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Potato Cheddar Soup–How Do I Love Thee?
February 11, 2021

Potato Cheddar Soup–How Do I Love Thee?

Ahhh, potatoes!  Let me count the ways.   Today’s potato is the upmarket Yukon Gold.     The history of these potatoes is interesting. Yukon Gold potatoes have only been available commercially since 1980. Developed at Canada’s University of Guelph by legendary potato breeder Gary…

Cheese, Potatoes, Soups, Vegetables, Vegetarian
A Marriage Made In Heaven: Polenta Lasagna
February 8, 2021

A Marriage Made In Heaven: Polenta Lasagna

So…if polenta and lasagna had a baby… …it would be this glorious polenta lasagna. (Or, is it lasagna polenta?) What’s not to love here? There is gooey mozzarella, creamy ricotta, piquant marinara and the delightful texture (and flavor) of Parmesan-infused buttery polenta. Did I mention…

Cheese, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Oldies But Goodies: Provincial Greens Soup
January 30, 2021

Oldies But Goodies: Provincial Greens Soup

 

Every month, Blue Cayenne features one post from our archive of more than 350 recipes. Here is a great soup recipe for a healthy winter soup. Enjoy!

Want to dive deeper into our recipe archive?  Just click one of the categories at the top of our page or use the category search drop down menu on the right side of the page.

Here’s that soup recipe:

Provincial Greens Soup

Oldies But Goodies, Soups
Portobello Mushroom Steaks And Butter Bean Mash
January 28, 2021

Portobello Mushroom Steaks And Butter Bean Mash

Portobellos are gourmet mushrooms. Right? Actually…no. Portobellos are poseurs. They are just your common Agaricus bisporus (button) mushroom with good PR. Who knew? It turns out that until the 1980s,  those big beefy mushrooms we now call portobellos were the overly-mature culls that more often…

Main Dishes, Mushrooms, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Pronounce Them Delicious: Cranberry Orange Scones
January 21, 2021

Pronounce Them Delicious: Cranberry Orange Scones

  I still haven’t figured out whether it’s scone (rhymes with phone) or scone (rhymes with dawn). (Heck! As far as elocution goes, I’m still trying to learn how to pronounce Kamala. But I digress…) So, I found this delightful clip from a popular British/Irish…

Berries, Cheese, Desserts, Vegetarian
No Kidding! Hummus With Chipotle Chile, Black Beans and Tomato Salsa
January 13, 2021

No Kidding! Hummus With Chipotle Chile, Black Beans and Tomato Salsa

Stop me if you’ve heard this one:  Hummus With Chipotle Chile, Black Beans and Tomato Salsa.

Pretty funny. Right? 

As it turns out, this international mix-up makes for a pretty wonderful appetizer. The smooth and flat-flavored hummus contrasts beautifully against the fiery black bean spread. The whole thing is cooled down by the fresh tomato salsa with lots of fresh lime juice. (You can, of course, tone the heat down to your taste. You also can serve the black bean spread as a stand-alone dish. It’s that good.)

The original recipe for this dish comes from Shlomo and Doron,  a Tel Aviv Yemenite Restaurant. Talk about a melting pot of flavors and textures!

When you bring this to your next party, you can be pretty sure that you will be the only one bringing this delicious appetizer. You also can be pretty sure that you won’t be taking any leftovers home. 

 

Hummus With Chipotle Chile Black Beans and Tomato Salsa

January 13, 2021
: 4 to 6
Print This
Ingredients
  • Three 15 1/2 cans chickpeas (drained with 2 cups liquid reserved)--I used an equivalent amount of Rancho Gordo chickpeas cooked in my Instant Pot
  • 1/4 t. baking soda
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 C. water
  • Ground black pepper
  • One 15 1/2 ounce can black beans (drained with 2 T. liquid reserved)
  • 8 T. lime juice (divided)
  • 1 T. ground cumin
  • 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (from a can)
  • 1 t. adobo sauce
  • 1/2 C. finely chopped fresh cilantro (divided)
  • 1/2 C. tahini (I used Soom brand--It was wonderful!)
  • 1 C. cherry tomatoes (finely chopped or quartered)
  • 1/2 small red onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 jalapeño chile (stemmed, seeded and minced)
Directions
  • Step 1 Put cooked chickpeas into a pan with 2 cups of their liquid, baking soda, 1 t. salt and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. You want the chickpeas to be very soft and you want the skins to begin to fall off the chickpeas.
  • Step 2 While the chickpeas are cooking, put the black beans into a food processor along with 2 T. of their reserved liquid, 2 T. lime juice, cumin, chipotle chile and adobo sauce, 1/2 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper. (You can adjust the amount of chipotle chile and adobo sauce to your heat tolerance.)Process these ingredients until you have a smooth mixture. Scrape down the bowl a couple of times while you are blending the mixture. Add 1/4 C. cilantro and pulse a couple of times to incorporate the cilantro into the black bean mixture. Scoop this mixture out of the food processor bowl into a medium bowl and add salt and pepper. Set aside.
  • Step 3 When the chickpeas are soft and their skins begin to fall off, pour them into a colander that you have set in a large bowl. Drain and reserve 3/4 cup of the liquid and discard the rest.
  • Step 4 Clean the food processor bowl that you used to puree the black beans. Add the cooked chickpeas to the bowl and process the chickpeas until they are completely smooth. This will take several minutes. Add the tahini to the chickpea puree and process for about one more minute until you have a very smooth mixture. With the processor running, add the reserved 3/4 C. cooking liquid and 4 T. of the remaining lime juice. Process for about 1 minute until all the ingredients are combined and the mixture is very smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.
  • Step 5 Combine the (chopped or quartered) cherry tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, remaining 2 T. lime juice and 1/2 t. salt in a bowl to make the salsa. Adjust the amount of jalapeno to your taste. Add more fresh lime juice to your taste. Set aside.
  • Step 6 Spread the hummus on your serving plate. Spread the black bean spread on top of the hummus. Spoon the tomato salsa on top of the hummus and black bean layers. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or pita (or both!).
This recipe was adapted from one that appears in the January-February issue of Milk Street. You can find the original recipe here.

Appetizer, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Breaking Up With Instacart and Chilled Avocado Soup With Crispy Garlic Oil
January 10, 2021

Breaking Up With Instacart and Chilled Avocado Soup With Crispy Garlic Oil

Oh Instacart! It’s not you, it’s me.  Well…actually…it’s you. How did we lose that beautiful thing that  we had? We’ve been so close since March. Whatever I’ve needed, you were there. Wine? You’ve always given my glass a generous pour. Ripe tomatoes? You’ve searched for them…

Avocados, Soups, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Oldies But Goodies: Tamales
December 27, 2020

Oldies But Goodies: Tamales

Need a tamale fix for New Year’s Eve?  Why order out? These homemade tamales rock. Too hard? If Sarah and I could make them at home, it can be done.  Here is a holiday (or any day) recipe for tamales. This recipe is from Blue…

Archives, Main Dishes, Mexican, Oldies But Goodies, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Instant Pot Italian Chickpea Stew With Pesto
December 23, 2020

Instant Pot Italian Chickpea Stew With Pesto

You’ve got to give it to those wild and crazy Gauls of yore. Apparently, party games didn’t get a lot more classy than throwing chickpeas into a crowd and watching people dive to catch them. Hilarious! Right? (On the other hand, maybe that was fun in the first century.)

Medieval Sicilians in the 13th Century also tapped into the chickpea meme, albeit in a more sinister way. Their followers were instructed to ID their enemies (the French) by forcing them to say “ceci,” another term for chickpea. Apparently the word was a real tongue twister for the French. I’ll have to check that one out on my unsuspecting French neighbor, Nicole. I just have to figure out how to casually work the word ceci into a conversation. I’m thinking something like: “Bonjour, Nicole. Ça va? Can you help me pronounce this weird word in the recipe I’m making? I think it’s French. ” Too obvious?

Today’s topic is–you guessed it!–chickpeas.

Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans.  They’re a good source of protein and chock-full of components that are good for your body. Incorporated as a regular part of your diet, studies show that chickpeas can help control blood sugar, aid digestion, lower cholesterol and build strong bones. Eating them is a real gift to yourself. 

Speaking of gifts, Juliet and I wish you lots of fun in your kitchen for the new year!

 

 

Everyone here at Blue Cayenne wishes you a wonderful new year! 

 

Here is the recipe. This recipe is adapted from an Epicurious recipe that appears here.

Instant Pot Italian Chickpea Stew With Pesto

December 23, 2020
Print This
Ingredients
  • For The Pesto
  • 1 1/2 C. (packed) fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 C. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 garlic clove (minced)
  • 1 T. toasted pine nuts
  • For The Chickpeas
  • 1 T. plus 1/2 t. kosher salt (divided)
  • 1 quart water
  • 1 pound dried chickpeas
  • 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion (chopped)
  • 2 medium carrots (peeled and chopped)
  • 1 fourteen ounce can diced tomatoes (undrained)
  • 4 C. vegetable broth
  • 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheeese
Directions
  • Step 1 To Prepare the Pesto
  • Step 2 Combine the basil leaves, oil, cheese, garlic and pine nuts in a blender. Blend until a coarse paste forms. Add more olive oil to thin if necessary. Set aside. (You will need about 1/3 C. of pesto for this stew.)
  • Step 3 To Prepare the Soup
  • Step 4 Soak dried chickpeas overnight in water to cover with 1 T. kosher salt. Drain and rinse.
  • Step 5 Sauté  the onions (sprinkled with 1/4 t. salt) in the remaining olive oil in your Instant Pot, stirring often. 
  • Step 6 Add the drained chickpeas, carrots, tomatoes (with their juices), vegetable broth, and the remaining 1/4 t. salt to the sautéed onions. Lock the Instant Pot lid into place. Use the Instant Pot’s ” Manual” setting with pressure adjusted to “High” and timer set to 10 minutes. Use the Instant Pot’s “Quick Release” feature after 10 minutes and unlock and remove the lid.
  • Step 7 This is a brothy soup. If you would like to thicken it up a bit (I did.), puree a cup of the soup and then add it back into your soup pot. An immersion blender would work well for this, too.  Serve garnished with grated Parmesan and a dollop of the pesto.
Main Dishes, Stews, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Bundt De Noel: Jam Bundt Cake
December 18, 2020

Bundt De Noel: Jam Bundt Cake

We owe a big thank you to H. David Dalquist. He invented the bundt pan for the Nordic Ware Company in 1950. As the story goes, Mr. Dalquist, a co-owner of Nordic Ware in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was approached by two women from a local Jewish…

Cakes, Desserts, Vegetarian

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