Tastes Like Home - Black Beans Sunday

Today I made the Black Beans with Creole Tomato Salsa. This is one of my favorite recipes, but it's definitely a weekend recipe. Taking at least two hours to cook, plus eight hours of bean soaking time, it's not exactly a quick fridge-to-table dinner. What do I love so much about it? To begin with, beans are one of my favorite foods. Growing up the child of a father who could best be described as a picky eater for health reasons - he was at times vegetarian, pescitarian, flexitarian and vegan - we ate some odd things as kids. Or at least, what other kids would consider odd. To us, they were just dinner. To this day, when I'm home sick, I don't crave fried chicken and mashed potatoes or spaghetti like my friends do. I crave pinto beans on rice cakes with salsa and mayo or my mom's "hummus" (which, according to Nick isn't hummus as it doesn't contain tahini) in pita with cucumbers, salsa and mayo. Always with the mayo - preferably homemade, but jarred will do in a pinch.

But back to the black beans. For the first hour, the beans simmer on their own with only a bay leaf, leading you to believe that they won't be very flavorful. But then it all comes together quite quickly. Once the sauteed veggies and spices are added and start to simmer with the beans, a whole 'nother dimension is added and the whole house starts to smell amazing. But let me tell you. Oh, let me tell you. The final step with the garlic is divine. Be sure to get the oil nice and hot before you add the garlic (hot but not smoking) and continuously stir the garlic to keep it from burning. You'll want to keep it cooking until it starts to turn brown and then immediately dump it into the beans. Everyone perked up when the garlic step started. It smells incredible!

A tip - it's best to start working on all getting all of your veggies cut and prepped as soon as the beans get cooking. I cut up everything needed for the salsa while prepping my other veggies and prep it simultaneously. A lot of veggies are required and the hour goes by a lot more quickly than one might think. Plus, the more time the salsa has in the fridge, the better it is.


When serving be generous with the salsa. It is yummy, cooling, spicy and refreshing all at the same time. Serve the beans atop rice. I prefer brown, but white is good too. There is something so comforting about this dish. It's truly a big bowl of home, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

The Payoff - Saturday Gumbo

After a hectic Twilight ticket acquiring afternoon, Nick got the chance to make his gumbo for dinner this afternoon. And - just like Shake and Bake - I helped. We try to help each other out in the kitchen while leaving one person clearly in charge (this tends to stave off the head-strong difference in ingredients or technique fights that we have otherwise. But we - ahem - mostly I - still have trouble keeping our mouths shut sometimes. But we work on things and we grow, right?). Anyway, I prepped the veggies and then headed out back to watch some backlogged The Rachel Zoe Project while Nick took care of the rest. I have some awesome timing, because I returned just in time to put the rice in the rice cooker.

Nick will be posting his thoughts on the gumbo over on the OKGastronaut, but let me just tell you, it's yummy friends. Be careful with the roux, though, because it go from chocolate to burned quickly. Which happened a little with this, but not too badly. Still delicious.

Sunday Recipe - Black Beans with Creole Tomato Salsa

From The Gumbo Shop Cookbook
1 lb. black beans
2 quarts water
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 finely chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper (seeded)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp salt

Rinse the beans well and pick through to remove any small rocks and debris. Place them in a large pot, cover with the water, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Set the pot over medium heat and slowly bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Add the bay leaf and cook until beans are tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding more water if needed.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat and saute the onions, bell peppers and jalapenos until tender. Stir in the white pepper, black pepper, cumin and oregano and cook for one minute. Add to the cooked black beans and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Heat the 1/4 cup olive oil in a small sauce pan and add the minced garlic. Stir and cook until the garlic is evenly browned then immediately stir into the beans. Add the balsamic vinegar, then the Tabasco and salt to taste. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Serve over rice, garnished with about two tablespoons of Creole Tomato Salsa per serving.

Creole Tomato Salsa
1 lb Creole or other vine ripened tomatoes, chopped
1 minced jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Tabasco to taste
1 tbsp fresh basil or parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced green pepper
3 tbsp minced shallot

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least one hour.

What's Cooking This Weekend

We'll be doing a lot of cooking this weekend. Nick and I had a deal. I wouldn't cook any "major" recipes again until he got to make his favorite gumbo. This is what happens every time the weather changes. When summer hits we're competing over who gets to make the first ice cream, sorbet, pasta salad and the like; with the cool weather that's heading in, it's time for us to start competing for stove time again with hearty soups, stews and gumbos. I snuck in the first dish (red beans and rice), with the agreement that Nick's gumbo would be next. The only problem is, I'm really craving my favorite black bean dish, so in order to keep my promise while also getting my way, he'll be making his gumbo on Saturday and I'll be making my black beans on Sunday. Want to cook along? Here are the recipes:

For Saturday:

Shrimp and Chicken Etouffee originally from Food Network Magazine
Feel free to swap out the shrimp for crawfish, which we often do. Sometimes we leave out the seafood altogether if we know we're going to have leftovers, since it doesn't reheat in the microwave well. You may have noticed in the post that I'm referring to this as a Gumbo but the recipe refers to it as an Etouffee. That's Nick's call. He's pretty emphatic about it. I'll let him explain, but either way, it's delicious.

For Sunday:

Black Beans with Creole Tomato Salsa from The Gumbo Shop Cookbook
Delicious, comforting, and as a bonus, vegetarian. If you're into that kind of thing.