Black Bean Stew on a Chilly Night

photo by desertculinary

We had a wonderful quick soup for dinner last night. A friend from work discovered the recipe a few weeks ago and has been encouraging me to try it. I am glad we did, It was delicious, quick, inexpensive, and filling.

Black Bean Stew

Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
4.5 oz can chopped green chilies
3 cans black beans rinsed and drained
2 cans diced tomatoes (I love the Muir Glen no salt added)
1 cup veggie broth or water
3/4 tsp salt
10 oz frozen corn

Remove corn from the freezer so it can begin to thaw.
Cook the onions in some olive oil over medium heat for 5 or 6 minutes.
Add garlic and cumin, cook about 2 minutes.
Add beans, cans of tomatoes, chilies, salt, and water or broth.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 20 to 25 minutes
Remove 2 to 3 cups of the stew and puree with your blender, food processor, or immersion blender.
Add the puree back to the stew, and add corn.
Simmer about 5 more minutes.
Garnish with chopped green onions, sour cream, or cheese.

We had tortilla chips on the side, but my friend said it is fabulous with cornbread, too.

Easy and quick homemade pizza

Homemade pizza in thirty minutes.
1.Roll out dough (see this post about my always ready dough supply)
2.Make "sauce" A splash of olive oil, herbs, a dash of kosher salt, and crushed garlic
3.Place dough on cornmeal sprinkled stone and brush with oil mixture. Pre-bake crust for about 10 minutes. I like a nice thick crust. A thinner crust might not need any pre-baking.
4.Watch it get all puffy
5.Cut tomato. Well, when I cut into my tomato it was no good, so luckily I keep a stash of back up tomatoes on hand.
6.Apply tomatoes
7.Apply cheese and fresh basil from windowsill. I keep shredded cheese on hand just for quick weeknight meals like this.
8.Bake about 10 more minutes
9.Yum Yum

There you have it. 100% homemade pizza that is easy peezy, quicker and cheaper than delivery and much much tastier that frozen. And only one dish to clean, and its a tiny ramekin so it really doesn't count. Of course, I go all out and make fancy pizzas, too, but for a weeknight meal, this cant be beat. Also, since I have two stones in the oven, I always make two at a time. Just as quick and we have yum yum leftovers.

Now I am off to try a new spicey corn soup recipe and homemade buttermilk buscuits. Will let you know how it turns out.

Life changing recipe

As promised, here is the info on the recipe that has literally changed my life. At the beginning of this year, I was listening to an episode of The splendid table when I heard a fellow named Jeff Hertzberg discussing his new book Artisan bread in five minutes a day Being a die hard breadaholic, the interview immediately sparked my interest. He was declaring that you could mix up a batch of bread dough, not even knead it, and keep it for up to two weeks to use whenever and however you see fit.

I promptly tried out the "master recipe" expecting an absolute failure. I formed and baked a small loaf to have with dinner. I say, it was the best bread I have ever made in my life. I admit, I am no master baker, but I do know my way around a mixing bowl. And once again it was absolutely the best bread I had ever made. It was crusty, chewy, it smelled fantastic, it tasted fantastic, and it was pretty. It looked just like the picture on the cover of the book. Now for the nitty griity on making the "master recipe" and a little history on how Jeff and coauthor Zoë François developed this process.

I have been using this method for nearly a year now, and it really has changed my life. I always have bread dough ready to make what ever concoction I can dream up. From pizza to french boules to ciabatta buns I have made it all. No more planning to make bread. I can do it at the spur of the moment. No more lugging out the bread machine and waiting an hour, for it to make a less than spectacular dough.

A few things I must say. You REALLY need the baking stone. Jeff and Zoë recommend regular all purpose flour. I like a mixture of King Author bread flour and King Author AP flour and reduce the amount in the recipe by about a half a cup. The bread flour has a higher protein content and results in a denser chewier crumb, which I happen to prefer.

One of the most amazing things to me, is that Zoë and Jeff have generously distributed the foundation for the book. The "master recipe". You don't have to buy their book, to begin using their method of bread baking. However, the book is absolutely worth it. There are so many recipes and other doughs that it really is a nice cookbook to add to your collection.

More on using it as the base for my pizza coming up soon.

Homemade Pizza

It's not delivery...It's not d'frozen....It's 100% from scratch, and on the table in thirty minutes. I make homemade pizza at least once a week. I can get it on the table in less time than the delivery driver can get here, it is a quarter of the price, and ten times as tasty. I will post more about it soon and include the recipe that has literally changed my life.

mini food and food on a stick

So each month a department at work is responsible for hosting a potluck in honor of that months birthdays. Guess whose month August was. This gal! Hmmm what theme? Well a couple of weeks ago while browsing the craftzine blog I came across the cutest darn mini caramel apples you have ever seen. So, I of course became obsessed with mini food. So the theme was set mini food and/or food on a stick. Of course 95% of the folks at work thought I was plumb crazy. What kind of theme is that? Well the party was a success! Mini foods and foods on sticks galore!

Unfortunately my mini caramel apples did not work out. The caramel wouldn't stick. So I opted for traditional caramel apples. Still on a stick, right? I created centerpieces by creating makeshift topiaries using lollipops. We had mini bottles of water and those tiny cans of soda that they always have at hospitals. There were mini pizzas, spinach phyllo triangles, mini sandwiches, various bite sized goodies, kabobs, and the all around favorite mini burger cookies (made by me). Once again I was inspired by a post on craftzine via the justjennrecipes blog entry. Her version uses peppermint patties as the faux burger. But frankly that did not sound too tasty to me. Don't get me wrong, I love a peppermint patty, but not between to vanilla wafers. So I was luck in that retail establishments are already putting out Halloween candy. I picked up those crispy rice chocolate gold coins. Perfect size for my vanilla wafer buns!
I was even able to use the wrappers from the chocolate coins to serve as my burger wrappers. Yay! Like I said, the party was a smash hit. They were talking about it for days. I think I am going to have to challenge September's host to giant food and food in jars. I really just need a reason to make not marthas pie in a jar.

fancy smancy lunch bag

Since I am determined to lose the new found biscuit weight, I have been trying to do better at eating the right foods at the right times. I am a very bad eater. It is not that I eat tons of junk. I just don't eat often. I will survive on coffee most of the day at work because I am "too busy", and then eat too large of a meal when I get home. I must do better. I need to plan nutritious meals to take to work and commit to actually eat them! But what should I carry my nourishment in? A plain ol' brown paper lunch sack is no fun. This inspired me to search etsy for lunch bags.

I love love love this one from rickrackqueen's shop. It is made from oilcloth so it is cleanable. And I love the colors. I am going through a deco inspired color phase right now. I love the baby blues and jadite greens with a splash of read. Especially cherries. I can't get enough of cherry prints right now. But, alas this bag has sold. Shucks.


I also love this one from lotnineteen. It is so classy looking and I love the contrast of the linen and cotton print. And the drawstring to keep my nutritious goodies in place.

So, I have some more browsing to do. And I probably need to convince myself a little more that if I have a fancy smancy lunch bag, will I be apt to use it? Well sure!

the four and a half pound biscuit

So I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago. Did not go anywhere, just stayed around the house and got to do the things that I love all week. Cook, craft, go junkin, play Suzy Homemaker. I spent much time perfecting a wonderful southern buttermilk biscuit recipe. I made a batch nearly everyday. Sometimes two batches. Good stuff. There's nothing like a good biscuit. And I can now produce a darn good biscuit, if I do say so myself. Life is good when you start the day with a fresh, hot, dense yet fluffy, flaky, buttery biscuit with strawberry jam.

Yes life is good! Until it is time to go back to work, and you realize that your dressy work clothes don't quite fit like they did a week prior. Four and a half pounds worth of the good life is now hanging out around my mid section and thighs!

So what's a girl to do? Buy a new wardrobe? Yeah right! I suppose I will be wearing my more snugly fitting attire until I lose the biscuits. Eat right and exercise. Fun Fun!

Yummy Turtle Bites

Another candy that is super easy, yet people think you spent a lot of time on. I made three batches of these for the Christmas Eve shindig at work. The hardest part is unwrapping the rolo candies.

Heat Oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil
Spread out pretzels on baking sheet, and top each with a rolo candy and pecan
Put in oven for 3 to 4 minutes
Take out and smoosh the pecan down on the candy
Cool and eat

More Christmas Gifts Complete Yummy Peppermint Bark

Peppermints Pre-Smashing


All Done!


All Packaged Up


The bark is super easy to make. One 12 oz. package of white chocolate chips and about 35 really smashed up peppermints. I use my food processor to pulverize the poor little things. Melt the chocolate, and stir in most of the smooshed up mints. Spread it on a wax paper lined baking sheet, and the smoosh on the little bit of candy that you didn't stir in. Cool and eat--umm I mean package up to give away. Depending on how generous you are, or how much you don't eat, this will make two to three giftable portions.

spooky halloween treats

Spooky Tombstone Cupcakes. The tombstones are made from chocolate graham crackers rubbed with powdered sugar. The dirt is sweetened cocoa, and the grass is green colored coconut.


Botched Surgery Cupcakes. The most fun part of these, was the faux bloody gauze. I dyed cheesecloth with red food coloring and covered the platter with it. OOOOOH SPOOKY SPOOKY!!