Que Gostoso - Black Bean Dip

So this Thanksgiving,  I found myself uninspired and without the time to prepare the complicated things I used to enjoy cooking/baking.  We were headed to visit two parts our family, where others took care of the main dishes.  I just wanted to contribute.  My contributions were 1) Black bean dip, 2) Brazilian Pao de Queijo (cheese bread) and 3) Lemon pie.  I know, none of the above sound particularly Thanksgivingy, but they were easy and yummy.

The black bean dip has become one of my staples, a quick go-to recipe that is an easy contribution to just about any event.  I originally got the recipe from my amazing friend, A.  A is a kick-a** feminist and a regular Martha Stewart at home.  She and I don't get to see each other that much, but she has been a rock in my life since I met her.  You know the kind of friend that flat out tells you she is your friend for life and you believe her?  That is A.   A is the How DOES she do it all!!???? grad school friend that many of us still marvel at. 

A's Black Bean Dip

1 can black beans
1 tomato
3 green onions
1 seeded jalapeno
1/2 cup cilantro (I love cilantro, so I use the whole bunch)
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp salt
chug of olive oil (I use 1-2 tbsp)

Throw all of these ingredients into a blender and puree.  Serve with a sprig of cilantro on top.

Though this dip has an entire jalapeno, it really is not spicy at all.  I hope you enjoy this recipe and treasure those A-like friends in your life!

I will be posting the other two recipes soon!

Arugula Pizza - Que Gostoso! (and a Bonus Date Night)

So we joined the Fall CSA around here and our compost has never been better!  Seriously, I don't like radishes or their tops, nor turnips or their tops and perslane is just annoying.  And the bag of unidentifiable greens .... ????  I am left with okra*, arugula*, random peppers and random squashes.  (*I confess that until about two months ago, I hated okra and until about a week ago, I hated arugula.  And I am someone who loves food.  "Hate + a food" are not usually in my vocabulary, but I seem to hate everything my CSA provides me on a weekly basis.)  It is only the beginning of the season.  More things will come in soon.  But in the meantime, I was determined to stop composting my entire CSA share every week. 

I started liking okra when someone told me they just sauteed it in olive oil and added sea salt.  I started LOVING okra when I tossed it in olive oil and  and then baked it in the oven for a few minutes, tossing sea salt once it was out.  I don't know for how long or what temperature - I just throw some okra in there with whatever else is baking and let it get nice and toasty.  It takes away the icky sticky part of the okra, leaving a tantalizing snack or side dish that never makes it to the table because Bill and I eat it all before the table is set.  As I am getting older, I am starting to love to experiment with food textures.  The little seeds in the okra are my favorite part.  A little pleasant pop - what a treat.  

I fell hard for arugula this past week.   I found this recipe at Dinner:  A Love Story and thought it sounded just strange enough to give it a try - White Pizza With Arugula.  Flavor explosion.  It's a salad dumped on top of cheese pizza.   I did make some modifications to save time - I used whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's and substituted the fresh mozzarella for just grated mozzarella from a bag.  It was the only way I've ever liked arugula.  I think the lemon juice tones down the strong and heavy arugula flavor.  The result was delicious and surprising. 

I guess if I'm going to do a series, I should take a picture before we polish most of it off!

I also bought the makings of a half cheese/half pepperoni pizza for my little guys.  They like it pretty simple.  I just used TJ's regular pizza dough for them, brushed olive oil on it (they do not like tomato sauce pizza) and made half of it cheese and half pepperoni.  Their pizza was done so fast that it would have been cold by the time they finished their Saturday night movie (Curious George 2).  So for the first time, we set up their small table and chairs in front of (!!!!!) the TV.  Add this to the list of things we said we would NEVER do before becoming parents, but now that we are parents, we think it is awesome.  They ate their pizza and milk while Bill and I got to finish making our pizza, have a glass of wine and eat our yummy salad pizza with some adult conversation.  I think we may have stumbled on a weekly family tradition.  Everyone was happy.

I am thinking of starting a series on this blog called, Que Gostoso, which means "how tasty" in Portuguese, only it sounds much better in Portuguese, don't you think?  If you are just interested in seeing cute pictures of my boys, you may want to skip it.  If you also like to play around in the kitchen, pull up a chair and be our guest. 

Dabo

 

 

  

My A loves dabo (bread).  We have known of this love since we got an update for him back in the beginning of November:  

"Sister told me of a cute story about his friendship with one nanny. In between meals, this nanny lets him take bread from the kitchen.  Now he is used to doing that, so in between meals, even when she isn't there, he likes to go in the kitchen and take bread when no one is looking."

His love affair with dabo continues, rivaled only by his love for dha-dhee.  Almost any time of day, you can hear A saying, "daddy, dabo," in this pitiful, whiny voice.  His sweet daddy will take him to the kitchen.  "Daddy, dabo."  He gets the bread out.  "Daddy, dabo."  Bill gets out the butter.  "Daddy, dabo."   Bill tells him his bread is almost ready. "Dabo."  The bread is put on the table.  "Daddy, dabo!"   Thank
 God it's "Daddy, dabo," because mommy might be tempted to say some not very nice thing like, "Can't you see I'm making your freakin' dabo?"  A eats his dabo.  If he doesn't ask for more immediately ("daddy, dabo"), give him an hour or so.

A and I have baked dabo about once a week.  Two loaves each time - he eats most of it himself in a week or less.  It was difficult to explain to him that while we were indeed making dabo, it would not be ready for a LONG time.  He's gotten the hang of it though and has fallen in love with dabo straight out of the oven with melting butter.  I now see him making dabo in his little kitchen.  My grandfather must be smiling down.  Making bread was a tradition in my family.   Grandaddy was the dabo maker, then my mom.  Now it is A and me.


I'd like to end this dabo post with a snapshot of our home last week.  It is a wee hour - still dark outside.  A sleeps between us and I hear him awake and say, "Daddy, caca."  (One more reason I don't mind him being more attached to daddy.)  From the bathroom, I hear, from my dear little son, sitting on the potty, doing his caca, in the whiny voice he saves for this, "Daddy, dabo."


______________________


A's Dabo Recipe (from the More-With-Less Cookbook), 
also known as Easy No-Knead * Whole Wheat Bread:

Combine in large mixer bowl: 

• 3 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 t salt
• 3 pkg dry yeast (or 7 t of yeast)

Heat in saucepan until very warm (120-130 degrees):

• 2 c water
• 2 c milk
• 1/2 c oil

Add to dry ingredients:

• warmed liquids
• 2 eggs

Blend at low speed until moistened.  Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.  Stir by hand:

• 1 c oatmeal (my addition)
• 5-6 c white flour

Use enough flour to form a stiff batter.  Cover and let rise until double (it rises so much I have to put it in two large bowls).  Stir down and spoon into 2 greased 9x5" bread pans.  Let rise 20-30 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.


-----
*  My grandfather might not smile at this no-knead stuff - he was a purist, which I tend to be, too.  BUT, I am now a mom and this is just about the most delicious bread recipe I've ever found - knead or not!


AND I must add a note:  Bill just came home from his first night meeting since we've had the boys.  A heard the door and here were his words:  "Daddy!  Daddy, up (to pick him up).  Daddy, dabo."

Happy Birthday, Bill!

Happy Birthday, my dear and wonderful Bill!

I love this man - he makes my life soooo gooood :) I had great fun planning and cooking for a dinner party for him this weekend. I enjoy cooking way too much, especially for this very special day of the year (Bill and I figured out that his birth and my conception were very close together, if not the same day)! We had a very Brazilian meal:

• Pao de queijo
• Moqueca de Camarao (Afro-Brazilian shrimp stew) and rice
• Palmito and Chuchu Salad
• Lemon Cake with Mascarpone Whipping Cream and Strawberries (YUM)
• Home-made balsamic truffles with chocolate coating sprinkled with Fleur de Sel

Hmmm, maybe this explains why I was still in my PJ's at 10:45 this morning!

How do you like these wine glass charms? Hee, hee!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

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Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is my mom's birthday :) Since she was here this weekend with the crew, we were able to celebrate together yesterday. I made a big breakfast of crystallized ginger scones, local peaches (frozen this summer) and chocolate chip muffins for the kids. On the side, we had whipping cream, lemon curd, ginger jam (yum, yum) and honey.

Below is the scone recipe. Above are some pics and a video. Though we have room in the house to have spread out my 5 sibs a little bit, they like sleeping like puppies, which Samba was more than happy to join. It was a crazy and fun weekend.

Crystallized Ginger Scones

3 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 sticks butter cut into small pieces
½ cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 egg
½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350º and line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter and cut in until mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs. Toss ginger. Whisk together egg and milk until blended and add to flour mixture. With fork, stir to form large, moist clumps of dough. Turn out into a lightly floured surface and press together w/hands until dough comes together. Roll dough into 10 in round, ¾ in thick. Cut dough into 12 equal sized wedges. Bake 30-35 min. Makes 12 scones.

Recipe request

If you've been to my house lately, I've probably served you brownies for dessert. I used to be ambivalent about brownies until I had brownies at S's house in France. I made the brownies with C (I think!) and they were the best ever. I have had several requests for the recipe, so I thought I'd share it...

Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

1) Melt together 1 stick of butter and 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.

2) Stir in 1 cup of sugar, add 2 eggs and ½ teaspoon of vanilla, and beat the mixture well. Preheat oven to 325° F.

3) Stir in ¼ cup all-purpose flour and ¼ teaspoon of salt.

4) Bake the brownies in a buttered and flowered 8 inch square pan at 325° F for about 40 minutes.

*** Best if you put ½ cup of melted chocolate chips on top. ***

It might be easier to print it out from here. They also have other topping ideas. Enjoy!

Food and Justice

I just read a powerful article in this week's New Yorker, The Last Bite: Is the World's Food System Collapsing? In the last few years, food as a social issue has really grabbed a hold of me. I guess it makes perfect sense... anyone who knows me knows I LOVE TO EAT, and that I LOVE TO COOK. Hopefully, you also know that social justice, here in my neighborhood and around the world is something I care deeply about. The mix of social justice and food started with my reading and cooking from these two amazing cookbooks: More-with-less and Extending the Table. I started thinking... hmmm, the way I eat is affects not just my own body...

Then I watched the movie Supersize Me, which sent me into being a vegetarian for about a year and a half.... remember that? I did it to try to live in solidarity with the world's majority who cannot affort to eat at the top of the food chain. I ran a marathon while a vegetarian... not a good idea, ya'll! (I wondered how I could possibly train for a marathon and not seem to loose weight and with almost no energy during the day!) Back on topic... then I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and started thinking that maybe there was a better way to go about eating.

The New Yorker article gave me some new tips and summed up a way to eat that is loving towards all our other brothers and sisters: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." As I think about the fact that there is a drought in Ethiopia where my dear children and their dear biological families live, I have to realize that just because I work at EarthFare and CAN now buy and pig out on fancy imported cheeses, delectable chocolates, exotic spreads and you name it doesn't mean that I SHOULD. It is amazing how quickly these things cease to be special when you have them in abundance!

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. I really want to try - the new challenge from this is the "not too much" part.

________________

PS Okay, it has been 9 months today! If I were pregnant, I'd be bursting... or birthing... WHATEVER. I am pregnant of the heart (as Brazilians say it) and I AM BURSTING! I want my babes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Late Mother's Day Celebration

Somehow, we fit around the table (though not for long :)

Silly faces
V wins with the silly face! She can do this for an uncomfortably long time!

Today was actually Mother's Day at our house. I had mom and the crew over for lunch. [For those of you who don't know, my mom and step-dad adopted 5 kids from Brazil and they have been in the US since January 2008.] We had a LOUD yet FUN two hours with them. Between playing with the dog outside, playing with ALL of our kiddie toys at once, two MP3 players going at the same time + our stereo, card games, speaking English/Portuguese, meeting some neighborhood kids, swinging in the hammock and some kung fu, we managed to eat a meal :) We had a feijoada completa and my new favorite dessert. Don't turn up your nose, just go make this and try it:

2 pints of cut strawberries
2 tablespoons of OJ
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Mix it all up, let it marinate for a few minutes and eat it! We put it over vanilla ice cream and it is strongly rivaling any chocolate sauce we could have drizzled on top. JUST TRY IT!

Happy Birthday, Bill!

At Magnolia Gardens

Happy Birthday!

Bill's parents were here for the weekend so we could celebrate his birthday. We had a relaxed, enjoyable time (except for wondering if a tornado would touch down on us on Saturday night!).

For his "cake," Jean and I made a Chocolate Glazed Hazelnut Mousse. I adjusted the recipe by using Kahlua instead of water.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Now that I am not employed, I can work on things I love to do .... like bake! I made the big Chocolate Dump It Cake (different icing) for the Metanoia staff and the little ones for Bill and me :)

Love to all of you!

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Wow, was it cold for Charleston today as we rode in the MLK parade! It was fun, though :) This year, we had our own "float" for the very first time (one of our partners, the Verdi group, donated time on their truck trailer). We had 40 kids waving and screaming, "Happy King Day!" I'm the one in the big red coat. My co-workers and I were teasing that we should have made some sashes that said, "Ms. Metanoia" or "Miss Chicora-Cherokee." We were under so many layers, you would not have been able to tell if we were beauty queens or not (though, of course, WE ARE!)!

After the chilly ride, Bill and I came home to some hot African sweet potato stew with beans in the crock pot. YUMMM!! That is one of my favorite winter recipes.

How to Celebrate Thanksgiving, 2 Birthdays, Christmas and the New Year in 3 Hours

Yesterday, three of my favorite people got in cars and drove at least an hour to get together. My brother Juan drove from Spartanburg, Oscar drove from Rock Hill and Bill drove from Charleston with me to Columbia, SC. We met at a middle eastern restaurant (Al Amir) to celebrate all the special days that we unfortunately don't get to spend together this year.

I made Juan's favorite birthday cake (which I won't have time to cook again for about 10 years). We stayed at the restaurant for three hours and I wish we could have spent more. My brothers are so cool and so handsome :) It was three hours of joy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are my contributions to the Stanfield/Funderburk family Thanksgiving:
1) Myself (haha)
2) Cranberry-Chocolate Tart

By the way, this tart traveled well in three separate parts from SC to NC. In one part, however, it didn't do so well between kitchen and car - don't put it together until its final destination!

I Love My Job

Today, I had a job emergency. I am not kidding... I absolutely HAD to come home for the afternoon and make cookies with two of my favorite students. Our middle school is getting ready to start a fundraiser (selling boxed cookies) and we needed to field test a recipe. Wow, they were good! I didn't take a picture today, but here is one of the students when she also "HAD TO" come to my house and hang out and practice her flute last week. I always have such a great time with the kids!