Posts tagged black beans

Sweetcorn Fritters & Smoked Salmon

Comments Off on Sweetcorn Fritters & Smoked Salmon read Vegetables and Salads
Sweetcorn Fritters & Smoked Salmon

B

elieve it or not, I posted this recipe in 2012 and have been making fritters almost weekly. It’s such a faithful fritter recipe and can be paired with many ‘toppings’ for any meal time (see below). Feel free to even chuck in any leftover fridge ingredients such a diced chorizo, cubed feta or even some bacon if you feel like it. I’ve disappointingly ventured into courgette fritter making but always end up with a watery soggy mess. My pea, mint and black pudding fritters come a close second and Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower & Cumin recipe is a winner if you’ve not attempted them.  However sweetcorn is the one for me.

I have been pushing for “Isolation Friday date nights” to become the new norm in our new anti-social life as I search desperately to find something to look forward to in the week and focus my creative mind on. This week was my turn and we “went”….beer tasting (in our living room)! It felt good to support my local craft beer store (Ghost Wale) which I’m ashamed to say I’d never been to before now. So I ‘click & collected’ 5 new beers and set up a flight of interesting beers.

Given we eat these fritters on a weekly basis, I was keen to indulge in a favourite comfort recipe to match our beers as we ate and drank away our Friday night after a pretty busy week working and destroying my leg muscles doing squats on the balcony!

These can be eaten for breakfast (top with smoked salmon, grilled chorizo, poached eggs, hollandaise etc); lunch snack with a salad or dinner as I’ve done here. Guacamole makes a great addition with some slices of grilled halloumi to keep it vegetarian!

Makes about 8 fritters

  • 300g frozen sweetcorn
  • 4 spring onions
  • Large bunch coriander, chopped
  • 1/2 red chilli chopped OR 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 40g plain flour
  • 40g polenta
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 50g grated cheese (I use half cheddar, half parmesan)
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • Smoked salmon to serve
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 lime
  • 1 x can black beans
  • 1 x avocado, diced
  • 2 large tomatoes, dressed and chopped
  • Creme fraiche OR Greek yoghurt to serve.
  1. Make the fritter batter firstly by bringing the corn to the boil in a saucepan and simmering for a few minutes. Drain well and leave to cool.
  2. Mix the spring onions, half the coriander, chilli, flour, baking powder, polenta, cheese and a seasoning of salt and pepper in a large bowl.
  3. Add about 1/3 of the sweetcorn to the bowl. Blend the other 2/3 in a food processor until chunky but blended. Add this to the mixing bowl and stir well.
  4. Mix in the 2 beaten eggs thoroughly until the mixture is a good thick batter.
  5. Assemble the black bean salad by draining and rinsing the black beans and adding them to a serving bowl. Add the avocado, the tomatoes, the other half of the coriander and some good seasoning. Squeeze over the juice of the lime and stir to combine.
  6. To make the fritters, heat a tbsp of sunflower oil in a large non-stick frying pan. When hot, add a few spoonfuls of batter at a time for each fritter into the hot oil and cook the fritters for a few minutes each side until they are golden on the outside but cooked through. Drain on kitchen towel once cooked. Continue with the rest of the batter.
  7. To serve, stack 2-3 fritters per person and top with some smoked salmon slices. Spoon over a dollop of creme friache or greek yoghurt and squeeze over the juice of a lemon and some cracked black pepper.
  8. Serve alongside the black bean salad!

Mexican Roast Chicken Feast

Comments Off on Mexican Roast Chicken Feast read Poultry
Mexican Roast Chicken Feast

 

image

image

Sometimes an English roast can be boring (shoot me now)…especially in summer. I’ve experimented with a Spanish roast (see here) but it was time for a Mexican Roast chicken over the weekend as my craving for dark creamy black beans took over. This chicken recipe is a great BBQ favourite of mine…and Jamie’s. You know a good marinade when you make it in the morning, refrain from eating there and then and think about it all day until that charcoal is ready! The sweetcorn puree adds a lovely sweetness to this to counteract the savoury beans and spicy chicken and greens.

Mexican Roast Chicken Feast – Serves 4

BBQ Chicken

  1. Marinade the chicken the night before if you can. Massage over the chicken making sure you get it into all the cracks.
  2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C.
  3. Line a roasting tray with foil and place the chicken on top with the excess marinade. Wrap in foil and roast for about 1hr and 20 minutes depending on the size. For the final 15 minutes or so, turn up the heat to 200°C and remove the foil to allow the skin to crisp up and brown. (This recipe is actually best cooked in the oven first to keep it moist and then finished on the BBQ so you get that charred outer crust and moist meat).
  4. When cooked remove from the oven and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes wrapped in foil while you finish the side dishes.
  5. When ready to serve, carve rustically, scatter with fresh mint and give everyone a wedge of lime for squeezing over.

Black beans

  • 2 x tins black beans, drained (retain the juice only if not salted)
  • 2 large spring onions, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • ½ red chilli
  • Bunch coriander chopped
  • Lime juice
  1. Fry the spring onion in a little oil to soften for a few minutes then add the garlic and chilli and soften for a few minutes.
  2. Add the beans and top up with a little hot water or the bean can juice (as long as it is not salted). Add enough to cover them gently and allow to simmer.
  3. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. The consistency you want will depend on how you like them so simmer longer for a thicker texture. I like mine to be quite loose but still sit on the plate.
  4. Use a masher to lightly crush and mash some of the beans. This will help thicken the mixture and add texture but leave most of the beans whole.
  5. Taste and season. Add the coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime before serving.

image

Sweetcorn Puree

  • 1 x tin sweetcorn, drained.
  • Milk to cover
  • 1 knob butter
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Drain the sweetcorn and add to a saucepan. Add enough milk to just cover and bring to the simmer making sure the milk doesn’t boil over (not speaking from experience at all…..).
  2. Simmer for about 5 minutes then drain reserving the cooking milk.
  3. Add to a food processor with some salt and pepper and a large knob of butter. Puree for a good few minutes until really soft and creamy. Add a few tablespoons of the reserved milk as it blends to thin it out until you have the consistency you’re after.
  4. Sieve the mixture into the pan to remove the tough shells and produce a really creamy velvety puree (this is optional, just as good left non sieved). Set aside to keep warm.

Garlic-Chilli Broccoli

  • ½ red chilli, sliced thinly
  • 2 large cloves garlic, sliced very thinly
  • Sunflower oil for frying
  • Broccoli
  1. Heat a good glug of oil in a frying pan until hot. Fry the chilli and garlic for a few minutes until beginning to turn golden and crispy but make sure you don’t burn it. It can turn very quickly so remove from the heat and pour into a serving dish just before it looks ready, as it just turns golden as it will keep cooking a little after.
  2. Cook the broccoli al dente and drain well. While still warm, toss in the garlic-chilli infused oil and serve.

image

image

Black beans and Cajuan Cod

Comments Off on Black beans and Cajuan Cod read Seafood
Black beans and Cajuan Cod

 

image

Comfort food. Creamy, hearty, deeply flavoured and undeniably satisfying. I really love Mexican inspired food such as this. It also seems to be on trend on the foodie scene at the moment with variations on the ‘Pulled Pork’ brioche bun carving their across gastro chalks boards from Chiswick to Stratford with varying degrees of authenticity and quality.

You can actually add anything to these beans. Keep simple as in my below recipe with plenty of seasoning or go wild with the spices adding cumin, coriander or dried soaked chipotle or habaneros. Make this to suit your tastes but the black garlic will give it real depth and a sweetness that will add another dimension. The longer and slower you cook and simmer the beans to infuse the flavours the more depth you’ll get as a result but these are equally as delicious boshed out in 10 minutes.

Serve the black beans on their own with lashings of grated cheese, spoonful of soured cream and homemade guacamole, sliced jalapenos or crunchy salty nachos for dunking.

image

Serves 2

Black beans

  • 1 tin black beans, juices retained
  • 1 large clove black garlic/normal garlic, chopped
  • ½ red onion or shallot very finely chopped
  • ½ lime
  • Pinch ground cumin
  • Salt and pepper
  • Bunch coriander, chopped

Cod

  • 2 cod fillets
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp chilli powder
  • OR 1 tsp Cajuan spice mix
  1. Marinade the cod in the spices with a few tbsp of olive oil for as long as you like.
  2. Heat a little oil in a pan a very slowly and gently fry the chopped onion for about 5 minutes until soft.
  3. Once softened, add the normal garlic if using and fry for a few minutes before adding the spices and stirring to combine.
  4. Transfer to a saucepan with the beans and some generous seasoning. If using black garlic mash to a soft paste before whisking into the beans.
  5. Add as much of the beans drained juices to allow the beans to simmer away gently. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, topping up with the retained juices if it starts to dry out or turning up the heat to bubble more intensely for a thicker consistency.
  6. Before serving taste and add more seasoning if needed. Stir in the chopped coriander and the juice of ½ lime.
  7. Cook the cod in a hot frying pan skin side down until cooked/ grilled/baked in the oven for around 8 minutes or so depending on the thickness of your fillets.

I served mine with a green beans salad garnish with slow oven roasted cherry tomatoes, chopped red onion and coriander.

image