09.24.06

Moros sin cristianos y… apple spice cake!

Posted in cooking at 9:40 pm by Hanne Blank

After several years of tinkering, I have finally come up with a moros y cristianos recipe that really fires on all cylinders. I do not cook my beans together with my rice, because I feel that gray rice rather reduces the desired effect, first of all, of the black bean “moors” and the white rice “christians,” but also because I prefer to cook my beans from dried beans, and to cook them for so long with rice would result in rice porridge with beans in it. Instead I make my beans and rice separately, and serve them in soup plates: a few scoops of rice, topped with a couple of ladles full of beans. I made it today, and was very happy with it, so I thought I would write out the recipe in case anyone else wanted to give it a try (if you do, let me know what you think of it).
This means, though, that my recipe is really for moros all by themselves, sin cristianos, since I assume for the sake of argument that people can manage to make a pot of rice without my assistance (and if you can’t, try The Joy of Cooking or the instructions in any average electrical rice cooker).

So, then:

Moros sin Cristianos
(makes about 8-10 servings)
2 cups dried black beans, carefully picked over to get rid of any rocks, clay pellets, or discolored beans, then soaked overnight, covered, in plenty of cold water
3 quarts chicken or vegetable stock (homemade is best, or use low-sodium prepared stock)
2 bay leaves

Sofrito:
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 sweet green peppers, seeded and diced (bell peppers are fine, Biscayne or Cubanelle peppers are better)
2 fresh poblano chiles, seeded and diced
2 medium to large white or yellow onions, cut in small dice
4 ribs celery, cut in small dice
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon dried crumbled epazote (available at Mexican/Central American grocery stores, or by mail from Penzeys

Optional:
1 pound chorizo or other spicy sausage of your choice
fresh limes, sliced into wedges
1. Drain soaking water from beans. Place soaked beans, stock, and bay leaves into large heavy-bottomed stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered.

2. After the beans are simmering, make the sofrito by heating the oil (the amount you use will depend on the size of your pan; there should be sufficient oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan when it is hot), then adding the onions. Once the onions are translucent, add the celery and peppers and cook until soft. Add cilantro and epazote and stir in. Remove sofrito from heat and add to the beans.

3. Stir sofrito into beans. Simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 hours or until beans are tender but not mushy. Much of the liquid will have either been absorbed or cooked off, the mixture should have a stewlike consistency but the liquid should not be thick (opaque yes, thick no).

4. Optional: Cook chorizo or other spicy sausage in a separate pan, drain off the grease, and cut the sausage into bite-sized chunks and add to the beans when they are done cooking.

5. Serve over rice, with lime wedges to squeeze over it if you desire. If you’re a chilehead, a splash of hot sauce or chili vinegar is certainly acceptable too.

Note: Like many stewed legume recipes, it’s even better the second day. This is one of the reasons that the recipe is designed to provide for leftovers. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

For dessert, I made one of my favorite fall/winter cakes, which I have been making for years and years. The original recipe is in the original Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Shelia Lukins, but I’ve modified it somewhat. The original version is also very good, but mine is a little spicier and modified for various food allergies among members of my household, too. In either the original or my version, the cake is a dreamy never-fail fall dessert, dense and moist, with an out-of-this-world top crust that is crisp and sweet — I have been known to save the top crust for last.

Apple Pecan Spice Cake (original recipe is called “Chunky Apple Walnut Cake”)

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (not olive, but grapeseed oil is great in this)
2 cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups peeled, cored, and diced cooking apples (types I have used and liked in this include: Jonathon, McIntosh, Northern Spy, Rambo, Rome Beauty, Pippins, Gravensteins, Winesaps. Tart apples that are not overly juicy are optimal.)
Optional: 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 325 F and grease a 10-inch round or square cake pan. (Optional: use a 12-inch round pan, to increase the surface area of that delicious top crust.)

2. Sift the flour with the spices, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. Beat together the oil and sugar until thick and opaque. Beat in the eggs and combine thoroughly. Add the flour mixture a quarter-cup or so at a time until all is well combined. This is a thick batter, don’t be afraid of it!
4. Add apple chunks and mix in. If you are adding pecans, add them too and combine.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula blade. Bake at 325 for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a cake tester (toothpick or bamboo skewer) comes out moist but clean. Depending on the moisture content of your apples this may take a bit of extra time, so check it at 7 to 10 minute intervals after the first hour and fifteen minutes. (If you are using a 12-inch pan, begin testing it at 1 hour.)

6. Let cool for approximately a half hour before slicing and serving. It is particularly nice with whipped cream (perhaps with a bit of Calvados beaten into it if you are feeling fancy). The original recipe includes a glaze, but I have always found the glaze too sweet for this cake.

Note: This cake keeps very well if covered tightly. It also freezes well. If you should manage to have any around long enough for it to become stale, it can be revived very happily by placing a slice in a bowl, adding a healthy splash of milk (or soy/almond/rice milk, your choice), and microwaving it for 30 seconds — it’s more pudding than cake, then, but still very tasty.

And for your bonus recipe, I give you my technique for making the most sublime cauliflower you will ever eat… inspired by a cauliflower dish made at our local Whole Foods, which is good, but not nearly so good as this, which I think of as Mysterious Savory Silk because no one ever guesses that it is primarily made of cauliflower, and everyone agrees that it is rich and sumptuous and delicious:

Mysterious Savory Silk

1 large head fresh cauliflower, trimmed, pared, and cut into medium sized florets
Cloves from one large head garlic, peeled
1 T olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

vegetable or chicken stock
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower and garlic cloves with 1 T olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt until oil and salt are distributed evenly. Layer cauliflower and garlic in a large baking dish in a single layer. Roast in the oven until the cauliflower begins to turn golden brown in places, about 30 minutes.
3. Remove the cauliflower and garlic from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.

4. Place cauliflower and garlic in blender or food processor and puree, adding 1-2 T olive oil and sufficient stock to make a smooth, but substantial, puree approximately the consistency of softened butter. Adding the stock 1 Tablespoon at a time will help insure that you do not add too much.

5. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: This is particularly nice alongside a green vegetable dish like braised kale, steamed green beans, or steamed broccoli. I am also partial to eating it alongside white-fleshed ocean fish like halibut, turbot, sole, cod, etc.

I think that’s all I’ve got for tonight. It’s been a very domestic day… lots of cooking, a bit of cleaning, odds and sods of administrative detail… just doing the various jobs around the house that constitutes getting ready for another week.

Permalink