Category: Travel

The Best Ever Crock Pot Boston Baked Beans

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If you have followed me on Twitter you know I have been away in Boston the past week. What an amazing city! Coming from Maryland, I thought we had the edge on seafood. But Bostons seafood was amazing, On a limited budget I ate very well and worked off all the good food walking and touring this most important of American cities . One thing I saw were these cute little bean crocks to make authentic Boston Baked Beans. I love a good baked bean. I have been to many a picnic where cooks try to perpetrate by doctoring up canned beans. One of my favorite cooking memories were my mother and I attempting to make out our own baked beans from scratch. I remembered it took hours to cook. Craving baked beans, but not wanting to run the oven in this summer heat , I opted for my crock pot/slow cooker.Many of my foodie friends associate slow baking beans with winter and fall. But isn’t a good baked bean dish quintessential to summer time and BB Q’s? While I cooked this via crock pot, I finished them of in the authentic crock for 45 min or so sprinkled with brown sugar in the oven. Let me say the house smelled fantastic turning the key and entering to find the beans cooked perfectly.Enjoy.

Crock Pot Boston Baked Beans

1 lb dry Navy Beans or Great Northern Beans

12 oz-1 lb salt pork with rind

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 onion chopped

1 onion studded with cloves( about 1 tsp worth)

4 cups water

ground black pepper

Soak your beans over night covered in cold water. The next day drain water. In a small pot of boiling water, boil the cubed or cut up salt pork for a few minutes to remove excess salt. Remove salt pork from water and place on the bottom of crock pot. Place the clove studded onion in crock pot. Cover with soaked dried beans. Add mustard,ground black pepper, chopped onion,brown sugar,molasses. Pour 4 – 5 cups of cold water over the beans and spices. Beans should be covered but not excessively so. The slow cooking adds moisture.Turn on your crock pot/slow cooker to the setting of 10 hours.

After 10 hours you can finish of individual servings on mini crocks sprinkled with brown sugar in a an oven at 350 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I think this perfect for this months My Legume Love Affair #14 hosted by the founder Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook.

Not Quite Australian Meat Pies and How I Met Certain Someone


Who is this Woman and what does she have to do with Certain Someone?
Why this woman would be a Gabi, my dear Australian friend who is responsible for this blog and how and how I met Certain Someone. Gabi is from Australia, Adelaide to be exact. And she introduced me to world of blogging. After a dinner at my house she sat down at my computer started blogging and I was hooked. My first blog Diary of a Shop girl morphed into Coco Cooks.
So what does she have to do with Certain Someone? Well I had a disastrous affair with an Australian man, one of those bad boy phases every woman must go through before she finds that Mr. Right.That man was a good friend and colleague of Gabi’s. The man and I parted ways, but I gained a good friend in Gabi. Gabi had other friends too, a whole expat community in Chicago, and through them at a dinner party I met him. Certain Someone. A tarot card reader was at the table to even confirm it ‘was him’.So you see everything and everyone in your life has a purpose, no matter how short the time.
Gabi moved back home to Australia this month. Her father, a regular and somewhat quiet reader of Coco Cooks has been suggesting to me from the beginning to make some Aussie food. Real stick to your bones type of food. I always think of modern Australian food as a melting pot with heavy Asian and Greek influences due to the current populations.And lets not forget the incredible wines! But pure Australian food would conjure up vision of meat pies,pavlovas,lamingtons, lamb and such. I could take the meat pie even further and float it on split pea soup. Gabi was quick to say Australians do not” throw shrimps on the barbie, drink Yellowtail, or Fosters”. That’s some American stereotypes perpetuated by Crocodile Dundee and Outback Steakhouse. Although they do eat Kangaroo and Moreton Bay Bugs ( delicious if you get some by chance). So hopefully one day Certain Someone will take me to this fascinating Continent and country. In the meanwhile I leave with my version of meat pie which is more Jamaican meat patty than Australian. Those African roots keep slipping through my cooking. Australians use puff pastry on top and short crust on bottom. I wanted more of a hand pie so I used a short crust and colored it with with some Turmeric. I also used some Palm oil( another African ingredient) and some red lentils for the filling with the beef. Australian meat pies have beef and gravy fillings and are served with a squeeze of ketchup on top. Look and see most places on this each have a version of meat pies. Empanadas for Latin America, Jamaican meat patties, Cornish pasties, samosas,etc. All good stuff.

Coco’s Not Quite Australian Meat Pies



Short Crust
1 cup /100 grams all purpose flour
1/2 cup/50 grams Atora( suet) or butter or shortening
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp turmeric
pinch of salt
1 egg beaten with milk for wash before baking
In a stand mixer mix flour, Atora, turmeric,salt and water until combined. Form into a disc, wrap ,and chill for a few hours.

Filling
1 lb ground beef
2 onions chopped fine
2 tbsp Palm Oil or regular vegetable oil
1 tsp curry
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste* I used Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning blend/Spicy Blend
1 tomato chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup red lentils
water
In a skillet brown ground beef with onions in Palm oil. Drain any excess oil.Add curry and cumin, salt, pepper. Add tomato and tomato sauce. Let simmer. Add red lentils and bit more liquid( ie: water if needed). Cover and let simmer until red lentils are done. 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Take out pastry dough. Roll out on floured surface and cut into circles based on your size preference. I made small ones . Brush edge with egg wash and fill with meat filling. Turn over close and seal with a fork or crimper. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Brush each pie with egg wash. Bake for 10-15 or until golden. Serve with ketchup if you like( Aussie style).We used German curry ketchup.


For a printable version click here.
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Check out my latest post on EbonyJet.com about my latest travel adventure in the Pacific Northwest ( Vancouver and Seattle).

How to Cook Skate Wing Two Ways…Tea Smoked and Parmesan Crusted

I fell in love with Skate wing about 7 years ago. While shopping at Fox and Obel, the fish monger showed me this fan shaped wing and told me how to cook it for a dinner I was giving.A simple coat of flour and fry it up in lots of butter. I wowed my guests with the exception of one bitchy comment , who said I cook with to much butter and should watch it. Like I always cooked like that. She was the type of person who ordered plain poached salmon wherever she went. Not a daring food adventurer at all. I digress…

Years went by and skate wing barely bliped on my radar. Then one afternoon I had a hankering for a mackerel. Certain Someone had just come back from a weekend in the Pacific Northwest and I had the most incredible pan seared mackerel at Palace Kitchen . Unfortunately not a piece of fresh mackerel was to be found, but I did go back to Fox and Obel and saw the Skate Wing o display. I purchased two wings to cook up.I made this last month and cant seem to find a my notes. However looking at the pictures I can give you these quick recipes.
Parmesan Crusted Skate Wing Mediterranean Style
I didn’t want to fry this up in tons of butter but wanted flavor. A simple dusting of Parmesan cheese and rice flour did the trick with a topping of diced heirloom tomatoes , minced, onion, balsamic, and capers.
1 part Parmesan Cheese
1 part Rice Flour
Skate Wing
Olive Oil to coat pan and fry
1Tomato
1/4 small minced onion
2 tbsp balsamic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp capers
oregano
Dredge your skate wings in the parm/ rice flour mixture. Heat pan with olive oil. Add skate wings and brown on each side a few minutes until golden and crisp. Remove form pan.
In a glass bowl add your chopped tomato, onion, Balsamic vinegar, olive oil,capers, and oregano.Toss and serve atop skate wing.
Tea Smoked Skate Wings

I borrowed this technique from a book I reviewed a while back , 50 Great Appetizers by Pamela Sheldon Johns. Rather than use her chicken wings, I figured Skate wings would be amazing smoked with tea.

Aromatics for smoker
1/4 cup uncooked rice
1/4 cup brown sugar
Peel of 1 orange
1/4 cup black tea leaves
a few star anise pods
Sauce
1/4 cup Ponzu soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1- 2 cloves minced garlic to taste
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/8 tsp chili oil
Line a wok type pan with heavy aluminum foil. Leave several inches of foil as a excess collar. Line foil with rice, sugar, orange peel, tea, and star anise. Take a rack or bamboo steamer that fits within wok, and place atop the wok and tea mixture with foil collar on the outside of steamer. Brush steamer or rack with oil and place skate wings. I chopped mine up into manageable pieces.. Place cover on steamer and seal the gap between wok and steamer with the foil.Foil should seal in the whole side of steamer .
Turn on heat to midway and start smoking for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and remove. Let the wok stand for another 15 minutes undisturbed. Carefully open the steamer and remove fish.
In a glass bowl mix all ingredients for dipping sauce and serve with Skate wing.

The Scandinavian Cookbook Review and Salmon Burgers with Rye Focaccia

Those of you that know me , know that Scandinavia is no stranger to me. In a way through Certain Someone its like a second home. But even prior to meeting Certain Someone , I have relatives there in which I got to visit. My first visit to Stockholm , I feel in love. So how fitting my love has a beautiful summer home, by the sea, which I cant wait to go back and visit. I have yet to explore the other Scandinavian countries. I’m eager to see Denmark and Norway.One day.
I was so so happy to get a copy of The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann (Andrews McMeel Publishing,LLC), through the The Library Thing Early Reviewer Program. If you don’t know about this ,please check it out. As all my books on Library Thing are cookbooks, that’s what I normally snag based on my profile. But they have all types of genres available, and the competition is tough. This is my second review for them.
The Scandinavian Cookbook is a big gorgeous book by the Danish chef Trina Hahnemann.In her first English cookbook, she breaks the book down into seasons and months so the reader truly understands the cycle of life in Scandinavia.Winter is long with little light and summer leads into those White Nights with the sun not going down until midnight or after. Its a beautiful corner of the world with a simple straightforward and delicious approach to cooking. Flipping through the gorgeous photographs by Lars Ranek one gets a visual Smorgasbord of fishes, pastries, vegetables, breads drinks, and just about anything else you can think of. I long to go back and make the Kartoffelkage (a choux pastry with marzipan, cocoa, and filled with cream). Of course she shows you how to make smoked salmon. With the seasonal approach all the dishes presented look so healthy, wholesome and appetizing.A nice balance.

I chose to make a simple Rye Focaccia and Salmon Burgers form the month of April because I had most of the ingredients on hand. I confess,I was out of capers, and really regretted it. Nevertheless the burger was fantastic. And the Rye Focaccia was outstanding and very simple to put together. The burger was basically fresh salmon chopped into a mince with green onion , capers, eggs, and breadcrumbs. I garnished mine with sprouts , rather the chives and capers. And I cheated with mayo out of jar rather than her homemade dressing with homemade mayonnaise,and creme fraiche.The focaccia which was to make 4 burgers, could have been stretched to six or even eight in my opinion. I was really hearty and I couldn’t stop nibbing throughout the day. What I love about this book is that there are basic recipes and components I can carry over into other seasons and dishes. Naturally I am submitting this into BYOB.
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Spring is Here…Lemon Springerle


In Germany this past Christmas, I irritated the hell out of Certain Someone looking for Springerle molds. Surely the Christmas market in Cologne would have some. His mother and other woman I asked laughed and said no one makes Springerle anymore. It was outdated. If anything they used them as wall decorations. I though how sad it was the art was fading. Staring at my edition of Martha Stewart Living didn’t help. She had a section devoted to cookies and crafts made with Springerle molds from a company called House On The Hill. Come to find out House on the Hill is a local one for me, and Springerle isn’t just for Christmas. I received the catalogue and there are so many mold in so many sizes for all occasions. They can be very pricey too for just replicas. A lot of intricate detail goes into these molds which manage to convey a story for every occasion.I settled on a minimum investment of a Easter egg at around $21. The irony is I had to come back home to find these!
One could use it for marzipan or cookies. I am really eyeing those cake toppers. Springerle requires Anise oil , lemon, or orange oils and Bakers Ammonia. You could use a sturdy sugar cookie recipe, but I decided to keep it authentic. A little recipe book came with my order of the Springerle stater kit. What I though would be easy is a little more complex. I began to see why the art is dying off. But if your are patient, beautiful cookies can be had. The key is to letting your dough , after molding dry for about 24 hours.
Even after following that, some of my impressions faded( cookie was to thick in width perhaps) and some of the dough seeped out of the dried crust and ruined the shape. The recipe yields a lot and could easily be cut in half. Although these cookies keep for months in airtight containers. I even saved the duds in freezer to use for a cheese cake crust. House on the Hill had recipes for chocolate cookies as well. Maybe one day I can take a class up there. The Springerle molds can be used for paper crafts as well. So the investment pays off. Here is the link to recipe. Be sure to put aside a day before you bake these.

I wanted to create Faberge style Springerle.
My ambition was greater than my technique. I mixed my colors with vodka and brushed them on the finished Springerle. I also used metallic luster’s. There was to much imperfections with the finished product to make it as perfect as I wanted. Cracks and such. But I’m always learning and they did not go to waste. I’m also seeing details vary by molds as well. Not one to give up I will be revisiting this with marzipan’s and cake decorating.