Archive for Beans
Cheesy Lima Bean and Olive Casserole
Posted by: · Sep 26 2011 · Comments
This is a perfect fall side dish- warm, rich and cheesy. Lima beans require an overnight soak in water before cooking so plan ahead.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 4 cups lima beans
- ½ cup chopped and pitted kalamata olives
- 3 tablespoons capers
- 4 ounces buffalo mozzarella, roughly chopped
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 425°.
Cook lima beans according to instructions on package. Drain and while still hot transfer the beans to a food processor and pulse until chunky but not fully pureed. Remove the chopped beans from the food processor and spoon into a bowl. Stir in the olives, capers, mozzarella, parmesan and salt. Continue to stir until the cheeses have mostly melted. Transfer to a single baking dish or individual ramekins and place in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden browned on the top. Let cool for a minute or two before serving.
Creamy Black- Eyed Peas and Crawfish
Posted by: · Mar 01 2011 · Comments
My meals are usually the result of long trips to the grocery store, an evaluation of the freshest ingredients available and then a guess at what components combined together will make a cohesive and tasty dish. This meal certainly fell within that typical approach. I rarely see crawfish at the fish counter at my favorite Chicago market, but yesterday was an exception. Staring at me through the glass fish display was a heap of bright orange crawfish begging me to debut them on my blog. So I grabbed up these little critters and made a trip through the grocery store aisles looking for an accompaniment. I landed on black-eyed peas and fortunately my instinct was correct. This dish is rich, spicy, easy to prepare and delicious. Feel free to substitute the crawfish with shrimp.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 LB’s pre-cooked and shell on crawfish or deveined and cleaned raw shrimp with tail shell on
- 2 cups dried black eyed peas
- 5 pieces thick cut bacon, diced
- 1 cup sweet corn, canned or fresh and cut from the cob
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1.5 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Serves 4
Instructions:
Place the peas in a medium size saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil the peas for 3 minutes, remove from heat and let the peas soak in the water for 1 hour. Drain the peas and set aside.
Place the crawfish or shrimp in a colander under a cool stream of tap water. Rinse for 5 minutes, shaking the colander occasionally to ensure a thorough clean. Remove the crawfish or shrimp and pat dry.
Heat a large non-stick skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until just slightly crispy. Drain the fat from the pan, return the bacon to the heat and add the corn and peas. Stir in the butter. Reduce the heat to medium and for cook 10 minutes. Add the crawfish and toss with the beans, corn and bacon. Cook for 3 minutes (6 minutes if using raw shrimp) then add the cream, salt, cilantro, paprika, white pepper and lemon juice. Stir frequently and continue to cook until the cream thickens, about 6 minutes. Taste the sauce and add more paprika and salt if needed. Serve immediately.
