cannenelli bean salad with chorizo and mint pesto

So you've invested in the chorizo for the scallops português, and now you have leftover links sitting in your freezer that you're afraid you'll never use. Not to worry, your money and the tasty chorizo have not gone to waste. Defrost one chorizo link immediately and let's get cooking.

I saw a version of this recipe on Food & Wine as white bean and chorizo salad with olives. My recipe uses cannenelli beans, the leftover chorizo from your scallops, asparagus, and mint.

I decided to try making a mint pesto, the freshness of which I thought would be a great contrast to the spicy chorizo. My first attempt at making the pesto was a disaster: I chopped mint, olive oil, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper using my Cuisinart, and it came out tasting like the bastard child version of basil pesto. The olive oil was too overpowering for the delicate flavor of mint, and the cheese and nuts completely obliterated any discernible mint taste. The pesto came out white from the cheese and the nuts and from over-processing the mint leaves. My second attempt was better: I used a bit of water, walnut oil, salt and pepper. The result was better; as I suspected, the sparse use of mild walnut oil was less pungent than olive oil, and the water helped to make it more into a paste. I also didn't chop it in the Cuisinart for long, just enough to chop the leaves finely, and then I finished the mixing by hand. This time, the mint was more flavorful, but it still was not quite right. I succeeded in my third attempt when I minced the mint by hand, then mixed it in a bowl with walnut oil and water again by hand, adding a pinch of salt (no pepper) to enhance the taste, and (secret ingredient!) a hint of lemon rind for freshness. More rustic, more minty.

It seems to me that mint is a very delicate, self-effacing little herb that is brilliant on its own, but doesn't mix so well in a crowd. However, by using this more rustic, hand-made preparation, the fresh mint succeeded in providing a tasty contrast to the rich beans and chorizo. Served either cold or hot, this dish works in all seasons.

And see? You used your chorizo again.


CANNENELLI BEAN SALAD WITH CHORIZO AND MINT PESTO

Serves 4 as a side


For the mint pesto:

2 c packed, fresh mint leaves
Water
Walnut Oil (or another mild oil, i.e. canola oil, almond oil)
Lemon rind
Salt
(all to taste)

For the beans:

1 small, thumb-sized shallot
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 link spicy Chorizo
4 (or more) Asparagus stalks
1 can (about 2 c) Cannenelli beans, rinsed completely
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste


Rinse mint, and dry by rolling in paper towel. Mince leaves into fine pieces. Be careful not to overwork. Transfer mint to a small bowl, mix with walnut oil and water, just enough of both to create a manageable paste. Grate in a pinch of lemon rind, toss in a pinch of salt, to taste. Set aside.

Cut the link of chorizo into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. (If using uncooked chorizo, the interior will crumble when you cut it. To avoid messy meat, you may want to roast chorizo in the oven at 400◦ Fahrenheit until link is firm and mostly cooked, about 20-30mins. Once chorizo is firm on the inside, it will cut neatly and easily.)

Bring water to a boil in a small pot. Salt water, add asparagus stalks and blanch until just tender, about 1 minute. Strain and immediately rinse in cold water. Cut stalks into bite-sized pieces, angling each cut on the bias. Set aside.

Heat a medium-sized sauce pan on medium heat. While pan is heating, remove skin from shallot. Cut shallot in half, lengthwise, set aside. When pan is hot, add olive oil to pan, enough to cover bottom. Returning to the shallot, use your fingers to peel it apart, and toss in whole pieces to the pan as you go along. (This preparation will lend an onion flavor to the dish without leaving behind fibers of onion that would distract from the simplicity of the dish.) Add garlic, reduce to medium heat. Cook until shallot pieces become transparent. Add chorizo and asparagus, and sauté until they brown.

For a hot dish, add beans directly to pan. Add about 1/3 cup water or chicken stock, and turn down to a simmer. When liquid is mostly evaporated or thickened, turn off heat. Remove pieces of shallot and garlic, discard. Transfer beans to a large mixing bowl, and toss with mint pesto. Add spoonfuls of mint pesto to your taste. Serve warm.

For a cold dish, turn off heat in pan and remove pieces of shallot and garlic. Transfer chorizo to a large mixing bowl, add beans. Toss with mint pesto. Serve with a garnish of mint.

scallops português and spring fava bean salad

Sunday at Whole Foods is madness and mayhem. But for me (if I'm in the right mood), it's a form of meditation. I spent an hour shopping today, selecting a bunch of bananas with the perfect green-to-yellow ratio, slowly peeling back the husks on ears of corn, and sniffing through the plastic wrap of cheeses. Even when the enormous woman with the "WHERE'S MY ORGANIC COOKIES?!?" bug-eyes almost ran me over with her cart, I wasn't unnerved; I was far too enraptured by the lazy mood of the warm Sunday afternoon, and far too inspired by the food around me as the perfect dinner took shape in my mind.

May is "Explore Portugal" month at Whole Foods. Lucky for me, I don't need to explore it; I am Portugal (well, half-Portuguese, at least). Portuguese ingredients like chorizo, seafood, olive oil and sardines are part of my regular diet. I grew up on Portutalian meals made by my mother, whose self-taught cooking was always a spectacular gourmet amalgamation of my parents ethnicities, Italian and Portuguese. My Portuguese grandmother, however, was more of a purist; her signature dish was a very simple and delicious chicken and saffron rice. If she really persisted, she was allowed to make the delicious croquetas de bacalao that the made the whole house stink of salted cod (which freaked out my father). Her masterpiece however was rice pudding, which she made by the batch in a dozen little ramekins. We used to all hang around the kitchen, smelling the sweet, creamy rice cooking on the stove and eagerly waiting for her to serve it piping hot. We would eat a serving for breakfast, snacks, and for dessert at both lunch and dinner until the batch was gone. More often than not, we'd eat it cold, straight out of the fridge, without bothering to even re-heat it. If we were really lucky (read: obedient children), she'd whip up another batch and the rice pudding feast would commence again.

Last night I was feeling a bit nostalgic for family, my loved one, and my dear Nona (no longer here), so I decided to make myself a Portuguese dinner. My mother would have loved it, but my Nona would have called it decadent. I call it delicious, and worth the bit of a splurge for ingredients.

The Scallops Português are made using two Portuguese specialty ingredients: scallops and chorizo. At Whole Foods, I bought 1/4 lb (4 scallops) fresh scallops, which came out to just over $5. You can buy a whole bag of frozen scallops for $14.99 at Whole Foods, or for $10 at Trader Joe's. The chorizo cost $4.99 for five links. You can buy chorizo fresh or dried; if you buy it fresh, you can freeze the leftovers and then thaw them to use in a variety of dishes. Trader Joe's makes a great chicken chorizo for those of you who don't like pork. The Spring Fava Bean Salad makes use of this delightful seasonal vegetable, and is a nice way to cool off the heavy and spicy sauce of the scallops. I bought some fresh olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods, so I poured a bit of the briney juice into the salad, which gave it a really unique flavor.

Overall, the cost for ingredients in this dish is a bit more expensive than the rice and beans recipe. But the scallops are worth the price, just as the chorizo is a great thing to have in the house to add an extra dimension to just about any dish. You'll see.


SCALLOPS PORTUGUÊS and SPRING FAVA BEAN SALAD

Serves 4


For the Fava Bean Salad:

6 pods Fava Beans
1 handful String Beans
1/2 cup fresh Fennel, sliced thinly
1/4 cup chopped scallions or spring onion
1/4 cup fresh Parsley leaves
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Water from Olives
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

For the Scallops:

1 link Chorizo
1 small shallot
1/4 c Red Wine (from the Portuguese wine you'll be drinking with dinner, i.e. Duoro or Ribatejo)
4 Large (Diver) Scallops
1/4 tsp minced Parsley
1/3 tsp Brown Sugar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper


Extract the fava beans by using your fingernails to pry open the thick pod around to the large beans. Remove the beans and set them aside. Rinse string beans, and cut them in half.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Salt the water, add the fava beans. Cook for 1 minute, add string beans, and cook until string beans are just tender, not rubbery and overcooked, about 2 minutes max. Strain completely and immediately rinse with cold water to preserve color and to arrest cooking.

Slice fennel into paper-thin crescent shapes. Toss together in a serving bowl with beans and parsley leaves, lemon juice, olive water, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper. Set aside.

Remove outer skin from shallot. Slice shallot into thin circles. Set aside. Cut chorizo into thin slices or chunky dice pieces. Set aside.

Heat a small sauté pan. Add olive oil just to grease pan, add shallot and chorizo together. Sauté until chorizo is cooked and shallots start to brown. Add wine, bringing to a boil. Turn down heat to simmer and reduce until wine becomes a thick sauce. To reduce the potency of the flavor, add some chicken stock or water, and a touch of sugar or honey for sweetness. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While sauce is reducing, pour a small circle of olive oil on a small dish. Add minced parsley, brown sugar, salt and pepper to make a rub. Dip or rub both flat sides of the scallops in the rub. Set them aside. Heat a sauté pan on high heat to make it very hot. Add a drizzle of olive oil to grease pan, then place scallops in pan on one of the seasoned sides. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then turn over to other side, about 1-2 minutes. If scallops are still undercooked, turn off heat and cover with a lid for another 3o seconds to 1 minute.

To plate, arrange scallops on plate with a serving of bean salad and some rice. Spoon a bit of chorizo and shallot on top of scallops and drizzle the wine reduction sauce on top and around dish. Serve immediately.

poor man's rice and beans fit for a raj

There's a place on Lafayette Street called La Conquita that serves up the cheapest food that money can buy: rice and beans. There's always a line around the block and into the door of this little shack where, for just $4, you can get a heaping pile of white rice or yellow rice with black beans or red beans garnished with sweet fried plantains and vineagared onions. And if that isn't enough to feed you for the next three days, for $2 more you can top it off with roast pork, barbeque chicken or goat stew.

Rice and beans is widely considered the perennial poor man's food. Rice is cheap, beans are cheap, and you can make them in large enough quantities to provide sustenance and complete protein nutrition for lots of people. It is, next to ramen noodles, the standard meal for those trying to make ends meet. What better what to kick off this blog than with a recipe for my version of rice and beans?

With a little bit of spice from the spice rack and some fudging on the traditional ingredients, I turned rice and beans into a nouveau-Indian gourmet meal. The basic ingredients are very inexpensive; the only things that will cost you are the spices and the wine. A good spice rack, however, is an essential investment for any kitchen, and if you have old wine left in your fridge, it's good enough to use here.


POOR MAN'S RICE AND BEANS FIT FOR A RAJ:
INDIAN CHICK PEAS AND COUSCOUS WITH WINE-SOAKED RAISINS

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a an appetizer


For the "Beans":

1/4 cup Spanish or Vidalia Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1/4 cup Tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Curry
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
2 medium Bay Leaves
1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder (optional)
1 can Chick Peas
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
Splash of leftover Wine, red or white
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste


For the "rice":

1/4 Raisins or Currants
1/8 cup leftover Wine
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
1/2 cup Water
1 cup Cous Cous
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

One handful of Arugula per plate


*Cook's Note: Anytime you cook with beans from a can, you must rinse them well in a colander under fresh, running water. You will notice that bubbles will appear; rinse until bubbles are gone. These bubbles are the gas bubbles in the beans that -- if not rinsed out -- become gas bubbles in your body.


Heat a small pot. Add olive oil at room temperature on medium heat. Add onions, and cook until just transparent. Add crushed garlic and tomatoes, sauté until tomatoes are soft. Add spices and stir. Add chick peas and mix to coat in oil and spices. When chick peas start to sizzle, add a splash of wine. Once wine has let off its liquor, about a minute, add water and chicken stock. Cover partially with a lid and turn down to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally until chick peas reach desired softness, with enough liquid remaining to constitute a sauce. Additional stock and water may need to be added throughout the simmering process.

In another pot, heat a small swirl of olive oil on high heat. Add raisins and cook about thirty seconds to one minute, until raisins start to lose their wrinkle. Add wine, turn heat down to low, and reduce to allow wine to become absorbed into the now bloated raisins. Once the wine has evaporated completely, add water and chicken stock. Bring liquid to a boil, add couscous and stir. Turn down heat to low and allow couscous to absorb liquid, fluffing occasionally with a fork, about one minute. Turn off heat, fluff couscous, and allow it to absorb remaining liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To arrange on a plate, take a serving of couscous (about 1/2 to 1 cup) and pack tightly into a measuring cup or a similarly round, flat-bottomed vessel. Quickly turn over cup onto a plate, and tap the bottom to release a molded mound of couscous. Arrange a small handful of arugula in a bunch on top of the couscous. Delicately spoon a helping of chick peas on top, dressing with a spoonful of sauce from pot on top and around the dish. Garnish with mint, if desired.