Guyanese Curried Chickpeas (Channa Masala)

Name: Guyanese Curried Chickpeas
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 8 people
Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas; 2 tablespoons butter; 1/2 medium onion (diced); 2 cloves garlic (minced); Habanero or Scotch Bonnet pepper (minced, to taste); 2 tablespoons Indian-style curry powder; 1 1/2 cups liquid (either water, chickpea cooking liquid or liquid from canned chickpeas); 1 tablespoon lime juice (preferably from Mexican or Key limes); salt to taste; black pepper (freshly ground, to taste)

2 Comments

April 30, 2018

The largest ethnic group in Guyana is comprised of those of (East) Indian descent. When I was there in the 1970s and 1980s, Indians represented just over half of the population. As of the 2002 census, those of Indian descent represent just over 43 percent of the population.

Other demographic groups in Guyana include those of African, Chinese, Western European, and mixed descent. Amerindians are now a very small percentage of the population.

The cuisine of Guyana reflects its multicultural population. Curry is very popular as is roti, Indian-style flatbread. Chinese-style fried rice is a restaurant staple. A typical Sunday dish is Portuguese-derived garlic pork. British-style baked goods are popular, especially black cake around Christmastime.

**The Guyana Supreme Court building (CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=475676)**

A quick internet search demonstrated to me that the restaurant scene in Guyana has changed dramatically since my visits there. In the 70s and 80s, restaurants were, for the most part, very basic affairs. There were just a few that rose above “basic” but even they were challenged to produce really good food because of the limitation on imported foodstuffs.

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Food prepared at home was generally of a better quality, and certainly displayed more variety, than what was available in restaurants “back then.” And, while in any given household there may be more foods reflective of the particular demographics of that household, popular dishes like curry, fried rice, garlic pork, and black cake are prepared in pretty much every household. They have really become Guyanese dishes, regardless of their ethnic origins.

My last trip to Guyana was in early 1981. I finished medical school around the end of January and went to Guyana to work on the psychiatric unit at the public hospital in Georgetown, the capital, before beginning my internship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in mid-June. At that time there was one psychiatrist who worked for the government of Guyana and one psychiatrist in private practice. The government psychiatrist, who lived a significant distance from Georgetown, was also responsible for overseeing the long-term psychiatric unit in Fort Canje, now referred to as the National Psychiatric Hospital.

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The day I arrived at the public hospital in Georgetown, the psychiatrist was a no-show. He then made it clear that he had no intention of coming to the hospital for the duration of my stay. At the age of 26, just having finished medical school and not having done an internship, let alone a residency, I became the de-facto psychiatrist for the public hospital!

**The Guyana Parliament Building (CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=475699)**

The psychiatric unit consisted of four rooms (plus two bathrooms) on the upper floor above the morgue. The psychiatrist’s office (my office) was the entry point to the unit. Behind the office was a very small nurses’ station. There were two large wards, one on each side of the nurses’ station. Each has eleven beds and no privacy. One ward was for men and one for women. Though we only had 22 beds, our census was often double that. There was no option to add beds so patients often slept two to a bed.

In general, male patients were attended to by male nurses and female patients by female nurses.

There was also a very, very busy outpatient clinic staffed by myself and three social workers.

The male nurses started including me in some of their evening social gatherings. I remember a few held at the home of one of the nurses who was of Indian descent. We basically sat around talking, drinking rum, and eating. My love of spicy Indian food was met with amazement. The fact that I could eat incendiary atchar was sort of beyond belief.

Whenever these gatherings happened, it was just us guys. Wives and girlfriends stayed away, even the wife of whomever was hosting the party (even though she would have prepared most if not all the food!).

When I was in Guyana, pre-mixed curry powder was the norm in cooking. This recipe reflects that tendency. When I made Indian food frequently, I would keep one or two types of homemade curry powders on hand as a quick solution to a weeknight meal. For this recipe, feel free to use a good quality commercial curry powder.

Guyanese Curried Chickpeas

Two cans of chickpeas can be used instead of the 3 to 3 ½ cups of home cooked beans but home-cooked are so good, and so much better. If using canned chickpeas, taste the canning liquid to decide whether to use it or discard it and rinse the chickpeas. The curry should be basically dry at the end so do not put in too much liquid at the beginning. Although not strictly Guyanese, adding a tablespoon or so of minced ginger with the garlic is a welcome taste treat.

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Sides, Vegetarian

Cuisine

West Indian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
Habanero or Scotch Bonnet pepper minced, to taste
2 tablespoons Indian-style curry powder
1 1/2 cups liquid either water, chickpea cooking liquid or liquid from canned chickpeas
1 tablespoon lime juice preferably from Mexican or Key limes
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Sides, Vegetarian

Cuisine

West Indian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
Habanero or Scotch Bonnet pepper minced, to taste
2 tablespoons Indian-style curry powder
1 1/2 cups liquid either water, chickpea cooking liquid or liquid from canned chickpeas
1 tablespoon lime juice preferably from Mexican or Key limes
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Instructions

Sauté the onion in butter until translucent.
Add the garlic and minced hot pepper.
Continue sautéeing until the onion is golden and the garlic is fragrant.
Add the curry powder.
Sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the raw smell is gone.
Add the liquid.
Bring to a boil and simmer approximately 20 minutes to develop flavor.
Add the chickpeas.
Simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. The chickpeas should be almost dry by the end.
Adjust salt and pepper while cooking.
Off the heat and stir in the lime juice and serve

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Piselli in Umido (Peas in Tomato Sauce)

6 Comments

April 11, 2018

Italians have knack for combining a modest array of vegetables into an almost endless cannon of dishes, each of which is distinctive, even if the interrelationships of the various parts are obvious.

This dish of peas cooked in tomato sauce is from my husband’s paternal grandmother, Amerina Pieri.

I learned to make this from my mother-in-law, Marisa, Amerina’s daughter-in-law.

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Everyone who makes it adds his or her own signature. Mine is not exactly like my mother-in-law’s and I’m sure hers is not just like Zia (Aunt) Ida’s, Amerina’s daughter.

Interestingly, Nonni (as we all called her) used canned peas. In talking with my father-in-law (who grew up eating this) and my mother-in-law, they were pretty sure Nonni would not have used canned peas in Italy unless she possibly canned them herself. Somehow canned peas became the norm in America.

**Amerina Pieri (aka Nonni or Nonni’merina) Christmas 2005**

And, while canned peas produce a pretty good dish, I prefer something a little fresher. Because really good fresh peas are available for only a few weeks a year at the Farmers Market in Santa Fe, I usually use frozen peas.

If the frozen peas haven’t been in your freezer so long that they start to dry out and freeze into a block they are superior to “fresh” peas except during the few weeks a year when they are really locally-grown and truly fresh.

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My mother-in-law usually uses canned tomato sauce when making this, as did Nonni (at least when she made it on this side of the Atlantic Ocean!).

I use tomato paste and water. If you read the ingredient lists on cans of tomato sauce that you can buy in the United States, you will find that most are made from tomato paste and water, so why not just do it yourself? Those few brands of tomato sauce that are not made from diluted tomato paste are a little too sour for my taste. I would opt for a good-quality tomato puree instead.

**My favorite brand of domestically produced tomato paste**

Tomato paste has a richer flavor than tomato sauce or tomato puree. I attribute this to the extra cooking that is needed to concentrate the tomatoes. Those little cans provide the foundation of a taste that could otherwise only be achieved with hours of simmering.

Homemade tomato puree would be another good option if you want a fresher, more summery taste. Here’s where you can find my recipe.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look. They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Piselli in Umido (Peas in Tomato Sauce)

Fresh or canned peas can be used in place of frozen. Fresh peas will take longer to cook. The canned peas should be cooked briefly to avoid overcooking. I like to rinse off frozen vegetables to remove any ice crystals on the exterior. I find the ice crystals can carry a “freezer” taste.

Course

Sides, Vegetables

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound frozen petit peas
1/2 onion finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 sage leaves minced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 x 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
Pinch rosemary fresh or dry, optional
Pinch Pinch dry oregano optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Sides, Vegetables

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound frozen petit peas
1/2 onion finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 sage leaves minced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 x 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
Pinch rosemary fresh or dry, optional
Pinch Pinch dry oregano optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Sauté the onion, garlic, sage, parsley and ½ teaspoon of salt in the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan till the onion is translucent.
Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until it evaporates.
Add the tomato paste and sauté until it becomes slightly darker, 3-4 minutes.
Add the water, sugar, bay leaf, rosemary, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer, partially covered, until thickened, approximately 45 minutes.
Adjust seasoning.
Rinse the frozen peas under cool water to remove any ice crystals.
Add the frozen peas to the sauce.
Simmer approximately 15 minutes, adjusting seasoning once again, if needed.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Sri Lankan Zucchini and Peppers

Kidney Beans in Tomato Sauce

2 Comments

February 19, 2018

As you may have figured out by now, we live in a multi-generational household.

My husband’s parents live in our casita in Santa Fe. Before we moved to Santa Fe, they lived in our coach house in Chicago.

Meals are usually communal affairs and, after many years, I’m learning to make some of my mother-in-law’s dishes that I’ve taken for granted for more than 20 years.

Though these beans could easily be the centerpiece of a vegetarian meal if you leave out the bacon, they usually accompany something more pleasing to carnivores (that would be my husband and my father-in-law). For this rendition, I went back to the original recipe, with bacon, though usually my mother-in-law leaves it out and simply adds a few tablespoons of olive oil to sauté the onion and bell pepper.

**My husband at two years of age with his parents**

As I was learning to make these with my mother-in-law, I also learned that the recipe originally came from Lorraine, the wife of my brother-in-law’s godfather, Jack. Lorraine is of Polish heritage but was married to Jack, a close friend of my father-in-law who moved to the USA from Italy.

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I’m totally confused by the heritage of these beans. My mother-in-law says they’re Polish based on Lorraine. I always thought of them as Italian because, until recently, I thought the recipe was from my mother-in-law’s family and, also, because the red sauce with bacon is pretty similar to an Italian-American adaptation of a classic Italian method for cooking green beans. The bacon is a substitute for pancetta which is the same cut of meat as bacon but which is not smoked after it is cured.

I guess I’m going to have to go with my mother-in-law’s assertion that these are Polish though I can’t say I ever had anything like them among the Poles and other Eastern Europeans in my hometown of Johnstown, PA. Really, though, that’s not definitive. I’ve never had any potato cakes like my Slovak grandmother’s (unless they were made by one of her daughters-in-law, of which there were seven!). That doesn’t make those potato cakes any less Slovak, though.

Red beans and tomatoes are a common combination internationally. There are versions from New Orleans to Haiti to India to South America to Italy to name just a few. To be sure, the seasonings vary tremendously but the basics, red beans and a tomato-based sauce, remain the same.

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**Fast forward to the 1970’s: my husband (on the right) and his brother (on the left) with their parents**

I’ve decided to keep this recipe in its original form, with canned beans and tomato sauce. Although I keep an array of canned beans in my pantry for unexpected events I usually prefer to start with dry beans. Most commercial brands of tomato sauce are made from tomato paste and water, with a bit of onion powder and garlic powder added. In place of tomato sauce, I typically use tomato paste and water to achieve the same results.

Kidney Beans in Tomato Sauce

These beans can be made without the bacon, or with less bacon, in which case a few tablespoons of oil will need to be used to sauté the onion and bell pepper. If you want extra sauce just increase the amount of tomato sauce. You can sauté a clove or two of minced garlic with the onion and bell pepper if you would like. The liquid from the canned beans will improve the consistency of the sauce. Before using it, however, taste it to be sure that it does not have a metallic flavor which happens with some brands of beans. If so, drain and rinse the beans and add additional water in place of the liquid in the cans.

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Sides, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Polish

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion diced
1/2 green bell pepper diced
2-3 ounces bacon chopped
2 x 15 oz cans red kidney beans
1 x 8 ounce can tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Sides, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Polish

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion diced
1/2 green bell pepper diced
2-3 ounces bacon chopped
2 x 15 oz cans red kidney beans
1 x 8 ounce can tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Dice the onion.
Dice the bell pepper.
Chop the bacon.
Sauté the bacon until it begins to color, adding a small amount of oil if needed to keep it from sticking.
Add the onion and bell pepper to the bacon.
Sauté until the onion just begins to color and the pepper becomes a dull green and starts to soften. It may be necessary to cover the pan and/or add a tiny amount of water if the onion and/or pepper begin to get too brown.
Add the beans and their liquid.
Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
Add tomato sauce and water.
Simmer, partially covered, for approximately one hour, adding additional water if necessary.
Taste and adjust seasoning while the beans are cooking.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Roman Beans and Kale

5 Comments

January 12, 2018

I don’t remember my mother making Roman Beans and Kale till I was in my late teens.

The first time she made it, I remember her talking about her mother making it. For something she really liked, she waited an awfully long time to make it. But then, again, I did the same thing with her pasta è fagioli.

There were some dishes from her childhood that she talked about but never made. Tiella is the one that I remember most. It took me multiple tries over many years to recreate it from her description.

Roman beans and kale might seem a little unusual to many American palates due to the length of time the kale is cooked. There is a point where it becomes silky but most definitely not mushy. Southerners, though, would find the kale in this recipe cooked in a familiar way. It is much like the Southern low-and-slow style of cooking greens of various types, such as collards or mustard greens, until they achieve the requisite tenderness.

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Texture is an important part of this dish. The beans should yield but not be falling apart. The kale should not provide any resistance the way it would if it were just quickly sautéed. The pasta, however, should be al dente.

Beans, kale and pasta are all pretty mellow-tasting in my estimation. The garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese are what give this dish its flavor oomph! At the table, I add crushed red pepper but it shouldn’t be cooked into the dish.

Roman beans are also called Borlotti or Cranberry beans. Depending on where you live you might have to order them. In a pinch, though, you could use pinto beans or Anasazi beans. (If you’re a bean savant, you’ll notice that I used Anasazi beans as I was unable to find Roman beans after searching market shelves in two different cities for a couple of months. Though I could have gotten them online, I didn’t think the huge price premium was worth it.)

My mother’s approach to cooking most foods was definitely low and slow. It’s classically Italian and so NOT French, which often aims for “high and fast!” Though culinary education is now more inclusive and not so heavily French, we have a strong cultural bias away from slow, leisurely cooking due to the strong French influence of the past decades. There are exceptions however, largely based on strong regional traditions, barbecue, for example. But for the most part, mainstream America, and certainly mainstream American food and cooking publications, just don’t “get” low and slow.

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There are some foods that don’t benefit from low and slow, at least when cooked traditionally; steaks for instance. My mother’s approach to these was that they should be well done, even though that state was achieved quickly. In our house steaks were most often seasoned with olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and broiled. I think it’s a wonderful flavor combination. But it wasn’t until my late teens that I developed an appreciation for rare beef.

I remember one meal where my sister and I cooked the steaks for ourselves and our dad. They were medium rare, as I recall. Even though our mom didn’t have a hand in cooking them (and cooked her own steak well done) she spent the entire meal feeling like she had served us bad food. The fact that we liked it didn’t seem to matter. She had very definite opinions about what constituted good food, and something that was bleeding onto the plate didn’t fit!

Recently I bought sous vide equipment. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m itching to do so. Steaks will be first. The food gets vacuum sealed and then cooked slowly…for hours…in a hot water bath that is maintained at the temperature one wants the food to achieve. The meat is cooked uniformly throughout…low and slow! For steaks, one would want to quickly sear the outside before serving but many foods, like fish, poached eggs, and even hollandaise sauce can be used right out of the water bath.

For now, though, let’s try a slow-cooked pot of beans and greens…Italian style!!

Roman Beans and Kale

The beans should be cooked through but not falling apart. The kale should take on a silky texture but not be mushy. The pasta should still be a bit “toothy." This is even better if made a day or two in advance and refrigerated. If you are doing this, you will want to undercook the pasta so that it is not too soft after the dish is reheated for serving. Alternately, you can omit the pasta when mixing the beans and kale, then add it when reheating. Depending on where you live, you might not be able to find Roman beans. Roman beans are also called Cranberry or Borlotti beans. If you can’t find Roman beans, you can substitute Pinto or Anasazi beans.

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces, Sides, Soups and Stews, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 1/2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound dried Roman beans
2 bunches kale
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups small dry pasta such as ditalini, optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated, for serving

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces, Sides, Soups and Stews, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 1/2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound dried Roman beans
2 bunches kale
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups small dry pasta such as ditalini, optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated, for serving

Instructions

Rinse and pick over the beans.
Cover the beans with six cups of water.
Simmer the beans until almost fully cooked, adding 2 teaspoons of salt and black pepper to taste after the beans have cooked for an hour. If necessary, add a bit of boiling water from time to time to keep the beans just submerged. The beans will cook for about 10-15 minutes more after the kale is added so don't overcook them.
Meanwhile, cut out the center ribs of the kale.
Kale ribs about to be discarded.
Cut the leaves crosswise into large pieces.
Rinse and drain the kale.
Bring a quart of salted water to a boil.
Add the kale. The kale should quickly wilt enough to be covered by water. If not add a bit more water to just cover the kale.
Simmer the kale, covered, stirring occasionally, until cooked to a silky texture, approximately 1 hour.
While the kale is cooking, crush the garlic with the side of a chef's knife.
Slowly brown the garlic in the olive oil.
Once the garlic has browned, remove the oil from the heat. Discard the garlic. Reserve the garlic-infused oil.
If using pasta, bring two quarts of water seasoned with 1/4 cup of salt to a rolling boil.
When the pasta-cooking water comes to a boil, add the pasta. At the same time, add the kale and its cooking water to the beans. Keep the beans and kale at a simmer.
Cook the pasta in boiling water until it is still a little crunchy on the inside.
Drain the pasta and add it to the pot with the beans and kale.
Add the garlic-infused oil.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Cook everything, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente, just a few minutes longer.
Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Cuban Black Beans

1 Comment

December 1, 2017

Black beans are ubiquitous on tables in Cuba.

Getting beans to the right texture and the liquid to the right thickness is almost an art form.

Food is scarce in Cuba…at least if you’re a Cuban paying in Cuban Pesos. Not so much if you’re paying in CUCs (Cuban Convertible Pesos), which is what foreigners use. The CUC is pegged to the US Dollar but if you change Dollars for CUCs you pay a 10% penalty as opposed to exchanging another currency, say the Euro, for CUCs.

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Prices in Cuban Pesos at a locals’ only market

**Another view of a locals’ only market**

I visited a butcher shop in Havana which pretty much now only sells chicken; when chicken is available, that is. If you notice the door to the cooler is open. That’s because the cooler isn’t on because there’s no inventory.

The butcher is just waiting around for chicken to arrive.

When that chicken does arrive, it will likely be frozen Tyson chicken from the United States. Even though, when this picture was taken, the US embargo of Cuba was in full force.

**Most of the chicken in Cuba is frozen Tyson chicken from the United States**

The same is true of hot sauce. If one asks for hot sauce at a restaurant in Cuba one is likely to get a bottle of Tabasco shipped in from Avery Island, Louisiana. Clearly there are exceptions to the embargo for some American companies!

If you pay in CUCs, the food available increases dramatically.

**One stall in a multi-vendor market where prices are denominated in CUCs**

**Locally prepared beverages in the CUC-denominated market**

The disparity in prices for food purchased with Pesos vs CUCs is so large that average Cubans cannot afford to buy food with CUCs, even if they can get them. It takes 25 Cuban Pesos to buy one CUC. Paying in Pesos limits one to shopping in pretty-much locals’ only stores, with limited inventory where the products, like rice and beans, are sold at subsidized prices.

Rum is widely available regardless of the currency. You’ll pay more if you’re a foreigner, however.

**Havana Club is a popular brand of rum in Cuba**

**A well-stocked bar ready for the day’s customers**

After returning from the trip to Cuba in 2014, I tried but couldn’t get the texture of my “Cuban” black beans right. But then, my mother-in-law got a recipe from Beatriz (Betty) Scannapieco. Betty is from Cuba. She was in the exercise group my in-laws attend. Betty’s recipe, using a pressure cooker as is common in Cuba, works like a dream. It’s really pretty effortless, too. The green pepper, onion, and garlic add tremendous flavor but are removed after cooking leaving just beans and the silky cooking liquid.

I made three changes to Betty’s recipe. She called for 1 teaspoon of white wine. I use 1 tablespoon. Betty didn’t use tomato paste or black pepper but both are common ingredients in many Cuban black bean recipes.

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Cuban Black Beans

This recipe came from Beatriz (Betty) Scannapieco in my in-law’s exercise group. Betty is from Cuba. I added the tomato paste and black pepper to Betty’s recipe. I also increased the wine from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon. It can be challenging to get the bell pepper, onion, and garlic out of the beans as they very soft after cooking. If you want to make it easier, you could tie them in cheesecloth.

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Cuban

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

1 1/4 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

1/2 pound dried black beans
1 green bell pepper
1 medium onion
3-5 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves preferably fresh
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste optional
1 tablespoon white wine
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt approximately
black pepper to taste optional

Course

Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Cuban

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

1 1/4 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

1/2 pound dried black beans
1 green bell pepper
1 medium onion
3-5 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves preferably fresh
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste optional
1 tablespoon white wine
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt approximately
black pepper to taste optional

Instructions

Wash the beans.
Cover beans with water by a couple of inches and soak overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, cut the bell pepper in half and remove ribs and seeds.
Cut the onion into 4 or 6 wedges, but do not cut the whole way through the root end.
Bruise the garlic by laying the blade of a chef's knife on top and gently pounding the knife blade.
Drain the beans. Put the beans in a pressure cooker along with 3 ¼ cups of fresh water.
Bring the beans to a boil, uncovered.
Skim the foam from the beans then remove the pot from heat.
Add the green pepper, onion, garlic and bay leaves to the beans.
Put the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to 10 pounds pressure.
Reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the pressure cooker from heat and allow pressure to dissipate naturally.
Uncover the pressure cooker.
Add the olive oil, tomato paste (if using), wine, vinegar, salt and black pepper (if using).
Bring to a boil uncovered and boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Cool slightly and remove bell pepper, onion, bay leaves, and garlic.
The beans can be served immediately but are better if refrigerated overnight.
Serve the beans in a shallow bowl with pieces of finely diced raw onion in the center. Black beans are customarily accompanied by white rice.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Cabbage and Noodles (Halushki)

2 Comments

November 27, 2017

One of the interesting consequences of working on this blog is that it is getting me to cook more Slovak food.

We ate way more Italian food than Slovak food when I was growing up but, nonetheless, Slovak food was a significant presence on our table.

Things that only lived in my memory, like the Chicken Paprikash that I posted a few weeks ago, and my Grandma Mihalik’s Butter Cookies that are coming up in a week or two, are now real. And it’s not only the Slovak food. The Chinese Five-Spice Roast Pork from last week hasn’t been on my table in more than 40 years!

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Part of the reason is that, as much as I enjoy cooking, I hadn’t devoted as much time to planning what I was going to cook as I did when I was younger. That is, until I got deep into this blog (and the restaurant cookbook I’ve been asked to write).

In Junior and Senior years of college there was a plan for dinner for every day of every week. Sometimes there was a plan for lunch, too!

Good provisions weren’t conveniently located to the University of Pennsylvania campus except for some specialty items from the ethnic markets near campus or the occasional very basic item from one of two nearby (in-super) supermarkets. Grocery shopping was done weekly and involved a trip to Ninth Street (sometimes called the Italian Market), and to the Pathmark supermarket in Broomall, PA.

Every meal got planned and a shopping list was created.

The planning was usually done in the evenings when I needed a break from studying (which I know some of you think I never did!). I would sit down with a cookbook or two, or my box of recipes handwritten on 3” x 5” index cards, or the typewritten recipes from Mrs. Hugh, my roommate’s mother and, over the course of the week, generate a list of what my roommate and I were going to have for dinner each night. Some were favorites but many were new, like the whole poached fish I made from Marcella Hazan’s first cookbook or Mrs. Hugh’s Crispy Duck (see the photo embedded in this blog post).

One of my favorite books was a slim volume by Charmaine Solomon. Charmaine was from Sri Lanka and two of the resident advisors in my college house, Reggie and Nanacy Rajapakse, were also from Sri Lanka and knew Charmaine. Charmaine’s Far Eastern Cookbook was copyrighted in 1972 (the year I started college). The edition I have was printed in 1973 so it was quite new when I bought it in 1974 shortly after entering the International Residence Project. I read that book cover to cover, like a novel, many times. I could sit for hours and pore over Charmaine’s recipes.

**My dog-eared and much beloved copy of Charmaine Solomon’s Far Eastern Cookbook**

In 1976, when I graduated college, Reggie and Nanacy bought me another of Charmaine’s cookbooks as a present, The Complete Asian Cookbook.

Another favorite cookbook was the [Ceylon] Daily News Cookery Book which was in the collection of the Van Pelt library at the University of Pennsylvania. I would check it out, keep it as long as I could, return it, and then check it out again. It was a hardcover book with a red cloth cover. It was simply titled the Daily News Cookery Book. Reference to Ceylon was nowhere to be found in the title. Many years later, on a trip to Sri Lanka, I was able to get a reprint of the book (with the word Ceylon added to the title).

My point, though, is that my cooking repertoire expanded because I worked at it. Ray and I planned every meal, we went grocery shopping, we cooked, and we most certainly ate. I was still able to keep up a good cooking pace through medical school but after that, as I got busier and busier, it became harder and harder.

While I can put food on the table any given night without much thought, recreating past favorites or trying out new recipes requires more planning. I now have a calendar specifically devoted to cooking. Dishes get planned out weeks, if not months, in advance. It’s a lot of work, yes, but it’s tremendously rewarding to prepare my favorite foods, many of which I haven’t had in many years, and introduce them to others.

Cabbage and Noodles, sometimes called Halushki, was frequently on our table. I remember it particularly being served with Salmon Patties, one of my favorite Friday meals when we didn’t eat meat. We had it other times, too, but the association of Cabbage and Noodles with Salmon Patties is very strong.

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Cabbage and Noodles (Halushki)

Although three pounds of cabbage sounds like a lot, it cooks down a tremendous amount. If you wish, you can add a teaspoon or two of caraway seed to the cabbage during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Though my family did not do that, it is not unusual to do so.

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces, Sides, Vegetables

Cuisine

Slovak

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 large head of green cabbage approximately 3 pounds
1 large onion diced
6 tablespoons butter
1 pound wide egg noodles
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces, Sides, Vegetables

Cuisine

Slovak

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 large head of green cabbage approximately 3 pounds
1 large onion diced
6 tablespoons butter
1 pound wide egg noodles
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Quarter and core the cabbage.
Slice each quarter crosswise into ½ inch wide ribbons.
In a heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold the cabbage comfortably melt four tablespoons of the butter.
Sauté the onion in the butter until golden.
Add the cabbage. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Sauté on medium heat, stirring often, until the cabbage wilts.
Reduce the heat if the cabbage starts to stick to the pot.
Continue to cook on medium low, partially covered and stirring often, until the cabbage is silky, golden, and sweet. This will take 1 ½ to 2 hours total from start to finish.
The cabbage can be cooked several hours in advance to this point. Warm the cabbage before proceeding.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add 1/3 cup of salt.
Cook the egg noodles in the salted water until just done. They should be slightly toothy and definitely not mushy.
Drain the noodles.
Add the noodles to the cooked cabbage along with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Toss well.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

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Tiella (Southern Italian Vegetable and Pasta Casserole)

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September 18, 2017

When I was growing up, we mostly socialized within the extended family plus a very few close family friends (that’s you, Joe and Betty Slivosky!).

It was a time (the 60’s) and place (small-town Western Pennsylvania) where it was rare to call in advance of a visit. One just showed up. This usually happened in the evening after dinner, though almost never on Monday or Thursday when the stores downtown were open until 9 PM and we dressed and went shopping after dinner.

Everyone would sit around (usually in the kitchen) drinking coffee (with caffeine), chatting…and smoking. Oh, the smoking! Occasionally the men would drink beer but unless it was a holiday or celebration of some sort, hard liquor was a rarity.

On Sundays, visiting frequently occurred (or at least started) in the afternoon and there might be two or three stops before heading home.

I can’t tell you how many times I heard the same stories. It’s one of the ways I developed a connection with family members, like my maternal grandparents, who died when I was very young.

To be sure, sometimes my cousin Donna and I would abandon the adults and pursue some childhood activity but we still hung out in the kitchen much of the time.

Often times the conversation would veer towards food; things my grandmother would make, the huge platters of cannoli one of my great aunts would make, what was eaten on holidays, and on and on.

There was the oft-repeated reminder of how my grandfather could come home late at night with a group of friends and how my grandmother would cook for them near midnight. There were stories of my grandmother cleaning and cooking chicken feet. My mother would talk about the time she killed a chicken in the basement and it got away from her and ran, headless, around the room. My father would remind everyone that the only food he didn’t like was gnocchi.

Food was a central feature of our lives.

So was conversation.

There were also times I would just sit in the kitchen and chat with my mother for hours. Relatives and food were common topics of conversation. There were dishes my grandmother made that I heard about over and over but never tasted because my mother never made them for some inexplicable reason. One of them was a quickly sautéed veal chop with a pan sauce made of the drippings in the pan, crushed canned tomatoes, peas, and seasonings. Back in the days when I cooked veal, I actually made it. Now I do it with pork chops.

The other dish that stands out in my memory from these conversations is Tiella. My mother talked of it frequently but never made it. The instructions were basic, a layer of pasta, a layer of potatoes, a layer of zucchini, and a can of tomatoes crushed by hand and poured on top. The whole thing was then baked. There wasn’t much of a discussion of which seasonings to use or proportions of ingredients. It was just assumed it would have garlic (of course it would have garlic) and the herbs that were commonly used in our family. Proportions…well…it just needed to look “right.”

For the number of times my mother rhapsodized about this dish, I can’t figure out why she never made it.

The first time I tried to make it was in the early 1990’s at our little house on Griffin Street in Santa Fe. That first time around, it didn’t live up to the hype, for sure, but it christened the house in an odd way.

In November 1992 my mother, my husband’s mother, and my husband’s grandmother traveled to Santa Fe with us for Thanksgiving week. We looked at property and fell for a little (1151 square foot) house on Griffin Street. My mother was terminally ill at the time. When we got back home, my mother insisted that we use her money for the down payment, which we did. She kept saying that she wanted to live long enough to return to that house in the spring. It didn’t happen. She died in early January.

All of the kitchen gear, china, and glassware for the house on Griffin came from my mother’s house. So, it was fitting that I should make this dish for the first time using my mother’s kitchenware in a house that we owned thanks to her.

It took me many years of working (off and on) on the seasonings and proportions to get it to taste great. (Well, I think it does.) The only real liberty I took with the dish is to use fresh tomatoes rather than canned when I make this in the summer.

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Tiella (Southern Italian Vegetable and Pasta Casserole)

This is a wonderful late summer dish when tomatoes are at their peak. If you make it at other times, use a 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes in place of the tomato puree and fresh tomatoes. Pour the liquid in the can over the potatoes instead of the puree. Crush the tomatoes by hand, add the seasonings described for fresh tomatoes, and arrange the crushed tomatoes on top.

Course

Mains, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

2 hours

Passive Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

5 ounces ditalini pasta
21 ounces russet potatoes peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
22 ounces small zucchini peeled and sliced ½ inch thick
2 pounds ripe tomatoes sliced ⅓ inch thick
1 cup tomato puree preferably homemade (see note)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic crushed
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil cut into chiffonade
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 cup breadcrumbs made from day old Italian or French bread
salt
black pepper freshly ground

Course

Mains, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

2 hours

Passive Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

5 ounces ditalini pasta
21 ounces russet potatoes peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
22 ounces small zucchini peeled and sliced ½ inch thick
2 pounds ripe tomatoes sliced ⅓ inch thick
1 cup tomato puree preferably homemade (see note)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic crushed
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil cut into chiffonade
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 cup breadcrumbs made from day old Italian or French bread
salt
black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the olive oil and crushed garlic in a small sauté pan. Sauté garlic until lightly browned. Remove the garlic and reserve the oil.
Put the raw ditalini in the bottom of a deep, circular casserole, approximately 10 inches in diameter. The pasta should form a single layer with a fair amount of extra room for it to expand.
Add 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, ¼ of the minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and mix well.
In a bowl, toss the sliced potatoes with half the rosemary, ⅓ of the oregano, ¼ of the basil, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, ¼ of the minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
Arrange the potatoes neatly in overlapping layers on top of the ditalini. Do not wash the bowl.
Season the tomato puree with salt and pour over the potatoes.
In the same bowl used for the potatoes, toss the zucchini with the remaining oregano, ¼ of the basil, the remaining rosemary, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, ¼ of the minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
Arrange the zucchini on top of the potatoes. Do not wash the bowl.
Neatly arrange half the tomatoes on top of the zucchini. Season with half the remaining minced garlic, half the remaining basil, and salt and pepper.
Arrange the remaining tomatoes on top and season with salt and pepper as well as the remaining garlic, basil, and all the parsley.
Put the tiella in the preheated oven.
Remove the crusts from several slices of day-old Italian or French bread. Whiz the bread in a food processor to make coarse crumbs.
While the tiella bakes, toss the breadcrumbs with the remaining garlic oil in the bowl used for the potatoes and zucchini.
After the tiella has baked for 90 minutes, sprinkle the oiled crumbs on top and bake till golden, approximately 30 minutes more.
Allow to rest at least 30 minutes before serving. The tiella can be served warm or at room temperature. It can also be reheated in the oven briefly before serving, if desired.