Black Bean Salad

I went out to the local Mexican restaurant last night and had some of their delicious beans and rice. It reminded me of how much I enjoy a good black bean! I feel incredibly virtuous when I eat beans. They're low in fat, rich in protein, full of complex carbohydrates, and there's lots of lovely fiber! Anything with that much natural color in it has got to be good for you! They're the perfect little package of goodness!

I decided to whip up a little black bean salad to go with our carnitas tonight! 

We want to make up a little dressing for our salad first.

I decided a little heat was in order. I had no fresh chilies around so I relied on the good old standard red pepper flakes. Just a little to wake up the taste buds.

You've gotta have a little acid in a dressing. I am staying authentic to Latin cuisine and using a lime.

I squoze the heck out of 1/4 of a lime. Squoze is a fancy technical cooking term I use often . . .

Garlic? Yes, thank you, I will!

You want it minced really finely. Use a press or mince it up with a knife. You could even grate it on a Microplane!

Now for a little salt. Just a generous sprinkling on over the garlic. You can always add a little more later.

Now I take a fork and stir it all up together. If you minced your garlic with a knife the salt will actually help smoosh it a little. Smooshing garlic in salt and acid amplifies it's flavor! Who doesn't want their garlic amplified? (Smoosh is another one of my cooking terms, I hope you're not turned off by all these technical words . . .)

Now for a little olive oil. Use the extra virgin if you've got it! Its fruitiness can actually come through in a nice cold salad like this. 

I want to pump up the Latin flavor so a little cumin is in order. I'm going to use the ground today.

Oh it smells so good! Sort of like a good pot of chili!

A little ground up coriander seed!

Coriander seed is what grows into cilantro! It's flavor is sort of citrusy. All I know is that if you put it in meat it tastes good! Yummy! I got mine at the Indian food store. Indian cuisine uses a lot of the same spices as Latin ones! So if you're ready to cook up some Mexican food you could also whip up an Indian dish too.

Dump it in and mix it all up! Your dressing is DONE. Well, except, you could stick your finger in it and see if it's salty enough for you. My canned beans already have some salt in them so I'm holding back a little.

Now for some beans. I like to use canned beans for salads. They are tender but retain their shape. Shape is important in a salad. We're not serving refried beans here!

Rinse them off. I'm using two cans of beans today because I want leftovers for lunch. Bean salad is the lunch of champions!

After the beans are drained and rinsed you put them in the bowl with the dressing.

Now a good salad has all the flavors in it. We've got sour from the lime juice, bitter from the garlic and spices, umami from the beans. We added some preliminary salt to the dressing and it's part of the beans processing. What are we missing? A touch of sweetness!

This beautiful red pepper will provide color and sweetness! How about some non-traditional sweetness?

A little Spanish onion has sweetness to me! Sweet and heat at the same time. A sweet Vidalia onion would be a lovely addition here too.

Now for a little chopped cilantro to round things out! I like it's color and it's herbaceous aroma!

Add all the happy players to the bowl and stir them up! You want to get the dressing all over everything.

Now that's a party in a bowl! Give it a taste and add more salt or lime juice as necessary. You can throw it on the table right now or put it in the refrigerator and let the flavors mingle. When I refrigerate it I taste it every 30 minutes or so just to check on it. You know . . . to make sure it's still delicious . . . maybe I should of made three cans?

Oh Black Bean Salad! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Your beans are soft and creamy!
Your dressing is silky and flavorful!
Your lime is sour and refreshing!
Your vegetables are crisp and sweet!

It's a side dish! It's a lunch! It's a salsa for chips!  It's multifunctional! Whatever you do, make this for people you love! It's good for them.

Black Bean Salad

For the dressing
juice from 1/4 of a lime
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the salad
2 cans black beans
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Stir together the dressing ingredients in the bottom of the serving bowl. Add salad component and toss gently until well mixed. Chill until serving time.

That Good Chicken

That's what my momma named it so that's what it's called!

Many years ago when my mother was visiting our family in Ohio I cooked this chicken one night. My mother generally likes her food sort of simple. She wanted the meat identifiable. The sauces simple.

The food not touching . . .

Okay, maybe she cooked that way because of me.

I like a little flash, a little ethnicity, a little booze. She had married an Air Force man so she had lived "overseas" and generally everywhere in the U.S. so it wasn't the unfamiliarity of it. It was just what she liked.

I was tickled pink when she liked this recipe that I had actually developed myself! 

It's her birthday this week. I just bet Jesus is having a beautiful German chocolate cake made for her!

Start with a chicken

This chicken is having a bath in a BRINE. For a whole chicken I use 1/2 a gallon of tap water and a 1/2 cup of table salt. You let it sit in there(refrigerated) for 3 1/2 to 5 hours. Brines are a beautiful thing. They soak into the chicken and make them reluctant to give up their moisture during cooking. What does this mean to you? I means that you can bake it or grill it as much as you like and you don't have to worry about dry white meat as much! I like my poultry cooked practically to death. A brine makes for juicy cooked to death chicken!

This chicken was a monstrous 6 lbs. What are they feeding them? Oops . . . I don't want to know. Please . . . really . . . no

After my "brining" time was done

I washed him off and dumped him in the sink to air dry a little. Heat your oven to 400 F. Meanwhile back at the cutting board . . .

I was preparing a pan. Now you know the issue with baking chicken is that the grease drips off of it and if you're using a nice high heat (great for chicken) it starts to smoke and burn. We're going to prevent that and make a side dish at the same time! So line a large cooking sheet or a large roasting pan with tin foil.

Peel some potatoes. One large potato per person will do. This isn't rocket science, you just need the potatoes to line the roasting pan.

Slice them up. I was feeling a time crunch so I used my processor. Slicing by hand is what I usually do. It just doesn't matter!

Season them with a little salt and pepper. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of oil. Toss them around and spread them out on the sheet.

Put about 1/4 cup of flour or cornstarch in a small mixing bowl. I used this huge bowl because I had used it to hold the potatoes. You can actually mix this up in a small bowl.

I like a couple of teaspoons of lemon pepper seasoning on my chicken so in it goes.

I like a teaspoon of dried thyme in here too.  Feel free to add a little more salt or pepper based on your taste. My lemon pepper is more lemon than anything so I often find myself adding 1/2 tsp of salt or so.

Now add about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

Stir it up. It should turn into a smooth mixture.

Paint the mixture on its butt . . . er, back!

Then flip it over and put it over the taters and paint it's breasts. (Goodness, Internet filters are going to block me with all this talk of butts and breasts.)

You do not have to have a rack for this! The potatoes under the chicken will cook more slowly regardless.  I was just trying to see if I could get them browned more evenly with a full on V-rack. (butts, breasts, racks, sigh.)

Now throw it in the oven for about 60-90 minutes. I like the legs to start moving really easily. A lot depends on the size of your chicken.

I'll admit it. I fuss with my chicken while it's baking. Every 15-20 minutes I jab at the potatoes to make sure the oil gets all over them. Tip the chicken to pour out any juices in it over the potatoes. I even flipped the back side up the last 20 minutes because it was too pale for me and the breast was getting a little toasty. You can even turn the heat down to 350 or so if the potatoes start to get too dark, too quick. They should start to get their major coloring the last 15-20 minutes.

After your chicken is done. Put the chicken on a platter, remove the rack and stir up the potatoes in the pan. Put them back in the oven while you let the chicken rest 10 minutes and while you carve it up. 

See how crusty your chicken ends up? See how crispy those potatoes get? The chicken tastes like some cross between an herb roast chicken and a deep fried one.

You're going to want to put those potatoes on some paper towels.  Depending on the chicken they can be swimming in delicious chicken fat goodness. You usually end up with a few that are actually burnt and a few that are pale but different strokes for different folks!

The potatoes like to stick to the foil but you can peel them off with forks and spatulas. You should have to fight for them because they are so, so, BAD for you. I used some nonstick foil this time and they slid around no problem. Mmmmm, good.

*** Wine selection? Something dry and light would be nice. I'd prefer a Pinot Grigio myself. Chardonnay would be fine if that's your thing! You could even go with a fruity chablis. If you like pink wine . . . I really like pink wine . . . then pick a nice white zinfandel. Beer? Of course you can have beer! Boulevard Pale Ale or Wheat would be delicious. A nice Shiner Bock would be tasty. Bud Light would be quite refreshing. Bon Appetit!

Crispy Roast Chicken w/ potatoes

3-5 lb chicken
6 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 tsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper

For seasoning mix: Mix together in small bowl

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

For the brine: mix together until salt dissolves

1/2 gallon tap water
1/2 cup table salt

Place chicken in brine for 3 1/2 to 5 hours. It should stay refrigerated during this time.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Rinse and dry off chicken. Line roasting sheet with foil and add potatoes to pan. Sprinkle potatoes with oil, salt and pepper then toss. Spread potatoes even across pan. Paint seasoning mixture on chicken and place on rack over potatoes. Roast for 60-90 minutes, flipping chicken to brown both sides (if you like.) If you find your chicken turning roasty brown after 30 minutes turn the heat down to 350 F. When chicken is done remove from pan, stir potatoes and continue to roast them while chicken rests, 10-15 minutes.

Cake Challenge

I'm still recovering from my 12 year old's birthday party this weekend.

Do you think having 3 extra males in the household contributed to our toilet issues?

Nah . . .

Couldn't be . . .

Like all 12 year old boys my son LOVES to watch all the cake decorating contests on Food Network. So I assumed his friends did too.  I was right.

Along with nonstop video gaming, Bey Blading, and eating I had them make birthday cakes.

Well I didn't actually have them bake them! I prebaked just like the pastry chefs on TV. I used my old friend Duncan's recipes.  So they came in and got to choose their cakes, frosting, and decorations. It's weird how much joy can be caused by five $1 cake mixes and a selection of colored frosting!

They frosted . . .

. . . with the utmost care.

They sprinkled with  . . . abandon . . .

Others, crushed and sprinkled with preciseness!

They problem solved.  There used to be a giant hole in the middle of this cake!

Others chose non-traditional decorations . . . he insisted it was delicious. The judges approached this cake with trepidation.

Spiral designs and standing stones . . . hmm? Celtic influence?

After tasting . . . (Did I mention the bravery of our judges?)

Our winner.

Judges unanimously chose the yellow cake with crushed peanut butter M&M's and M&M minis on it!  Good job Theo!!!

Then the judges had their hand at decorating . . .

Not bad for a seven year old . . .

and of course my daughter . . .

well . . .

I just don't know how my sons live with her . . .