Beans With Cheese and Basil

A couple of weeks back, the husband and I were at a book sale. H, a self-confessed bibliophile, picked up a couple of bags of books to add to his ever-growing collection. I looked through boxes and boxes of books before I found a few for myself. This was one of the books that I bought for less than a dollar.

I modified the original recipe just a bit. It's so simple and tasty that I've prepared it a couple of times now using different kinds of beans each time. This isn't the most appetizing looking dish, but it tastes a lot better than it looks, fortunately.

(For 2 servings)
Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained, 1/3 cup liquid reserved
½ can small red beans
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste (keep in mind that the canned beans already have salt in them)
¼ tsp pepper
¾ -1 tsp garlic powder
6-7 fresh basil leaves, chopped
3-4 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the beans and the reserved liquid in a large bowl and partially mash the beans against the side of the bowl using a wooden spoon.

Add the oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and chopped basil. Mix well. Place in a baking dish. (I divided the mixture between 2 ramekins.)

Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese melts.
Serve hot.

Parmesan Popovers

There are some shows on the Food Network that I watch regularly. Every now and then I see a recipe which makes me want to rush into the kitchen and try it out immediately. This was one such recipe that looked really good. I modified the original a bit by adding a couple of other ingredients.
Here’s what I did.

Ingredients:

(For approximately 6 -7 medium popovers)
2 eggs
¾ cup all-purpose flour
6-7 basil leaves, chopped
1 cup milk (I used 2 %)
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, crushed and made into a paste like this.
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
Oil to grease the muffin pan

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin. (A popover pan is said to produce the best results.)

Throw all the ingredients together in the blender and process until just blended, 30-45 seconds. The batter will be thin.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups filling each cup three-fourths full.

Bake for about 30 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Do not peek into the oven for the first 30 minutes! I also let the popovers sit in the oven for another 10-15 minutes after turning off the heat for the tops to get well browned and crusty, and also for the insides to dry out a bit.

Serve right away; they start to deflate almost immediately.

The popovers had a nice and crisp exterior with a slightly hollow, soft interior. These were perfect along with soup.

This post has some very useful tips on how to make the perfect popovers.

On a different note, I just realized that I’ve now been blogging for a year. I’m really surprised since I always thought that nothing could hold my interest for long!

Parmesan Crisps with Mango Salsa

There are way too many good food blogs out there and I just can’t keep up anymore! I follow some of them pretty regularly as they appeal to me for various reasons. Cynthia’s lovely blog, Tastes Like Home, is one of the blogs I like to frequent. Her writing, her recipes and her photos always make me go back for more. Her blog truly is a visual delight and her warm personality comes through in every post that she writes. I had never actually cooked from her blog, so when Zlamushka announced the Tried and Tasted event earlier this month and decided to kick things off by showcasing Cynthia’s blog, I was only too happy to participate. I dug deep into her archives and found just the thing I was looking for- a dead simple recipe that called for only 2 ingredients- cheese and pepper.

Here is the original post.

This is how I did it.

Ingredients:
(For about 12 crisps)
10 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (obtained by grating about half a 5 oz. wedge of cheese)
¼ - ½ tsp pepper

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grate a small wedge of parmesan cheese using a box grater into a bowl. Add pepper. Mix.

Place about a tablespoon of the grated cheese onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet (I used a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil) and lightly pat down with the back of a spoon. Repeat with the remaining cheese, spacing the spoonfuls about a 1/2 inch apart.

Bake for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Carefully peel crisps from foil.

Cool. Serve with mango salsa.

The crisps can be used as an appetizer with a dip, on top of salads or even in a soup instead of croutons.

Notes:
I also tried making Parmesan cups. I had seen Giada make these on one of her shows a few months back.
I spooned the cheese onto the baking sheet and pressed down gently to flatten out the mound. I baked it for a minute or two till the cheese melted and started to bubble. This was quickly removed from the oven and transferred (this has to be done very fast or else the cheese starts to harden and molding it becomes impossible) to a mini muffin pan and molded into the shape of a cup by gently pressing down with fingertips, also using a small spoon for help. This was then cooled until it hardened. I made a few cups like this.

I had prepared a chickpea salad yesterday which we had in these cute little Parmesan cups.

For the mango salsa:
1 mango, peeled and finely diced
½ small onion, finely chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Scallions (I only used the green part)
1 tsp Sambal oelek
Lemon juice
Salt to taste

In a bowl, combine everything. Serve chilled with parmesan crisps or spoon into cups.


The above picture would be a good fit for Click: Cheese. Thank you for the idea, Purplesque!

I've also served the salsa in phyllo cups. Just as good! Here's a picture...