Slow Cooked Creole Baked Beans

In looking for a good Creole flavored baked bean recipe, I was disappointed that none of them started with a base of the Holy Trinity, the Cajun and Louisiana Creole variant of mirepoix. I did my research on the hallmarks of good Creole flavors and created this dish.

After all was said and done, it was a lot of work to make a these baked beans in particular. While they did taste different than the baked beans out of a can, it was all subtlety. The thyme was a nice addition to the sweet and a dark flavors of your usual baked beans, while the andouille added a great smoky meaty flavor that didn't overpower.

Slow Cooked Creole Baked Beans

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. dried beans (I use 1lb. navy and the other lb. Great Northern)
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
• 4-6 celery stalks, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 Tbsp. butter
• ½ lb. andouille sausages, cubed
• ½ cup bourbon
• ½ cup molasses
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 Tbsp. Creole seasoning blend (see below)
• 1 Tbsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dry mustard, or more, to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 cps water, on reserve
• Salt, if needed.

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; store in an airtight container. Sort through the beans, discarding any that are discolored or damaged, rinse them well. Put them in a large bowl or container, cover them by at least 2 inches with cold water, and soak overnight or longer. 
2. Sauté the onions, bell pepper and celery (Holy Trinity) with garlic in with 2 Tbsp. butter until tender, about 7 minutes. Remove from the pan and add to the slow cooker.
3. Fry the andouille in the remaining pan fat, adding the additional Tbsp butter, if needed, until slightly crisp, about 7 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the bourbon and add the pan’s contents into the slow cooker.
4. Drain the soaked beans and add to the slow cooker. Follow that with molasses, brown sugar, ketchup , creole seasoning, thyme, mustard and Worcestershire.
5. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours (or high for 4 to 5 hours), until beans are tender and flavorful. Check and add a little of the reserved liquid as necessary.
6. When finished cooking, taste to see if salt is needed and add, if necessary.

In making this again, I may cut the molasses.  It was a very strong taste - very rich and almost too earthy and caramel. However I noticed that most of the recipes that I found called for unsulfured molasses. I don't know if I had unsulfured molasses or not; it was tough just to find any molasses when I went food shopping!

Creole Seasoning Mix, adapted from Creole Seasoning Blend at allrecipes.com

Most of my friends swear by Tony Chachere's for their go-to seasoning of choice. It's great; I love it. However, I can't always find it in my local area stores, especially when I've run out and I want to use it immediately.  In those cases, I whip up a batch of Creole Seasoning and I know that I'll have some good New Orleans' kick in my food.

Ingredients: (Original recipe yield was 1¼ cups, based on one part = one tablespoon)

• 1 part dried thyme
• 1 part black pepper
• 1 part white pepper
• 1 part cayenne pepper
• 1 part sugar
• 2 parts onion powder
• 2 parts garlic powder
• 2 parts dried oregano
• 2 parts dried basil
• 3 parts salt
• 5 parts paprika *

Directions:
1.    In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; store in an airtight container.

* I have replaced some of the paprika with other peppers in a ratio of 1:1.  (e.g. 1 part Hatch chili pepper, 1 part West African hot pepper and 3 parts paprika, instead of 5 parts paprika.)

myPics: Unnoticed Treasure

A week ago, my department had its biannual meeting in the Harrison Auditorium of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Before the start, I got to snap off a picture of the beautiful ceiling. It takes a moment like this to make me appreciate where I work and all the access I have to world-class collections. I'll make sure that I stop by for Vaults of Heaven: Visions-of-Byzantium which runs through February 12, 2012.

Char Siu Chicken

For this week’s recipe, I wanted to try something Chinese and came across char siu, the Chinese version of barbecue.  Usually the recipe is made with pork, either loin, pork belly or pork butt. However I had no pork in the house and I didn’t feel like going to the store.  However, by luck, I had all the other ingredients.  Plus, I did have a stash of chicken quarters and thighs that I thought would be a good substitute for the pork.  I went ahead and made the dish with chicken.

Char Siu Chicken, adapted from Cooking Light’s Slow Cooker Char Siu Pork Roast

Ingredients:

Char Siu Chicken served over rice vermicelli

• ¼ cp soy sauce
• ¼ cp hoisin sauce
• 3 Tbsp ketchup
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated\
• 1 tsp dark sesame oil
• ½ tsp five-spice powder
• 2 lbs of dark chicken pieces (quarters, thighs and/or drumsticks)
• ½ cp chicken broth

Directions:

1. Mix everything but the chicken and the broth in a small bowl and whisk well to make a marinade.   
2. In a large zip top bag, marinate the chicken pieces in the refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
3. Place chicken and marinade in the slow cooker; cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
4. Remove chicken from slow cooker; set aside.
5. Add the chicken broth to sauce in slow cooker; cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens.  In the meanwhile, remove the skin and bones, then shred chicken with 2 forks.
6. Return the chicken to the slow cooker and combine; serve hot.

I really enjoyed the rich undertones of the hoisin and honey that permeated into the chicken so that each bit of chicken is like the color of mahogany.  The five-spice powder adds a little sweet from the anise and fennel and a good little burn and heat from pepper, and from the clove and cinnamon, I get a little of both. It is a great marriage of protein and fat, sweet and savory, that is the hallmark of Cantonese cuisine.

Not yet named travel entry: Raleigh – cultural and celebration

No photos were allowed in the exhibition.

For New Year’s Eve, I traveled down to Raleigh again with my favorite traveling companion, Steve, to enjoy the city and the Rembrandt exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art.  We had picked Raleigh for the holiday, since we enjoyed the trip last year and Rembrandt in America was a big plus.  Thankfully, we were able to get into the city a day earlier to explore at a leisurely pace.

Kneeling Angel

Rembrandt in America is the largest collection of Rembrandt paintings ever presented in an American exhibition, the focus of which is the exploration of the collecting history of Rembrandt paintings in America. In addition to the Master’s works, the show also delves into the ideas of authorship and attribution.  Several of the pieces in the exhibition were originally thought to be Rembrandts, yet through advanced scholarship, they have been identified as either pieces started by Rembrandt and completed by others in his workshop or the work of his protégés.  Though, not works of Rembrandt directly, they still capture the style and traits of the Masters and have made an impact on the history of art collecting in the States.

Roxy Paine, Askew

More than five years in the making, the show is in its last weekend before moving on to the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 19 through May 28.  The Raleigh stop at the NCMA is the only East Coast venue for this show. The works have been assembled to include some of the finest paintings residing in American collections. NCMA Curator of Northern European Art Dennis P. Weller serves as a co-curator of this see exhibition, which has been. The show will continue on to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for the last stop, June 24 through September 16.

After the Rembrandt show, we visited the permanent exhibits at the NCMA, including Egyptian artifacts, Contemporary art, pieces by well known names: Pissarro, Monet, Titian, Raphael, Rubens and Govaert Flinck – a contemporary of Rembrandt, as well as a collection of Rodin sculptures. (More photos from the permanent exhibits below.)

Jan Burger & Donovan Zimmerman of Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Rhea

Fireworks at City Plaza after the Acorn Drop

Later in the evening, we headed to Raleigh’s First Night Celebration. The highlight for us is the Children’s Celebration with features crafts, performances and interactive activities. From the Ferris Wheel to the street food, from the giant Lite Brite Board to the circus acts on the street, the culmination of the celebration is the People's Procession. As a metaphor for the end of the year, the Children's Celebration ends and the evening entertainment begins, this passage of time from afternoon to evening, like from old year to new year, is heralded in through a fun, colorful parade for children of all ages.  The NC State University Pipes & Drums leads the parade with music and rhythm from the Capitol and down Salisbury Street into the street fair as folks cheer on the appearance of Rhea, a giant puppet named after the Greek mother of the gods and designed to represent the landscape of North Carolina.  The finale of the parade is the giant Acorn drop at City Plaza (for the children who can’t stay awake to usher in the New Year, and the city repeats this at midnight for those who can stay up.)  

The combination of amazing cultural activities and vibrant revelry kicks off any New Year with the spirit of hope for the potential and possibilities that lie ahead. Energized by the night, we head off to the get dinner and to the bars to ring in 2012.

Additional photos of the NCMA permanent collection

Aaron Douglas, Harriet Tubman

A bust of Aphrodite

Rajmah

This week I was looking for something vegan again to try in the slow cooker. I naturally thought of Indian cuisine. After searching “slow cooker Indian recipe”, I found a recipe for a Punjabi dish of curried kidney beans, called rajmah, on Chicago’s ABC 7’s site about The Indian Slow Cooker.

Rajmah is a Punjabi comfort food and not usually something that you would find at a restaurant.  This sense of it not being refined enough to serve at a restaurant made the dish intriguing.  Added to that is the interesting the story of Anupy Singla, the Indian Slow Cooker, which compelled me to cook this Punjabi entrée. Indian-born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Singla eventually worked her way as a reporter in Chicago – frequently as a correspondent for Chicago-based news on CNN.  To conform with her hectic schedule she would work with her mother to adapt many of her favorite Indian dishes for the slow cooker. This became her favorite way to cook. Singla has her own blog, Indian as Apple Pie.

I went ahead and made the rajmah, though I didn’t have many of the spices in whole form so I tinkered with the seasonings. Surprisingly I had some of the "Easy Garam Masala" made up from a past dish. I linked to the recipe for your convenience. 

Rajmah

Ingredients:

• 3 cups, about 1 bag dried red kidney beans, cleaned and washed thoroughly
• 1 medium yellow or red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 – 3 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped or grated
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped or grated
• 4 -6 green Thai, serrano, or cayenne chilies, stems removed, chopped
• 3 whole cloves
• ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp red chili powder
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala from Hundu for "hot mixture" and referring to the intensity and the heat of the spice, garam masala is a blend of ground spices common in North Indian and other South Asian cuisines.
• 9 cups water
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients but the cilantro in slow cooker; cook on high for 11 hours, until the beans break down and become somewhat creamy. (It’s important that it be on high since the toxic compound phytohaemagglutinin is concentrated in red kidney beans and the heat of the high setting breaks down the toxin into non-toxic proteins.) 
2. After cooking, remove and discard the cloves and if the rajmah is not creamy enough, blend about a cup or so of the beans and mix purée thoroughly.
3. Stir in the cilantro. Serve over a bed of basmati rice.

I did a little twist on the rice, by making a few cups of rice and adding the remaining cilantro chopped.  This is a quick flourish that is good for both Indian and Mexican dishes.  I serve my chili over cilantroed rice when I have it.  Also, like any good “red beans and rice” combo, I do like to add some hot sauce before eating.

Freeform Forum: Am I missing something? #shitIseeatthegym

I've only posted two #shitISeeAtTheGym on my blog, since I've been more than just lax in going to the gym. However, I've been following the trend on twitter.  I figured it would be trending more, especially now with everyone's New Year's Resolutions in full force.  It's really be crickets, I haven't seen anyone else use the hashtag since before my first posting.

Therefore, I was excited that yesterday someone tweeted: @itsquinc: #ShitISeeAtTheGym http://t.co/adfaDQhG. However, I'm not sure what he's commenting on.  Me, I think that it looks like someone in a demin skirt working out which is odd, but I wondered if I was missing something.

What do you think?

Braciole

While I had time off during the Christmas break, I spent it working on a braciole recipe for the slow cooker.
 
In Italian American cuisine, braciole (the word is commonly pronounced /ˌbrä-zhəl/ from the Sicilian dialect) is the name given to thin slices of meat, usually beef, that are prepared as a roulade, a meat slice rolled around a filling then browned and braised. When I first had braciole, they were small individual servings, like the German Rouladen.  However in my search for a slow cooker version, I discovered recipes that made a large roulade versus the individual portions.  If Giada can do it, then so can I.

The effort that goes into crafting the individual braciole is intense. Therefore, I was excited that most of the recipes called for a big roast sized braciole.  Cutting down the directions to a comfortable level of simplicity makes for a delicious meal without the hours of toil and let's the cook enjoy the food.

I played with these two recipes, Bob's Slow Cooker Braciole and Giada's, to get the guidance for the ingredients and cooking times.

Braciole

Ingredients:
•    26 oz. jar marinara sauce
•    1/2 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
•    1 garlic clove, minced
•    2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano
•    1/3 cup grated provolone
•    2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
•    1½ lbs. flank steak, pounded to 1/4 inch
•    Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
•    3 oz. prosciutto
•    2 – 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
•    1 cup dry white wine

Directions:
1.    Pour the marinara sauce into the slow cooker and set on High to warm.
2.    Combine the bread crumbs, garlic, chesses and parsley in a small bowl.
3.    Sprinkle both sides of the meat with salt and pepper. Lay the flank steak flat on the work surface. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the steak to cover the top evenly. Layer the prosciutto on top of the mixture.
4.    Starting at the short end, roll up the steak like a jelly roll to enclose the filling completely. Using butcher's twine, tie the steak roll to secure, or use toothpicks.
5.    Heat oil in a heavy skillet. Sear the stuffed flank steak in the hot oil until well browned on all sides, about 8 – 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to the warm sauce in the slow cooker.
6.    Deglaze the pan with white wine and add to the slow cooker.
7.    Spoon sauce over meat to cover.
8.    Turn slow cooker to Low; cook meat until very tender, 6 to 8 hours. Remove string/toothpicks before slicing. Serve with marinara.

My Italian-American co-workers really liked the dish when I brought it to work for lunch, so I'm impressed with the adaption that I did between the two recipes. The marinara does thin out during the cooking.  Yet like most dishes, the braciole improves the day after cooking and the sauce thickens up with time.  I served this with gemelli (or I'd suggest orecchiette) topped with the marinara and a nice side green salad. 

myPics: Art and Architecture

After viewing the "Rembrandt in America" exhibit at the NC Museum of Art, Steve and I went to look at the Museum's permanent collection. I wanted to show how the piece of art commands the far wall on the gallery while catching the sky lights that collect the indirect light from outside. If you look at the doorway, you can see Steve making sure that he got into the picture I was trying to take.