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Chili in a Crisis

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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It’s really hard to write about chile con carne during a crisis. I started out with... It’s officially Autumn here on the East Coast of the United States.  This means the start of school and fall football games, three solid months of highly commercialized holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), and slow-cooked chile con carne or, as they say in Texas, chili con carne.  The dish is Tex-Mex, the kind of food served at football games or at roller rinks (yes, I am a child of the 70s) and dumped into a sliced-open Frito’s bag to be eaten with a plastic spoon. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrées/Platos Fuertes, Gilda (Dini) Karasik, Musings Tagged With: , , ,

Hurricane Beans

August 29, 2011 By 2 Comments
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Maybe the end of summer is awakening in me a craving for slightly more substantial foods because I seem to have beans on the brain lately. Or maybe it's having just returned from Mexico where beans are, of course, a staple and found in abundance.  Whatever the reason, while friends and family were preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, I found myself sifting and stirring these frijoles negros con epazote. My Hurricane Beans are simple but delicious, which goes to prove that most of the time, the simplest way is the way to go.  Too many ingredients and too many steps can sometimes over complicate a healthy and delicious meal. I grew up eating mostly pinto beans but I've grown accustomed to black beans during my frequent travels to San Miguel de Allende where Doña Beatriz of Casa Carmen Bed and Breakfast prepares the black, glossy legumes like no other cook. Doña … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gilda V. Carbonaro, Musings, Side Dishes Tagged With: , ,

Black Beans for the Young and Restless

February 5, 2011 By 1 Comment
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I have a friend, Liz, who is a half-Egyptian, half-Cuban beauty.  Tall and fit, she more like glides when she walks, ever mellow but always in step with the world around her.  The color of her eyes exactly matches her burnt-caramel skin.  The corona of springy, black curls that frames her face is her signature feature. She is blithe, guarded and possesses a disarming, sardonic wit. And she reminds me of beans, so hard and stoic until you cook them down, slowly.  Patiently.  What is impenetrable at first eventually becomes velvety smooth, full of texture, hearty and dependable.  Also, we ate a lot of black beans and rice together when we were low-budget law students living in Baltimore. It was 1995.  Our first year of law school.  We spent time on campus feigning self-confidence, eating free pizza and drinking cheap beer in the student lounge, and surreptitiously stalking the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Beans, Entrées/Platos Fuertes, Gilda (Dini) Karasik, Side Dishes Tagged With: , ,