White Bean and Tomato Gratin

Item # 2 in my "eating down the pantry" project. Dried White Beans. Did I already rant on here about how scarce the black bean supply is here in France? I believe I did. They just don't use them. No black bean burgers - no black bean quesadillas. Just not done. Tant Pis - I've got tons of white beans. Too much in fact.

So I set about eating them this week. Fun fact about white beans (more often referred to as cannellini beans at home) is that one serving of these magical little fruits has twice as much iron in it than a serving of beef. Eat that moo cow. Or rather...eat beans instead of moo cows!

White Bean Tomato Gratin
3/4 cup dried white beans
1/2 cup veggie stock
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded gruyere
1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder (or I bet this would be excellent with several liberal squirts of Shriracha instead of chili powder!)
1 tbsp fresh chopped oregano or dried.
black pepper

1. Soak the white beans overnight (12ish hours). Normally I skip the soaking step for bean dishes - mostly because I puree a lot of stuff so it doesn't matter - but this time it does matter unfortch. They are the star of the show.
2. In a large saucepan, in new cold water, bring the soaked beans to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes then reduce the heat and let them simmer for up to an hour or until they are tender.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 (150-170 C)
4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the pepper and onion. Cook 4 to 5 minutes or until they soften and start to turn a nice golden color. Add the tomatoes, veggie stock, oregano and the chili powder or sauce. Bring the whole mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer, moving it around so nothing gets overly browned, for the next 10 to 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add the beans, gruyere and black pepper to taste.
5. Put the whole mixture into a glass casserole or loaf dish. Top with the 1/4 cup of parmesan.
6. Let the gratin cook until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melty. Enjoy.



The next day when you have extra, spread a corn or wheat tortilla with a liberal amount of salsa, then several spoonfuls of leftover gratin, fold the tortilla in half and cook it 2-3 minutes on each side in a frying pan with a bit of pre-heated olive oil. Perfect quesadilla filling.

Broccoli Mac and Cheese Casserole

Mac and Cheese from a box is super hard to replicate isn't it? I've come to the conclusion that it can't be done. But, a good noodly cheesy casserole can be made that can satisfy a craving. I had just bought a package of quinoa noodles I wanted to try out and even though Im not crazy about broccoli usually, its full of good stuff for you (vitamin C, K, A and fiber) so I decided to make a little casserole.

Broccoli Mac and Cheese

1 large bunch of broccoli, cut into florets, trunk discarded
4 Tbsp butter (or vegan spread)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups soy creme fraiche (or whole milk, soy milk, soy cream)
2 cups grated Gruyere (or cheese of your choice)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or some other shallow 3-quart baking dish.
2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions and boil the broccoli until its tender but not mushy
3. Wipe out the past pot and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes (do not let it darken). Still stirring, slowly add the creme fraiche. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce slightly thickens, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Add the Gruyère, cayenne, garlic and 1½ teaspoon salt and pepper and cook just until the cheeses melt. Mix in the pasta and the broccoli. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish and bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes.



PS I liked the quinoa pasta

Ingerland Ingerland Part 1: The Market

Well the break is over and it's time to get back to work. ugh. But I do have some pictures to share!
The first part of my trip was spent in England with Adam and Lizzie and they had everything planned so well. We stayed at Lizzie's house the first night after getting a drink in town and eating some pizza by the riverfront in London.



The first morning they took me to the Borough Market which was wonderful! Full of fresh veggies, fruits, cheese (cheddar!), baked goods, humus, pesto, curry, mulled wine and cider, alcohol stands, olive stands, mushroom pate (which I bought and loved, looking for a recipe to reproduce it myself), fresh pasta, huge stuffed mushrooms, and lots and lots of tasting! I wish I could go to this market all the time and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone going to London. Here are a few pictures I snapped. I was pretty occupied with tasting so I didnt take too many pictures, plus I'm a firm believer that you have to experience things yourself and not through the lens of a camera all the time.


Im always reading blogs in Portland where they rave about duck eggs but I have never tried one. I'm told they are even more fatty then regular eggs.


Heart shaped bread for V day


Thought of Pee Pang when I saw these


We got two of these brownies to share between the 3 of us because they are so rich. We only managed to eat 2/3 of one. That rich.

Down a side street next to the market was a huge cheese place called Neal's Yard Dairy where we went to get me some proper cheddar and cheddar we found! This place was sooo cool. You could just point to what you wanted and they would slice you off a hunk to try. Adam and I overindulged a bit.


Floor to ceiling cheese wheels.


Vegetarian Rennet!


Cute little tags eh?


Giant eye wash? Haha...We think this was to keep the cheese moist.

Cool little tid-bit I learned from Adam (I learned over the weekend that he is basically an encyclopedia) that cheese that has mold inside like blue cheeses, Gorgonzola, that type, are pierced with long rods to let the mold get into the middle.


That's what these holes are!


And here in a cross section you can see where the rods were!

Part 2 Soon!