Category: Food

J and I saw several arepa stands at a street fair. They didn’t look amazingly high quality (at least one stand was just heating up pre-packaged arepas), so J took it as inspiration to make our own!

Arepas are Venezuelan and Colombian, mostly. We made the simplest variety, which is a cornmeal pancake cut in half and stuffed with mild cheese. The cornmeal has to be either pre-cooked (masarepa; the traditional way) or nixtamalized (masa harina; will be slightly less fluffy) to form a dough properly. You can’t just use regular old cornmeal, but instant polenta might work.

Recipe

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 cups masarepa or masa harina
• If using masa harina, some baking powder to add fluffiness

1. Mix everything together. Let rest for 10 min. Dough should be moist and able to form balls without cracking, but not stick to your hands too much.
2. Form into patties (standard thickness is 1/2 in). Deep fry, OR pan fry ~3 min on each side and then bake for 15 min.

We were following a recipe for baked tofu pitas and I decided to make it more difficult and more delicious by making falafel instead. Buuuut our only chickpeas are old and don’t cook super well even with soaking and an hour of pressure-cooking, let alone being fried. So I substituted with red lentils instead.

I was trying to figure out what legumes are safe/traditional to cook in this manner. Seems like lentils are fine, as are chickpeas of course, urad dal (used in Indian breads like dosa and idli), mung beans (used in Korean bindae-tteok), cowpeas and black-eyed peas (used in akara), and fava beans (used in another version of falafel).

This recipe is pretty good. The cooking notes are useful and the intro has interesting historical info.

To use up some leftover ricotta, I combined the ideas and instructions from Cook’s Illustrated’s spinach gnudi and a revision of their ricotta gnocchi.

Gnocchi

• 16 oz ricotta
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (panko preferred)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan or other aged, salty, hard cheese of that sort
• 1-2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 egg
• pepper
• salt
• (optional) 2 Tablspoons fresh minced basil or some dry basil
• (optional) 1 bunch of kale or spinach or other green

1. Remove liquid from ricotta. Can strain overnight in a mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Fast way: spread in a thin layer on a kitchen towel (smooth weave, not terrycloth) for 10 min.
2. If using greens, blanch, squeeze very dry, and chop finely.
3. Mix all ingredients. Let rest for 15 min in the fridge (cool temps makes the dough stiffer, apparently desirable so it doesn’t fall apart when cooked). Dough should be tacky and stick together.
4. Form into balls (~1 TB each) — scoop and roll method or log and cut method recommended. Boil 2-4 min, until the gnocchi float.

Sauce ideas:

• Classic browned butter with sage, shallots, and lemon juice. Brown butter in a pan (should smell nutty). Remove from heat and add other ingredients, lemon last so other items can cook in residual heat.
• Tomato confit. Cook garlic in butter. Add large-diced tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes, salt, red chili flakes, and a splash of vinegar. Cook until tomatoes are “wilted”. Top with fresh basil and grated parmesan.

J and I came across this nice blog that has recipes for the full array of Cuban foods: rice, beans, and pork! J has dubbed them fairly authentic, although the blog is missing the critical plantain and cassava side dishes. Enjoy!

After my smashing success buying cornmeal and flour from Castle Valley Mill, a local mill, I want to try getting beans! In the past, I’ve bought some from Rancho Gordo, a California-based company selling heirloom and rare bean varieties. Now that we’re in New York, however, I’d love to find some East Coast suppliers!

The small grain farm and mill map I’ve shared previously has some overlap with beans. I also found a list focusing on bean growers, and an organization and map focusing on small farms near Boston. Some bean suppliers I found mostly in the eastern half of the US:

• Anson Mills (SC) – heirloom sesame seeds, red field peas, purple cape beans. They also have larger quantities and a wider selection of products available “wholesale” (not sure if you actually need a wholesale license).
• Meadowlark Organics (WI) – black beans, cranberry beans
• Mulberry Lane Farm (IL) – various common types of beans, lentils, and peas from the US and Canada. Also sell other dry goods.
• Ramona Farms (AZ) – tepary beans, chickpeas
• Rio Del Rey Beans (CA) – tepary beans, anazape beans, rio zape beans
• Westwind Farm (MI) – kidney beans, cannellini beans
• Shadyside Farm (MI) – variety of heirloom/rarer beans, sourced from other farmers in area
• Aurora Mills and Farm (ME) – yellow split peas (can’t buy from directly?)
• Zürsun Idaho Heirloom (ID) – not-so-small operation, but has a wide variety of beans, peas, and lentils. Works with several hundred farmers in the area (can’t buy from directly?)
• Baer’s Best Bean (MA, some items sourced from other farms in ME, NY, and the Midwest) – wide variety of heirloom and common beans, and lentils and split peas!! Good East Coast replacement for Rancho Gordo. They also have an Instagram page showing bean-processing steps!

Honorable Mentions!

• Quality Organics (IL): buckwheat hulls as an agricultural byproduct! Anyone need to make a pillow?
• Flourist (British Columbia, Canada): wide variety of traceable Canadian beans. Farmers are in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan

I’m looking into Baer’s at the moment. I sent a message to ask where the lentils and peas are grown – from a 2007 interview with the owner, lentils and chickpeas don’t do well in New England due to the relatively wet weather.

J received a hydroponic garden system from his parents as a Christmas gift. Gardening is not so much his interest as mine, so I’m glad to play with it.

We’ll see how much output we get from this kit. If these particular seeds don’t do well, I’ll stick my own into the growing medium. It’s some sort of dirt-foam material.

We also had focaccia and homemade bread. Friend J, the one who does robotics, pointed out that this is a very Greek/Mediterranean meal.

Both the lasagna and the cauliflower soup (not shown) were good, but quite rich. Not a good combo since we didn’t have any plain dishes. Next time, I’d decrease the amount of cream in the soup by half or three-quarters.

We’re also staying in New York for Christmas and New Year’s…

Christmas buffet

• Deviled eggs
• Cheeses
• Olives and other pickled veggies (cocktail onions, peppadews, etc)
• Zucchini salad
• Focaccia or other crusty bread
• Quiche
• Coleslaw
• Avocado
• Bell pepper strips
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Lox + cream cheese
• Caramelized or pickled onions
• Chickpea salad with celery, parsley, and vinaigrette
• Roast cauliflower with pine nuts, capers, and vinaigrette
• Hummus
• Artichoke hearts
• Baba ganoush

Christmas Eve menu

• Hot cross buns
• Hash browns
• Cauliflower and bacon soup
• Spinach lasagna
• Lechón
• Buns (leftover from Thanksgiving 😳)
• Pear galette (but using apples instead)
• Chocolate meringue pie

The Christmas day menu is a bit sparse – I used up all my interesting food ideas on Thanksgiving.