Israeli couscous with sun-dried tomato

I am a big fan of couscous. It's delicious, filling, and it takes about 8 minutes to make. That being said, I've never tried Israeli (the pearled variety) couscous before. I've seen it on grocery shelves, and on the rare restaurant menu, but I had never taken the initiative to stray from my good friend, the common small ground semolina. So as I walked through Kroger and Whole Foods last week, I pieced together quite an entertaining dinner with the neglected grain and a big batch of sun-dried tomatoes, plus some beans, fresh basil, and garlic.

Ingredients
16 oz. pearled couscous
16 oz. red beans, cooked and rinsed
1 1/2 - 2 cups sun-dried tomatoes, cut into 1/4'' pieces
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp  basil, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil, divided in two
4 cups water

Directions
1. In a large pot, combine water and 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, place over high heat
2. In a small dish, combine tomatoes, garlic, beans and basil with remaining olive oil
3. When water begins to boil, add couscous and bring down to a simmer
4. Allow couscous to simmer for 6 minutes, remove from heat, cover, let stand 10 minutes
5. Pour couscous into serving bowl, add the mixed ingredients onto the couscous, stir well
6. Serve! (Makes 4-5 servings)

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Well, it's the middle of December according to the Gregorian calendar, which means many of us in the Northern Hemisphere are getting a bit chilled. To stave off this wintery bite, I suggest plenty of warm goods: fires, bourbon, and loads of spicy food.

This past Saturday night, a few friends came over bearing a bottle of that wonderfully warming Kentucky mash, and a tasty recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen.  These snickerdoodles had all the right ingredients for a cold night's snack. There was chocolate, sugar, cinnamon... and cayenne pepper! We added a bit more cayenne than called for, so that the pepper would dance a fiery jig with the bourbon through the night. You can find the recipe here, and please do! You won't regret it.

Spicy Black Bean Calzones

A few months ago I attempted to make some black bean empanadas. The key word here being "attempted." Now, they didn't come out completely terrible: the black bean filling was delicious and had just the right kick. Unfortunately the dough was a disaster. It fell apart at the seams, was entirely too dry, and generally didn't taste like empanada dough. The one saving grace of the experience, though, was that it DID taste like calzone dough.

Building on that past experience, I decided to take the two positives and put them together (purposefully this time) into a batch of black bean calzones. I modified my filling to add more of an Italian taste (basil, cilantro, and oregano), and made sure to knead enough bread to prevent any tearing. Here's what I ended up with!

Ingredients:
Filling:
2 cans (24 oz.) black beans
2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, diced
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ginger

Dough:
3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 package yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp raw sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2-3/4 cup water (or more as needed)
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped


Directions:
1. In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Add the oil and sugar, mix.
3. Add 3 cups of flour, water, rosemary and basil, mix until you form a dough ball.
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in bowl and cover. Set aside for at least 1 hour.
5. In a medium bowl, mash the black beans together with a potato masher or the back of a fork.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients to beans and mix together.
7. Sprinkle some of the remaining flour on counter top.
8. After dough has risen, remove from bowl and knead on the floured counter top.
9. Cut dough into 6 even portions.
10. Roll out each portion, sprinkling flour on dough to keep it from sticking.
11. Spoon out filling into the center of each piece.
12. Fold dough over filling, seal the edges by pressing with the back of a fork.
13. Brush lightly with olive oil .
14. Place on cooking sheet and cook for 35-40 minutes.
15. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes. Enjoy!