Mahi Florentine

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The past few weeks have been a struggle for me as my husband and I have committed to making mindful changes to our eating plan. I don’t mind the challenge of eating better, so it isn’t that. My problem has been that I’ve tried too hard to develop original recipes worth sharing here on Comfort du Jour, but so much of what I have done has been with random leftovers that nobody else in their right mind is likely to have on hand. At the end of this post, I’ll show you a glimpse of some of those dishes, and perhaps you’ll draw inspiration for how to repurpose some of your own leftovers with a shift toward healthy.

Moving forward, one of the easiest ways I know to eat better is to choose lean meats and seafood and add a lot of vegetables. So in the weeks to come, you’ll likely see a lot more green on my plate, and I mean that quite literally with this dish, featuring a gorgeous, bright green bed of sautéed spinach, my husband’s all-time favorite vegetable.

What’s so great about spinach?

We all remember from the Popeye cartoons of childhood that spinach made Popeye strong— OK, that connection was overstated. But there is a hint of truth in it, as nutrition science shows the natural nitrates found in leafy greens support healthy muscle function. Spinach is also rich in Vitamins A, C and K, as well as iron, potassium and folate, a B vitamin that helps the body generate healthy cells.

Is it better to eat spinach raw or cooked?

There is no health consequence of eating raw spinach; one of my favorite salads is made from it, along with hard-boiled eggs, red onion slices and goat cheese. But we might miss more than we gain by eating it raw. In addition to all its benefits, raw spinach also contains oxalic acid, which is the stuff that makes your teeth feel squeaky. Oddly, the oxalic acid blocks absorption of some of the very nutrients spinach provides. The cooking process breaks that down, though, so a quick sauté or steaming helps you reap the most benefit of this versatile vegetable. I’ll be using spinach again and again in the coming weeks, so all of my leafy green lovers will want to stay tuned. 😀

So what about this dish?

Today’s recipe is a twist on Mahi Hemingway, a dish I posted a few years ago, and my copycat version of a pricey meal I had enjoyed many times at a local restaurant. This time, I’ve plated the fish and sauce atop fresh spinach rather than a pile of carb-y pasta. It’s colorful, easy to prepare and absolutely delicious!

Delicious, and pretty!

To make it, you’ll need a couple fillets of fresh mahi—season them with salt and lemon pepper— plus a fat handful of fresh baby spinach, a little garlic, diced tomato, capers, dry white wine, a squeeze of fresh lemon and a little swirl of butter at the end for a delicate but flavorful sauce. If mahi is unavailable (or not your favorite), try this dish with halibut, grouper or even a mild cut of salmon.

Parsley garnish is optional, but recommended, and you can make two servings of this meal for less than half the cost of a restaurant meal for one. It’s light, delicious, gluten-free and diet-friendly. It’s also easy to make (there’s a click-to-print recipe below), and my Instagram reel will show you in 60 seconds how to put it on your table tonight. Mise en place (having everything in place) is important here, because the dish moves quickly once the pan is hot. Enjoy!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4NxsDyujm-

Mahi Florentine

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Average
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There's plenty of flavor and nutrition in this light and easy seafood dish, and it comes together in under half an hour. Perfect for a busy weeknight!


Ingredients

  • 2 skinless mahi fillets, about 6 ounces each
  • Several shakes salt-free “lemon pepper” seasoning, such as Mrs. Dash
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided (1 for the spinach, 2 for the fish)
  • 2 fat handfuls fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped (this is approximately six ounces)
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine, divided (you’ll use some for the spinach, some for the fish; substitutions in the recipe notes)
  • Juice and zest of 1/2 large lemon
  • 1/3 cup petite diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 Tbsp. nonpareil capers, drained but not rinsed
  • 1 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into teaspoon-size pieces, for swirling into sauce at the end
  • A sprinkle of fresh, chopped parsley to garnish

Notes: This recipe moves quickly, especially once you remove the fish from the skillet. Be sure to have all your ingredients lined up and ready before you begin cooking.

Any firm fish fillet may be substituted for the mahi; I think salmon, grouper, tilapia or halibut would all be terrific in this dish.

Dry vermouth may be used in place of the white wine. If you prefer to avoid alcohol, substitute a quarter cup of low-sodium vegetable broth for the wine and add an extra squeeze of lemon.

Use fresh tomatoes when they’re in season; otherwise, salt-free canned tomatoes work great. If you have trouble with the acidity in tomatoes, try neutralizing it with a pinch of baking soda. Stir the soda into the tomatoes before you begin, and give it a few minutes for any foaminess to subside before proceeding. This will help take the edge off the acid of the tomatoes.

Directions

  1. Pat the mahi fillets dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper, plus a generous few shakes of the lemon pepper seasoning. Set aside to warm to room temp while you prepare the spinach.
  2. Place a non-stick skillet or pot over medium heat. Swirl in about a tablespoon of the olive oil, and then add the spinach a handful at a time. Give it a toss through the oil, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Use an easy touch here, so the spinach isn’t too salty after it wilts down.
  3. Add garlic to the pan and toss until spinach is fully wilted but still bright green. Add a splash of the white wine, plus the zest of the half-lemon. Continue to cook until the wine evaporates. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
  4. While the spinach is cooking, heat a second skillet (preferably not non-stick) over medium heat. Add remaining oil when the pan is hot. Place the fish fillets, “pretty” side-down, into the skillet. You should hear them sizzle instantly. Leave the fillets alone until you can see the fish is cooked through about 1/3 of its thickness, about three minutes. Use a metal spatula to carefully turn the fillets to cook the other side, about two additional minutes. They will be a little translucent in the center, but the residual heat will cook them through. Transfer the fillets to a warm plate and set aside while you prepare the sauce.
  5. Add the diced tomatoes and capers into the fish skillet. Add a generous splash of the white wine, and use a whisk or utensil to scrape up all the cooked-on bits in the pan. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook until wine is reduced by half. Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir until the moisture is reduced by about half; this should happen within about a minute.
  6. Turn off the heat. Carefully swirl the cold butter, a teaspoon at a time, into the pan sauce. This will emulsify and thicken the sauce.
  7. Divide the spinach between serving plates. Place a mahi fillet on top of each and spoon the pan sauce over the fish. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve at once.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the other delicious foods I’ve made since we committed to healthier eating. Some were made from leftovers that you probably don’t have, but others are repeats of favorites, with previous recipes linked for your convenience.

Leaning into whole grains helps me feel full longer. I love Bob’s Red Mill products!
Fettuccine with shrimp and roasted broccoli. Link here for my “No-Guilt Alfredo Sauce,” made with loads of cauliflower!
A leftover-based version of wedding soup, but I skipped the pasta and didn’t bother turning the ground chicken into meatballs.
One of my all-time faves! Link here for the recipe for “Salmon with Fennel & White Beans.”
Just a tablespoon of queso dip (leftover from Super Bowl) on this salad, topped with black bean-tomato hash and grilled chicken tenders.
Breakfast for dinner always satisfies! Link here for my my “Shiksa-style Shakshuka!”

Healthy-ish Banana Oat Muffins

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Easing up on sweets is not a big deal to me, but my hubby loves having dessert and occasional sweet bites. It’s usually a good thing that I like to make such treats at home— we save money and I know exactly what’s going into them— but doing so while we are trying to shed unwanted pounds feels like a no-win situation. Les told me just before Super Bowl that he wanted to buckle down into a better eating plan, to lose weight and get healthier. This was kind of a shock to me, but I know it must have been on his mind for a while before he sprung the news, and I want to support his decision, for my own health as much as his. There’s only two of us at home, and having those treats around is a lot of temptation.

I had been eyeing some overripe bananas on my counter for a few days, thinking how much I had wanted to make banana bread or a snack cake or muffins, and I reluctantly set aside thoughts of it on Wednesday morning as I scurried to pull together my share of the documents Les and I needed for filing our taxes, when an idea hit me like a lightning bolt—

Why not make the sweet treat and give half of it away? Nina, our tax preparer, had told me a few years ago that she loves sweets, so here was my chance! No need to deprive ourselves or do all the math involved in making half a recipe or shuffle to find space in the freezer for leftovers. Giving away half of the treats would keep us from overindulging in a sweet snack that hung around for too many days. Did I mention that Nina also approved this idea? It’s never a bad thing to spiff a hardworking accountant with unexpected homemade goodies, especially during tax season when she barely has time to come up for air. 😁

The oats cooked up plump and tender inside these wholesome muffins.

I should emphasize that our effort to cut back on sweets (and calories in general) is not driven by doctor’s orders or any scary test results; it is merely borne of realization that our indulging has gotten a little carried away. It feels good to lighten things up, and making mindful ingredient swaps into the foods we enjoy is an easy first step. My focus here was on making sure these muffins had some redeeming value beyond tasting delicious. With wholesome grains, ripe bananas and reduced sugar, they were a substantial baked treat— sweet enough to satisfy, but not over the top.

Whole grains add fiber and complex carbs to the diet, giving hearty texture and keeping blood sugar in check.
Here’s me, baking on the fly. I eyeballed my teaspoon of vanilla, and when I discovered that I was short on my mashed banana, I made up for it with nonfat buttermilk. 😁

For someone on doctor’s orders to avoid specific foods, it might be a different story, and a plant-based butter or even expeller-pressed canola oil would be a good swap for the dairy butter if saturated fat is the bane of your diet. You could probably also use only one egg and increase the banana, or one whole egg plus two egg whites, or skip the eggs entirely in favor of flax “eggs.” If you have issues with gluten, you could try one of the widely available 1:1 gluten-free options out there. The grocery stores today have plenty of easy alternatives to make the recipe work, and I’ll leave you to it.

Fold the batter thoroughly to incorporate all the flour. I used a cookie scoop to fill my fancy muffin papers, and topped them with crunchy turbinado sugar.

I won’t claim that these muffins are half the calories of a typical recipe, but I’m certain that my substitutions made them better for us, and still took care of our sweet tooth. I would make these again in a heartbeat, especially after seeing how much Les enjoyed having one for dessert and another with breakfast. Next time, I might experiment with maple syrup in place of brown sugar, and canola oil in place of butter. And I probably won’t wait until next year’s tax season. 😉

Healthy-ish Banana Oat Muffins

  • Servings: 12 muffins
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Whole grains give these muffins a healthy edge over a typical sweet treat. They are delicious when served warm at breakfast, and they even stand-in nicely as a weeknight dessert.


Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (see notes for measuring tips)
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp. milled flax seed (see notes)
  • 1 cup mashed very ripe banana
  • 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp. turbinado or other coarse sugar, for sprinkling on muffins before baking

Notes: For accurate measuring of flour, use the fluff-sprinkle-level method. Use a fork or whisk to fluff up the flour in your bag or container, the sprinkle it from a spoon into your measuring cup until overflowing, and then use the edge of a knife to level it off. Dipping straight into the flour bag will likely result in excess flour and a dry outcome.

The Omega-3 (good) fats in flax seed are only digestible when the seeds are ground. You can purchase flax seed already milled, and it’s best stored in the fridge or freezer this way. I usually purchase the whole seeds, grinding them in a coffee or spice grinder as I need them.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F, with oven rack in center position. Line or grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and flax meal.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine mashed banana, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
  4. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the wet mixture all at once. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to gently fold the ingredients together, taking care not to over-mix. Let the batter rest one minute, as the acidity in the buttermilk will react with the baking soda to create a somewhat bubbly batter.
  5. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. I found a cookie dough scoop very useful for this. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over all the muffins, with one tablespoon covering each row of four muffins.
  6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven, and use the toothpick test to confirm doneness. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Jambalaya-stuffed Chicken Roulades

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One of my favorite tricks for eating healthier without feeling deprived is switching up the ratio of ingredients or components in a dish. I’m relying on this premise a great deal since my husband, Les, has decided that now is the time to drop a few pounds and eat better. Am I still resentful that he laid this news on me just hours before the Super Bowl, when I was still in the throes of preparing the fat-heavy foods he specifically requested for that day? Perhaps, but I’m distracting myself by getting creative in the kitchen! 😉

I must have still had Mardi Gras and New Orleans on my mind last weekend when I dreamed up this idea to flip the script on jambalaya, which is usually a one-pot stew, heavy with chicken, sausage and shrimp. I decided to skip the shrimp, wrap the andouille sausage inside a skinless chicken breast with a bunch of Cajun-seasoned veggies, and bake it with a quick and easy Creole-inspired sauce. My little roulades (just a fancy French word for something rolled and stuffed) have the spirit of jambalaya, but with a snazzier presentation and a bit lighter on the components that add fat and calories.

The color of that sauce! 😎

As I was working on this dish, and especially the Creole sauce, an old memory hit me that may explain my fascination with the foods of New Orleans, despite having never had the chance to visit. When I was a teenager living in Colorado with my mother, I bused tables for Sunday breakfast and early lunch at a Best Western dining room. My job, in addition to clearing dirty dishes and resetting the tables with white tablecloths, included running hotel pans of hot food from the kitchen to replenish the buffet. I can still picture how I learned to carry the terribly hot stainless steel pans, balancing two opposite corners on the heels of my hands so that I didn’t get burned. One of the dishes that was served frequently as my shift turned toward lunch was “veal Creole,” and I was mesmerized by the sauce. It was tomato-forward, but decidedly not Italian as most sauces I was familiar with. There was something special about it, and I’m certain that it added color to my imagination about other New Orleans cuisine. For sure, I have to put NOLA on the short list of places to visit soon!

Turning jambalaya inside-out (or outside-in)

The prep work is my least favorite step of cooking, but it is so important to have things lined up and ready to go. The French call this principle mise en place, and it seems especially apropos to apply here, given that Creole food is drawn from French inspiration. You’ll see that I’ve packed a ton of vegetables into this dish— bell peppers, onions and celery (known in Louisiana kitchens simply as “the holy trinity”), plus a few cloves of minced garlic. The chopped veggie bits will end up in a Creole sauce, and the diced pieces will fortify the andouille filling of my roulades.

A dish with this many veggies must be good for us!

Andouille, a smoked sausage seasoned with garlic, cayenne, onions and wine, is crucial to jambalaya, in my opinion, but it is also pretty high up there on the saturated fats scale because it’s made from pork. In a typical, four-serving batch of jambalaya, I might cut up a full pound of andouille. But here, I’ve cut a single sausage into small cubes, which I crisped up in a pan before adding my aromatic veggies and cooking them until tender. Yes, I cooked the veggies in the rendered sausage fat rather than in oil, and this was intentional to maximize the flavor of my minimal amount of sausage. Had I drained off that grease and used oil to sauté the trinity, we would have missed some of that andouille goodness, and I only would have spared us 1 gram of saturated fat per serving. It was a fair trade.

I’m still going to have that andouille flavor, just not so much fat.

The Creole sauce I made here was spicy and flavorful, thanks to Cajun seasoning and fresh garlic that echo the andouille flavors. Flour thickens up the chicken broth-based sauce, and I was able to use up half a can of spicy Rotel tomatoes (left from the queso dip I made for Super Bowl), half a can of regular diced tomatoes (left from a salmon dish I made earlier in the week) plus tomato paste for added depth. This sauce was flavor on top of flavor, and I knew it would be even better after some simmer time in the oven over the roulades.

This is very close to what I remember from my first taste of Creole sauce.

Stuffed chicken breasts are easy to do, but there are a few steps involved for easy rolling. First, you want the chicken to lay flat, so use a sharp paring knife and a slow, gentle touch to gradually open up the long side of the breast like a book. Next, place them between layers of parchment or waxed paper and pound them with the flat side of a meat mallet until the chicken is about 3/8-inch thick. It should look similar to a heart shape. 

Easy does it here. Make several passes of shallow cuts until the breast can be laid open.
It’s best to take your time and pound gently so that you don’t shred the fresh chicken.
Season before or after, your choice.

Letting the good times roll!

Finally, it was time to assemble and bake my roulades! There was one more flavor element that I wanted in my “rearranged” jambalaya, and that was okra. My husband is not a fan of this much-maligned southern staple vegetable, which can sometimes be slimy when cooked. Here’s how I got around that unpleasant trait— I used spicy pickled okra! The process of pickling keeps the okra firm and sturdy, and the sweet-sour pickling added a nice flavor accent to my roulades. I cut lengthwise slits in each okra pod so that I could release the excess liquid onto paper towels, and then I rolled up my andouille-layered cutlets with the okra inside and tucked in a few toothpicks to hold them together.

Once I had all the components ready, this came together quickly!

A quick dusting of flour ensured even browning on my roulades, and then I covered and smothered them with the Creole sauce, baking it with a foil cover for about 40 minutes. My kitchen smelled amazing! I carefully lifted the roulades to a cutting board, sliced them up and served on brown rice with the Creole sauce.

Delish!

This little adventure gave us some big, bold flavor, and we didn’t miss the extra andouille or its extra calories. Based on my lookup, by the way, each serving of this meal was roughly 420 calories. Probably a little less, actually, as I had two servings of the Creole sauce left over. I used it up two nights later, with Cajun seared shrimp.

Jambalaya-stuffed Chicken Roulades

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Average
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This is a playful reinvention of classic jambalaya, made a bit healthier by reducing the amount of high-fat sausage and emphasizing lean chicken and vegetables.


Ingredients

  • 1 link smoked andouille sausage, diced into small bits
  • 1 medium sweet onion, divided; 2/3 chopped and the rest diced
  • 2 stalks celery, divided; 2/3 chopped and the rest diced
  • 1/2 each red and green bell peppers, divided; 2/3 chopped and the rest diced
  • 3 large cloves garlic, minced
  • Several shakes Cajun garlic seasoning (use it to season every layer)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (I used a combination of “hot” Rotel and regular diced tomatoes)
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded to 3/8″ thickness
  • 4 pods pickled okra, slit lengthwise to drain and blotted dry with paper towels
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooked brown rice for serving



Directions

  1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the diced andouille sausage and cook until the edges are crisped and fat is rendered. Add the diced onions, peppers and celery and sprinkle with Cajun garlic seasoning. Cook until vegetables are tender and reduced, adding half of the garlic in the last couple of minutes. Set aside to cool.
  2. While the diced veggies are cooking, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add olive oil and chopped vegetables. Season with Cajun garlic seasoning and cook until softened, adding garlic near the end of cooking. Spoon flour over the vegetables and toss to cook until the roux coats and sticks to the pot.
  3. Add chicken stock, whisking to release any browned bits in the pot. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir, bringing the pot to a slight boil to thicken sauce. Reduce heat and cook for a few more minutes while you prep the chicken.
  4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Assemble the roulades by dividing the andouille-trinity mixture evenly over the butterflied chicken breasts. Place two okra pods at the narrow tip of the cutlet and roll snugly toward the larger end. Secure the loose ends with toothpicks.
  5. Dust each roulade lightly with flour. Place a skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Gently brown the roulades on all sides and then transfer to a baking dish. Spoon the creole sauce over the roulades, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Carefully transfer each roulade to a cutting board to slice them into rounds.
  6. Serve roulade slices over brown rice with Creole sauce.

Pineapple-Coconut Margarita

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Does it seem odd that the first recipe I post after the announcement of my husband’s “get healthier” initiative is a cocktail? Yes, of course it does. This is one of those awkward food blogging moments where things seem out of order. But Thursday is National Margarita Day, and I’ve been planning this post since before Les saw the light. With tequila being one of the lowest calorie spirits, I figure that a margarita is a reasonable, if only occasional, splurge. Besides, if you’re cutting back on cocktails while implementing a new eating plan, it’s best to make that once-in-a-while drink a good one, and make it at home for Margarita Day or any other day you’re craving refreshment.

I think I can see warmer weather just ahead!

The margarita is one of the easiest drinks to modify with fun, flavorful twists, and this one is working a tropical vibe with pineapple and coconut, without being overly sweet. What makes it a “margarita” (which translates to “daisy” in Spanish) is tequila, orange liqueur, fresh lime and a touch of sweetener. The rest is up for grabs; just don’t go too crazy mixing in other flavors or you’ll have yourself a boozy mess and probably feel terrible in the morning (especially if the add-ins are sweet). If you generally associate margaritas with hangovers, here’s my theory: you probably had too many, made with cheap tequila (it didn’t have a worm, did it?) and a crappy mixer, and possibly in a chain restaurant.

My personal rules for margaritas are simple— use good quality tequila, freshly squeezed citrus (never a bottled mix!) and give it a fresh garnish. We eat and drink with our eyes, and when my husband and I entertain, it seems that the garnish is what always makes guests ooh and aah, so I consider it as crucial as the other ingredients. For this drink, I’m keeping it simple with a lime slice on the edge of the glass.

This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

I love this 1800 Coconut, a blanco tequila first recommended to me by my cousin-in-law, Will. The differences between this and some other “flavored” spirits are that the coconut is subtle and natural, it has no added sugars, and— at 70 proof— it still has a nice little kick. It’s mellow enough to sip with just an ice rock (as Will does), but it is also terrific paired with another tropical flavor, especially pineapple.

This time of year, bottled pineapple juice is likely to be tastier than any fresh pineapple you’d pick up at the supermarket, and I typically choose a large bottle over the individual cans because my sensitive tastebuds pick up that tinny flavor. Choose a juice with minimal ingredients, and preferably one that is made from fresh-pressed pineapple rather than concentrate. Be sure to give it a good shake, as the heavier pulp of the juice settles to the bottom, and that’s where most of the flavor is.

The pulp solids have settled to the bottom.
A quick shake fixes that!

Triple sec is a standard ingredient in a margarita, but I prefer the higher end, more intense orange flavor of Cointreau. Fresh lime is a must (please don’t use the bottled stuff) and to keep the drink lightly sweet, just a quick squeeze of agave syrup— paying respect to the plant that gave us tequila in the first place.

Use equal amounts of these three ingredients.

I know that some people have strong feelings about the salt rim, and I’m here to represent those who love it. But I don’t care for the commercial stuff that is “made” for margaritas, because it tends to have a slight chemical flavor and I truly hate when those gigantic chunks of salt fall into my drink. My preference is for a delicate rim of fine sea salt, which is easily adhered only to the outside of the rim after a quick swipe of fresh lime.

It’s great if you have time to do this ahead so the salt has time to set.

Finally, the ice! If you don’t already know that you can purchase a large bag of perfect pellet ice from Sonic, the drive-in fast food joint— well, now you do! This is a far cry from the crushed ice your refrigerator door will give you. Each pellet is a crystal clear chunk of flaky ice, and a scoop of this ice keeps a cocktail cold much longer than you might expect. If you’re only making a couple of drinks, a large cup of Sonic ice will probably cover it; I’ve been buying the 10-pound bags for just $3.50 and have found that it will keep in the freezer (double-bagged) for a few weeks. 

The sonic ice will elevate all your tropical cocktails.

So there you have it— a tropical twist for National Margarita Day! Shake it up with plenty of ice, pour it into the icy glass, add more ice to top off the glass, garnish and enjoy. For those on a calorie budget, this tasty cocktail checks in at 211 calories, made exactly as written.

Pineapple Coconut Margarita

  • Servings: 1 cocktail
  • Difficulty: Average
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Here's a fun tropical twist on a classic margarita! Use the best ingredients you can find for a memorable cocktail at home.


Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. 1800 Coconut tequila
  • 1 1/2 oz. fresh pineapple juice
  • 1/2 oz. Cointreau
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 oz. agave or simple syrup
  • Sea salt to rim the glass and a lime slice to garnish

Note: To salt the rim of the glass, swipe a fresh lime slice around the outer edge of the glass, and then roll it on salt poured out onto a plate or paper towel. Do this in advance, if possible, so that the salt has time to set as the lime juice dries.

Directions

  1. Combine tequila, pineapple juice, Cointreau, lime juice and agave in a cocktail shaker. Add plenty of ice and shake for about 20 seconds.
  2. Strain into a prepared cocktail glass. Top off with additional ice, if necessary, and garnish with a lime.

Surprise!

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The surprises. That’s one of the things I love most about being married to my husband, Les. Valentine’s Day gave me pause to delve into what makes our life together so interesting and fun, and the common thread is surprises. Les is really good at this.

Sometimes, the surprise is a gift— like our first holiday season together when he purchased a piece of original art that I’d been admiring in one of my favorite wine bars. He conspired with the artist and the wine bar manager, reserving a table for us directly underneath “my” painting, so that when I saw upon arrival that it was sold, I’d notice and lament— though only temporarily, to my delight! I love the piece, and it hangs in our living room today.

He also surprised me in July 2016, when I thought we were just going out to dinner with live music for my birthday, but he had actually commissioned the musician (our friend, Colin Allured) to learn “our” song, and after it played (and we danced), Les put a forever ring on my finger. That was literally a life-changing surprise.

Other times, the surprises have been adventure— at Christmas this year, Les pulled out all the stops and created a version of “Let’s Make a Deal,” offering me a chance to trade in my new, gift-wrapped Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds CD for any of three secret “doors,” which turned out to be recorded announcements he’d made on his iPhone. I chose wisely and traded up for a trip to see the Stones when they tour later this year. Yes, we’d have made the trip anyway (he already bought the tickets and made hotel reservations), but I absolutely love that he made it so much fun. We’ll celebrate seven years married this April, but he’s still dating me (yes, I know I’m lucky)!

Still rockin, after all these years!

Every once in a while, though, Les presents a surprise that comes out of left field in a way that makes me say, “aw, maaaan, seriously?!” This is exactly what happened the day before Super Bowl, and just two days after I managed to pull off re-creating my beloved Western New York “fish fry.” That’s when he announced to me without fanfare that he was going to get serious about eating healthier, dropping unwanted pounds and getting back into shape— starting immediately after all the deep-fried Buffalo wings and queso dip and jalapeño popper snacks I’d been prepping for the big game. No more ice cream after dinner every night, he said, and no bacon cheeseburgers or deep-fried anything— and oh, by the way, no more alcohol for a while because empty calories were off the table. Big sigh (but don’t worry, I have these indulgent recipes in archive and I will still share them).

Could I have all of this with a side of Lipitor, please?

I was stunned, and truth be told, a little pissed at this zero-notice announcement. But anyone who loves a Virgo knows that once a decision is made, there’s no point arguing. Virgos get things done, hard stop. And when I consider the timing of his resolve, I recognize that it came mere hours after I complained (again) that none of the cute, sexy clothes in my closet fit me or look good on me anymore. From that perspective, his decision is more a response to my own lament.

My lover is right. We need to do better and get healthier, and though I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to immediately practice my new (and highly successful) deep-frying skills, I am at least excited about the challenge of creating more thoughtful meals, and I’m ready to embrace the coming spring with some new outdoor activities. My realistic side knows that I won’t snap back into the same body I had in my 20s or even 30s— and I’m certain that I have never rocked it quite like Sydney Sweeney on that red Mercedes in the video (wow)— but I do know that getting healthier, slimming down and feeling stronger will give me more confidence to wear at least a few of the cute outfits I’ve kept on ice. Maybe in time for the Stones show, I’ll even be able to squeeze my middle-aged butt into those cute flare-legged pants I bought last summer. Regardless, if we stick with it, my husband’s surprise decision will buy us more lifetime together. More time for romance, adventure and other life-changing surprises.

How could I ever be angry at that?

Chocolate & Cherry Crepes

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I have mixed feelings about special occasions that fall in the middle of the workweek, and with Valentine’s Day on a Wednesday this year— not to mention in the same week as Super Bowl and Mardi Gras— I’m both frustrated and relieved that it won’t be as big a deal. 

I’m not one to go nuts over this “holiday,” which smacks of overdone commercialism and sky-high expectations for everything to be perfect. My husband and I usually stay home and either cook for each other or, as will likely be the case this year, keep it low key and simple. I don’t need roses, wine and chocolate to know that I’m loved.

But this year, the easiest time to make a lovely homemade meal for Valentine’s Day would be this Saturday; unfortunately, it’s getting crowded out at our house by the Super Bowl. I’m reminding myself that I don’t need grand gestures, but the truth is I’m disappointed. My husband will feel loved if the table is loaded with spicy queso dip, Buffalo wings and cold beer, but I will genuinely miss preparing an elegant, more “fancy” meal. 

If nothing else, I will find a way to throw a little romance onto the scene this weekend, probably in the form of dessert. And I know exactly what he craves— chocolate and cherries!

I can’t go wrong with this flavor combination!

For Valentine’s Day last year (which was a Tuesday, also not ideal), I re-created our 2020 sweetheart meal of crispy duck breast with cherry-pinot noir sauce, and Les was thrilled. For dessert, it was an encore performance of chocolate and cherry crepes. My iPhone camera did not capture good photos of the dish itself that first time— it was before I began blogging— but I believe you can see the bliss in my lover’s eye as he enjoyed his special dessert. 

Even with crappy lighting, it’s easy to see that this dessert made him happy!

These are homemade chocolate crêpes, created with double dark cocoa powder and rolled up with an almond-kissed, sweetened mascarpone filling, and then topped with a simple-to-make sweet cherry sauce. And though I’m still a novice when it comes to making crêpes (try not to laugh when you see my photos), I can confirm that after you roll them up and bury them in cherry sauce, nobody will notice if they aren’t perfect.

Making the batter and crepes ahead takes the pressure off whatever else you’re cooking for Valentine’s Day.

The best thing about these crêpes— besides the fact that the flavors are divine— is that you can make every part of them in advance and assemble them when you’re ready to sweep your lover off his or her feet. The crêpe batter actually benefits from some fridge time, so you can even make it the day before. One of these days, I’ll get the hang of cooking them pretty, but for now, the advice I’ll offer is to make extra batter (in case your first ones are duds) and cook them ahead of your occasion. The crepes can be layered with parchment or waxed paper and stored in a zip top bag in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble them with the filling and sauce.

I kept thinking my next crepe would be better, but nope. 😂

The mascarpone is super simple and the cherry sauce, which is conveniently made with frozen dark cherries, can be made ahead and warmed in time for dessert.

Make extra cherry sauce, because you’ll find yourself eating it straight from the pan!

The cherry sauce is so delicious, even if you don’t want to mess with the crêpes, you might find this a perfect topper for ice cream or a brownie or pound cake or anything else you and your Valentine enjoy. I flavored mine up with a splash of amaretto because I love the combination of cherry and almond, but you could skip this or swap in a splash of rum or brandy if you’d like. Assembly of the crêpes is a snap.

Next time, I’ll add a dollop of whipped cream on top!

Chocolate & Cherry Crêpes

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Average
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The best thing about this dessert, besides the marvelous flavor combo, is that you can make every part of it ahead and simply assemble the crêpes at serving time.


The crêpe batter should be made ahead and left to rest in the refrigerator for several hours, up to a full day. Give it a gentle whisking just before cooking to reincorporate any ingredients that have settled to the bottom of the bowl.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. double dark cocoa
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 Tbsp. cane sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp. melted butter
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • Additional butter, used for cooking the crêpes (about 1 tablespoon)

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender container and blend until completely smooth.
  2. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate at least an hour or up to one day.
  3. When ready to cook, heat a small pat of butter in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. When butter begins to brown slightly, ladle 1/4 cup of the crêpe batter into the center of the pan. Swirl the pan gently to spread the batter around into a shape as close to a circle as you can. Cook one minute, then gently turn the crêpe (a silicone spatula is useful here) to cook the other side.
  4. Stack the cooked crêpes between layers of parchment paper and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.

The mascarpone filling is lightly sweetened and kissed with a touch of vanilla and almond. This is a lovely complement to the dark chocolate crêpes and the sweet cherry topping. Make it ahead and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. mascarpone, at room temperature
  • 2 oz. cream cheese (full-fat recommended; this is approximately 1/4 of a standard block)
  • 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Directions

  1. Use a sturdy spoon to blend the mascarpone and cream cheese together in a medium bowl.
  2. Add powdered sugar and extracts. Blend until fully combined and smooth. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the crêpes.

This dark cherry sauce is so easy to make, and provides most of the sweetness in this dessert. It’s delicious when served slightly warm over the crêpes.

Ingredients

  • 3 heaping cups frozen dark sweet cherries
  • 1/4 cup cane sugar
  • 3-inch stick whole cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 cup cherry juice
  • 2 Tbsp. amaretto
  • 2 Tbsp. corn starch, mixed with 2 Tbsp. cold water (used to thicken sauce)

Directions

  1. Combine cherries, sugar, cinnamon stick, salt, lemon juice and cherry juice in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer until cherries are completely softened. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
  2. Bring cherry mixture back to a simmer and stir in amaretto. Remove cinnamon stick and blend corn starch slurry in to thicken. Let the mixture cool slightly before topping crêpes.
  3. Assemble crêpes: Lay a single crepe on a plate or piece of parchment. Add spoonfuls of the mascarpone mixture across the center. Roll up the crêpe and arrange on a dessert plate. Repeat with a second crêpe for each serving. Spoon the cherry sauce over and prepare to swoon.

One last note: Remember that store-bought frozen cherries are pitted mechanically, and every once in a while, the machines miss one. Inspect the cooked sauce thoroughly, just in case!

Muffuletta Pizza

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As we near the end of this year’s Mardi Gras celebration, which wraps up on Feb.13, I’m presenting a pizza twist on the muffuletta, a sandwich that has its origin in New Orleans. You may recall from some of my previous Mardi Gras posts that my travels have not led me to The Big Easy (yet), though it is certainly on my bucket list of foodie places to visit. Still, I love a theme party, and I have a vivid memory of muffuletta, thanks to a part-time job I had more than two decades ago.

Allow me to back up a bit to explain about muffuletta for those who may not be familiar, and why it ties to New Orleans, which we usually associate with Creole-inspired and French cuisine. One glimpse of the muffuletta ingredients list— cured salami, mortadella, ham, provolone and a chopped giardiniera-olive spread— would make one think of Italian food, and rightly so. The muffuletta is said to have been created by a Sicilian immigrant who settled in New Orleans about the turn of the previous century. It is usually presented with loads of layers on a large, round, focaccia-like bread topped with sesame seeds.

[photo credit: Serious Eats | Mateja Zvirotic Andrijanic]

My first experience of muffuletta came during my two-year stint in a catering kitchen in Greensboro, N.C., where a friend had recruited me to be a kitchen helper during busy periods. The kitchen was jamming during wedding season, the winter holidays and the twice-a-year High Point Furniture Market, and I was happy to jump in to help fulfill orders. 

At some point in those two years, one of our regular customers must have hosted a Mardi Gras-themed event, because I was charged with making approximately four quarts of the chopped olive and vegetable mix that was to be used for muffuletta sandwiches. Not knowing anything at all about that sandwich, I followed the instructions on the recipe card I’d been given. Green olives, black olives, capers, pickled vegetables, olive oil, vinegar and dried Italian herbs— what in the world was this concoction? And then Rodney, our smart-ass head chef, labeled the giant plastic jar “Muff Stuff.” You can imagine the chaos that ensued over the nickname in our kitchen of mostly immature amateurs.

“Muff stuff” was the briny, pickled relish for muffuletta, and you can easily make this condiment in just a few minutes with a food processor, though my task was to chop up the ingredients by hand. It was delicious on its own, though not very pretty to look at, and it wasn’t until Rodney whipped up a miniature version of muffuletta for the kitchen crew to sample that I understood the importance of what I had made. 

It was like an Italian sub on steroids. A salty flavor explosion that is both rich and fatty, and only makes you feel guilty until you go in for another bite. It’s so good! I’ve wanted to put these flavors on a pizza for a long time, and here you go. Mardi Gras is all about indulgence and excess, and this meat-and-cheese lover’s pizza is doing its part, in the spirit of New Orleans!

You could just call it an Italian meat lover’s dream pizza.

For my muffuletta pizza, I did not delve into making the muff stuff from scratch. Rather, I took advantage of the Trader Joe’s product that pushed me over the finish line to tackle this culinary bucket list item. They call it “cracked olive salad,” and yes, I checked to be sure that TJ’s still sells it, given the store’s tendency to cancel items without notice. Having said that, if you cannot find the cracked olive salad or don’t have a TJ’s nearby, there are similar products in other supermarkets—check the pickle section. If you still can’t find it, check out this recipe on Serious Eats, where my culinary idol Kenji López-Alt will be happy to walk you through making the olive salad, or indeed, the entire muffuletta.

This is essentially giardiniera chopped together with olives.
Ham, pepperoni or capicola would also be suitable.

I wanted my muffuletta pizza to have as many authentic flavors as possible, so I considered the three categories of meat recommended by Kenji in the aforementioned article. Mortadella, a fatty, emulsified deli meat, is hard to come by in my city, and bologna was out of the question for me, so I went with three of our favorites from the other two categories— Genoa salami, spicy soppressata and thinly sliced prosciutto. Provolone was in the package alongside the salami, and I rolled them up together for an impression of layers, like on the sandwich. I wrapped the rolls snugly in plastic wrap and stuck them in the freezer for an hour or so to help them keep their spiraled shape after slicing. The soppressata was cut into cubes, and the prosciutto into thin strips, so that my pizza would have plenty of interesting texture. I also bumped up the flavor of the olive salad with a few shakes of dried Italian seasoning.

As with any recipe, the prep is super important.

All my pizzas are made with sourdough crust and baked on a screaming hot pizza steel for a brick oven-like finish, but you could replicate the idea of this pizza on any crust you like, perhaps even fresh dough you pick up at the deli. I sprinkled sesame seeds all over the dough, which was more symbolic than anything because we couldn’t detect them on the finished pizza. Sauce went down next, followed by copious amounts of freshly shredded mozzarella, the cubed soppressata, fresh sliced onions and Calabrian chile flakes. Then, the rest of my muffuletta-inspired flavors!

Somebody cue up the zydeco music!

A sprinkle of Parm-Romano blend was a finishing touch, and then into the oven for six minutes— oh, how I love our Dough Joe pizza steel!— and this was possibly one of the most delicious pizzas I’ve ever made. I had some jitters about having “too much meat” on this pizza (my husband would say there’s no such thing), but the flavors worked really well together and the pickled vegetables in the cracked olive salad kept the richness in check.

One of these days, I’m going to get down to New Orleans. Maybe next year. But for now, I’m satisfied to let the good times roll with as many Mardi Gras-inspired foods as I can dream up. What should I make next?

Muffuletta Pizza

  • Servings: 8 slices
  • Difficulty: Average
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It's an Italian meat lover's dream come true, and with special ties to New Orleans, a fun pizza for Mardi Gras!


Ingredients

  • 3 large slices Genoa salami
  • 3 thin slices smoked provolone
  • 1/3 cup Trader Joe’s “cracked olive salad,” or something similar
  • A few shakes of dried Italian herb blend
  • 1 pizza dough ball, at room temperature
  • Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds (optional, for effect)
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup favorite pizza sauce (mine was Dei Fratelli fire-roasted)
  • 1 cup freshly shredded, low-moisture mozzarella
  • 1/3 cup cubed spicy soppressata
  • 1/2 sweet or yellow onion, sliced into crescents
  • A few shakes crushed red pepper, if desired for extra spice
  • 2 slices prosciutto, cut into ribbons
  • About 1/4 cup grated Parm-Romano blend cheese

Note: All my thin-crust pizzas are made with sourdough and baked quickly on a pizza steel, preheated on the center rack of a 550° F oven for one hour. This is an extreme temperature, and the results are very similar to what you would achieve in a brick oven. If you don’t have a steel, a pizza stone works great; follow manufacturer’s recommendations for temperature and adjust baking time accordingly.

Directions

  1. While the oven preheats, layer each slice of salami with a slice of provolone. Roll up into cigar shapes and wrap tightly together in plastic wrap. Tuck this into the freezer for an hour before slicing, so that the twirls keep their shape on top of the pizza. Add a few shakes of Italian seasoning to the olive salad and set aside.
  2. Shape dough into a 14-inch round and place on a flour and cornmeal-dusted pizza peel for easy transfer into and out of the oven. Drizzle the dough with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle all over with sesame seeds, if desired.
  3. Spread sauce over dough to within one inch of the edges; you should be able to see the dough through it. Layer mozzarella generously over the sauce, then scatter the soppressata cubes and onion slices. Shake on crushed red pepper.
  4. Distribute the olive salad evenly over the pizza toppings, then top with the prosciutto and swirls of salami-provolone. Scatter Parm-Romano lightly over the entire pie and slide it into the oven.
  5. Turn pizza 180° after about four minutes to ensure crust is evenly blistered. Remove from oven and transfer to a pizza tray. Serve immediately.

Jalapeño Popper Mac & Cheese Bites

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We are fast approaching a foodie trifecta— Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day will all happen in the same week this year, and I’m in a bit of a tizzy about it. My schedule has been so busy lately that I’m struggling to put up even one post a week, let alone three, and with delicious recipes standing by for all of these occasions, I’m feeling the pressure. 

So I’m getting a jump on things with this recipe for mac and cheese bites, which will be every bit as enjoyable for this weekend’s conference championships as it will for the big game on Feb. 11. Heck, you might enjoy them so much, you’ll make them twice!

One of my great joys for Comfort du Jour is twisting favorite foods together, and these little handheld bites might be one of my tastiest mashups ever. My husband and I love the spicy, cheesy bite of jalapeño popper appetizers, and who doesn’t love mac and cheese? This was a no brainer. And though my initial plan was to simply make mac and cheese with the popper flavors, I pivoted to my muffin tin to keep the snack in handheld form. For any game day watch party, the less you have to mess with utensils, the better.

This recipe begins with crisped up bacon, which is reserved for the top. I drained off the excess bacon grease and then tossed panko crumbs into the skillet to soak up the smoky bacon flavor. This would be a topper for my mac and cheese bites, because every game day snack is better with a little crunch.

Of course there’s a lot of fat in these. It’s a game day snack!

The drained-off bacon grease becomes the backdrop of the jalapeño-studded cheese sauce for the mac and cheese. I followed my usual formula for the sauce: first the roux, then milk for the base, followed by American cheese and shredded cheese (I opted for pepper jack). More fresh jalapeños went into the sauce, and then the cooked elbows.

Of course, this would also be delish baked in a casserole.

To capture all the components of poppers, I buried a nugget of cream cheese inside layers of the mac and cheese, then topped the “muffin” bites with the crispy bacon, more shredded cheddar and those bacon-scented panko crumbs. The recipe can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated, then baked on game day right before kickoff, but I would recommend adding the toppings just before baking so the bacon and crumbs remain crispy.

Let them cool a few minutes, so the cheese firms up for easy, non-messy removal.

Half an hour at 350° F, and these are ready for the big game or any other snacking occasion coming our way. Next up, Mardi Gras! ⚜️

Jalepeño Popper Mac & Cheese Bites

  • Servings: 12 muffin sized bites
  • Difficulty: Average
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What better time than Super Bowl for a snack that marries the spicy flavors of a favorite appetizer and the down home comfort of mac and cheese?


Ingredients

  • 4 thin slices uncured smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup panko crumbs
  • 1/2 sweet or yellow onion, rough chopped
  • 3 jalapeno peppers, divided (dice one, slice the other two)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 5 oz. American cheese, cubed (I usually purchase a chunk from the supermarket deli)
  • 4 oz. pepper jack or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (fresh is better than the pre-shredded stuff in a bag)
  • 1/2 lb. cooked elbow macaroni
  • 2 oz. cream cheese, divided among cups
  • 2 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded and divided among cups

Note: This game day snack can be made in advance and refrigerated overnight. For best results, add bacon pieces and panko just before baking. Oven time may be extended if the bites are baked cold from the fridge.

Directions

  1. Cook bacon pieces in a cast iron skillet until lightly crispy; reserve 3 tablespoons of bacon fat for making the cheese sauce.
  2. Add the panko crumbs to the warm skillet and toss to soak up the residual bacon grease. Set the crumbs aside for topping the mac and cheese bites.
  3. Heat the reserved bacon fat over medium heat in a good sized pot. Add the onions and diced jalapeño and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the vegetables until softened.
  4. Sprinkle in flour and cook a few minutes until the mixture is bubbly and begins to brown. Add milk all at once and cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens into a sauce. Add American cheese cubes and then pepper jack shreds, melting completely after each addition.
  5. Add the cooked elbow macaroni and remaining jalapeño slices and stir to coat completely. Allow this to cool several minutes.
  6. Spray the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin with oil to prevent sticking. Divide half of the mac and cheese among the cups, then place a bit of cream cheese in the center of each cup and cover with the rest of the mac and cheese. Divide the bacon pieces over the top of the cups, and then top each with the shredded cheddar and bacon-moistened panko crumbs.
  7. Bake at 350° F for about 30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crumbs are crispy.
  8. Let the mac and cheese bites cool a few minutes to firm up the cheese, then run a knife around the outside of each muffin cup to release the bites from the pan. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy watching them fly off the plate.

Much Ado About Black Bean Soup

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Soup. It’s one of the simplest and most comforting pleasures of the cold weather season, and when I spied a bag of dried black beans in the back of my tall pantry a couple months ago, I thought, “Great, this will be easy!” Soak them overnight, drain and rinse, then cook them up with a few aromatic veggies, spice and broth, right? Well, as you may have already guessed, this one didn’t go quite that smoothly. And it’s my own fault for not paying attention to the “best by” date on the side of the cellophane bag. Oops. 

Though dried beans are easy, there are a few guidelines, and using them up before they get too old is one that should not be overlooked. I was already more than a day into it, though, when I realized that my beans had “expired” more than two years earlier. I’m thankful that I was able to call for backup, and I received expert advice that rescued my black bean soup, which turned out as delicious and comforting as I had hoped. 

Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending. 🙂

But before I get to the rescue of my soup, let’s talk about how things should go when making soup from dried beans, and hopefully I’ll remember my own advice next time!

Prep the beans

The first rule of thumb is to rinse and sort through the beans, just in case there is a random stone or other debris in the bag. I have never found one, but I’m certain that I would split a molar if I skipped this step even one time. So, sort them I do, under cold running water, and then I dump them into a deep pot with plenty of water for an overnight soak.

There are many viewpoints about whether the soak is necessary (spoiler alert— it technically isn’t), but the “shortcut” instructions for skipping the soak always leaves me with beans that are too “al dente” for my taste, and they take forever to cook (turns out mine would, anyway, but I’ll get to that).

Drain, rinse and drain again!

Draining soaked black beans is especially dramatic because of the purplish color of the soaking water, but it is usually cloudy and foamy, too, and this is because you’re eliminating some of the complex sugars that make beans difficult to digest. The soak gives the beans a chance to let loose some of that gas (so you don’t have to). 😏

Season every layer, except this one?

If there is one myth we should all unsubscribe from, it is the notion that salt is an enemy to dried beans, and that using it too soon will keep the beans from softening. Honestly, who are the bean police making up these rules? I’ve heard this one my entire adult life, but it has been proven to be untrue. Some cooks even add salt to the soaking water, and there is nothing wrong with doing so. If you wait until the very end to add salt— as so many recipes insist you must— then you’re prone to end up with beans that taste unseasoned and overly salty at exactly the same time. You might guess from this statement that I’ve learned this the hard way, and you’d be correct!

I placed my beans, covered with water, over medium heat with a couple of bay leaves, and got to work prepping the aromatics that would flavor my soup: onions, garlic, celery, red bell pepper and jalapeño.

Simple ingredients, but so much flavor!

The seasonings came next. I pulled out a small skillet to toast up some whole cumin seed. Toasting seed spices is an easy way to elevate their flavor, and a quick crushing in my mortar and pestle revealed a most potent aroma. Add to that a generous sprinkling of chipotle chile powder, plus salt and pepper (of course), and my kitchen already smelled inviting!

Cumin is one of my favorite spices. It’s versatile and smoky without heat!

Under normal circumstances, those veggies would go into the pot after about an hour, when my beans became tender. But my ignorance about the best-by date on my beans is where the trouble came in. After 20 hours of soaking and two solid hours of simmering, my beans were still very firm. Not crack-a-tooth firm, but firm enough that they didn’t budge when I pressed on them with the back of a fork. Dang it! I almost scrapped the whole thing, and I had to come up with another plan for dinner. I needed help.

Thank goodness for foodie friends!

I am ever appreciative for the friendships I’ve made since I began food blogging, and on that day, my gratitude for Dorothy at The New Vintage Kitchen was multiplied. Dorothy is a revered graduate of the “waste nothing” school of culinary excellence, and I reached out with a text message, figuring if there was a way to salvage my beans from this debacle, she would point me toward it. 

“I’d probably add a bit of baking soda and keep cooking them,” Dorothy texted me. She also encouraged me to “go ahead and salt them.” I was grateful for that advice, too, because old habits die hard.

Amazing that such a small amount of baking soda has such an impact!

And just like that, I was back in business! Thanks to the alkaline nature of baking soda, my beans were softened about an hour later, and I added a couple of strips of turkey bacon for smoky flavor, all my sautéed veggies, plus some low-sodium veggie broth. Soon enough, my soup was ready for final touches! I took my immersion blender for a 20-second spin and stirred in some tomato paste to perk up the flavors.

This recipe moved quickly once my beans finally cooked.

By the time the bean crisis was averted, I had already pivoted to Plan B for dinner that night, so I stashed the soup in the fridge and rewarmed it the following evening. Soup is always better on the second day anyway, and this big ol’ bowl of yum made my hubby and me very happy.

One happy husband. 😘

The tip that keeps on giving…

The story doesn’t end with my own soup, and this is the beauty of sharing foodie tips with fellow cooks. A few weeks after my own panic attack, I got a text from my cousin, who had run into trouble making ham and bean soup. Brad had combined his beans with ham and vegetable broth and dumped in a can of—yikes— diced tomatoes before he noticed the recipe said to hold that last ingredient til the end. Unlike salt, acidity is an enemy to dried beans, and Brad described his panicked effort to strain the beans out of the mixture a “fool’s errand.” This is such a frustrating moment for any cook, and I shared how my black bean soup was saved by a quarter teaspoon of baking soda.

“Give it a try,” I suggested.

Brad texted me the next day. The baking soda had neutralized enough of the acidity of the tomatoes; the beans softened and his soup was saved! He also shared his success story with a buddy who complained that his chili made with dried beans never came out quite right, and he’s going to try the baking soda trick next time, too! 

One of these days, I’m going to make a list of all the brilliant uses for baking soda in the kitchen. I’m betting that my fellow cooks have other examples to share. Until then, stay warm and enjoy this comforting black bean soup. A big ole bowl of yum!

Black Bean Soup

  • Servings: About 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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This easy soup is smoky and flavorful, made with simple ingredients and so comforting on a cold winter's night!


Ingredients

  • 1 lb. dried black beans, sorted, rinsed and soaked overnight
  • Plenty of water, for soaking and cooking
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda (see recipe note below)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet or yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, strings removed and chopped
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground
  • 1 Tbsp. chili powder (I used ground chipotle chiles)
  • 3 strips smoked turkey bacon
  • 2 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • Sour cream and scallions, for serving

Recipe Note: Be sure to check the “best by” date on your dried beans. If they are more than a year old, they will likely take longer to cook. A bit of baking soda will help the beans soften if they are older or seem to be taking a long time.

Directions

  1. Drain and rinse the soaked beans, transferring them into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Cover with at least two inches of cold water. Add a teaspoon of salt and a couple of bay leaves to the pot. Bring to a slight boil, then cover and simmer for about one hour until beans begin to feel tender.
  2. Place a sauté pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion, celery and pepper to the pan with a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Sauté for about 3 minutes, until they are softened and slightly translucent. Add garlic and jalapeño and cook 2 more minutes. Season with cumin and chili powder. Set aside to cool.
  3. When beans are tender, add turkey bacon to the pot, along with broth and sautéed vegetables. Simmer until the mixture is hot throughout and bacon is shriveled. Remove bacon strips and bay leaves.
  4. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup. It can be smooth or chunky, to your liking. Alternatively, transfer a cooled portion of the soup to a conventional blender and stir the pureed portion back into the pot. Use caution, and do not purée a hot liquid in a closed blender container.
  5. Stir in tomato paste and adjust seasonings to taste.
  6. Serve with a swirl of sour cream and chopped scallions.

Sourdough Bagels!

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If someone had asked me how I spent last weekend, this would be my answer. It is not that making these bagels took the whole weekend, but that I spent most of the weekend thinking about them and anticipating the crispy crust, chewy interior and the sheer satisfaction of having them turn out so well.

The adventure I had making sourdough bagels is much more than a recipe, though I’ll be happy to share where my recipe came from. Here you go:  https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sourdough-bagel/

Maurizio Leo’s creations have been intimidating, er, fascinating me for a few years now, since I first discovered one of his recipes on the King Arthur Baking site, where Maurizio had been an occasional contributor. This guy is one of my culinary idols, and his expertise with sourdough is astounding. One of the things that used to scare me about his recipes was his attention to the science, and especially his guidelines for the temperature of the dough at various stages. But my worries were eased when I remembered something I learned in my King Arthur Baking class last summer: concern about temperature is more crucial in a production environment, where you have to be ready for baking on a schedule, than in a home kitchen. Once I recalled that fact, I’ve been able to relax and just appreciate the outcome with less worrying along the way. Baking is supposed to be enjoyable, right?

It does help to remember two simple tips about temperature: yeast dough (including sourdough) rises more quickly in a warmer environment, and dough develops more flavor in a cooler environment. Both of these principles come into play with this bagel recipe.

When I got the itch to make bagels for the first time in ages, it was Maurizio’s blog that I turned to for the best recipe and expert advice. He did not let me down.

This renewed interest in making bagels came about in early November, after my husband, Les, and I had participated in a trivia night at the temple in our city. We were assigned to a team and challenged in a variety of categories— from movies, sports and music to Jewish culture and history. Thanks to the diverse interests of our team, we did very well in round after round, and then came a food question that left us, shall we say, farblonjet (a Yiddish word that loosely translates to “we don’t know what the heck”). The trivia clue went something like this: 

What staple Jewish food was said to have originated when Polish King Jan Sobieski saved Austria during the Ottoman Empire?  

I’m paraphrasing because I don’t remember the exact details of the question; I only remember that we had a lot of discussion at our table and we still got it wrong. One teammate said knishes, which we thought might have had ties to Poland but we weren’t sure. I thought perhaps bialys, which I was certain were Polish but that’s all I knew about them. And a third person on the team said bagels because it seemed the most obvious. I chimed in that maybe it was too obvious, and then we agonized until time was up and we went with “knishes.”

The answer was, of course, bagels! And then a whole conversation ensued across the entire room, about what makes a bagel great— from the New York City water to the best toppings— and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since.

We are lucky to have a very good local bagel store in Winston-Salem (conveniently located practically next door to the temple), and we are perfectly content with their bagels most of the time. But when I found myself with a little free time last weekend, I decided to go for it. Making bagels requires a fair amount of planning and a few weird ingredients, which I happened to have on hand because, despite my lack of knowledge about the history of bagels, I’m still a bread nerd. This has been a long time coming!

Diastatic malt powder boosts oven rise and browning.
Barley malt syrup is kinda like cold molasses in January… but slower. 😂

I made only two changes to Maurizio Leo’s recipe, and I’ll describe them in case you want to follow my variations. The first was a flour swap— rather than the full amount of bread flour suggested in his recipe, I used half bread flour and the other half was a split of high-gluten flour and white whole wheat flour. Both of these substitutes are thirstier than bread flour so I also increased the water somewhat (though perhaps not enough) to ensure hydration. Still learning here!

A trio of flours gave my bagels great body and flavor.
The steam pan keeps the oven humid and the baking steel is crazy hot.

The other change was a technical one— I used my own version of a steam bake, which is simply an oblong baking pan filled halfway with hot water that preheats with the oven. Maurizio’s suggestion (a roasting pan filled with preheated lava rock, onto which you’ll toss ice cubes) is a good one if your oven has room for the setup he describes. But I’ve been leery of using ice in the oven ever since 2016, when an unfortunate accident resulted in shattering the oven light in my rental apartment. After that, I read on another baking blog that when you’re baking with steam, it does not need to be dramatic; you just need to have a very humid environment in the oven. I’ve never had trouble with my method of steam baking, and the result with my bagels was terrific.

The recipe begins two nights before you plan to bake, with an intermediate feeding of a tiny bit of ripe sourdough starter to create a dough called levain, an intermediate starter that will be worked into the final dough. This levain is a very firm, tight dough, and after mixing it, I let it rise overnight in the oven with the light on. This kept it warm and cozy for its 12-hour ferment, and it’s the first of the two principles I mentioned earlier about temperature.

After the overnight ferment, the levain was spongy and bubbly. Success!

The final dough is made the next day, beginning with a slurry of the barley malt syrup, some cane sugar, salt and a splash of the warm mixing water. This is the simplest way to thoroughly blend in an ingredient as sticky as the malt syrup. The slurry was blended with all of the overnight levain, the rest of the water and my flour blend. If I could back up to change any part of my process, it would have been this point— my increase of water may not have been enough, given the swaps I made to the flour.It can be risky to add more water to an already-formed dough, so I pressed on with this very firm dough. But next time, I’ll adjust the water further or hold back some of the flour toward the end to be sure the dough can handle it.

I mixed the bagel dough as much as I could in the mixer before I turned it out onto the counter to finish it by hand.

This was such a large volume of dough that I could not mix it completely in my KitchenAid, and that’s part of the reason it took me so long to pursue making bagels. Things get messy with a big batch of dough, and though I used my mixer’s splash guard (for the first time ever), I still needed to roll up my sleeves to finish the kneading by hand. Once I got into the rhythm, I found it almost therapeutic.

My cold-risen bagels and setup for parboiling, an essential step for making authentic bagels.

The second principle about temperature applies to the bagel dough after it’s shaped into rings. The bagels rest at room temperature for a couple of hours and then in the refrigerator overnight. That chilling time ensures the best and most flavor in the finished product. There is one other change I made from Maurizio’s recipe, and that was to add a little of the barley malt syrup to the boiling water. It isn’t necessary, but I love the aroma and besides, what else am I going to do with a huge jar of that sticky stuff? Unless I make pretzels. Hmm…

Here’s how the rest of my bagel adventure went, and boy, was it worth the trouble!

Before I forget to mention, our team took first place that night at the temple trivia event! It was a fun time that inspired me to aim for bagel greatness, and Maurizio Leo helped me get there. I may have missed the mark on their history, but for sure, I’ll make room for more of these homemade sourdough bagels in our future!

Way to go, Table 3!

Wanna give it a go? If you’re a sourdough baker, you’re gonna love these. Thanks, Maurizio! 😁

Sourdough Bagel