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| Pumpkin patch brownies made by my daughter |
On a cooking forum, I saw a mention of black bean chili mole from the popular cookbook Bean by Bean by Crescent Dragonwagon, published in 2011. I have plenty of black beans in stock (10 lbs purchased at Costco, a staple in my pantry) and it is good to find new ways to use them. And I found the cookbook on the shelves of my local public library, although this recipe can be found online too.
Mole (mol-ay) is the famous, and famously elaborate, Mexican sauce (or family of sauces) with complex flavors of dried chillies, fruit, nuts, and chocolate. This particular recipe has a mile-long ingredient list and a multi-step process, but when you get right down to it, it isn't such a heavy project after all.
Here's how I made it:
- Soak black beans for several hours.
Cook black beans in the Instant Pot (15 mins on HIGH pressure) with dried Mexican chiles, salt and pepper and bay leaves.
Chili mole in lunchboxes - Meanwhile, in olive oil, saute onion, raisins, spices, bell pepper, poblano pepper, garlic.
- Add the sauteed veg, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste to the cooked beans and simmer.
- Meanwhile, in a food processor, make a thick paste of peanut butter, tahini, unsweetened chocolate, along with some of the simmering paste including the cooked chiles. Add it to the black beans
- Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed, fish out bay leaves, cool and refrigerate.
Bean by Bean is a great cookbook in general, and very vegan and vegetarian-friendly as you can imagine. The recipes span several global cuisines and include soups, salads, casseroles, stir-fries, desserts and more. There's a Tanzanian black-eyed peas soup with bananas (unusual combo, but I love that savory-sweet flavor profile myself), and green gram payasam (I had some recently in Chennai- divine) and Boston baked beans, to name a few recipes that caught my eye. I might have to try another recipe or two before I return this book to the library.
A recent NYT veggie newsletter discussed least-loved vegetables. It is predictable how eggplant is always featured at the top of such lists. I have many friends who say they love all vegetables except eggplant. It is something about the texture, they shudder. I LOLed at some of the funny comments in this article ("evil little cabbage"), but I happen to love all the vegetables mentioned in there- eggplant, okra, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, zucchini...
Meanwhile, eggplant is my favorite vegetable of all time. V and I go out to lunch on the occasional Friday, and this month I chose a newly-opened restaurant in town for our lunch date, solely on the fact that it had an eggplant cutlet sandwich on the menu-- advertised as Breaded & Fried Eggplant, Tomato Jam, Fresh Mozzarella, Arugula on Focaccia. Sounds great, but it turned out to be a disappointment. The focaccia was somehow cake-like, the fresh mozzarella wasn't melty and the eggplant was undercooked and leathery. womp womp. (V's pizza with green olive tapenade and mushrooms was good, though.)
I had better luck with my menu choice when I went to dinner at a Thai restaurant with two of my good friends/ former colleagues. This time I got the eggplant basil stir fry with tofu- Down home cooking, Thai Style. Tender Eggplant, Stir fried in a Basil Chili sauce with Bell Pepper, Onion, Green Beans, Mushroom and fresh aromatic Thai Basil. It was fantastic and it satisfied my eggplant-loving heart.
What is your stance on eggplant? What is your least favorite vegetable?
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Other bits from this month so far--
- The kids had a five day fall break from school, but I am all traveled out and unwilling to leave town with the bickering duo. There's plenty to do in town! V and I went with friends to a new-to-us trivia night. It was a lot of fun and also a total disaster- the theme was "slasher movies"- not our forte. Our team placed dead last. The venue had all the halloween decor and themed drinks, including some very bizarre/ inventive cocktails. I forget what I got but it was good!
- Speaking of trivia, I discovered a new game called catfishing. Weird name, great game. Fun and addictive, even if I score miserably. This is a fresh addition to my early morning line-up of wordle, strands and connections. Games plus a cup of tea, is there anything better?
- I am in major home improvement and repair and decluttering mode. Nesting season and all that. To psych myself up, I listened to an episode of the podcast Ologies with Alie Ward, where each episode focuses on a field of study, an "ology". This particular episode is about Oikology, the scientific study or systematic management of houses, homes, and housekeeping. I am giving away stuff left and right.
- We had a jigsaw puzzle out on the table after a long gap. This one is Buzzy Bouquets by Galison and was a gift from my daughter, who brought it back from a beach vacation she took with her friend's family. It was delightful. I'm coming to realize that the 500-piece puzzles are perfect for me.
- All four of us got our annual flu and covid shots. My arm was very sore for 48 hours but I'm happy to have this over with.
- I voted early!!
- There is stack of good books on my nightstand, but I haven't been reading much this month. My son and I have been doing some nice bedtime reading together. We read two of Rebecca Stead's books- When You Reach Me and Liar and Spy. Now we're reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. He's visited museums in NYC and has watched Night at the Museum, so he's enjoying this story about two kids who run away from home and live furtively in the Met museum. My son commented that he sleeps better when he reads before bed, and I was like yessss!
- I went to the store to buy a three-pack of reading glasses and shoe inserts for plantar fasciitis and had a good laugh at myself. My age is showing.
- I'm thinking of doing a retrospective on One Hot Stove. The plan is to read my own posts slowly starting from February 2005, and see how my perspectives and cooking tastes have changed. I'm sure I will rediscover lost recipes and forgotten memories.
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| Tired after a long day of being a nuisance |
Max now has a car harness (that he always manages to wriggle out of, somehow), and a new no-pull harness that is only partially working as advertised!
How is October shaping up for you?
Green gram or paruppu payasam was the only payasam I knew for a long time. Popular in the Kongu region of Tamilnadu and also Kerala. Coconut milk is added and not milk. As I grow old think that paruppu payasam has no equal.
ReplyDeleteI am digging up sweet potatoes now, Japanese kind and thinking of all the recipes to make with it.
It is a divine dish, I agree! How amazing that you are growing your own sweet potatoes- I hope you enjoy them.
DeleteI'm firmly in the hate eggplant with some exceptions category lol. Actually I hate the big Italian eggplant..or rather they hate me. they make me throw up.but the Japanese eggplant especially in a vetral.kozhambu or baba ganoush or a nasu dengaku avatar all acceptable.
ReplyDeleteBtw your Maxie is such a cutie boo
Aww shucks. I love the Japanese eggplant. They are delicate and sweet. I had to look up nasu dengaku and will have to make this! Also vatral kozambu is something I have not made in ages. An eggplant bucket list.
DeleteMaxie says thanks. If you were here he's give you a boop with his snout :D
Am neutral on eggplant but discovered it tastes better in dishes both Indian and Western when it’s roasted beforehand. Had to do this to freeze my vegetable garden surplus, it’s not a vegetable that freezes well, the texture is weird after thawing. I chop them into dice sized pieces, coat with a little oil and salt and roast in a 350 degree oven till cooked, flipping it over half way. Tastes so much better to me in any dish after this treatment
ReplyDeleteYou can make a batch of baba ghanouj with garden eggplant surplus. We did that a couple of years.
DeleteLakshmi
Roasting is indeed excellent for boosting the taste of most veggies. That's awesome that you had a surplus of eggplant from your very own garden! Those are the best tasting. I pay mega bucks at the farmers' market.
DeleteMany non-vegeterians seem to like eggplant as their favorite vegetable since it reminds them of meat....it has that fleshy feel. More than one person has said that to me. Best dish is for me is to broil it and take out the flesh and eat it with raw diced garlic, some chilli flakes and either olive or mustard oil. It is apparently how it is eaten in some parts of Maharashtra as well as I recently found out. Ofcourse the oil in that case is probably groundnut !
ReplyDeleteHi Sharvari! How interesting. It does have that fleshy texture that is so polarizing.
DeleteYes! The dish you describe is what was made in my parents' home and called vangi bhareet. The eggplant would be roasted on the flame/ stove. And then minced onion and green chili would be added. Sometimes oil and sometimes yogurt!
Thanks for sharing the new game - I will check it out. I only like eggplant parmigiana and no other eggplant dish! As usual, your (and your daughter's) baked dishes are so cute!
ReplyDeleteYes! Eggplant parmigiana is up there as one of the top eggplant dishes. Always very exciting to find it on a restaurant menu (when made well.)
DeleteAnd thank you :) Let me know if you try "catfishing"!!
I like eggplant. Bengali begun bhaja, or the Ambur kathirikai (that is a mouth watering side dish for biryanis), Middle Eastern Eggplant dips are all unique in their own way and not boring.. I once visited Jordan and the eggplant dish that I had there(can’t remember the name unfortunately - it was sort of roasted eggplant and served with Tahini sauce ) was fabulous. Recently had Andalusian Eggplant speciality Berenjenas con miel which is just fried eggplant drizzled with honey balsamic vinegar but so delicious. Try searching up for Eggplant steak. When I make eggplant this way, I make it into a bowl meal. I slice the large eggplants into reasonably thick slices and then making a crisscross all over and spreading whatever spice mixture you like over them and pan frying them.
ReplyDeleteYou mention so many amazing things here! Fried eggplant is great as you say, in all its forms. And yes, Middle Eastern cuisines excel at making eggplant. There's an eggplant hummus that I've been meaning to make for ages. Eggplant with any creamy sauce (coconut, tahini, yogurt) is wonderful. Balsamic honey- wow, there's a great taste contrast.
DeleteAmbur kathirikai is new to me but I must make this sometime. And yes, eggplant steak goes on the cooking bucket list. Thanks for the delicious comment.
That was a nice update post. I love all the vegetables you mentioned, especially eggplant. My husband and daughter hate it, but my son will happily eat eggplant kaap. I can eat it in all forms.
ReplyDeleteI will check out the game you recommended. I added a new one to my lineup, it’s called meowdoku. It’s sudoku, but with cats. I’m going to my first ever trivia night with some friends and the theme is aptly the show Friends. I also voted early, some important races here in Texas.
-Anu
Hi Anu- finally, a fellow eggplant lover!! 🤗 LOL My kids won't eat eggplant, I mean it is among a long list of things they won't eat. My husband will eat practically anything.
DeleteEnjoy your first ever trivia night and tell me it goes! That's a fun theme. I'm off to try meowdoku.
Texas races- whew- fingers tightly crossed.
Congrats to Texas!!!!
DeleteLove the puzzle, love seeing Max so relaxed in his new home, love all things eggplant (esp simple slices grilled in a grill pan--love the grill marks, Baba Ghanouj) . Thanks for an interesting and nice post. PS: Would have tied with you for last place in a Slasher Movie trivia contest!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Georgia too!
ReplyDeleteKolhapur ani sangli chi hiravi vangi ! Bharli vangi ani vangyacha lonacha !! ❤😊
ReplyDelete