Plunge peeled tomatillos in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove and run under cold water. Grind the chiles, onion, garlic, coriander and salt together in blender. Add the tomatillos, a pinch of sugar and the water and blend well.
For Salsa Verde Cocida (Cooked Green Sauce), substitute vegetable or chicken broth for the water in the above recipe and simmer sauce for 1/2 hour until slightly thickened.
White beans are very popular in Mediterranean cuisine. A number of bean varieties are referred to as white beans, and those include cannellini beans, Great Northern beans, navy beans, and baby lima beans. They all cook relatively quickly, have a mild taste, and are creamy and rich.
This recipe definitely gains flavor as it sits and chills. Consider preparing it well ahead of time, even the day before.
White Bean and Ham Salad recipe ingredients
2 cups cooked white beans 2 cups diced tomatoes 1 large red onion, chopped 2 cups cooked ham, julienned 3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 5 large garlic cloves, crushed 1-1/2 T Dijon mustard
How to prepare White Bean and Ham Salad
Combine beans, tomatoes, onion, ham and basil. Toss gently.
Whisk olive oil, vinegar, garlic and mustard until blended. Season to taste. Pour over bean mixture. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
A vegan recipe for a savory spread or dip made from white cannellini beans, often known as white navy beans or haricots and in Mexico called alubias.
2 heads garlic
2 cups cooked white cannellini beans, drained (reserving liquid)
2 T olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Remove loose skins from garlic heads and place whole heads, root-side down, in a 350 F oven for 1-1/4 hours, or in microwave for about 5 minutes, until soft. Squeeze the soft garlic into a blender or food processor, discarding skins.
Add beans, oil, salt and cayenne. Blend until smooth. If the mixture doesn’t blend easily, add a bit of the reserved bean liquid. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve as a spread for crackers or as a dip for veggies. Will store up to 3 weeks.
Separated garlic cloves can also be roasted in their skins in a cast iron pan on the stove top. Shake the cloves often while toasting so that they don’t burn. They’re ready when they are soft.
Garbriela’s Salt Cod with Peppers is a Mexican version. Here it is eaten traditionally on Christmas Eve.
3 lbs salt cod, soaked, cleaned and cubed
6 lbs.green peppers, roasted, deveined, and halved
3 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic
Fry garlic and onion until tender. Add green peppers and cook, stirring, until soft. Add the salt cod cook over low flame until done. May add a little olive oil if desired.
Don’t let salt cod recipes scare you off. Just make sure you really soak the cod for many hours and change the water often in order to get the saltiness out.
When my friend Linda and I went to Lisbon in 1991, we took a tram northiward along the coast and finally came to the end of the line. Being hungry, we went into a tiny restaurant that from the looks of it was the proprietor’s living room. No space to waste. The place was crowded. and looked like a good bet for some good food. Since one of the only things I recognized on the menu was Salt Cod, and since in Portugal it is something like the national dish, I ordered it. With wine, of course. I could not beliieve how delicious it was and I keep looking for more recipes, trying to equal what I had at the end of the tram-line.
Wash octopus with lime juice and rinse well. Cut up and cook. (Emilia, the maid, cooks them for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker without water, and then chops them.)
Finely chop garlic, onion, tomato and parsley. Sauté the onion and garlic lightly, then add tomato and parsley. Allow to cook. Add octopus pieces, a bay leaf and the octopus ink. A bit of red wine may be added.
Personal comment:
I’ve heard that there’s a way to cook octopus very slightly, just to the right point so that it’s tender and juicy–a matter of a few minutes. I’ve never been able to do it. My method of cooking octopus tender is to throw it in a large pot, cover with water, cover the pot and put on the stove for a minimum of two hours. You don’t have to worry about anything except keeping the level of water high enough to cover the carcass. Once a fork glides smoothly into the thickest part of the body, drain and cool. Once it’s cool, remove the fatty parts and the suckers on the tentacles, if you wish (all that can be slid off with your fingers), and chop the now buttery-tender tentacles and body (discarding the hard eyes), and use as desired. By the way, the ink must be removed before boiling!
Lentils with Noodles, or Rishta, is a Middle-eastern dish that can be served as a one-dish meal or as a side dish with meats, other vegetables, or salads. The aroma and favor of the crushed coriander seeds gives an exotic touch to what otherwise might be a very plain dish. It is very filling and satisfying.
Rishta / Lentils with Noodles Ingredients
1/2 – 3/4 lb. lentils
Salt
2 onions, finely chopped
Olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. ground coriander seeds
black pepper
3/4 lb. noodles or tagliatelle
2 T butter
Cook lentils in salted water to cover until soft and water is absorbed. Drain thoroughly.
Fry onions in 1 T oil until golden. Add garlic and coriander, and continue to fry gently for 2 minutes until coriander releases its fragrance. Add to the lentils and season with salt and pepper.
Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until just tender. Drain and add to lentils. Stir in butter and mix well.
Vegan version
Omit the butter. I enjoy the flavor of 1-2 T of nutritional yeast added to the final dish in place of the butter.
In blender, combine onion, coriander, garlic, tomatillos, chile, water, and salt. Brown chicken in oil in a large pot. Add blended sauce and simmer until chicken is tender and sauce has thickened. Add more water or broth as needed. Serve with rice and tortillas.
12 corn tortillas, 1 day old or more (stale but not dry)
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped finely
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
1 cup grated Manchego or Mozzarella cheese
Cut tortillas into strips or in triangles. Heat 1/2″ oil in wide frying pan. Brown and crisp tortillas in batches. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
Sauté onion in a little oil till soft. Add tomatoes, bouillon cube, garlic, chiles and water. Cook until tomatoes are mushy and liquid is slightly reduced. Throw in coriander and adjust salt. Cook 5 minutes. Throw about two thirds of fried tortillas into sauce and toss to coat. Add 1/2 of the grated cheese and toss again.
Let simmer for 2 minutes to soften tortillas slightly and melt cheese. Add the remaining tortillas and toss quickly. Top with remaining cheese and allow to sit for a minute until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.
1 small onion or 3 green onions with tops, chopped
1 green pepper
1 stalk celery
4 radishes
1 clove garlic
3 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
1 tsp thyme or fines herbes
Mayonnaise
1 tsp vinegar
Boil potatoes in their jackets with carrots till tender. Drain and cool. Cut potatoes into large cubes and carrots into small cubes. Steam whole zucchini until barely tender. Cool and cut into small cubes. In a bowl, combine finely chopped green pepper, celery and onions. Add seasonings, herbs and garlic. Toss together carefully with cooked and cooled vegetables, adding enough mayonnaise to moisten well. Sprinkle on vinegar (garlic or cider vinegar is best) and toss lightly. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to let flavours penetrate. Serve topped with sliced or quartered eggs, parsley and radish slices.
2 dried pimientos, if available (otherwise, regular pimientos)
3 heads of garlic
2 ripe tomatoes
1-1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg yolk
8 cups water
Saffron, salt and pepper
1 small, cooked potato
Cut heads off fish and reserve. Cut fish bodies into thick rounds and sprinkle with salt. Set aside. Heat half of the oil in a heavy pot( traditionally iron). Fry the dried pimientos. Remove and put aside.
Add the fish heads to the same pot. Fry and remove. Throw the tomatoes, peeled and chopped, into the same pot. Fry 5 minutes. Add 8 cups water. In a mortar, crush the pimientos, one head of garlic, and 3 or 4 saffron filaments.
Add to pot and cook 5 minutes. Add the fish bodies and cook until done. Remove fish and set aside, keeping warm. Set aside 1 cup of the fish stock. Season the rest of the stock with salt and pepper and add the rice, letting cook over low flame for 20 minutes.
In the mortar, crush another head of garlic and mix with the cup of reserved fish stock. This will be used as a sauce for the fish upon serving. Crush the third head of garlic with the cooked potato; combine with the egg yolk and rest of oil. This sauce is for the rice. Serve the fish and rice separately with their respective sauces.
Plunge peeled tomatillos in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove and run under cold water. Grind the chiles, onion, garlic, coriander and salt together in blender. Add the tomatillos, a pinch of sugar and the water and blend well.
