Ginger Scallion Sauce

Oh hello. It’s been awhile…

What’s new? Not much here. Except apparently time travel, because suddenly I looked at the calendar and it’s April, which doesn’t seem possible. Oh also? Apparently Chrissy Teigen – gorgeous lady blogger, SI swimsuit model, fiancee of John Legend – somehow discovered the recipe for Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chicken on here and made them and loved them and then posted about them and linked back to here, so B&G blew up today. So many thanks to her. One of her tweets earlier was that she was packing for a trip to Australia with Erin Andrews and Brooklyn Decker and the background photo on her account is a gorgeous picture of her in her unders – our lives are exactly the same, but opposite – but we can clearly both enjoy the hell out of some noodles! (update: mystery solved – my awesome cousin Danny and his gorgeous girlfriend Kellie brought these to a party that Chrissy attended – my family is fancy…)

Um, so the last couple of weeks (months?)  have involved a trip to Denver to see the littlest, a trip to NYC for a birthday, quality time with my tiny boyfriends Baby L and Baby Dubs, working, the gym, and the other usual stuff. I have been thinking about the blog a lot, but have not actually been cooking all that much because it’s been so busy, so even had I not been suffering from some serious writers’ block (or a serious case of the lazies, not sure which…) I wouldn’t have had much to write about. But things are turning around! And B&G got a bit of a facelift, in case you haven’t noticed…it is making some of the formatting a little wonky but I’ll work on that…

I want to tell you about Ginger Scallion Sauce because it is the greatest thing ever, but in order to do that, I need to start with an apology for my one true chef/celebrity love, Dave Chang…

Oh my heavens.

David, I need to confess something. I’ve been unfaithful. I wanted to make this sauce the minute I first saw it, lo those several Christmases ago when I got your book. And I did, almost immediately. And it was fine, but not great, and I was sad, but wasn’t going to let it turn me away from you. It had to have been my fault right? I couldn’t blame you, I must have executed incorrectly, and you were likely as disappointed in me as I was in you. But it was ok, we would get through it. But then…my eye wandered, and THIS caught my attention. Deep down in my heart I knew it would be Francis. I’ve always had a wee bit of a crush on him too. And so I made his version. David, I’m sorry. It’s better. It’s heaven. But I hope you can forgive me the transgression. You’re still first in my heart. But I can’t promise it will be just that one time. This stuff is too good.

The ingredients

This is a condiment. One of the most flavorful condiments ever. I have mixed it with plain noodles and fried rice, and I’ve eaten it with steak and I’ve eaten it with fish. It would be awesome in soup, and I will add it to the ramen I plan to make later in the month. It is so good that I plan never to be without it again. It is equal parts minced scallions and minced ginger, both of which I did in about 30 seconds in the food processor. Then it gets an almost ungodly amount of salt, and hot oil is poured over it so it sizzles and removes some of the bitterness that ginger and scallions can have raw. It mellows them a little. That is where this version is better than the Momofuku version. I actually finished mine with a splash of light soy sauce as a nod to the version that inspired me, and it is perfection.

With steak and noodles.

Really I can’t say enough good things about this. Just make it and you’ll see.

With noodles and tuna.

Before we go on…

First things first. Please check out my awesome cousin Sam…wish I was half as talented and adventurous!

How come I’m not dating Seth Davis? How have I missed this guy? Anyone know anything about him? Like, for instance, his phone number? Now that March Madness is over he must have some free time, right?

I accidentally saw Tiffany in concert last weekend in New York. It was awesome. I love New York.

What I am reading right now: I am actually too embarrassed to tell you the trash book I’m reading, so let’s just leave it at The New Yorker…

What I am listening to right now: Portraits by The Wheeler Brothers – the band of a guy that studied with my sister in Spain…they are very good.

Craftiness of the week: pillow covers for Al and Dyl and their new apartment…pictures later.

I am in for a few nights of revelry over the next couple of days. It’s my birthday, and I decided drinking is a better option than crawling in a hole and crying. See you on the flip side.

Ginger Scallion Sauce (makes about 1.5 cups)

adapted from Francis Lam and Momofuku

1 ounce ginger, peeled and cut into one inch pieces

1 bunch scallions, roots and ends trimmed, both white and green parts cut into one inch pieces

1/2 cup peanut or grapeseed oil

Splash of light soy sauce

More kosher salt than you think you need

Pulse ginger in a food processor until finely minced. You do not want to puree it, so pay close attention as you are doing it. Put ginger into a large heat proof bowl. Not kidding about the large part or the heat proof part. Do both of those things for real. Pulse the scallions in the food processor (no need to wash it in between) until they are finely minced and add them to the ginger. Throw a good pinch of salt in the bowl and set aside while you heat the oil.

Heat the oil over medium heat just until you see the first wisp of smoke. Be careful. It will be quite hot at this point. Pour the oil over the ginger scallion mixture and step back because it will splatter and smell awesome. Stir the mixture together and add a splash of soy sauce and more salt and let it cool. Add it to everything in the world because it is so delicious.

 

Meatless Monday for any day of the week: Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew

comfort food - veggie style

We have previously discussed my thoughts on being a vegetarian (lovely for many, not for me) and my thoughts on meat (try to make good decisions about where it comes from, etc. I don’t have guilt about eating something that had a good life) but there is this thing that happens in the food blogging world called Meatless Monday, and today, I am contributing.

I am not sure how Meatless Monday came about, but I think the theory behind it is to go a day without meat because it is good for our human selves and the earth. I can get behind that. The funny thing is I actually eat vegetarian plenty of the time. I probably only eat red meat a couple of times a month, maybe once a week, if you count cured meats and the like. I eat a lot of chicken for sure. But I eat meat free meals fairly regularly, especially if I am allowed to count eggs as meat free. My pasta is almost always meat free and I eat that all the time. I just rarely make the connection that what I am eating is vegetarian. I like the idea of Meatless Monday as a broad idea for the betterment of humanity. My only issue with it is maybe the Monday part. As my good friend M said “umm, Meatless Monday drives me crazy because Monday is the day after I grocery shop and when I am most likely to have meat.” Touché M.

This is a long way of saying that this recipe would be an excellent addition to a Meatless Monday repertoire, even if you choose to make it a Meatless Thursday instead.

chickpea and spinach stew

I discovered I like chickpeas fairly recently (I think I have mentioned the deep dark secret I carried around with me for the entirety of my youth and into my adult years as a cooking and food obsessed human – there are plenty of things I did not like at all, but I just never really discussed it, so I don’t think anyone knew…curries, and “Indian Food” more broadly, chickpeas, sauces with yogurt in them, feta cheese (still HATE this one) game meats, sun-dried tomatoes (still not sold) roe of various things, roasted red peppers, smoked salmon (STILL, blech) avocados(?!?!?)) but I am coming around. My palate is expanding. I think my distaste for chickpeas comes from their customary spot in a salad bar. When chickpeas are on a salad bar they look rubbery and shiny and weird and generally unappetizing, so I assumed I did not like them. I still do not like chickpeas from a salad bar, but chickpeas in food are something I can get behind. I started with Chana Masala, and fried chickpeas, and one of my regular “I just got home and I am already so hungry I could eat my hand” thrown together dinners is chickpeas fried for a moment, spiced with ras el-hanout or curry powder, with red onions thrown in the pan to wilt, and then tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and shaved parmesan cheese – so random and really quite good. So when I saw, in my meander through old Food & Wine mags, a recipe for Spanish tapas inspired chickpea stew I decided to give it a go. I am quite pleased that I did. I have already made it a couple of times, it reheats really well for lunches, and it is very comforting while still feeling healthy. And it’s quick!

And now, I bid you adieu. Many apologies if this sounds like it was written by a crazy person, I worked 13 hours today and I am a little punchy…

Before we get to the actual recipe…so many things!

Downton Downton Downton Downton. Oh Downton Abbey how I love thee…

Yo soy fiesta.

One month til Denver to visit the littlest…I can’t wait.

Portlandia? Supposed to be the funniest thing ever? Am I doing it wrong?

I hope you are reading the City Kitchen columns by David Tanis in the New York Times. I want to make everything immediately.

Remember the ginger chicken soup I had on the stove? Umm, I think it might cure colds. I have a sample of one so far, but it definitely worked. If I get another cold I will try it again and let you know.

Chickpea and Spinach Stew (serves 4)

Adapted from Food & Wine

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

Kosher salt

Pinch of saffron threads

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of freshly ground pepper

Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas with their liquid

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup golden raisins

10 oz baby spinach

Use the flat side of a large knife and mash the garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the saffron. Transfer the garlic paste to a small bowl. Add the paprika, cumin, cloves and black pepper and mash until combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chickpea liquid.

Wipe out the skillet. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and tomato and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spiced garlic sauce to the onion and tomato in the skillet and cook for 1 minute.

Add the chickpeas and the remaining liquid to the skillet. Add the raisins and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the spinach, reduce the heat to moderate, and simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer the chickpea stew to 4 deep bowls, drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil on top, and serve.

July project: Canning – Dilly Beans, Sweet Hot Mustard, Plum Jam and Zucchini Relish

You guys! I missed you! Work has been total madness! I have the emotional constitution of a pubescent pre-teen this week! Fighting off a nervous breakdown at every turn! I don’t know what’s wrong with me…but I missed B&G for sure. It’s the weekend, and I needed one bad. So things are on the mend…

First, some housekeeping…

1. Happy Blogiversary B&G! Bread & Ginger turned two years old on July 21st. I should have posted that day. I didn’t.

2. Happy 100th post B&G! That happened with my previous post on July 20th. Fun coincidence!

3. In which I am over “In which…” it’s too binding. When I started it, it was a nod to something that quite frankly, at this moment I cannot recall…Peace out “in which…!”

4. B&G is on Twitter! Follow me @bandgmeg

5. B&G is also on Facebook, but you may already know that…

6. And lastly, if you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you will see that I added a Widget that allows you to donate to the World Food Programme to aid the crisis in the Horn of Africa. Everyone has their charitable causes that they choose to support, as you can imagine, many of mine involve food or hunger. The pictures of the crisis are devastating, I can’t think about them without tearing up, so I figured I would just offer up the opportunity to donate if you are able. Just 50 cents is a whole meal, or something crazy like that. It doesn’t take much.

It is amazing what I am lucky enough to be able to take for granted.

7. I may have made a grave error. I started watching “Friday Night Lights” on Netflix. What in the name of Gracie Belle Taylor took me so long? I am obsessed, and will probably get nothing accomplished until I finish all five seasons.

So hello!

I embarked on a project last month. I am hoping to do that more regularly. I already have a good one in the works for this month. In July, I took on canning.

the results

As in: putting stuff in jars, and then sealing them with a water bath, so that they can hang out in the cupboards for awhile, and then in say, February, when you get a hankering for the taste of summer, you can open up a jar of dilly beans, and snack away.

At the ready.

This all came about because my family went up to Portsmouth, NH earlier this year to visit my sisters, and we went to lunch and several people at the table ordered bloody marys. The bloodies at this particular establishment came garnished with a delightful looking green bean that I snatched off of one of my unsuspecting siblings, and I was hooked. It was awesome. A green bean pickle with some spice. I wanted to replicate them immediately. As you can imagine, immediately turned into several months, and I decided that my July project would be canning. I had never done it before, so I called in an expert. My aunt and I picked a Saturday (the hottest in creation) and four recipes.

I planned on making dilly beans and my Aunt El’s (by way of my Aunt Col) sweet hot mustard that is to.die.for. My aunt picked plum jam and the my grandmother’s zucchini relish, which is a favorite in our fam.

Canning is not difficult by any stretch, but it requires a fair amount of time, and it has to be done correctly, because there is some risk involved. But as long as you pay attention, it really is quite simple. The jars must be sterilized, and the contents must be hot enough to create a seal as it cools. The pop of the top sealing as it cools is a delight after all the hard (and hot) work of canning. If you are going to give this a whirl, I recommend grabbing a book and doing a little reading. The Ball Blue Book is a classic authority, but there are tons of good ones out there. There are some little important steps in the process that you want to make sure you check off the list. Botulism would blow, I suspect.

We started with the zucchini as it has to sit for a couple of hours at two different points during the process. The zucchini, onion and red pepper are sliced thin, tossed with salt, covered with water and left to sit for two hours.

relaxing

And beans were prepped. Lots of them.

beans

The beans were the easiest to prepare actually. Once I trimmed them, I stood them upright in the jars…

lined up, ready to go.

and then added garlic, dill seeds and cayenne (lots of cayenne. These are SPICY. I might add a bit less next time.)

spicy beans

The liquid is boiled (vinegar, water, salt) and poured over the beans, the lids are put on the jars and the jars are processed in a boiling water bath for five minutes. And voila! I just opened these up the other day after letting them sit and develop flavor for a couple of weeks. Delicious! And quite spicy.

dilly beans!

Back to the zucchini…the process is similar to the dilly beans. We drained the water off the zucchini and boiled the pickling liquid, poured it over the vegetables and let it sit again for two more hours.

brewing

And now the plum jam, which I don’t have very many pictures of. The jam had the fewest steps. Boil the fruit, add a bonkers amount of sugar, boil some more, and voila! Jam! The recipe we were following did not call for pectin. In hindsight, we probably would have used it, because this is not super thick, but it is super delicious.

plums

The interesting thing about the jam is that they get wax tops. Paraffin is melted and poured over the top of the jam, and that is what seals it. It’s very cool.

in jars

The last of the day was my Aunt Col’s (or apparently Aunt El’s…unsure) sweet hot mustard. This stuff is SOO good. It is perfect with kielbasa. It is hot and sweet at the same time, and in a bizarre twist, it has eggs and butter in it. I was very surprised to find that out.

Dry mustard powder, horseradish, vinegar, water combined, boiled up, and then eggs and butter are added and then, because of the eggs, we processed this in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes to make sure the eggs were cooked. (Eggs are pasturized at 140 degrees for five minutes.)

mustard in jars...

Overall, the canning project was awesome. I will absolutely be doing this again. Yes, there is work involved, and you do have to pay attention, but it is so worth it. Look at all the good stuff…

savory...

sweet.

The jam is perfect in the mornings, the zucchini relish is awesome with a sandwich or on a hot dog, the mustard is amazing with sausage, a ham or turkey sandwich, pretty much anything you can imagine, and the dilly beans are a fantastic snack. Success! And there is something very satisfying about canning. It’s so pioneer-like. And like I said, it’s not hard, exactly, but it is precise, and you want to leave yourself some time to do it, to make sure you do all the steps. The jars have to be sterilized by boiling, they have to be clean when they get sealed, and the water bath has to be at a rolling boil. The alternative is botulism, so this is one you definitely want to do correctly. But sally forth and can stuff! It is very satisfying, and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor for months! And your friends will be so impressed when you hand them a homemade hostess gift! I think I am going to give it another try in September…I need to start planning my recipes.

A couple more things, since it has been so long since we’ve talked…

I have a very funny friend with a very funny new blog…you should def check it out.

I know I mentioned it already, but seriously, Friday Night Lights? Oh. Ma. Gah. For real, how did I miss this the first go round? This show is amazing. And perfect (except for the slightly creepy feeling I get when I realize that I am totally gaga for Tim Riggins, a character that is supposed to be in high school. Granted, the most age inappropriate high schooler in the history of high school, and also, the actor is actually like 28, but still, squicky.)

Dilly Beans (makes four pints)

Adapted from Food In Jars

2 pounds green beans, trimmed to fit your jars

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (you can use more, but know that I used a generous 1/4 teaspoon for each jar of beans, and they are quite spicy, so you may want to restrain yourself.)

4 tsp dill seed (not dill weed)

4 cloves garlic

2 1/2 cups white vinegar (5% acidity – it says this on the label, and is the standard for white vinegar, but you want to confirm, since the acidity of the vinegar is what helps keep canned relishes preservable and safe.)

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup plus 1 tbl kosher salt

Place your jars on a rack or a towel on the bottom of a large stock pot or canning pot, and fill it with water. Bring to a boil to sterilize the jars while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Wash and trim your beans so that they fit in your jar.

Combine vinegar, water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. As you wait for the brine to boil, pack your beans into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace (distance between the tops of the beans and the rim of the jar). Add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 clove of garlic and 1 teaspoon dill seeds to each jar with the beans.

Pour the boiling brine over the beans, making sure to leave that 1/2 inch headspace. Use a plastic knife to remove air bubbles from jar by running it around the interior of the jar. Wipe the rims and apply the lids (which have been sitting in a small saucepan of water at a mere simmer for at least ten minutes in order to soften the sealing compound) and rings.

Process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath (timing doesn’t start until the pot has come back to a roiling boil).

Let the beans develop flavor for a couple of weeks, then enjoy!

Zucchini Relish (makes four pints)

Recipe from my Gram

2 lbs zucchini sliced thin

1 medium onion (about 1/2 lb), sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin

1/4 cup salt

2 cups white vinegar

3 cups sugar

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp mustard powder

2 tbl mustard seed

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Toss the vegetables with the salt, cover with water and let sit for two hours or overnight.

Boil vinegar, sugar and spices. Drain salted vegetables well, and pour hot brine over the top. Let vegetables stand in the brine for two hours.

When the two hours is up, sterilize the jars, boil the vegetable mixture again, and pour hot mixture into the clean jars. Make sure the edges of the jars are wiped and clean, and cover with lids that have been simmered in hot water to soften the seal for 1o minutes. Twist rings in place and process in a boiling water bath for five minutes (timing starts when water returns to a rolling boil.) Voila!

Plum Jam (makes about 4 pints, but I would use half pint jars for this, a pint is a lot of jam)

Adapted from a book that I can’t remember the name of right now…I’ll get back to you

3 1/2 lbs ripe but firm plums

2 cups water

3 1/2 cups sugar (this is REALLY sweet, super crazy delicious, but quite sweet, if you like your jam a bit more tart, feel free to cut this down a little.)

1 tsp butter (apparently reduces the foaming that jams like to get in to)

Cut plums in half and remove the pits. Crack some of the pits (you will need a hammer), remove the kernels inside, and set aside (ok, so this step seems a little suspect and unnecessary…though, I would recommend it if only to smell the kernels. No joke, they smell so good and so purely of plum, it really is crazy. If you are going to do this, wrap the kernels in cheese cloth so they don’t get lost in the jam, and then fish them out when the jam is cooked.)

Put the plums, water and kernels in a large pot. Bring to a boil, the reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the sugar and heat gently, stirring frequently, until sugar is completely dissolved. Add the butter and boil rapidly for 15 minutes until the setting point is reached, skimming any foam off the top. Pour into the sterilized jars and let cool for 10 minutes. Seal with wax tops, or process in a boiling water bath with regular lids and rings, for 10 minutes.

Sweet Hot Mustard (makes 2 quarts)

recipe from my fabulous Aunts, El and Col.

3-4 tbl prepared horseradish

1 2/3 cups dry mustard powder (Coleman’s)

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

3 eggs

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

Combine horseradish, mustard powder and peppers in a large pot. Whisk in the water to make a paste (break up any lumps of mustard powder.) Add the sugar and salt and stir, then whisk in the vinegar (the mustard powder does, in fact, want to lump up, whisk vigorously.)

Bring this mixture to a boil, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Beat the eggs in a small bowl, and slowly, while whisking, add about one cup of the hot mustard mixture to the eggs to temper them and prevent curdling (I was only mildly successful at this part.) Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the hot mustard mixture, add the butter and stir until the butter melts. Pour the mustard into sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes (I couldn’t be too careful here, what with the raw eggs, and all – though the hot mustard cooks them. I am a nervous person.) Note, my mustard seemed a little runny, and did separate once in the jars. Don’t fret! It firms right up in the fridge and if it separates just shake shake shake before serving! This is best served cold anyway, so stick it in the fridge before you are going to use it. That should keep it from separating as well.

So there you go! Can away! I will totally be doing this again…there are pretty limitless options!

Chicken with Caramelized Shallots: In which I share my first installment…

Weeknight chicken vol. I

So I had this idea. As you may have figured out, my ideas often stop there, so I won’t make any promises, but I’m hoping to start some kind of regular (meaning weekly? I know! It would be unbelievable!) weeknight chicken posts around here. I eat A LOT of chicken, and I suspect a lot of other meat eaters do too. Chicken is popular, not fussy, easy to find, cheap compared to other animal proteins and so amenable to variation. I find, in theory, chicken bores me a little, probably for all of the aforementioned reasons, but in practice, I love it, probably for all the same aforementioned reasons…

I almost always have chicken in the freezer. I buy chicken legs or chicken leg quarters in bulk and freeze them in pairs so that I have them whenever I need something. Whole Foods has very convenient perforated packages of two, or if they are having a sale on bulk wrapped, I just bring them home and separate them. And I definitely prefer chicken legs and dark meat to breasts. They don’t dry out as easily and have way more flavor.

I am always on the look out for easy but delicious sounding post-work chicken options, the orange chicken is one, the chicken dopiaza qualifies too. I’ve mentioned chicken and leeks on here, and I will definitely blog about that one day, and I have a couple other recipes that I am excited to share with you that would fall into this catagory too. A couple caveats: easy weeknight chicken, in this case, doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to be on the table 15 minutes after you get home, but I would count it as easy weeknight chicken if it can be on the table (or coffee table, or tray table or lap) in an hour, and you are not chained to the stove for that entire hour. Recipes that you can easily consider making after work, that don’t require hours of free time on a Sunday to prep and then cook…a couple of them might require some quick prep the night before for marinating and what not, but it only counts if that is minimal too. Those are my guidelines…if your guidelines for weekday meals are different, take this with a grain of salt (or a take out menu or a box of pasta or whatever you have time for after work!)

This one came from David Lebovitz (of the ice cream fame and I just noticed when I went back to find that link that I totally spelled his name wrong…sorry David, I was a young naive (and apparently rude) blogger…my sincerest apologies!) If I wasn’t sold when “caramelized shallots” was right in the name of the recipe, the fact that the recipe included soy sauce, the holy grail of condiments, closed the deal. Also, that it looked so easy – one pan, not much to clean up – SOLD.

The recipe calls for a whole chicken in eight pieces. I used chicken legs and since it was just for one, I cut down on the other ingredients too – not by half, because I wanted lots of shallot-y goodness, but by about a third. It initially calls for four large shallots. I am not sure what they mean by large but we get some doozies around me. They are more like small onions than shallots, if you ask me. Big. I used three for this, and there were a lot of them.

Anyway, the shallots get minced and mixed in the bottom of a baking pan with oil, vinegar and soy sauce, and then the chicken gets tossed with that mixture.

extra shallot-y

At this point it goes into the oven for 20 minutes, after which the chicken gets flipped over and it cooks for another 20 minutes while the chicken cooks through and the shallots get very soft and delicious. And that’s it!

I served with pearl couscous that I cooked and then sauteed quickly in a little bit of brown butter, and miso-glazed carrots, which also couldn’t be easier, just carrots simmered until cooked through, then miso and butter gets added to the remaining cooking water and it reduces for another minute or two until carrots are glazed and tasty. Easy!

glazed

Leftovers are great, and I used two chicken leg quarters and a box of pearl couscous and got dinner and three lunches out of it. (I used four carrots and got two servings out of those…) I would say a whole chicken would easily serve four, though I suppose if there are some very hungry individuals in that group they might disagree with me.

weeknight dinner is served

1. So I have taken to drinking my gimlets out of mason jars.

sample in a jar

I don’t know if it’s cute in the manner of Coastal Living, or if it is so twee that I deserve a face smash. Please advise.

2. When is it going to get warm here? It’s mid May…I’m ready.

3. I made something RI-donculous this weekend. Leek and lobster bread pudding. Are. You. Kidding. Me. Add it to the list of things I need to tell you about…

4. There are days that I wish that the only thing I had to accomplish was reading my book. Today is one of those days. (My book right now is Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. It is a monster. I think I am loving it?) Related: I am having a hard time switching exclusively to Kindle, both because I really love books, and because of the number I books I have to read at home already that aren’t on my Kindle. It may be a long transition, though my New Yorker subscription is on it, so it gets some love every day too.

5. Music recommendation of the day: Neko Case. Anything she does is great. I love her voice. (Eek! She’s coming to Boston. Yay!)

Chicken with Caramelized Shallots (serves 4)

From David Lebovitz

3 tbls olive oil

3 tbls red wine vinegar

1 tbl soy sauce

4 large shallots, peeled and minced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

One whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or eight of your preferred chicken pieces)

A handful of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).

In a baking dish that will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer, mix the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, shallots, and some salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in the mixture, so they’re completely coated with the shallots. Turn the chicken pieces so they are all skin side up.

Roast the chicken for about twenty minutes, until it starts to brown on top. Turn the pieces of chicken over. Scrape any juices and shallots over the chicken that may be clinging to the pan, and bake for another twenty minutes, or until the pieces of chicken are cooked through and the shallots are well-caramelized. Remove from oven and toss in the chopped parsley, then serve.

Miso Glazed Carrots (serves 2)

(I got this idea from somewhere, couldn’t begin to tell you where…)

4 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into half inch rounds

2 tbl butter

1 heaping tbl white miso

pepper to taste

Put the peeled carrots in a small saucepan with about 1 1/2 cups water, and simmer, over medium heat, until carrots are almost cooked through (the water will have reduced significantly, you still want some in the pan to make the sauce though, so if you need to add more, do.) Add the butter and the miso to the still simmering water, and stir until both are incorporated into a sauce. Continue cooking until carrots are cooked through and sauce is reduced slightly to a glaze. Add fresh pepper and serve.

In which I have that first day feeling…

What did you do on your summer vacation?

To paraphrase Billy Madison “Back to work, back to work, to show my dad that I’m not a jerk…*” Retirement was F-U-N, but it’s time to get back to life. And a paycheck. I ironed my outfit, and set my alarm for 5:30 (5:30? Yeah, you heard me) and made my lunch, and cleaned most of my apartment, and I was as ready as I was ever gonna be. But I am not going to lie. I think this going back to work thing is taking a toll on me. My feet are a mess, totally not used to real shoes. They like flip flops, and in re: the four-inch heels I picked out for today that perfectly match my necklace and my toe nail polish? Pissed. Additionally, I had a dream last night that I got a $36.56 ticket for skinny dipping. Did you know they give out tickets in the amount of $36.56 for that? I was in a pond with a large group that included Zachary Levi, the actor that stars in Chuck, who also received a $36.56 ticket for skinny dipping. The others received no such ticket, as they were clothed appropriately for public swimming. Lastly, some crazy lady in striped socks and a Hawaiian shirt was staring maniacally at me this morning as we were all walking to work. Lady, it is 8 am, keep your eyes to yourself. Also, you are about to walk into something.

*Don’t be alarmed. My dad would never think I was a jerk. He is incapable of doing so, even when I am a jerk. Rent Billy Madison, then you’ll understand.

Going back to work is  not for the faint of heart. But luckily, I have this to help me through the day.

oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man...

That was my first day of work lunch. It is also my second day of work lunch. It is ratatouille, and it is a delight.

Ratatouille is perfect for this time of year because it is a stew of sorts with eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onions and herbs, and even thought it is cooked, you want to use the best and the freshest. You can roast everything, or saute everything, and the big debate is whether all the ingredients should be cooked together, or cooked separately and combined. I had a recipe all picked out, I was going to saute, and then I was reading Salon.com and an article by Francis Lam just happened to pop out at me. He has a recipe for ratatouille that he calls “weapons-grade” and it looked intriguing. I couldn’t resist, and I am so glad I didn’t, because this is the most delicious thing I have made in a long time. I am planning on stopping at the farmers’ market again tomorrow to pick up more vegetables because it is that good and I want to make gallons of it so I can stuff it into my freezer that is already so full it throws stuff at me every time I open the door. Anybody want some frozen cupcakes?

This ratatouille is a commitment. It took some time, but I did not have to be singularly devoted to it. I was able to do other things while I was making it, like cleaning, filing, watching a classic General Hospital marathon (Brenda’s back!) and planning my outfits for the week, but I would say total cook time for this is close to 3 hours. WORTH IT. It is really delicious. And even thought it has a fair amount of oil in it, it feels really healthy, which is good for the new me. The one that is going to celebrate the new job with a new workout routine. The adipose cells that have found me are getting a little too comfortable…

With ricotta and toast...lunch perfection.

Ratatouille (makes a lot – for my first attempt I halved this recipe.)

adapted from Salon.com

1 head garlic, minced

3 shallots, minced

1 large onion (about 12 ounces), minced

3/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 large red peppers, stemmed, seeded, roughly chopped and puréed in the food processor

4 pounds of very good tomatoes, cored and puréed in the food processor

2½ pounds of summer squash and zucchini, ½-inch dice

1½ pounds of eggplant, diced into ½-inch cubes

Thyme and basil to taste

Start by cooking the garlic, shallot and onion in ½ cup of the olive oil over medium-low to low heat in a heavy pot so that they soften and give up their liquid. Stir and try not to let them brown. (This takes awhile.) Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Once they became pale golden and look sticky, add the puréed red pepper and stir to combine. Season lightly with salt and pepper. The pepper should have a ton of water, so let it cook down, stirring every few minutes to make sure nothing gets too caramelized and burned, you’ll have a rich, rusty jam.

Add the puréed tomatoes. Bring it to a boil, and turn it way down to cook off all its liquid. Season lightly with salt and pepper. This already tastes awesome, but you are going to continue cooking for a long time. Around this time, heat your oven to 450. Continue to stir the tomatoes occasionally, just so they don’t burn at the bottom.

Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with salt, pepper and half of the rest of the olive oil. Spread in one layer on a baking sheet (roast in batches if you have to.) Roast until the sizzling starts to slow down and the squash is browning underneath. Take it out and let it cool a bit before putting it in a big bowl. Then do the same with the eggplant, putting it in the same bowl.

When the tomato mixture has cooked down a ton, looks really thick and drier and  tastes even more delightful (you’ll know it’s ready when it gives the oil back up, and sounds squishy when you stir it) chop up some thyme and basil, as much as you like, and stir the herbs into the tomato base. Carefully combine the tomato with the rest of the vegetables so that you don’t mash up your zucchini and eggplant. Serve. It’s even better the next day. Can also be frozen.

In which it is really summer…

panzanella

Well, that’s what I get for procrastinating. That is a Landon Donovan t-shirt. That was taken Tuesday night, when he was my hero. Now Landon, no offense, but it just reminds me of a crushing disappointment. Don’t worry. It’s not your fault. You are not a defender, one of the men who repeatedly forget their purpose in the first half of games and extra time, even if the World Cup hopes of a nation depend on it. I’ll get over it if you guys get a new defensive side. Fair trade, I think.

So now I’ll just talk about the panzanella. This is a food blog, after all.

Panzanella is a great summer salad, because it showcases tomatoes, can be modified pretty much anyway you’d like and can serve as a side, or a light meal. The basics are tomatoes and bread, but other than that, the world is your oyster. I did a fairly straightforward version with bread, tomatoes, mozz and basil. I added olives and quick cooked some red onions, and dressed it with olive oil and sherry vinegar. You could add cucumbers, shrimp, roasted vegetables, various cheeses, really, whatever floats your boat.

I like to use toasted croutons rather than stale bread. It gives it a bit more texture and flavor. I have the ability to add garlic without using raw garlic right in the salad, which can be a bit much. Same with onions. I start with about 4 cups of bread cubes. I prefer crusty bread like ciabatta. I heat a fair amount of olive oil in my cast iron pan, and add garlic and let it start to brown and flavor the oil.

creating flavor

When the onion starts to brown and get fragrant, I add the bread cubes, and let them start to brown and soak up the oil. Right before the bread is finished crisping and browning, I add a splash more olive oil, and some red onion.

building flavor.

I let the onions just start to sweat and soften, and the bread finish cooking, and then I took them off the heat and added the rest of the ingredients. In this case, fresh mozzarella from the farmers’ market, ripe tomatoes (if you hold out until August they’ll be even better-or slow roast them, that would also be awesome) pitted kalamata olives, fresh basil and dress it with the olive oil and vinegar of your choice. Hit it with some salt and pepper and you are in business. This requires almost no effort other than a bit of chopping and crouton watching. No muss, no fuss and limited need for heat, which is always nice in the summer. This is best eaten fairly quickly, as you want the bread to absorb the flavors and juices, but not get soggy. The croutons do help mitigate the sogginess which is nice. I ate the leftovers the next day for lunch and they were still great, even with the soggier bread.

Panzanella (serves 4 as a side, 2+ as a meal)

1/4 cup plus 3 tbl olive oil, divided

3-4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled, left in large pieces

4 cups bread cubes from crusty bread

Scant 1 cup sliced red onion

6-8 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed

1 lb of the best tomatoes you can get, in a large dice (if using cherry or grape tomatoes, halve them)

1/4 lb (1/3 – 1/2 cup – or to taste) pitted black kalamata olives

Chiffonade of 8-10 large leaves of Basil

2 tbl sherry vinegar, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large (preferably cast iron) frying pan over medium heat. Prepare bowl (wooden works great if you have one) for serving by rubbing the inside with a clove of the cut garlic, and set aside. Add all the garlic to the oil and let it cook, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until the garlic is browned and the oil is fragrant. Add the bread cubes and cook, turning the cubes for equal browning, until they are toasty and browned. Remove the garlic as it starts to blacken and burn. As the bread finishes toasting, and has absorbed all the oil, add another tablespoon of oil and the red onion, tossing to soften the onion until it just begins to sweat. Make sure all the garlic has been removed, and transfer the croutons and the just cooked onion to the serving bowl. I like to immediately add the cubed mozzarella so the heat from the bread softens it a bit. Then add the tomatoes, olives and basil and toss to combine flavors. Add just enough olive oil to so the salad isn’t dry, about 2 tbls. It won’t need much because of the oil used to toast the bread and onions. Add the sherry vinegar and toss again to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste, let it sit and meld while you set the table and pour a glass of wine, and then enjoy!

summer perfection

In which that’s how I feel about that…

hated it!

I must get something off my chest. Please bear with me.

***

To: Lady Gaga

From: Me

Re: I’m trying, really.

Dear Gags,

May I call you that? Gags? Thank you. We must speak, and quick. I’m trying, really, truly trying. I learned to love you begrudgingly. I had to get past Just Dance, which has never been my favorite, and you burst onto the scene opting to forego pants, which, in my opinion, is mostly unforgivable. But then something shocking happened. I started to pay attention and I realized you actually have talent. And you started reeling me in with Poker Face, and I was hooked. But then there was this. I assure you, I never thought I would be in the position of telling anyone what is right or wrong in the face of royalty, but I promise you, that was wrong. And I was angry, and I decided I had no time for you or your shenanigans. But damn you Gags! You performed with Sir Elton at the Grammies, and it was awesome, and then Bad Romance got me again. So you win. Gaga: 2, Me: 0. So perhaps you are a genius, but still, that doesn’t mean I will sit quietly by and abide by this. It can’t go on. It makes me tired. You have TALENT! Make that your schtick! Stop with the outfits! You look ridiculous! It makes me want to poke myself in the eyes! And use lots of exclamation points! And that is unforgivable!

That is all, please go back to making delightful music, and perhaps invest in some pantsuits, at least when you are not performing.

Fondly,

Me

***

Many apologies for that brief interlude, it has nothing to do with food aside from the fact I was thinking about Lady Gaga while eating dinner and perusing the interwebs the other night, and I had to use this, my only public forum, to get that off my chest, because that’s how I feel about that.

And now on to better things. I know I have been MIA, but I have an excuse. This happened.

playing with fondant

Because this happened:

congratulations pretty girl...

That is the littlest. She is now a college grad. I think she is having very mixed feelings about it. But it was a lovely day and we had a little shindig for her afterwards and there was a vanilla cake with nutella filling at the graduate’s request. So I got to play with fondant again. And I get a couple more opportunities to play in the next couple of weeks. Fun will abound. I will keep you posted.

But until then, I would like to discuss this amazing ginger fried rice with you. I feel almost as strongly about it as I feel about Lady Gaga, but my emotions are not mixed, they are unequivocally positive. Overwhelmingly positive even.

a-mazing

This is a recipe I discovered on Smitten Kitchen. It is a Mark Bittman adaptation of a Jean-Georges recipe, and it is remarkable in its simplicity and deliciousness. You use leftover rice. I like (and the recipe calls for) jasmine, but it is a great use for any leftover rice you have on hand. Like all fried rice recipes, you need leftover rice for this. Freshly made rice will end up too mushy.

There are only a couple of other steps to this, and the whole thing comes together quickly. It differs from standard fried rice because it is much simpler, has much cleaner flavors, seems lighter, and in this recipe the ginger and garlic are actually garnishes.

ginger bits

They get fried to little brown crispy bits at the beginning (or ahead of time, if you make extra the first time you make this, they last awhile, and you can cut down further on the steps for next time….super quick!) and then sprinkled over the rice studded with leeks and sprinkled with soy sauce and sesame oil, and served with a fried egg. You can even get fancy like I did and mold the rice in a ramekin, which looks very cool and professional. Take a look.

molded

This really couldn’t be easier. You fry the ginger and garlic, remove them from the pan, add a bit more oil and soften the leeks for about 10 minutes. You then add the rice to the pan to warm through and get a little crispy, as you fry and egg (or as many as you need) in a small pan, then voila! You just plate everything and dinner is served. I used one of my larger ramekins and thought there could have been a bit more egg to rice ratio, so I think I will stick with the smaller six-ounce ramekins as molds in the future, but putting it together couldn’t have been easier. I rubbed the inside of the ramekin with just a little bit of oil, and packed the rice/leeks combo in so it was fairly tight quarters in there.

molded

I covered the ramekin with a plate, and turned the rice over onto the plate, it slid right out and kept its shape. Then I sprinkled the rice with the soy sauce and sesame oil, topped with the fried egg, and sprinkled the whole thing with the browned garlic and ginger bits.

quick perfection

This really was so easy and good. And I will be making it again and again and again. And I recommend you do as well. It is an easier, and seemingly lighter, version of more traditional fried rice. Which I also love, but I think I love this one more. (You can see just how much I love this in the very top photo. My plate has looked like that both times I have made this.) It is easy to scale down for one, and makes a really great quick dinner.

Ginger Fried Rice (serves 4, technically, but like I said, I prefer the ratio of a 6-ounce ramekin to one egg, so this might serve six if I was serving it-and then they might want more because that is not enough to fill one person, but adjust at your leisure)

From Mark Bittman in the New York Times, inspired by Deb’s rendition on Smitten Kitchen

1/2 cup peanut oil (I used canola and it was just fine, but peanut would be very good.)

2 tbl minced garlic

2 tbl minced ginger

Salt

2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried (I use one good-sized leek when I make this for one.)

4 cups day-old cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature

4 large eggs

2 tsp sesame oil

4 tsp soy sauce

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly. (Can be done ahead, feel free to make extras to cut down on this time for the next time you make this. Just store them in an airtight container or plastic bag.)

Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons oil and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.

Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through and starting to get crispy. Season to taste with salt.

In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining oil, sunny-side-up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.

Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.

My new favorite vegetable accompaniment – Ginger Miso Salad Dressing …

This is going to be a quick post on a salad dressing that I have discovered and that I am now obsessing over. This recipe recovery thing has been going fantastically well. I have made a couple of things that I am not raving about, some shrimp and scallion pancakes were only okay, and some black beans weren’t particularly good at all, but most everything I have made has been fantastic. This ginger-miso dressing is one of those things.

my new favorite snack...

This is what I think that strange orange dressing that you get on salads with your sushi lunch should be. I have always found that dressing a little odd and lacking. This is the opposite. It is creamy from the mayonnaise, and gingery, and seriously miso-y. And it couldn’t be easier. Everything just goes in a blender and is ready in moments, though I have to say, the flavor has just gotten more intense as it has hung out in the fridge. I have been eating carrot sticks dipped in this dressing pretty much non stop. I have a salad that I make a lot with radishes, avocados and butter lettuce and this would be awesome on it. It definitely should be eaten with hearty lettuces, or those with a significant flavor of their own, like watercress, and it would be great with shrimp. It would probably also make a great marinade. But right now I can’t stop eating it just with carrot sticks.

Ginger Miso Dressing (makes about 1/2 cup)

Adapted from Food & Wine, May 2007

1 tbl minced fresh ginger

1 tbl minced shallot

2 tbls rice vinegar

2 tbls mayonnaise

1 tbl low-sodium soy sauce

2 tbls white miso

1/3 cup vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a blender, puree the ginger, shallot, vinegar, mayo, soy sauce and miso. With the blender running, add the vegetable oil and blend until smooth. Season with salt (try it first, you shouldn’t need much if any) and pepper.

In which I am not sure I am going to be able to make this decision…

Oh gosh, I unearthed some serious gems during my recipe tear out purge. I am on a tear this week. Despite the summer temperatures that are heating up the kitchen and softening butter in seconds, I am pretty pumped for some cooking. And between experiments I will be re-washing all the dishes that I washed during the water boil order, since going through the cabinets has alerted me that a lack of running water makes washing dishes inefficient. I am so glad that’s over.

Simon Hopkinson's roasted chicken

This chicken project is not working out exactly the way I hoped. Every single one I have tried has been pretty good. I am not sure I will be able to pick a clear winner. There is not that much difference in the crispiness of the skin and the meat is all great and tastes mildly of whatever I stuff the cavity with. This one was delightfully lemony. What I am discovering? Roast a chicken. Anyway you can. They are easy, they make the house smell good, they impress company, and they generally provide lots of leftovers. What’s not to love? For this one, which is a Simon Hopkinson recipe that I found in Saveur, I rubbed the chicken with a half a stick of butter, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, and stuffed it with tarragon and lemon. Pardon my French, but that is a bum load of butter. I think it may have been unnecessary. Look.

butter much?

I am not sure what the point was. Amazingly? The Joel Robuchon recipe (that I never discussed for lack of pictures) asked for a WHOLE STICK of butter on one chicken. I was flabbergasted. Anywho, this was good, but not one half stick of butter better than any of the others, so perhaps I’ll try a brine next time.

What I really want to share with you is one of my favorite vegetable dishes of all time. And it goes a little something like this:

delicious little baby cabbages

If you know me, you are likely aware of my love for miniature versions of big things. Like babies in grown up clothes, for instance. And this little tiny miniature husky that someone in my neighborhood has. I wouldn’t want it to live with me or anything, but I love to see it. There was also this little pony on The Soup this weekend that was amazing. So brussels sprouts are perfect for me. Especially when they are sliced and cooked with bacon and shallots.

bacon, shallot, sprouts, garlic, butter, perfection.

It really couldn’t be easier. The brussels sprouts and shallot are sliced thin, bacon is sauteed until it renders its fat, then the shallots and brussels sprouts are added and sauteed quickly until the sprouts brown and the shallots are soft. Then you add a clove of garlic that’s been minced and a tablespoon or two of butter. It all takes about 10-15 minutes and it is really really good. The sprouts are crunchy, the shallots are soft and the bacon is salty. The butter and garlic tie it all together. Try it. You will rethink brussels sprouts. I promise.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallot (serves 4 as a side dish)

3 slices bacon sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 package brussels sprouts, trimmed, outside leaves removed, sliced thin

1 good sized shallot sliced thin

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbls butter

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan over medium heat until the bacon browns and renders fat. Add the brussel sprouts and shallots and saute, stirring frequently until brussel sprouts are browned and tender and shallots are soft, 6 -8 minutes. Turn the heat to low, add garlic and butter and cook, stirring for about a minute until the butter melts. Serve.

mmmm mmm

In which I go vegetarian…

corn cake, black beans, cotija cheese, avocado, pickled red onion

I don’t know what my problem is. Serious writers block it seems, which is annoying, since I have all sorts of things to discuss with you. Like this dinner I had TWO WEEKS AGO. I am not sure why this title is what it is, like it’s a big deal or something. I actually eat vegetarian a lot. I eat plenty of pasta that does not contain meat or meat related items, but for some reason, pasta doesn’t make me think vegetarian at all, it’s only when I make a somewhat deliberate decision to put together a complete meal that does not contain some kind of meat that I consider myself eating vegetarian. And I am not going to lie, at one point, I thought about adding bacon or chicken stock to this, and then I realized that I was actually trying to make a vegetarian meal, and so I didn’t add them.

I really like black beans. I think they are really delicious. Right now I will go ahead and say they are my favorite kind of bean, but I am pretty sure I will remember at some point that this is not true, and I will have lied to you all, but right now, I am going to say they are my favorite. I just used canned beans that I drained and cooked with onions and garlic, and then I did a quick corn pancake that came together in about five minutes, and dinner was a snap. I topped it with avocado, a little bit of sour cream, cotija cheese and some pickled red onion and it was pretty awesome. I didn’t miss meat at all.

And now, because I have writer’s block and nothing exciting to say, I will get right to the recipes. Enjoy this on your next foray into the world of the meatless. And the leftovers are great with, for instance, a poached egg…

another view

Corn Cakes with Black Beans and Accoutrements (serves 4)

For the corn cakes:

adapted from Epicurious.com

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

scant 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tbl unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional melted butter for brushing the griddle

1/2 large egg (so I halved the original recipe, I scrambled the egg and then just added about half of it to the batter)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup thawed frozen corn, chopped coarse

2 tbl finely chopped onion

In a bowl whisk together the cornmeal, the flour, the salt, the baking soda, the pepper, and the sugar. In another bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons of the butter, the egg, and the buttermilk, stir in the corn onion, and stir in the cornmeal mixture, stirring until the batter is just combined. Heat a griddle over moderately high heat until it is hot, brush it lightly with the additional butter, and working in batches drop the batter by a 1/2-cup measure onto the griddle. Cook the cakes for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden, transferring them as they are cooked to a heatproof platter, and keep them warm.

For the black beans:

1-2 tbl cooking oil

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1/2 small lime

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat in a frying pan, add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, add the beans and cook until heated through. Turn off heat, squeeze half a lime over the beans, and cover to keep warm until needed.

Accoutrements:

Sour cream

Diced avocado

Cotija cheese (or Monterey Jack or Cheddar)

Pickled red onion

To assemble:

Place a corn cake on each plate, and spoon black beans over. Add cheese and other accoutrements as desired. Easy!