Black bean brownies

The man & I had leftover beans & rice from a Texican restaurant. Normally, I'd throw it in a chili or something. (& the man would grumble that "this isn't chili - there are beans in it.") I had to do something less obvious with our leftovers. No leftovers left behind!!

This time, I decided to make black bean brownies. We've had them before, & they were okay. However, I found a recipe in a new South Beach diet book that I thought would work.

They are excellent! Here's what happened:

Leftover black beans - about a can's worth.
4 eggs
2 tbsp oil (they recommend olive - heart healthy!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. sugar substitute (I used 1/2 brown sugar splenda & <1/2 sugar)
3-5 tbsp. cocoa (I used more as - yo, it's chocolate)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
chocolate chips or pecans/walnuts

Blend all ingredients in a food processor (except the chips or nuts if using) until smooth. Put into an 8x8 baking dish lined with parchment or sprayed with cooking spray. Place in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Voila! You have springy, moist, chocolatey brownies. Gluten-free to boot!

So far, I really like this cookbook - many recipes are gluten-free & look delicious. Plus, it's nice to see a cookbook with some nutritional indications.

First try: Ravioli

Keri here again with a recipe using my brand new pasta maker! I haven't seen gluten-free raviolis yet... Plus, I doubt that they'll ever have pumpkin, butternut squash, or more creative fillings until many years in the future. This year, the man surprised me with a pasta maker to allow me to create pirogies, raviolis, flavored pastas, etc. Let the creativity begin!

We figured that I'd start with something rather basic for my first ravioli recipe. Now, I want to warn you: This isn't an amazing recipe. It's a first try at making homemade ravioli. It was pretty good, but there's room for improvement.

Firstly, the ravioli filling needs to be almost overwhelmingly flavorful. It needs to be able to stand up to the pasta dough - even though the dough is rolled thin.

Secondly, the dough needed to be rolled with a rolling pin prior to going through the pasta maker. Otherwise, the pasta maker couldn't catch the dough.

After that preface, here are my recipes:

Gluten-free pasta dough

I used Mario Batali's Fresh Pasta recipe as a base. For those of you not doing a gluten-free pasta, feel free to use his instead of mine.

4 eggs
3 1/2 cups Jules' Gluten-free flour mix
1/2 cup water (more or less)

Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape.

Start kneading the dough with both hands, primarily using the palms of your hands. If the dough has trouble coming together, add 1/4 cup water. Keep adding water until it becomes a cohesive mass. Gluten-free flour tends to be thirsty, but be sparing after the first 1/4 cup of water. If you overdo it, the pasta maker will shred the dough into little pieces. (Hint: If this happens - just add a little more flour, knead again, & re-roll.)

Remove the dough from the board and scrape up any left over dry bits. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 3 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board with flour when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature. (Hint: Keep most of the dough wrapped until needed.)

Roll 1/4 of the dough with rolling pin until 1/4-1/8 inch thin. Feed through pasta roller at largest setting. Then, feed through pasta roller at the ravioli setting. Cut sheet into large rounds. Add a very small dollop of ravioli into the center of a round. Wet the outer edge of the round. Top with another round & press down gently to seal. You can use a fork to flute the edges if you're feeling crafty. (Hint: If the dough tears, use a dough "band-aid." Wet a small bit of dough, & gently press into the tear. Boiling the pasta makes most of these look fairly normal. Plus, there's sauce, right??)

When done with the prep work, boil the raviolis until they float. Top with sauce, & Done!!


Ravioli filling
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
8 leaves fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons olive tapenade (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Cook pork on stove top until browned. Remove from heat, & place pork into large mixing bowl. Add ricotta, basil, seasoning, & tapenade. Taste. Add salt & pepper. Add more flavorings as needed. If you need, add other/more seasonings - Remember: It should be almost overwhelmingly flavorful.

Sauce

1/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup diced roasted red peppers plus 1 teaspoon liquid from jar
2 tablespoons finely chopped sundried tomatoes plus 1 tablespoon oil from jar
3 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Mix all ingredients. Taste. Add salt/pepper. Done!

Quiche me!

You know what's really hard to screw up? Quiche.

I mean - You add a bunch of eggs, some cheese, & a little bit of dairy, & *poof* quiche.

Or you add a few egg whites, a little bit of dairy, some vegetables, & *poof* quiche.

Or you add a mix of eggs & egg whites, a little bit of dairy, some meat, & *poof* quiche.

But my all-time favorite quiche recipes call for a mix of the above. Since we were doing manual labor this weekend & we didn't have time for cooking/cleaning/etc, I made a quiche with a medley of pantry items. I wasn't sure how it was going to taste - since it had all of the competing flavors. It was, however, delicious. After all, how hard does one have to try to screw up quiche?

Pantry Quiche

1 leek, chopped white part only (mostly, I prefer shallot to leek)
3 egg whites
2 eggs
1/2 - 3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chorizo or other cooked sausage
1/2 cup milk or unsweetened dairy substitute
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen spinach
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
couple of sprigs of thyme (chopped) or 1 tablespoon dried
pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper

1 pie dough (recipe, mix, or store-bought of choice)

0. Preheat oven to 325.
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add leek & cook until limp.
2. Whip eggs, milk, cheese in a bowl.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the eggs (including the leek).
4. Mix thoroughly.
5. Pour into prepared pie pan (with dough in it).
6. Place pie pan into oven & bake for 1-1:30 hours or until center is set. You may want to increase the temperature to 350 at the end if it doesn't come together & you're especially hungry.