You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘black beans’ tag.
This was quite yummy. Usually, I avoid British sausages because they tend to be full of rusk or some other starchy filler (at least my Morrisons tends to carry only those. I miss the sausages we used to get when we lived in th Barbican, from Smithfields market. All meat and tasty seasonings, no filler in sight.) But I found sausages from The Black Farmer the other day. They are 100% gluten free (shame they do have dextrose in them so an occasional treat on the slow-carb path) and very tasty.
And as the weather here has be glorious, I can’t see making this too many time over the summer, but it hit the spot on the day.
Now, here is the twist – gremolata. Usually this is lemon rind, parsley and garlic, sometimes mixed in olive oil but I made it with coriander, lemon and lime rind, and garlic.
grated rind of one lemon and one lime
tbls very finely chopped garlic
a good handful of coriander leaves (cilantro) chopped
Mix all this up in a bowl and leave in the fridge while the sausages cook.
For the stew:
12 sausages, all meat if possible
1 tbls olive oil
chopped garlic (as much as you like)
1 large onion sliced thin
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 – 2 cups chicken broth (depending on how soupy you want it)
herbs of your choice – I had italian mix so used that (a good tbls dried mixed herbs)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Saute the sausages in the oil till uniformly browned. Remove from the pan and fry the onions and garlic till the onions are nicely caramelized. Lower heat, 10 minutes or so, if you have the time.
Add back in the sausages, the tomatoes, the broth, herbs and the beans. You can hold off on the beans if you like them with a little more bite to them.
Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until the sausages are cooked through and no pink remains. Squeeze in the juice of the lemon you used for the gremolata then stir and dish it up.
Last thing, sprinkle a teaspoon (or even a tbls !) of the gremolata over the top before serving.
When you are married to someone who likes REALLY spicy food, and you don’t, it’s always a struggle to come up with something that pleases both people. The default is to make things NOT spicy and let DH tart it up with lashings of hot sauce, and believe me, he has a lot of choices there:
This was maybe slightly hotter than I would like it to be, especially without yogurt or rice or potatoes to help tame the fire, for me, and not hot enough for him. Still it was pretty tasty with the meat. I just took the same spices and the lemon juice and oil to make a marinade for the steak (cumin, coriander and turmeric plus about 3 tbls of oil and the juice of a big lemon, about 3 tbls.) then let it marinate all day and cooked it under the grill. Even DS liked it – so much he has sliced leftovers for his lunchbox treat today!
Spicy Beans
1 big onion, cut in thin slices
1 tbls olive oil (I use garlic infused OO)
1 tbls fresh grated ginger or ginger paste
1 tbls mashed garlic or garlic puree
hot sauce or a de-seeded not too hot chili, minced
1 tbls ground cumin and 1 tbls cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 tbls lemon juice
1/2 cup water
I only had coriander puree in a tube but will try fresh cilantro/coriander leaves next time
Seems like a lot but it really isn’t complicated.
Fry the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes till it is all soft and brown.
Add the hot sauce or minced chili and all the spices and stir to combine.
Add the ginger and garlic and the lemon juice and water and cook for about 5 minutes.
To this basic mix you can add whatever beans you like. I had cannelli and black beans on hand so I added a can of each.
Cook for 10 minutes then add the coriander/cilantro leaves. Taste, then salt and pepper.
I only added two cans of beans but I think that more could have been added. I wonder what the result would be if I used my wand blender to make a sort of mash from the bean and onion mix?
And I suspect DH would have enjoyed any leftovers scrambled with eggs in the morning…with hot sauce, I’m sure!
This was easy and quite yummy.
3 x 450 g black beans, drained and rinsed
cup of chopped onions
cup of chopped mixed red/yellow/green bell peppers
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tbls cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbls. garlic paste or chopped fresh garlic
hot sauce if you want it
Simmer for about 20 minutes till everything has had a chance to meld. Using a blending wand (or pouring into a blender) puree the whole thing.
Serve with diced avocado, fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, sour cream if you can, crumbled cooked bacon, cooked meat. A nice spinach leaf salad is noce on the side!
I marinated some pork loin steaks in lemon and garlic then sautéed it last minute and added it it a little heap with the avocado and cilantro.
Options:
- add more broth for a soupier soup rather than a thick “your spoon stands up in it” soup. You can adjust, even after it is all cooked, by adding another can of beans, or another cup of stock or water and blending again
- or dump all the ingredients into your crock pot in the AM and let simmer til you get home, then whizz it up with the hand blender right in the pot. As the crock doesn’t let any liquid evaporate while cooking it will be thinner by default so if you want a really thick soup try even less stock
- substitute beef broth for chicken, or vegetable stock, or canned tomatoes
- add corn but not too much
- This is great to add any leftover meat to. Having it in the fridge as a base and finishing off with leftovers from any meal, meats and veg, or even copious amounts of spinach, means a quick lunch.
Just a note! as an American living long time in the UK, my measurements will tend to be a mix of US style measurements and UK style can (or should I say TIN) sizes. I’ll try to measure a few cans into cup measures at some point and try to note that here. But as I said before, I am not hung up on measures when cooking. It’s all to taste anyway. DH would add quite a few shakes of Dave’s or Chohula to this where I wouldn’t add any.
