WARM-UP WITH BEANS AND SKILLET LASAGNA

 

Warm-up with Beans and Skillet Lasagna

           The old nursery rhyme sings: “The north wind doth blow , and we shall have snow”.  But unlike the robin ‘poor thing”, the home cook has better choices to keep us warm than “sit in a barn…And hide his head under his wing, poor thing”.

          When the wind blows, it is tempting to look for beans in the pantry and plan a hearty and warming soup. Bean soups are particularly suited to this time of the year and there is a large variety from which to choose. Black beans are some of my favorite beans. You can make an elegant soup and serve it with a splash of sherry, or a spicier variety from Cuba, that is served over some rice and onions and flavored with a dash of dark rum. This recipe was adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon’s “Bean by Bean” cookbook. 

                             Cuban Black Bean Soup

1)    Wash and soak in cold water overnight 2 cups black beans. Rinse again, bring to boil in 10 cups of chicken broth, then lower the heat and cook for 1 ½ hours with 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon oregano, 6 cloves and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.

2)    In a large pan sauté 2 large chopped onions and 2 chopped stalks of celery in 2 tablespoons olive oil for 5 minutes. Add 1 green and 1 red pepper stemmed, seeded and diced and 1 cup diced carrots. Cook for another 4 minutes then stir in 4 minced cloves of garlic and cook for another minute.

3)    Stir the vegetables in the beans when tender, add 28 oz. canned diced tomatoes, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves.

4)    To serve, place a heaping tablespoon of cooked rice in a bowl, ladle the bean soup on top, add a splash of dark rum and sprinkle with finely chopped red onion.

5)    Soup can be reheated and the flavor even improves on reheating thus providing several meals.

Lasagna is a natural warm-up dish for cold days. While it freezes well and can be reheated, making a large meat and cheese filled lasagna can seem like an undertaking for one or two persons.  A recent solution to this in Bon Appetit was a Stovetop Mushroom Lasagna, which I have adapted and somewhat modified.  Pre-cooking the lasagna noodles makes the recipe less messy to handle and it is still delicious. You will need a deep 10 inch ovenproof skillet or heavy pan.

                                Skillet Mushroom Lasagna

1)    Cook 5 long sheets of lasagna pasta in salted water for 8 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water. Preheat oven to roast at 400 degrees.

2)    Clean and slice 3.5 oz. fresh shitake and 3 oz. baby Bella mushrooms. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon butter in the ovenproof skillet, add the mushrooms and cook on medium high heat undisturbed until browned, season with salt, add juice of ½ lemon and cook for an additional 6 minutes. Remove from pan, toss with 1 teaspoon thyme and ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley.

3)    Add 1 tablespoon each oil and butter to the same pan and sauté a large chopped shallot for 2 minutes, stir in 1 large minced clove of garlic for an additional minute. Stir in 1 tablespoon flour and slowly add 1 cup milk with stirring to make a sauce. When bubbling stir in 1 cup low fat cottage cheese and ¼ cup light sour cream. Stir to blend, when bubbling, add grated lemon zest and remove from heat.

4)    Drain the lasagna noodles and layer 3 of them across the pan, crossing in the center and gently push down with a spoon under the sauce. Spread ½ of the mushrooms on top. Cut the last 2 noodles in half and fit the pieces over the mushrooms while pushing down to cover with the sauce. Spread the rest of the mushrooms on top. If the sauce seems insufficient, add a few tablespoons of milk. Return the pan to stovetop, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

5)    Remove the lid, sprinkle the top with 4 oz coarsely shredded mozzarella and place in the oven to roast for 7 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from oven, allow to sit for 10 minutes and sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese before serving.

The kitchen has always been the place to congregate when “the north wind doth blow.”  With the fragrance and comfort of our bean soup and the skillet lasagna we can stay warm and snug despite all that wind.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com).

 

 

 

VERSATILE FRITTATAS

 

Versatile Frittatas

 The New Year may have arrived without the usual bang this year.  We might be forgiven if we sang “Should auld acquaintance be forgot”, quite literally wishing to forget the last year spent in pandemic uncertainty. This Scots poem from 1788 by Robert Burns set to a folk tune has been a favorite in welcoming the New Year and rightly focuses on the past and the future. So: “We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, For auld lang syne” and hope for better in 2021!

For the home cook, January is a time for taking stock of the pantry and the refrigerator and look for simpler things to cook after the holiday extravaganza. Dishes that immediately come to mind are stir fries, tacos and frittatas. Each starts with a basic premise and relies on variety of tastes depending on the ingredients available and the ingenuity of the cook. Each provides a quick and easy meal for either breakfast, lunch or even a light dinner.

For frittatas of Italian origin the basic component are beaten eggs cooked in a skillet with another ingredient, but unlike an omelet it is not folded over. Spanish frittatas require potatoes and eggs cooked together in a pan with your choice of added ingredients. The eggs are cooked on medium heat in the skillet and the top is usually allowed to set for a brief time in a very hot oven, thus requiring a skillet with an oven proof handle.

                                       Spanish Mushroom and Sausage Frittata

1)    Peel and thinly slice 3 medium large potatoes, rinse and pat dry. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large ovenproof non-stick pan, sprinkle with salt and fry on medium heat turning often for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

2)    In the same pan add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and sauté: 1 medium chopped onion with 1-2 cups sliced mushrooms for 5 minutes, add 1 chopped garlic clove and cook for an additional minute. Then stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 cup cooked diced sausage (kielbasa, bratwurst or cooked Italian sausage) and heat through with addition of the potatoes. Gently stir in ¼ cup chopped parsley.

3)    In a bowl beat 5 eggs with salt and pepper and pour over the mixture in the pan. Cook over medium heat stirring the eggs from bottom until most of the eggs are set. Finish cooking the top in the middle of the oven under broil for 1-2 minutes, just until the top layer of eggs is set. Remove from oven, allow to set 5 minutes and serve cut in wedges.

4)    Any leftovers can be reheated in microwave the next day and will taste just as good.

It is easy to see that this recipe has many potential variations. Breakfast frittata variations could include cooked bacon instead of sausage and slivers of sundried tomatoes. A delicious vegetarian version could feature slightly blanched broccoli florets or asparagus with maybe a sprinkling of cheddar or Gruyere cheese in the eggs. The variations are the cook’s prerogative and it is also nice to note that this dish is gluten free.

          A simple fruity desert is likely to be welcome after our cookie binges during the holidays. A fruit compote provides an easy answer and certainly has less calories than a pie without any loss of flavor.

                                             Apple-Cranberry Compote

1)    In a medium pot combine: ½ cup water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, thin lemon zest from a lemon, 6 cloves, 1 star anise, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, 3 cored large apples thinly sliced (use firm flesh apples and don’t need to peel them) and 1 and ½ cups washed fresh cranberries.

2)    Bring the fruit to boil and cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes with occasional stirring, until all the cranberries have broken. Stir in 1 and ½ cups of sugar and cook until sugar is melted.

3)    Cool in the refrigerator and before serving remove the star anise. Serve in small ramekins with a sprinkling of chopped nuts or a spoon of ice cream if calories can be ignored. The compote also works well as a topping for pancakes.

The days are slowly getting longer as we enter January after the winter solstice. To quote my friend in Alaska:” Keep warm until spring jazzes the world up again”!

 (I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)