(Vegetarian, vegan option)

My friend, Amy Sciaroni, is Swiss. Not as in “someone on my mother’s side snuck in and diluted the Italian blood.” The entire Sciaroni clan is descended from the Alps. It’s more like some Italian snuck in and mingled with the Swiss blood, and somehow managed to get the whole tribe from then on out named after him.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that she can make gorgeous pasta from scratch without a recipe, curse with elegance and gesticulation, believes that every good meal should include wine and be shared with friends, and has been known to utter the words “che bello!”. She’s Swiss.

The answer to Juliet’s question, apparently, is “everything”

At a recent gathering, Amy whipped up these lovely and surprisingly spicy couscous cups. She used canned black beans and they were delicious, but since I’m on a quest to use a different heirloom bean each week, when I tried the recipe out myself I went with an heirloom black turtle bean.

The beans have been sitting in a glass jar on a kitchen shelf, shiny and pretty, for two years now. I bought them at the Maplewood Farmer’s Market several seasons ago from my friend and longtime farmer, Paul Krautman of Bellews Creek Farm (I once tumbled off a tall stack of hay bales out at Paul’s farm. I was helping to plant garlic. Don’t ask me why I was standing atop a tower of straw. No injuries though – I landed on more hay. Nevertheless, you should have seen Paul’s face when I fell).

Before I get to the recipe, I must throw in a PSA. Amy needs a roommate. Right away. Those of you in the St. Louis area, please pass this link (http://stl-home-to-share.blogspot.com/) along to anyone who might make a good housemate. Amy’s got a beautiful and spacious home (with a great kitchen — see photos) in St. Louis Hills, and, as mentioned above, she can cook and believes that food is made for sharing.

The Recipe:
Paul hand-harvested these heirloom turtle beans. I know that doesn’t change their flavor in any way, but it gives them an added dimension somehow, knowing that they went through human hands.

This heirloom variety was first introduced in the late 1700′s, and the seeds are jet black. When cooked, the hue fades to dark brown. The bean is common in South and Central American as well as in China , where it is often fermented.

For the couscous, I cheated (and so did Amy). I used a box mix. Traditional couscous requires considerable work to prepare, but these store-bought semolina granules are nearly instant, and the sun-dried tomato flavoring suits the mixture. Plus, the lentil, semolina and bean combo makes a complete protein source. ( I’m telling myself that it’s okay to do some things the easy way; I’m sure all of you are thinking “It’s about time!”)

And then, I make up for the corner cutting with the tortilla cups. They’re really easy to make, but they do require another step. The first time I made them I used whole wheat tortillas, and let me just say, don’t try that. They’re much too thick and tore when I tried to fit them into the muffin tins.

The amount of spicy oil, and its degree of spiciness, will of course determine the heat of your couscous cups. I used a homemade chili oil, which had quite a lot of heat. Trader Joe’s sells a milder version. To cut the cups, you can use a biscuit cutter. I like Amy’s method better. She keeps an old tomato sauce can just for things like this, and it also comes in handy when she’s cutting ravioli from pasta dough.

Amy used goat cheese in her couscous cups; since I’m vegan right now, I omitted that. The flavor is big enough that you don’t miss it that much.

Other than that, there’s not much to say about this. It’s my most straightforward recipe yet.

Spicy Cous Cous Cups

4 large flour tortillas
3/4 cup of sesame chili oil
1 box tomato and lentil cous cous
2 cups cooked black turtle beans
¼ cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
3/4 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (optional)

Using a 2 1/2″ to 3″ biscuit cutter (or tin can), cut circles out of the flour tortillas, about 3 dozen. Brush both sides with sesame chili oil and press into a mini-muffin pan. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.

Prepare cous cous according to package instructions. In a food processor, blend the black beans, parsley and olive oil until a chunky paste forms. In mixing bowl, combine the cous cous, bean paste, cheese (if using), and red peppers and stir well. Fill the cups just before serving.

These are great to make a day ahead, just store the tortilla shells in an airtight container and warm before filling and serving.

(Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free)

Last night, 7 inches of snow tumbled through the sky and landed on our city, smoothing out the sharp edges and muffling all but the most insistent of sounds. Today was a snow day for both Simon and me, and we spent a chunk of it sledding down Art Hill. So today I thought I’d post a recipe in celebration of Spring.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the snow. Snow makes me happy in a way that little else does. As I watched it fall through the night, sometimes in flakes that were big, fat and furious, other times in meandering sprinkles that looked like they’d never find their way to the ground, I felt both invigorated and soothed. For a few precious hours early this morning, the city was silent. No car moved down our street, and the only tracks in the snow belonged to birds, squirrels, and one brave runner.

Snow makes the world seem safe and small.

But it’s almost Setsubun, or Japanese Bean Day. What kind of a bean blogger would I be if I let a bean holiday slip by unannounced?

Setsubun literally translates to “season division”, and though it is the name given to the day before the beginning of each season, it is most widely celebrated on February 3, to celebrate the arrival of Spring. A Japanese holiday calls for a Japanese dish, and I’d been looking for a reason to cook with seaweed.

The Recipe

I have to admit, I had real doubts when this dish was coming together. It made the house smell bad. The combination of hijiki (a brown sea vegetable that grows wild on rocky coastlines in Asia), frying cabbage, and musky shitakes gave off an aroma that was both pungent and, well, cave-like. But I figured with ingredients like onions, bell peppers, and carrots it was hard to go wrong. In the end, I’d say that this dish is not quite balanced, in that the nose doesn’t match up with the palate. I still wasn’t thrilled with the way it smelled, but the flavor profile was fantastic.

Although there are a lot of Japanese beans to choose from, for this recipe I went with Envy soybeans. I’m particularly proud of these beans, because they grew in our garden last year. They were meant to be eaten fresh, as edamame, but last summer was a busy time for us and before I knew it, my beans were drying on the vine. Well enough, because they made a great addition to my soba noodle salad.

I don’t know much about the history of this heirloom soybean, except that it was cultivated by the late Professor Edwin Meader, and since it’s an early producer (80 days) it’s suitable for Northern climates too. I bought my seed from Seed Savers Exchange, but it’s also available through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Soba Noodle Stir-fry with Soybean

8 ounces uncooked Soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat pasta)
¼ cup hijiki
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cups shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion
2 carrots, julienned
2 cups soybeans, cooked
2 cups green cabbage, shredded
2 cups red cabbage, shredded
3 tablespoons (plus more as needed) soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

Cover the hijiki with water and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain, then place in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and enough water to cover it. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid, and set both aside.

Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles in a pot of boiling water until they are al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, rinse well with cold water, and set aside.

For this part you’ll need a wok or a large non-stick skillet. I prefer to use the skillet, because in my experience, the long sides of a wok don’t get hot enough to fully cook all the ingredients. A skillet for this recipe will have to be able to hold what a wok could.

Place sesame seeds in heated wok/skillet and cook until they are toasted and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. You’ll need to shake them now and then so they don’t burn. Remove when toasted and set aside.

Heat the peanut oil until very hot, and then add garlic and onion. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the carrots, shitakes, jalapeno and bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add soybeans and both types of cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more, adding a small amount of oil if necessary. Ingredients should be lightly coated with oil. Add the remaining soy sauce and the rice wine vinegar and cook for 2 minutes. Add the hijiki, saving enough for garnish, the reserved hijiki cooking liquid, and the soba noodles and mix well with the vegetables. Cook 1 or 2 minutes more, until heated through.

Add the toasted sesame seeds, the cilantro and the sesame oil. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with hijiki and cilantro, and serve.