Three-layer vegetarian Mexican dip (or tortilla filling)

 

 

Why didn't anyone tell me how good layered dips are? Did you know?

 

I mean, I've seen enough of them them on blogs and Pinterest to imagine people were on to something. But never in my wildest dreams did I think the whole would so exceed the sum of the parts.

 

Sure, it is summer'n'all and we all like some guac and chips with a cold bear. But this is so much more, plus it solved an embarassing urge I get. I know I am not alone, I know you are out there to comfort me and let me know it happens to everybody all the time.

 

You know how, when you grab a tortilla chip, you can't decide what bowl to dip it into first? How you want to forget everything your mama ever taught you and dunk that corn chip into all three dips, one after the other, and then noisily snarf them up, all at once?

 

Crickets.

 

No?

 

 

  

Come on, I know there are some closet triple-dippers out there, so if that is you, problem solved. This recipe combines all of those Mexican flavors you love and crave in one tortilla chip scoop. Or if you are filling a tortilla with it, in one large spoonful.

 

The earthiness of the black beans, the luscious creamy green of the avocado, the zestiness of lime, the zingyness (ok, I just made that up) of cilantro, the little nuggets of ripe red tomatoes and the crunch from the spring onion, the heat from the chili and the fresh, tangy flavor of sour cream all in one bite.

 

I came out, I did it for you my friends. Now follow suit or make yourself a hefty portion and hide in your kitchen wolfing it down. I don't care, just do it.

 

We are flying across the pond tomorrow for a little over a week. I don't know if I will be posting, but you can catch up on our whereabouts and adventures on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (see side bar). 

 

 

Ingredients

 

black bean puree

black beans

olive oil

salt

lime juice

crushed chili peppers or black pepper

cumin (optional)

garlic (optional)

 

guacamole
For ingredients and recipe see here

sour cream
as much as you like

tortilla chips (to make your own, healthy version, see link above)

You  may have noticed I did not give specific amounts for the bean puree. Just add the ingredients to taste, according to how much you want to make. I cooked a whole pack of black beans the day before and used about at 2 cups of cooked beans to make it.

 

If you are using dried beans, pick through them discarding any little stones you might find. Soak them for about 12 hours or overnight with lots of water. I changed the water a couple of times, but this is not  a necessary step. I just did because the water got very dark and murky. Drain and place in a saucepan with plenty of water (I added a few garlic cloves and some toasted cumin for flavor) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, making sure the water continues to boil and cook until tender. Skim any foam off of the top of the pot with a slotted spoon. Add salt when the beans are almost cooked, they say they get tough if you salt  them at the beginning. I, however, have never verified this personally. When the beans are ready drain them, reserving a cup of the cooking water and few beans to add into the puree later on for texture.

 

Transfer the beans to a food processor. Add some olive oil and a little cooking water (as much as you like, depending on how thick you want your dip). I actually added some warm tap water as I had cooked the beans the day before. Puree until very smooth and then season with salt, some black pepper or crushed chili and the juice from a lime (or more or less). Mix in the reserved whole beans. Transfer to a bowl or large serving dish.

 

Prepare the guacamole following the link above and then top with some extra olive oil, chopped coriander and sour cream. Sprinkle over some more pepper or crushed chili peppers.

 Serve with tortilla chips or use to fill warm tortillas, with extra beans and chunks of avocado.

 

Poppy seed explosion muffins

Yesterday, while we were having lunch with a bunch of friends (it was a national holiday - although lucky me, I got to go to the office from 7 till just before noon anyway!), my daughter managed to swallow a tooth while eating her sandwich.

 

At least we think she swallowed it because it was there (and not even that loose for all I knew) before the sandwich and gone after it. She looked all around her plate, in her lap and under the table, for reasons you will understand shortly, and there was no sign of it.

 

How do you eat a tooth and not realize it?

 

While I was obsessing about that gross detail, how it would be coming out on the other end soon and how my baby is already eight lost-teeth into adulthood and will be leaving me soon to go and live her own life, she was obsessing about il topino dei denti, the mouse.

 

 

 

 

Yes, the mouse.

 

In Italy - and other countries in Europe I believe - it is the tooth mouse that shows up at your child's pillow to take his/her tooth and leave some money in its place. I am partial to the tooth fairy myself, being a girl and all, but I guess the mouse is more gender neutral and who am I to complain anyway?*

 

So, all my kid could think of was whether the mouse would leave her any money if she didn't have a tooth as evidence. Would the mouse know , the way Santa and Co. know that kind of stuff? I assured here it probably does but we would have to wait and see.

 

A heated debate ensued at the table with various suggestions. My daughter decided she would just sleep with her mouth open, like she normally does, she stated.

 

 

 

 

I, the advocate's devil, whipped out my phone to prove her wrong. Just the night before I had snapped a picture of her sleeping (yes, I am the crazy mama who constantly takes pictures of her sleeping children) and the evidence showed the contrary.

 

So perhaps she could draw a picture of her mouth with a gap where her tooth once was or write a note to the mouse?

 

Well, by the time she went to bed last night after a 5km walk in the park, she had forgotten all about the tooth she was so exhausted.

 

And although I was back in the office this morning, I know for a fact that the mouse dropped by. Or actually, the tooth fairy.

 

*Turns out I actually do have a right to complain since I am the bank and the messenger...

 

 

 

 

 

Who collects teeth in your country?

This is a a simple, homey, comforting snack from the lovely Monet. Something to share with a loved one at the kitchen table or curled up on the couch. A recipe for those everyday moments of your life, the ones you know you will cherish the most in the future.

These are for my little girl, who delights in the burst of every single poppy seed between the few teeth she has left right now.

Sour cream & olive oil banana muffins and my promise to you

This is a healthier version of the banana bread muffin I posted about a while ago. But wait!!! Don't go just because I said the word healthy! I hereby promise I will never post a "healthy" recipe unless it tastes really good and somewhat sinful. I am the kinda girl who believes that to call something dessert, it needs its fair share of butter, sugar and - more often than not - chocolate. If I'm gonna have dessert, it has to be worth the calories.

Now, I am by no means against using the occasional whole grains, dried fruits, apple sauce, honey or yogurt, as substitutes, but it is more for depth of flavor and interesting textures. Sure, your young ones will not be able to tell the difference and if you are feeding them cake, muffins or cookies on a daily basis, by all means make it a healthy snack. But in my world treats are called treats because they are supposed to be special (and not something you indulge in all the time) and a little butter and sugar will not hurt anybody. If you want healthy, give your kid an apple! Because the truth is, no matter how good a healthy cookies is and no matter how hard you try to convince me, it will never have the buttery sweetness of the real thing. And a gooey, rich homemade brownie is still a million times better for your children than the candy, soda and tons of other junk food kids are consuming daily all over the world. Especially if you bake it together as a family.

In these muffins, out go the chocolate chips and almonds of my other post, in come sour cream (yes, I am still buying tons of it to make sure my local supermarket keeps stocking up in the belief that all customers are loving this new and quite exotic product) and olive oil.

Believe me when I say you will not miss the butter in the least and the sour cream makes these the moistest muffins I have baked so far.

Last but not least, after a few requests and in an attempt to facilitate readers, I created a page with links to several conversion tables for any doubts you may have while trying out these recipes from all continents!

Sour cream & honey pound cake

I thought long and hard whether I should post this recipe or not and decided I would, because the end result was worth it. Or rather, because I wanted to let you decide whether you thought it was worth it.

Personally, I should have known from the start that this wasn't going in the right direction.

It all started when I dropped by my local supermarket the other day and discovered they carried sour cream! That may not be a big deal for most of you but it was a huge thing for me. Sour cream is almost impossible to get here. Sure, they sell it in a couple of specialty stores and in a healthfood chain here in Milan, but it isn't the kind of ingredient you can count on, that you can plan a meal around. Basically, if in the past I just happened to be in the area of that specific store and they happened to have sour cream that day and the alignment of stars and planets was just so, then lucky me. And I am aware that there are about 100 ways to substitute sour cream in a recipe but hey, sometimes a girl just wants sour cream! So, yes,  I was excited and immediately bought some.
 
 

Cut to the next day. The baby sitter called me in the office to tell me she also had the flu, like my son, so I had to rush home to take over from baby sitter number one. Not much time to find a recipe for my precious tub of sour cream. I quickly googled and the first thing that came up was a sour cream pound cake recipe which I printed before biking home whilst changing into my Florence Nightingale uniform.

Pound cake is sort of boring if you ask me, one of those cakes I don't think of making too often but that always turns out to be just right for week end family breakfasts. Also, I was intrigued by the addition of honey.

I set off to work and immediately got frustrated. The amounts seemed exaggerated...why would any cake need so much sugar and honey? Six eggs? 

As I proceeded, my annoyance grew. To me, pound cake equals quick and easy. Not that is was complicated, but it just seemed like there were an awful lot of specific steps to take for such a plain jane. Hmph!

Then I realized I had once again forgotten to buy a Turks' head mold or similar, so I had to make do with my invention of a little while back. In went the humungous amount of batter...silly me, I should have known. I put it into the oven to bake and got distracted by other things until I turned and noticed the batter had just started puffing up and pouring out all over the oven like The Blob. Thereafter, I had to constantly take out the stuff dripping onto the baking tray beneath before it burnt. My daughter was watching and decided she wanted to taste the gooey, caramelized lumps of almost cooked through batter. We tasted it and boy was that chewy, warm, sugary mess good. I had hope yet.

I decided I would let it bake less, since at least half of the content had dripped from the pan, but it kept looking undercooked. I waited and waited until the original baking time had come and gone. I decided to pull it out and noticed that the weirdest thing: three quarters of the cake had baked perfectly and one quarter of the ring had remained half raw. How did that happen? At this point I was so angry about the cake, the waste and the thought of having to scrub every inch of my oven that I just set it aside to cool and then chopped of the raw part.

All of this to say that despite the initial doubts, the irritation and the baking disaster, this turned out to be a pretty tasty cake, with a certain depth added by the honey. It was dense yet moist and light. So, despite my ranting and raving, if you are a pound cake kinda person, this is a pretty darn good recipe. And there is no need to explain why there is not a picture of the whole cake.

 

Oops...I made it again!

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween or a Happy All Saints Day or even just a nice week end with your family & friends.

We had a bunch of friends over for a brunch/buffet, not after the usual slight drama having small children provides.

On Saturday evening our little boy, S., came down with a pretty high fever. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed our daughter M. was (and us too, if truth must be told). Our pumpkin was carved, the seeds were roasted, the fridge was stuffed with food, Halloween activities for the kids had been printed... Sunday morning, however, S. woke up in great spirits and not a hint of a fever. You know how kids are, they sometimes get these spot temperatures that come and go in a matter of hours. Luckily, our guests all have children and have experienced the same thing with their children. Excessive drooling on S.' side further convinced us that it was all just a matter of teething. So we decided to have our friends over anyway and what a great decision that was. We had a lovely day and the children had a ball!