Smoky Vegetarian Crock Pot Baked Beans

After a trip to the southern BBQ joint Blue Smoke, I was craving some more warm, tangy baked beans. I figured it would be easy enough to make in my crock pot. I was also lucky enough to receive a jar of Catskills homemade maple syrup as a gift from Jesse's coworker - I don't know how he made it, but his syrup has a crazy smoky flavor! So it was perfect for whipping up a smoky barbecue sauce to coat the beans. Thanks to the special syrup, this recipe tasted great without any bacon or pork (as baked beans traditionally include), but I think I'd be happy making these vegetarian again even without the benefit of the smoke.

Smoky Vegetarian Crock Pot Baked Beans

2 cups dried beans
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp smoky maple syrup
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp salt
several grinds of pepper

The night before, place dried beans in bowl to soak, filled with water about two inches above the beans.
Whisk together remaining ingredients and reserve in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, drain and rinse beans. Combine beans, barbecue sauce, and 1 1/2 cup of water in crock pot and stir until beans are coated in sauce. Let cook on low approximately 4 hours, turn to high for 2-3 hours, and then turn to low until ready to serve.

Heart Attack Day

I hadn't had red meat in a while, and I'd been craving it for weeks. Finally, last Friday I picked up a package of bacon from Flying Pigs and a cut of Grazin' Angus Acres steak, and then unintentially cooked both meats last Sunday, on what you might call "Heart Attack Day." Except since I eat pork and steak so infrequently, I think it's okay to treat myself once in a while.

Brunch was a spiffed up breakfast sandwich featuring sunnyside eggs, bacon, and sliced tomato on toasted rye bread.



I usually put Jesse in charge of cooking the bacon, but this time I wanted to experiment by cooking one batch in the oven and one batch on the stovetop. Google led me to many rave reviews about how awesome oven-baked bacon is - crisp meat and simple cleanup. But I cannot agree. As directed, I preheated my oven to 400 degrees, lined a baking pan with aluminum foil, laid my bacon down, and put it in the oven. And kept checking. And checking. Recipes indicated that it would only need about 15 minutes in the oven, but after more than 30 minutes it still wasn't crispy, even after turning the heat up to 400. So I took it out and ate it as it was - which was fine, it just wasn't that awesome crunch I was craving.

My stovetop bacon was undoubtedly superior - crispy to the point of crunchy - which was the way I like it. It was done in under ten minutes, and I didn't think cleaning out my pan was all that hard. So I definitely fall in the stovetop bacon camp.

Once brunch was devoured, I set to work at marinating my steak. I bought a flat iron steak, because it was the only cheap cut he had left. I read that this is a relatively new cut in the world of meat, taken from the shoulder, and it tastes best after marinating, much like flank steak. After trimming off a ton of fat from the steak, I laid it in my usual marinade mixture of balsamic vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, water, diced garlic, salt, and pepper - and this time I added some chopped fresh sage from my deck.

I let the steak marinate for about eight hours while I enjoyed a very relaxing Sunday....dreamily reading through pretty magazines on my sundappled bed, and then a scrabble game and pumpkin ale in Black Rabbit's pretty green backyard.



In the evening, I put Jesse to work at the grill. He achieved a beautiful charred crust on the steak, though I have no idea how, because he wouldn't tell me - he's keeping it a "chef's secret"!



For a side, I whipped up colorful smashed potatoes and rainbow swiss chard (the purple tint comes from a mixture of Adriondack blue potato and yukon gold potato). I was going for a cross between potato salad, with its crunch and mayo-mustardy flavor, and colcannon mashed potatoes, dotted with creamy greens. I ingeniously chopped the swiss chard stems into little pieces to stand in for the traditional celery of potato salad, while swiss chard stood in for the cabbage that's traditionally mashed into colcannon. It turned out as deliciously as I had dreamed. I meant to save some for lunch the next day, but it was so good I ate it all at dinner - oops! Together with the hearty iron-rich steak, this dinner was exactly what my body needed!

Smashed Potatoes and Swiss Chard
2 medium-large sized potatoes
1 bunch swiss chard
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper

Rinse and chop potatoes into 2 inch pieces. Add potatoes to a pot of salted boiling water and simmer for about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain in colander, reserving a tablespoon of cooking water.

Rinse swiss chard. Chop stems into small pieces and set aside. Chop swiss chard leaves into chiffonade. Sautee swiss chard leaves in olive oil over medium low heat until wilted.

Combine potatoes, wilted swiss chard, and swiss chard stems in a bowl. Add reserved cooking water, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and then mash with a fork or wooden spoon to desired smashed consistency. Serves 2 as a side dish.

Learning to Love Turnips

The fun part about eating seasonally is getting to try new things. There has been a lot of that so far this spring, what with the ramps and spring garlic. When I was at Union Square last week on one of my semi-regular lunchtime farmers market trips, I came upon turnip greens, and realized they would be the perfect side to the bison flank steak I had marinating in the fridge for dinner. At this time of year, the turnip greens are attached to little turnips freshly plucked from the ground, so you can eat the whole plant.


my how dirty you are

I feel like Alice Waters, cooing over baby vegetables emerging from the earth, such as turnips and radishes, that can be sliced and eaten raw in salads or dipped in mayonnaise or butter and popped whole into one's mouth. I added some baby turnips to a variation on my Greek salad last week and they served me just fine.


before: raw potatoes and turnips

However, I've never been a fan of roasted or mashed turnips, which always seem to more sour and bitter than their raw counterparts. But give that I'd only ever roasted old turnips that had been stored winter-long, I thought I would give these baby turnips the benefit of the doubt and hope that they would come out sweeter. They didn't.


after: rosemary roasted potatoes and turnips

But luckily, I also roasted potatoes alongside the turnips to round things out. I scattered olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried rosemary from my container garden over the veggies, and roasted them until they browned on the bottom. Mmm. I managed to eat all of my turnips, with the help of mouthfuls of roasted potatoes.


before: just-washed turnip greens

As for the turnip greens, I wasn't sure how to cook them. I ended up steaming them and then sauteeing similar to my typical kale preparation, which seemed appropriate because its shape, broad leaves intersected by thick stems, reminded me of kale. However, unlike kale, these greens actually do wilt down - from what seemed to be an overwhelming bunch of greens that I feared we would be eating for days, down to two manageable side portions. And those two portions were delicious, healthy, and restorative - a deep green, a little sweet and not so bitter, warmed up with lemon and mustard. Apparently turnip greens are so full of vitamins that they are on the list of the world's healthiest foods. Paired with garlic, also on the list of world's healthiest foods, extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, lean and iron-rich bison steak, and roasted potatoesand turnips, this was one healthy meal indeed. Nothing like devouring a terrific meal and feeling good about myself while I do it.


after: sauteed turnip greens and spring garlic

Sauteed Turnip Greens and Spring Garlic

1 bunch turnip greens
extra virgin olive oil
2 stalks spring garlic
1 tbsp mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Chop baby turnip roots off turnip greens and reserve the turnips for another use. Rinse greens thoroughly. Trim off the stems, and chop rough pieces.

Steam over simmering water for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until the turnip greens are mostly wilted.

Meanwhile, mince spring garlic and sautee the garlic in olive oil over medium low heat until softened and slightly browed. Add turnip greens and continue to sautee, turning the heat down to low. Whisk together mustard, lemon juice, water, and spices in a bowl, and then add to the pan, stirring to combine. Cook another few minutes, until greens are completely wilted.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Mashed Potatoes and Salad

By misuse of technology, I lost the pictures of this meal. But the description still remains. This meal begins with the barbecue I had earlier this summer. Our neighbors had given us a pork roast, and cooking it for the bbq was my first experience cooking pork. To my delight, after eight hours on low in the crock pot, it turned into pulled pork when I went to slice it.

Weeks later when I was at the Greenmarket, I was waiting in line to get chicken or lamb or whatever I usually get from the nice man from Dines Farms. He has quite a following, always long lines, and sad exclamations from people when he's out of his variations of chicken sausage, and people place their order ahead of time to be sure they get what they want before he runs out, and he even gives out his cell number for orders. I try to get all my meat from him, though sometimes I run out and have to make do with "supermarket" meat. So there I saw - aha he sells pork roast - I could buy and make it again! Because I am always trying to make myself use my crock pot more. And because Jesse didn't get to try the pulled pork at our bbq because he was too busy at the grill! So I bought a roast and threw it into the freezer, unsure of when I would make it.

I decided to make it for this Saturday's dinner, after a long week of working overtime and before Jesse headed off to LA for a few days. Then, since it turned out that roommate and a friend were joining us, I decided to bolster the meal with sides - a Greenmarket salad, and my first time making mashed potatoes. Growing up, I hated mashed potatoes - it falls into the category of things I don't like because of creamy texture: mashed potatoes, whipped cream, yogurt, frosting on cakes from bakeries. But then my roommate made me mashed potatoes and now I'm all into them, I think because hers has tasty chunks amid the mashed potatoes and because I'm slowly getting over my picky standards from childhood.

The pork turned out nice and juicy, although it took longer than I thought it would. Unfortunately the rolls I selected from a local bakery for assembling the sandwiches were stale, so that wasn't great because it made the sandwiches tough to bite into, and many pieces of roll were left discarded on the plates. It would have been much better to use soft hamburger rolls like at my bbq. The mashed potatoes were fine, I think it would be pretty hard to mess up mashed potatoes. My friend in attendance, also named Julia, thought the salad was awesome - I chalk it to the juicy tomatoes and homemade breadcrumbs and Cindy's Kitchen, my favorite brand of salad dressing. Then today, Jesse proclaimed that he doesn't want to eat pork anymore because it felt so fattening. In fact, he felt it was so gross that it almost made him want to become a vegetarian (he who must eat a protein, preferably meat, at every meal). And that is exactly the reason why my mother never made pork growing up and why this will remain one of my few forays into cooking it, probably ever.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Slice 1/2 onion into long, thin slices. Brush approx. 2lb pork roast in barbecue sauce on all sides. Put both in crock pot with few more dabs of bbq sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for eight hours. Depending on the size of the roast, it may need to cook longer. I cooked mine on low for six hours and then on high for another two and a half hours. It is done when you slice into it and don't see any pink. Lightly toast four hamburger buns and top with dollop of bbq sauce. Pull pork out with a fork and heap on each bun. Serves four.

Mashed Potatoes with Scallions

Bring pot of water to boil, with salt. Meanwhile, chop two large yukon gold potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Also mince one clove garlic. Add potatoes and garlic to water, cover, bring to boil again, and then uncover and continue to boil until potatoes are tender. Drain potatoes in collander and then return to pot. Mash with a wooden spoon, leaving chunks. Add salt, pepper, 1/4 cup milk, 1 spoonful of butter, and a diced scallion and combine with potatoes.

Salad

In a bowl rubbed with a garlic clove I combined the following ingredients picked up at the greenmarket that morning: 1 juicy tomato, cut into small chunks; 1/2 onion diced; 1 clove garlic, minced; 4 handfuls of mixed greens, rinsed and patted dry; homemade croutons made a week earlier out of stale bread, salt, peper, garlic powder, other dry spices, toasted in the oven for 20 min and stored in tupperware until its use this night; all tossed with Cindy's Kitchen Honey Dijon Vinaigrette.

Enjoy with a nice white beer and friends.

Potato Salad with Basil Oil, Tomato, and Onion

This dish is inspired by the August 2007 Bon Appetit - potato salad with basil oil. Because I had potatoes and basil and wanted to use them up. However, I also wanted to use my bounty of tomatoes and onions, so I decided to add them into the mix. Also, the Bon Appetit recipe called for me to make a basil oil and a dijon vinagraitte but 1- i didn't think they would taste great together and 2-why complicate things? so i stuck with just the basil. it didn't get the best rating from my boyfriend, but it will do. i just had this for dinner because i didn't feel like making a main meat dish, but it would be good as a side too, with pesto or balsamic chicken.

1 large potato

1 tomato

1/4 onion

1/2 cup basil

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp hot water

salt

pepper

In large saucepan, bring enough water to boil to cover potatoes with 1 inch water. Meanwhile, chop potato into 1 inch cubes. When water boils, add potatoes, lower heat to medium, and simmer until potatoes are tender, approx. 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend basil with 3 tsp olive oil, 3 tbsp hot water, salt, and pepper. Dice onions and tomatoes and combine in a bowl. Add basil mixture to bowl. When potatoes are tender, drain in collander and add to bowl. Serve as warm summer side dish for two.

Beer Steamers

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp margarine
5 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 1/2 lb steamers (or clams or mussels)
1/2 bottle lager beer (ex. Budweiser, Molson, etc)

Sautee olive oil, margarine, garlic, and onion over medium-low heat in a deep pan or pot. Add steamers and beer, cover, and let steam until steamers open up.

Serves two as an appetizer, with toasted bread to dip into the broth.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

3 small ears of sweet corn, shucked
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tomato, diced
1/2 a red onion, diced
juice from 2 limes
1-2 tsbp olive oil
1 tsbp white wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
spinach

Place corn cobs in large pot and just barely cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove corn and let cool completely. Cut kernels from the cob into a bowl. Add beans, tomato, and onions. In separate bowl, stir lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, cilantro, and spices. Pour vinagrette over vegetables, toss, and serve over baby spinach.

Adapted from Kitchen Illiterate