VEGETARIAN BLOG: BLACK BEAN AND PUMPKIN SOUP

Black beans make a superb soup - but you have to prepare them from scratch. Cooking the beans creates a velvety, thick purple broth that you simply cannot recreate with tinned black beans.

 Don't worry - it ain't that hard to cook black beans. It just takes a bit of foresight. While you can soak them over night, they don't actually need that long. A few hours is fine. The longer you soak the less time they will take to cook. No more than 12 hours though and at least three hours is a good guide for black beans - also known as Brazilian or turtle beans.

Pumpkin makes a great mate for black beans. And this soup is actually pretty simple and easy. Team it with the coconut corn bread below.


Slightly adapted from Three Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery by Seppo Ed Farrey with Myochi nancy O'Hara

RECIPE: PUMPKIN AND BLACK BEAN SOUP

2 cups black beans, rinsed well and drained

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons salt

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

About 2kg pumpkin, skinned and chopped into bite-sized cubes

1 tablespoon tamari - or soy sauce

black pepper

sour cream

fresh coriander/cilantro, chopped

Soak beans in 6 cups of water for about four hours. Rinse well.  Prepare pumpkin.

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat and saute onion with salt for a few minutes. Add garlic and saute few more minutes, stirring now and then.

Add 6 cups of water with pumpkin and beans and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on, stirring now and then, until beans are soft but not mushy. If looks like to much liquid remove lid for last 15 minutes so it will reduce down a bit. You want a reasonable amount of broth though.

Remove one cup of the solids and one cup of the broth and puree. Return to pot and add tamari and pepper. Simmer for a few more minutes.

Carefully ladle soup into bowls and add a decent dollop of good quality sour cream, with fresh coriander sprinkled on top. Serve with bread below or on its own.

FOR BABIES SIX MONTHS AND OVER: Scoop out some pumpkin once it is cooked and puree

FOR BABIES EIGHT MONTHS AND OLDER: Scoop out some cooked beans and pumpkin and mash a little (avoid the broth as it contains salt)

FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS ONE YEAR AND OLDER: Serve as is, or blend and serve

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN SOUP with RED PEPPER and LIME

It's the season to be soupy - if you're down-under at least. I made some fantastic soups this week. They didn't just taste it, they looked great too - often an issue with soups that wind up a dull brown or grey.

I have made various versions of black bean soup over the years, but usually they are blended to a thick blackish puree. While tasty, I have felt a little odd gulping back black goo.

This hearty ensemble is a departure from that blended style and quite impressive to serve up: Soft black beans in a dark purple broth alongside strands of red pepper; with a generous dollop of sour cream, sprinkled with shavings of lime rind and fresh coriander leaves.

I adapted this recipe from a soup based around a bacon hock. I wasn't sure if a vegetarian version would cut it, and maybe it wouldn't if you had tasted the meaty version.

Billie had no complaints, and neither did my blog pal Violet Tingle. I took it to her place ahead of a Friday night blogathon. Alas, Blogger was down and so was Ms Tingle's internet. So we just ate soup. Bread is not needed but it pals well with lager.

And don't dare leave out the sour cream. If possible go for a good quality version that is literally soured cream and therefore quite runny. (If you're in Australia this means Barambah - and I'm not being paid).

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN SOUP with RED PEPPER and LIME

(Adapted from a Julie Biuso recipe)


2 1/2 cups black beans (also called turtle)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped finely
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper or chili (more if desired)
4 bay leaves
fresh ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 stock cube
salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 red pepper (capsicum), chopped into bite sized pieces (reserve some for garnish)
2 Tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped


Garnish:
sour cream
extra chopped fresh coriander
one lime to zest and juice
the red pepper pieces from above


Rinse black beans and soak in 7 cups of cold water - for about 8 hours. Drain and rinse. 


Heat oil in large pot and saute onions and then garlic over a low heat for about ten minutes or until soft. Add spices, followed by beans and 3 litres of water (just 1 litre if beans already cooked in pressure cooker) with a dissolved stock cube, the bay leaves and black pepper. Bring to boil, add parsley and lower heat. Simmer with lid off for two hours or until beans are very soft. 


Add lime juice, red pepper and fresh coriander. Check for seasoning - you'll probably want to add a teaspoon of sea salt. Cook for another ten minutes.


Place in bowls and garnish with a spoon of sour cream, some red pepper, coriander and lime zest. Squeeze a generous squirt of lime juice over the top - this tastes great and gives you some extra vitamin c to absorb the beans from the iron. The red pepper will do this also.


Delicious, filling and healthy.

NOTE FOR PRESSURE COOKER USERS: If you have a pressure cooker you can reduce soaking and cooking time substantially. Soak beans for a few hours and then place in pressure cooker with 5 cups cold water and cook for 15 minutes once up to pressure. They don't need to be fully cooked as will continue to cook in the soup. Meanwhile, get the broth going - but use 1 litre rather than 3 of additional water. Add the beans and their cooking liquid to the broth and simmer down for 45-60 mins with the lid off.

FOR BABIES 7 MONTHS AND OLDER: Reserve some well-cooked beans (before cayenne and salt is added) and puree.
FOR BABIES 10 MONTHS AND OLDER: Remove beans from soup and serve as finger food.
FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS 12 MONTHS AND OVER: Serve as is - stirring a generous amount of sour cream through if they aren't partial to a little heat (it's only mild anyway)

Tacos with Chili Beans

I have been a burrito addict since I visited San Francisco when I was 18. But lately I've been getting into tacos.

Why? Well in restaurants they're often offered with more delicate, flavoursome fillings than your chunky burrito - no rice allowed. You can opt to just eat one or two tacos for a snack. They're fun to make at home sitting around the dining table. And toddlers love 'em.

But tacos must be soft. For some reason the tacos that made it to New Zealand during my childhood were hard, crunchy and very difficult to eat. Ideally you want soft corn mini tortillas that you heat in the oven before filling.


Billie's still getting the hang of the Mexican thing - she's mastered nachos but when handed a taco she tends to separate the tortilla from the filling and eat one at a time. Mind you, she's been doing that with pizza this week too.

I have a standard vegetarian chili/refried beans recipe that I use for burritos, nachos, tacos and everything in between. I made it up shortly after dining out on that fabulous Mexican food in California. Fifteen years later I still use the same recipe.

SARAH'S CHILI BEANS

3/4 cup dried black or kidney beans, or one tin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tin tomatoes
1 lemon, squeezed
1 Tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)
chili to taste - fresh, powdered, paste (whatever you have, but don't be too shy)


Soak and cook beans, or open tin. Heat oil in fry pan and saute onions and garlic. Chop tinned tomatoes and pour into pan with juice. Add rest of ingredients, while stirring over a medium-low heat. Simmer on low until reduced down a little. For tacos you want quite a dry chili, but if serving just with rice etc or with corn chips for nachos then don't reduce as much. Check seasoning.


Meanwhile, prepare other taco ingredients. Last night we used grated cheese, fresh chopped tomatoes, some guacamole, and a little spinach and coriander (from the garden, no less). Heat stack of tacos in foil on middle shelf in moderate oven for five minutes. Keep wrapped in foil to serve, removing as you use them. Place bowls of cheese and other fillings on table and dig in.

DESERT INSPIRATIONS: SANTA FE BLACK BEAN SALAD

Santa Fe farmers' markets

Get ready for some superb Southwestern-inspired food. But first, Santa Fe is kind of the Disney Land of New Mexico. You wouldn't know this if you didn't venture further into the desert, to the mountain town of Taos say. Or even better - little Las Vegas - a town frequented by Billie the Kid and now a popular film set for Western-tinged films by the Coen Bros etc.

Santa Fe's New Mexico Museum of Art uses the faux-dobe made popular by the town's planning laws

But for wide-eyed tourists such as myself fresh off the train, it's hard not to fall for Santa Fe. Town planning laws dictate that all buildings must pay some homage to the traditional Adobe, invented by the Pueblo people - the traditional land owners. So you play the guessing game of which is the faux-dobe and which is the real mud brick. At least it all looks nice. Even the petrol stations.

Real adobe or faux-dobe?

Shell gets into the dobe-mode

It's not just the mud bricks that tourists flock to Santa Fe for. The town has become an eating destination, with it's own cuisine reproduced in many cookbooks and famous restaurants. Unfortunately I cannot report that our dining experience was anything to write home about  - probably because all the good ones were booked out or had queues longer than Billie could possibly stand. 

The best food we ate in Santa Fe was found right here on the plaza

However, we ate well throughout the rest of New Mexico and the US South West. It's a blend of Mexican, Native American - such as fry bread, corn and beans - and some other stuff tossed in.

Getting hungry? This fabulous salsa salad is easy to make and will impress most palettes. Last night I took it to Skye's birthday beach picnic, and there were enough recipe requests to pass the test.

And yes, Billie loves it. Nine-month-old Fig enjoyed a few mouthfuls last night too - although she preferred the beans to the corn.

I pinched this from my current favorite, Feeding the Whole Family, by Cynthia Lair. I've only made a couple of small adaptations. She suggests serving with tortillas or polenta but I have always used corn chips.

This recipe brings together some of my favorite ingredients: black beans, lime, corn, fresh coriander/cilantro and red pepper/capsicum. Served with a bowl of corn chips, it makes a fantastic dish to share. It can be prepared a few hours ahead of time, so good for outings.

SANTA FE BLACK BEAN SALAD

2 cups cooked black beans  (1 1/2 cups dried or one 400g tin = 1 1/2 cups)

1 red pepper

1 corn cob, steamed (or 1/2 cup frozen/tinned corn but use fresh if you can)

1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander/cilantro

plain corn chips, to serve

Dressing:

3 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 Tablespoons lime juice = one lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use 1/4 if not serving to any kids)

Soak and boil/pressure cook the black beans. They only take 15-20 minutes in pressure cooker if been soaked a few hours. About three times as long if you regular boil in a pot, after soaking. Or open a can or two.

Next, roast red pepper/capsicum to char the skin for easy removal. You can do it under a grill or directly over the low flame of a gas burner. Turn until skin charred on all sides. Place inside paper bag and close to allow pepper to sweat - this will make skin easier to remove. After about ten minutes - or longer if you can wait - the skin should slip off. Slice pepper into thin strips and then chop strips in half.

Meanwhile, steam whole corn cob - again only takes 5 mins in pressure cooker, 10-15 mins probably in regular pot. Let cool then place sideways on board and slice kernels off in strips. Place strips in large bowl with beans, coriander and pepper. Mix gently.

To make dressing: Mince garlic and salt to a paste, either in pestle and mortar or on bread board with a knife. Place in small bowl and whisk in oil, lime juice and cayenne pepper. Pour over salad and toss gently.

Serve with corn chips. If you go for the more spicy option, a bit of yoghurt on the side works well. And if you are feeling energetic, or you want to make the meal go further, the salad partners very well with guacamole. 

My suggestions for making this work for all ages:

BABIES AGED SIX MONTHS AND OLDER: Make a little extra corn and puree

BABIES/TODDLERS AGED NINE MONTHS AND OLDER: Set aside a little beans and corn

TODDLERS AGED ONE YEAR AND OLDER: Serve as is - check seasoning

 

And now, I can't resist a little garden update. 

Just two weeks on, and we have several small green tomatoes and one little courgette. 

The tomato plants are topping their stakes, and the aubergine plants are getting huge too. The poor lettuce, spinach and basil are getting a bit overwhelmed by the growth of their neighbors, losing a fair bit of their sun. Next time I would put tomatoes in their own patch I think.

THREE SISTERS STEW

While Billie has taken to throwing the vegetables out of the highchair, she still devours beans like they're almost as good as sliced bread. She also still appreciates vegetables if they're mingling with beans in a stew or casserole. Not sure on the logic here, but we are dealing with a toddler.

Three Sisters Stew

Three Sisters Stew is a marvelous all-in-one dish which teams well with whatever grain you have to hand. We tried a whole wheat cous cous the first time I made it, and then quinoa this week. However, because corn is a whole grain it doesn't need the grain for nutrition purposes.

I doubled the recipe this week, which was great to keep us in lunch for several days - Billie and I had it four days running. However, I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have a party to feed, as I reckon a bit of the flavour was lost.

This hearty vegetarian stew comes courtesy of my latest culinary find. Feeding the Whole Family By Cynthia Lair is a fantastic cook book I stumbled across in a second hand shop a few weeks ago. It's all about using whole foods to create meals suitable for a range of ages. Sound familiar? Yes, there goes my book idea...

Anyway, expect to see a few more recipes where this goody came from. The core ingredients diverge a little from my kitchen shelves, so I need to do a re-stock before I can approach many of the others. She uses lots of Japanese ingredients.

Cynthia Lair credits author Jackie Williams with this stew. "Native Americans grew corn and planted the beans at the base. The corn stalks served as a bean pole. The ground space between the stalks was used to grow squash. The three sisters (corn, beans and squash) lived harmoniously," writes Lair.

I have made a couple of little adaptations to the original.

THREE SISTERS STEW

1 cup dried black beans (Lair suggests Christmas lima beans but any dark beans will do)

3 cups stock

2 tspn ground cumin

1 T extra virgin olive oil or ghee

2 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh, chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamin

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp salt

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

3 cups pumpkin (Lair uses squash), peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1 tin tomatoes (400g)

1 tsp chilli powder or paste

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn (I used fresh)

1 cup grated cheddar

sour cream (optional)

 Cous cous, quinoa or rice 

Seasonal greens - bok choy, broccoli, or asparagus work well

Soak beans for 6-8 hours, or less is fine if using pressure cooker. Place soaked beans with 2 cups of stock and 1 tsp cumin in pot or pressure cooker. Bring to boil and then simmer on low, covered, until tender. Takes about 50-60 mins or 45 mins in pressure cooker.

Heat oil in large pot on medium and saute the onion and garlic in the remaining spices and salt. Cook until onion is soft (about 5 mins) and then add pumpkin/squash, tomatoes, oregano and chili. Add 1 cup of stock, bring to a simmer and cook with LID OFF until pumpkin is soft (about 20 mins). If getting dry replace lid. Add corn and cooked beans, simmer until corn tender (won't take long). Season to taste and serve over a bed of grains with a generous side of cooked greens. Sprinkle with grated cheddar, and sour cream works well on the side if there's some about.

I SUGGEST FOR BABIES 6 MONTHS: Put aside some pumpkin chunks, steam and puree.

FOR 8 MONTHS: Put aside some cooked beans and puree with pumpkin.

FOR 10 MONTHS: Offer some cooked beans and pumpkin, not pureed

FOR 12 MONTHS AND UP: Offer complete Three Sisters Stew. Billie loved!

CHILLI BEAN-LOVER RETURNS HOME FROM THE DESERT

 Now I'm not advocating feeding your baby loads of hot chilli.  But perhaps keep an open mind. During our US travels Billie embraced food with a hint of heat, with both hands.

Here's a new recipe below to try out on all the family. It's a fabulous vegetable chilli served to us by Great Grandma Eve in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Billie's first accidental chilli outing was in Chicago when we stumbled upon a fantastic buffet at Oak Park's popular Indian restaurant - Khyber Pass. Billie ate spoonfuls, and handfuls, of the palek paneer without even wincing. The popular spinach and cheese curry often contains no chilli, but this one definitely had a wee kick. 

Black beans, refried beans and chilli beans became our go-to option to keep Billie busy when we were eating out in the US. We're gonna miss this $2 healthy option offered at the many and varied Mexican restaurants we visited in Chicago, and then on our little trip through the south-west desert.

Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona border. Snapped out the window.

 But usually these Billie bean sides were without chilli. Until we got to the Taos Nachos. Billie and I took a later-than-usual dinner excursion, leaving Miles in the Taos hotel dealing with food poisoning picked up in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

 Taos is a gorgeous little arty New Mexican town that sits at the foot of several ski mountains, surrounded by desert. The buildings are all either Adobe or Faux-dobe, to keep the Native American tradition of mud-brick houses alive. Or at least the feeling of it alive.

Sidling into a bustling restaurant bar at 8.30pm with Billie strapped to me in the Ergo, I opt for the vegetarian nachos as an easy dish to share with my bean-hungry bub. Thankfully the staff notice my difficulty easing black beans out from under the fresh jalapeno, and deliver a bowl of plain beans for Billie.

But not before she has managed to consume several bits of jalapeno. Fortunately, each time her reaction is rather mild. A little spluttering and reaching for her water beaker, but then she insists on digging into more of where that came from please.

Dawn on the Amtrak between Arizona and California

Flagstaff, Arizona

I wouldn't go round sprinkling chilli in her food, but when I'm cooking a casserole of vegetarian chilli for the family meal I now know we can meet half way on the heat.

The recipe below called for two tablespoons of chilli, so I opted for just one. Miles and I enjoyed it last night with brown rice and good quality organic sour cream (ie just cream and cultures). Today we'll all enjoy it for lunch.

POST NOTE: Billie ate a bowl for lunch with rice and cheese and a bowl for dinner with sour cream stirred through to mute the chilli. This is a dish to spoon-feed to avoid rubbing in eyes, although Billie did finger feed a few of the beans (her favorite pastime).

GREAT GRANDMA EVE'S VEGETABLE CHILLI

3/4 cup olive oil

2 courgettes, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 onions, diced

4 garlic gloves, chopped finely

2 red peppers/capsicums, diced 1/4 inch

800g tinned tomatoes

1 T chilli powder, or crushed dried chillis

1 T cumin

1 T fresh or dried oregano

1 T basil (opt)

black pepper

1 t salt

1 t fennel seeds

1/2 cup fresh parsely, chopped

1 cup kidney beans

1 cup chickpeas

1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped (essential - tastes great)

2 T lemon juice

grated cheddar

sour cream

4 scallions/spring onions chopped for garnish

First cook the beans. If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak them for few hours or overnight in 3 cups of water each. Cook separately as chickpeas take longer kidney beans. Drain water and place in large pots with 3 cups of water each. Cook kidney beans for 1 1/4 hours or 25 mins in pressure cooker. Cook chickpeas for 2 1/2 hours or 45 mins in pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup of the oil in a fry pan and add courgette. Saute and then transfer to a large casserole. Heat 1/4 cup oil in the fry pan and add onions, garlic and red peppers. Saute and then transfer to casserole. Place over low heat and add tomatoes, chilli, cumin, oregano, basil, black pepper, salt, fennel seeds and parsley. Cook uncovered, stirring often, for 30 minutes. Cook brown rice now if using. Corn chips are another option.

Now stir in beans, chickpeas, dill, lemon. Cook for another 15 minutes. Stir well, adjust seasonings. Serve with scallions, sour cream and grated cheese on the side. 

Eve served hers with guacamole, refried beans, Italian beans and corn chips. It was a bit of a Welcome to Baraboo Feast.

BILLIE BITES ALL

We're more than half way there, and it's not even four months.

The main premise of this blog when started in April was to create tasty, healthy meals without meat for our family. As in ONE evening meal, not one for baby Billie and a second installment for ma and pa. I wanted Billie to embrace food and eating with the passion of her parents. To yearn for different textures, colours and flavours.

Well, Billie must have been listening. And watching.

On Saturday we took Billie to her first big festival. It was the perfect introduction - the very baby-friendly Chicago Folk and Roots Festival. Put on by the Old Town School Of Folk Music, the $10 admission was the best tenner ever spent.

Despite coming prepared with the ubiquitous banana, Billie grew bored after a few mouthfuls and wanted some of the black bean cakes with mango salsa that mama was chomping on. And a bit of that red beans and rice that dadda was downing. Thumbs up to the festival organisers for inviting Wishbone restaurant, and keeping food vendors to a limited quality few.

But Billie's bean feast wasn't that surprising - she asserted her fondness for handling beans (unmashed please) the previous weekend while staying with her Italian Great Grandfather. (STAY TUNED FOR AN INCREDIBLE ARRAY OF RECIPES SWIPED FROM GREAT GRANDMA EVE).

No, it was the STUFFED SPINACH PIZZA that did it.

Our festival party stared wide-mouthed as Billie demolished most of a large slice of this Chicago institution. If you haven't been here you probably don't know what I'm talking about. At first I was reticent when Miles tried to take me out for stuffed pizza on my first Chicago visit. But it's not like that Pizza Hut stuff. Chicago stuffed pizza is more like a pie.

We've yet to try Billie on regular thin crust pizza, but something tells me we couldn't keep her away.

My mission has caught up with me sooner than anticipated. There's no more slipping Billie some mush while the adults dine on a smorgasbord of dishes.

Recipes to come...

Below: Billie tonight after sampling soft-shelled crab at local Oak Park restaurant Poor Phils

BILLIE BITES RETURNS TO CELEBRATE 9-MONTH B'DAY

We're back, just in time to mark Billie's ninth month. She has now been living in this world for as long as she lazed about in my tummy. Read on to learn how to make the best corn fritters, served with delicious Mexican-style sides.
 
Some baby food literature recommends waiting til this point to bring on the eggs etc, and some recommends banning eggs and nuts until at least one year. However, Billie has been happily chomping back eggy delights for a few weeks now. I chose to dive in - she also loves the cashew, brazil and almond nut paste I have been mixing with her tofu and ricotta.

This recent research report, American Academy of Pediatrics- Allergies, suggests there are no known advantages to delaying the introduction of these foods, although I did wait til she was 8 months for the nuts and 8.5 for the egg whites. See my previous writing on this subject, An Eggy Affair . Peanuts are on next week's menu, before we hit America where peanut butter finds its way into everything. (Please consult your doctor if your baby has been deemed at risk of developing food allergies.)

"Although solid foods should not be introduced before
4 to 6 months of age, there is no current convincing
evidence that delaying their introduction beyond this
period has a significant protective effect on the devel-
opment of atopic disease regardless of whether in-
fants are fed cow milk protein formula or human
milk. This includes delaying the introduction of foods
that are considered to be highly allergic, such as fish,
eggs, and foods containing peanut protein. " American Academy of Pediatrics policy revision

To mark the return of Billie Bites, after a forced break due to over-use of my right arm (at first attributed to the computer but now deemed to be equally about carrying and manoeuvring an ever-growing baby) I am offering up my latest and most exciting vegetarian creation. You could easily make this gluten-free by swapping the flour for a suitable version.

Whenever we find ourselves looking at a cafe menu - less and less with Billie in tow - my eyes stop at anything corn fritter-related, or anything that sounds vaguely Mexican. So when we were sharing a late lunch at an Avalon cafe in Sydney last Sunday (can't recall the name sorry) we went straight for the gluten-free corn fritters served with salsa, fried egg, black beans and avocado. I have no idea how they made their fritters, but I was inspired by the array of sides.

Somehow I've never tried to make corn fritters, just busied myself becoming the best critic of other peoples' (chefs). So I'm pretty proud of these last minute numbers. No recipe book on the shelf offered me a guide, and I couldn't/didn't want to look on-line (kinda cheating anyhow) so this is what I came up with. And yes, Billie loved them. The second time round. So don't get put off if your baby at first refuses.

RICOTTA CORN FRITTERS served with BLACK BEANS, TOMATO AND CORIANDER SALSA and FRIED EGG

 First soak/cook/pressure cook 1 cup black beans, aka Brazilian Beans. Or open a tin and heat before serving. 

Finely chop 3 tomatoes, 1/2 red onion, bunch fresh coriander and mix with generous dash of olive oil and fresh lime or lemon juice. Add salt and pepper and set aside.

CORN AND RICOTTA FRITTERS        

1/2 cup self-raising plain flour

1/2 cup cornmeal (could use plain flour or omit)

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 eggs well beaten (use electric beater if have)

200g ricotta (fresh is best)

3 corn cobs, kernels removed uncooked

freshly ground black pepper

milk - 1/2- 1 cup (mixture should be very wet, not dry enough to handle)

Heat olive oil in cast iron fry pan. When hot, turn to low heat and spoon in dollops of fritter mixture and flatten. Cook for about 5 mins on low heat so cooks through, rather than just browning. Flip, flatten and cook for another few mins. Place in tray in warm oven while rest of fritters are cooked.

When ready to eat, fry up an egg per person and serve on top of fritters with large spoon of salsa above, black beans and avocado or sour cream if you have (we didn't).

 Billie ate the black beans mashed with some ricotta, a fritter sliced into fingers and would have chomped on avocado if any were on offer.

Better run, as I am bashing this out in between changing nappies, whipping up Billie's lunch, and now my folks visiting from New Zealand await a tour of Sydney's finest winter offerings. It's great to be back...

BEAN FEST - AND A NEW LOVE AFFAIR WITH TOAST

It started with minestrone and finished with kumara and black bean burritos. Check out three fantastic recipes below - don't miss the unusual but very tasty burrito.

The mini bean festival was unplanned. But after a weekend of feasting on various beans, I can confidently say that legumes do not increase Billie's flatulence. Or ours.

Before we got started on the beans though, a significant introduction was made. On Friday morning I decided it was time. Billie could now meet that easy addiction - BREAD. It was also her first foray with wheat. And ever since she has been knocking toast back like it's the best thing since sliced....

Billie has been hankering to feed herself, but despite her capability of placing her spoon in her mouth I don't trust her ability to get much food in there. So, toast soldiers for the teething eager nearly-8-month-old are the perfect new food. As a chaser to her millet porridge the toast sticks keep her happy in her high chair while I prepare my own breakfast.

BACK TO BEANS

After plunging back into the baby books last week I emerged on a mission to put away the blender, stick to the fork, and try to create more meals that Billie could share, as is.

Various parts of Italy produce their versions of MINESTRONE SOUP. Some use rice, some pasta, some kidney beans, some white beans. I tend to leave out the pasta, and for Billie's first experience I opted for the very soft and malleable cannellini beans. I made a great, easy nut-free pesto to stir through.

MINESTRONE WITH PESTO

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 carrot, sliced

2 celery sticks, thinly sliced

3 T olive oil

2 courgettes, sliced into chunky rounds

2 potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/4 pumpkin, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 broccoli head, cut into florets and then stalk cut into small chunks

1.5 litres of water

1 stock cube (I usually use 2 but too salty for baby - up the salt later)

1 tin tomatoes

1 tin cannellini beans 

2 T tomato paste (unsalted if possible)

1 bay leaf (optional)

1 T chopped fresh oregano (optional)

 Black pepper

1/2-1 cup fresh grated parmesan

 PESTO: You can simply stir through fresh chopped basil and fresh grated parmesan, or make some quick pesto. Place a large bunch of basil, 1 cup of grated parmesan, 4 T olive oil, and 2 cloves of garlic into food processor and blend. Add a generous dollop to each bowl of soup before serving. Billie had hers without but that was only because I was still making it when her hunger pangs reached significant levels.

SOUP: Heat oil in large, heavy pot. Saute onion, garlic, celery and then carrots. Add tomatoes and paste, water and stock. Bring to boil and then simmer on low. Add potatoes, then pumpkin, courgette and lastly broccoli. Cook with lid off for about 30 mins, or until vegetables are soft but not falling apart. Meanwhile, make pesto. Add beans and check for seasoning. If serving to baby remove portion before adding any salt. Ladle into bowls and stir through bit of the extra parmesan and then pesto.

A NOTE ON MINESTRONE: Once the vegetables are cooked the soup needs to be served as soon as possible, otherwise they will overcook. It's not one to leave stewing endlessly. This makes quite a large batch so remove what will likely be used tomorrow and only reheat what is needed now.

A great store cupboard staple are canned cannellini beans. A fabulous quick lunch for anyone, but useful for babies, is this easy Cannellini Bean Pate. This is from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Express, I've just adapted it slightly.

CANNELLINI  BEAN PATE

1 can cannellini beans

1 glove garlic

1 T lemon juice

1 T Tahini (sesame seed paste) - optional-

1 T olive oil

1 T chopped fresh oregano

little black pepper

Place all ingredients in food processor, or use a stick hand blender, and process til smooth. After serving to baby, add a little salt to adult portions. Serve as is to baby, with bread or corn chips for adults.

I hope you made it this far, because here is the best recipe I have discovered in ages. Proof it's worth returning to the cook books every now and again for fresh inspiration.

This is slightly adapted from a wee gem of a book, Hot Damn and Hell Yeah. Miles picked it up from a second hand store in Armidale, but it's a self-published American classic by Ryan Splint and Vanessa Johnson.

Burritos are generally made about once a week in our house. But until last night, I hadn't found a way to bring Billie in on the experience. My standard burrito involves chili beans with lots of tomato - so not really Billie's cup of tea yet. But this brilliant meal below is very baby-friendly. (Just the filling and yoghurt - the salsa is adults only and Billie's hands are too small to get around a chunky burrito).

BLACK BEAN AND SWEET POTATO BURRITOS WITH SALSA

Packet of flour tortillas
Plain yoghurt
Bunch fresh coriander, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 T peanut butter (ADD AFTER SERVED TO BABY, unless already on peanuts)
1 tspn cumin
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1 large sweet potato, chopped and steamed
2 cups black beans, cooked and drained - or 2 tins

 SALSA:

1 can tomatoes
1 cup water
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 Spanish onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/4 tspn salt
2 T cider or white vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 T chopped jalapeno peppers (for a medium heat)


Soak beans in three times as much water for three hours and then cook for 1 1/4 hours, until soft. Drain and refresh in cold water immediately.

Make salsa. Combine ingredients in heavy pot over medium heat. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer on very low for 45min or until thickened. It tastes even better the next day. Use warm on burritos and then store in fridge.

Burritos: Heat oil in frying pan and saute onion and garlic over medium heat until soft. Add spices. Stir in beans and sweet potato, mashing slightly. (If making for baby, make sure beans are well mashed before adding). Spoon serving out for baby before adding peanut butter, if necessary. Mix well, cooking for a few minutes until combined and heated through. 


Heat a small amount of oil in large frying pan and warm tortillas for a minute each side - less once the pan gets really hot. Immediately fill with a generous portion of bean mash, topping with lots of warm salsa, a good dollop of yoghurt and a handful of coriander. Make sure you place all the ingredients in the centre of the tortilla. Fold one side over, followed by each end and then the last side, so you have a contained parcel. Eat.