Tablespoon of garlic. Measure 1/8 cup Dijon mustard. Open 1 large can of tomatoes and 2 smaller cans of chopped tomatoes (we used the kind with chilis in them.) Measure 1/2 cup of tomato paste. Juice 1/2 lemon, measure 1/4 cup red wine.

Cook 1/2 yellow, red and green diced peppers in oil until still firm and set aside until the end..

Add the seasonings to the browned bison. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on medium for about an hour. Drain two large cans of red kidney beans. Add to the chili. Add the cooked peppers.


Let sit together for 1/2 hour and serve. Top with sliced avocado, sliced black olives, grated cheeses, fresh cilantro and sour cream!