JC 25 August 2010 : Three Bean Stew update.

At last I got around to making this stew. I shopped for ingredients on the Saturday morning then cooked the meal Saturday evening and left it to stand overnight. It made a lovely quick Sunday lunch. I used a can of black eyed beans and a can of corn plus the other ingredients. The cut courgettes looked colourful against the red of the canned tomatoes. I did not have any fresh chillies so used a small sprinkling from a packet of chilli flakes. Also had to google ‘cilantro’ as I had no idea what that was. When I found out I still did not have any [Italian type of parsley] so went without. I did the full amount so had the stew on the Sunday and Monday with boiled rice as I did not cook the wild rice fritters. Still plenty left over so have frozen 4 portions. This is a recipe I would certainly do again and have already passed the recipe to a vegetarian friend.

Well........... there was a photo to go with the blog - but it uploads on its side!!!! not sure why so have left it out.

JC: 21 July 2010. Wild Rice Fritters, Three Bean Stew and Pumpkin Bread

For various reason I decided to cook each of the above on separate occasions. Three bean stew is still to be cooked, but the fritters and pumpkin bread have been cooked, eaten and enjoyed – though not without problems/disasters!!!

Pumpkin Bread vs 2 – I could not find any canned pumpkin puree at my local supermarket despite the fact that I have got it from there for an earlier recipe. So in my ‘UK wisdom’ I though if I pureed a can of peaches that would be ok. However, when I checked with JK across the pond the answer was NO, too moist. So sweet potatoes were used instead.

The 1^st version taught me that a; I really should use the measuring cups and not think ‘I know better’. And b; that I really should wear my reading glasses when looking at ½ cup measurements. ¼ can easily look like ¾ which resulted in a loaf that looked more like bread pudding. Tasted ok though.

2^nd version was great. I did increase the cranberry and walnuts to ½ cup of each. It cooked in about the 50mins stated and made the kitchen smell wonderful. I’ve sliced some to eat and some to freeze. Nice with a cup of tea.

Wild Rice Fritters. – A great success. I did half the recipe and ate half hot that evening and took the rest [3] into work the following day to eat cold with a hummus dip. I got gram flour [used for onion bhajis] rather than wholewheat – just because it was on the self. Glad I did as it made the fritters nice ‘n yellow. I did get some wild rice from Waitrose – the quick cook version – but did not use it for the fritters as JK sent some of the ‘real thing’ across the pond. Waitrose sell a Canadian wild rice – 500 grms for £5.75 – somewhat more costly than regular rice. I though I would be able to get the black wild rice at my local health food shop – but even they only had Canadian ‘Red’ wild rice.

Cooking went well. I had four keeping warm in the oven and 3 sizzling in the pan when there was a great record on the radio. Mmm I thought. This would be good to line dance to. So I kind of danced up the kitchen only to be met with the microwave blinking at me to ‘open door’!!! ‘Oh bother’ I said [just as Winnie the Pooh said as he fell out of the tree]. I knew exactly what was in the microwave – the corn that should have been in the fritters. Oh well I thought, the corn can be placed on the plate by my salmon with the wild rice fritters at the side. And very nice they were. Forgot to take pictures – too occupied with the missing corn!

North/South American origins theme

JK: My idea was to select recipes that would include ingredients common to Native Americans, particularly from the Northeast Woodlands: corn, beans, squash, and wild rice. Cranberries and tomatoes are also native to the Americas (though tomatoes originated in south or central America.)

I found a book at the library with an interesting wild rice recipe.

Wild Rice and Corn Fritters - ingredients, besides wild rice, include: whole wheat flour, corn kernels, green onions, an egg, and beer. (Also includes freshly grated Parmesan cheese, but I left that out.)








Three Sisters Stew - *Based* on the online recipe found here. (scroll down a bit) My daughter doesn't care for bell peppers, so I left them out. Instead of pinto beans (in the photo), I used (small, green) Fordhook Lima beans. It's not yet fresh corn season, so I used frozen kernels. We have an Anaheim pepper (chili) plant, so I used one that was about 5 inches long. I scraped the seeds out, but could have left them in -- not very 'hot.' Instead of pumpkin, I used several small zucchini (courgettes), sliced in half lengthwise and then in about 1/2 inch "half moons."

Pumpkin Bread - I used a recipe from Native North American Foods & Recipes. I followed the recipe faithfully, but... I should have realized that 300 degrees is NOT enough heat to bake a "quick bread." It had been baking an hour when I finally looked in a regular cook book. Oops! 350 degrees! I moved the temperature up and cooked it about 25 mins longer. I was surprised that it ended up cooked throughout and not dry at all.

1. I shared extra wild rice fritters with my neighbors (also known as my daughter2 & family.) Fritters were well received & I'm to fix them again.

2. I would do the 3 Sisters Stew again, but I'd like to use pinto beans, but daughter1 says she liked the limas. Neither of us are big fans of corn. (Shhh! We live in Iowa - don't tell anyone.) But, we think hominy would be OK instead of yellow kernels.

3. I used dried cranberries in the pumpkin bread. Just a 1/2 cup as the recipe called for, but next time I would double that amount. AND... I'd use the regular cook book recipe.

But, over all the meal was a success.

Pasta with Green Lentils and Tomatoes

D: I made this dish for friends when they joined me for an evening meal. I also made some changes to the original recipe.

The lentils were cooked with two stock cubes, one vegetable and one ham. This added a great deal of flavour to the dish. I cooked the lentils as per the instructions on the recipe even though the lentil packet gave a slightly shorter cooking time. They were a little mushy but this added to the texture of the dish.

In place of a regular (yellow/white) onion I used a red one to add a hint of sweetness to the dish

Basil is one of my favourite herbs so I added fresh basil just before serving the dish.

Pasta twists are always in my cupboard so that was the pasta I used for this dish. On the table I placed grated mature cheddar cheese so that people could add as much or as little as they wanted to their meal.

My friends thought the dish was delicious and both asked for the recipe. There was one portion left over so I had it for lunch the next day with grated cheese but no pasta.

Pasta with Green Lentils and Tomatoes

JK's Post

See JC's previous post for the recipe. Although starting with the same recipe, we got different results!

1. I used whole wheat spaghetti.

2. I haven't cooked many lentils, so I thought the
suggested cooking time was correct. But, I think they should have been cooked longer. Since I bought a 1 lb (16 oz) bag, I have plenty to practice on!

3. Instead of butter, I used Earth Balance (vegan) Buttery stick.

4. I used chopped fresh Roma tomatoes.













Here's the finished dish. It was tasty. We (2 of us) had plenty of leftovers. To those I added more fresh tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.

I'd try this recipe again and cook the lentils longer. I'd also do as JC suggested and use canned tomatoes (flavored with olive oil and garlic or basil.) I think fresh basil would be great, too.

Pasta with green lentil & tomatoes

Taken from Cheap and Easy by Rose Elliot : 1988

[I bought the book in January 1990]

Pasta with Green Lentils and Tomatoes - Serves 3-4

12 oz of spaghetti [or any variety of pasta]
1/2oz of butter [or similar]

For the sauce

4oz green lentils
Water
1/2oz butter [or similar]
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried basil
8oz fresh tomatoes [or 14oz can and leave some juice out]
Salt and pepper seasoning

To serve

Grated cheese or blobs/slices of soft cheese

First make the sauce. Put the lentils into a large saucepan with the water and boil gently until tender – around 45 mins. Drain. Meanwhile melt the butter in a large saucepan and fry the onion until tender. Add the garlic, dried basil, tomatoes and drained lentils. Season as required. Cook pasta as directed after the lentils have been cooking approximately 30 mins.
Drain and place in a warm bowl. Pour the hot lentil and tomato sauce over pasta and serve with cheese of your choice.

JC : 12/04/2010 - update after the cooking:

I decided to cook this dish on Easter Monday. I had thought it would be ready in 45 mins but actually needed to allow 1hr 15min with preparation etc. All went well with the lentils, but I did not start the onion and tomatoes soon enough. As I used a whole can, 400gms of tomatoes, I needed the liquid to reduce somewhat but found the instructions for cooking the sauce lacking!!!!! No time was mentioned. Next time I will start the sauce sooner and let it simmer. It seemed to lack flavor while cooking so I added extra salt, pepper. I did not include any cheese this time but put a BIG dollop of Greek yogurt on top.



There was enough sauce and pasta to reheat next day and one portion to freeze. This portion was defrosted and used yesterday when I used it to cook some ‘chicken style vegetarian Quorn’ for my lunch.


Would I do this recipe again. Yes especially as I can freeze some for an easy supper dish at a later date. However, I would do a few things different: cook the lentils in a veggie stock cube, use canned tomatoes that have herbs and garlic already added, use good flavored cheese to sprinkle on top, or low fat cream cheese.

I’m looking forward to trying this sauce with wild rice and baked potatoes.