IMBB 11 Round-up - Part IV

OK – here’s the last installment!

Sam’s N-BASH & PEGG (Navy Bean Smoked Haddock & Poached Egg) is something to behold! Sam of Becks & Posh has prepared a beautiful chowder-like dish with navy beans, smoked haddock, potatoes, onion, and peas and a perfectly formed poached egg perched on top. Sam recommends that you use a “beautiful, fresh piece of undyed smoked haddock” which apparently is quite difficult to find, but not to worry – she has provided an on-line source!

Pinkcocoa at Pinkcocoa Tabetai has made some really great looking Okara Pancakes. Okara is the ground soy that is leftover after making soy milk. Turns out it is rich in nutrients and fiber and makes a pretty mean pancake! Pinkcocoa has also created a chocolate variety for all us chocoholics. Now, you might be wondering where in the world you would ever find Okara, but in a later post, Pinkcocoa tells you how to make soy milk yourself from dried soy beans! It doesn’t look at all difficult and not only do you end up with the freshest possible soy milk, you can make yourself some of those Okara Pancakes!

After browsing through one of her cookbooks, Kelli of avoir une famille n’est pas comme un téléroman was inspired to prepare three different chilis and invite some friends over for a chili tasting party! She made Cabin Chili with Meat, Vegetable Chili, and White Chili with Chicken. According to Kelli the white chili was good and spicy and the vegetable chili was slightly sweet from the corn and sweet potatoes. Kelli served this array of chilis with salad, grilled pita and garlic bread. Sounds great!

Jessica of Su Good Eats is another first time IMBB participant with a brand new blog! Her IMBB entry and very first post features a Black-Eyed Susan Cake that is made with black-eyed peas! It’s actually loaded with wholesome ingredients including whole wheat flour, apricots, raisins, pecans, and spices. Jessica thought the cake had great texture and was nicely moist, but that the spices weren’t as pronounced as they ought to be. She has some ideas for an interesting twist on this cake that I hope she’ll report back on!

Reid of ‘Ono Kine Grinz has been eating out a lot lately, so when IMBB rolled around he thought it was the perfect occasion to fix himself a healthy vegetarian meal. His Three Bean Chili is made with garbanzo beans, black beans, red kidney beans, zucchini, Okinawan sweet potato, and onion. The contrast of the sweet potatoes and the spicy seasonings sounds really delicious. I think I’m going to having to try this one!

Over at Chronicles of a Curious Cook, Ellen has prepared some Pinto beans for us. Since IMBB sort of snuck up on her, she used the quick soak method to get her beans going, then cooked them with onion, bacon and a little chili powder. The pintos can be served as-is as a soup or side, or mash them with a little bacon grease and cook down and you’ve got some tasty refried beans! Ellen suggests spreading them on a fried tortilla and then topping it with a little lettuce, cheese, salsa and avocado for a really yummy meal!

Fatemeh of Gastronomie thought she was going to have trouble coming up with something to make for IMBB since she’s not crazy about beans. However, when she started thinking about her favorite Persian dishes, she realized an awful lot of them were made with beans! Lucky for us, as she has decided to share with us her recipe for Khoresht-e Gheymeh Bademjan, or "Eggplant and Lentil Stew". It is a beautiful, savory stew with yellow split peas, beef, onions, and little eggplants topped with crispy potato matchsticks.

Owen at Tomatilla! made two great dishes for IMBB: his own Warm French Lentil Salad and a Tarka Red Lentil Dahl from Madhur Jaffrey. The salad is a mixture of lentils de Puy, cabbage and finely chopped smoked almonds seasoned with rosemary and lemon. The dahl was prepared from a favorite Madhur Jaffrey book and is well loved in Owen’s family!

You have to take a look at Meg’s Zen Chili! Meg at Too Many Chefs prepared White Chili and Vegetarian Black Bean Chili and served them side by side in a really attractive and creative presentation. The white chili has lingots (like navy beans), black-eyed peas, turkey, a chili pepper, and crème fraîche; while the black bean chili has black beans, tomatoes, chili paste, garlic, shallots, and whiskey (!). Individually, each of the two chilis sounds amazing, but as a pair they are irresistible!

Viv of Seattle Bon Vivant was ready for a simple home cooked meal after an eight course feast the night before. The Puerto Rican Style Stewed Beans (Habichuelas Guisadas) she decided to make were just the thing – satisfying in every way! Red kidney beans in a tomato-based sauce flavored with freshly made sofrito, along with butternut squash, capers and olives – what’s not to love?

Those sweet little azuki beans put in another appearance at A La Cuisine! where Clement used them to make Fried Azuki Bean Ice Cream. He’s still perfecting his frying technique, but both the ice cream and Azuki bean sauce can stand on their own and Clement has shared both of his recipes with us. I won’t be frying ice cream anytime soon, but I can’t wait to give his azuki bean ice cream a try!

Pim of Chez Pim has brought us a simple but elegant preparation of flageolets to serve with a roasted leg of lamb. The flageolets are simmered in chicken stock with sautéed onions and garlic and then served with the reduced stock. Follow Pim’s advice and serve the flageolets right under the leg of lamb so that they’ll soak up all that great flavor!

Adam from the Amateur Gourmet made a Winter Bean Soup with cranberry beans, red kidney bean and wheat berries. He wasn’t crazy about the soup the first night and questioned whether he even liked beans. The next day the beans had softened and the flavors melded - Adam ate two bowls. Adam likes beans.

Which (finally) brings me to the last three entries, all of which are posted here on my blog: my Aunt Gail’s recipe for hummus with lots of garlic and tahini; my brother Bob’s post about making baked beans and his treasured antique bean pot (these are the beans I grew up with and they really are the best!); and lastly my Beans and Greens soup which I highly recommend!

Thank you all for participating in IMBB 11. There are so many wonderful dishes here – I really can’t wait to start trying them! By the way – I think the final count was 73 entries!

Update - 1/29/2005

From Kitchen Monkey, a belated beany breakfast - Huevos Rancheros (al Mono). Monkey attended high school in New Mexico and enjoyed Huevos Rancheros in many different restaurants, but it was just a couple of years ago when it suddenly occurred to him that he could make this favorite himself. He has made it many different ways since then, but says that the one he offers us now is the best. He sautees the black beans with fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic and freshly ground cumin and serves them up with the requisite fried eggs and tortillas, a delicious chile arbol sauce, some monteray jack cheese and a little fresh cilantro.

Update - 2/7/2005

But wait, there's more! Another belated entry from Melanie at Gastronomicon. Melanie made some Blazing Vegetarian Chili, which sounds easy, yummy, and healthy!