KSRO’s 23rd Annual Good Food Hour Recipe Contest looked for a few good bean recipes. According to Chef John Ash, Sonoma County’s most well-known food and wine ambassador and co-host of the Good Food Hour, “Beans are the perfect food, a nutritional and delicious powerhouse that has fed the world for over 10,000 years. Beans are the foundation for many classic dishes from around the world… French Cassoulet, Louisiana Red Beans and Rice, Italian Tuscan Bean Soup, Mediterranean Hummus, Black Bean Quesadillas, and good ol’ New England Baked Beans.”

 

We asked you to go bean crazy, and we had over 50 entries! Our four finalists' recipes are printed below.

Listen to Chef John Ash and Steve Garner discuss bean recipes and the recipe contest here:

 

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Recipe by Bill Ardizoia

1/2 cup chopped onion, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil plus additional for brushing
1/2 cup bulgur
1 cup water
1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted, or hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup packed cilantro sprigs
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Salt and pepper

Bread crumbs

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon grated Meyer lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon fresh Meyer lemon juice

4 slices multi-grain bread, toasted

PREPARATION: Cook half of onion with 1/4 teaspoon salt in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add bulgur and water and cook, covered, over low heat until water is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in beans and soy sauce.

Pulse bulgur and bean mixture, walnuts, garlic, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining onion in a food processor until finely chopped.

Form rounded 1/2 cups of mixture into four (3-1/2-inch-diameter) patties.
Chill at least 10 minutes. While patties chill, stir together mayonnaise, zest, and juice.

Cakes can be cooked on the stove. Dredge the bean cakes in bread crumbs to form a nice crust when frying. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook cakes, carefully turning once, until golden brown, about 8 minutes total.

Serve bean cakes open-faced on toast with Meyer lemon mayonnaise and some baby greens or lettuce.

Uncooked cakes can be chilled, covered, up to 4 hours.

 

Listen to Bill talk about his recipe:

 

 

Makes 12-16 crepes by Kimberley Fetzer

 

Crepes:
1/2 cup dried Hutterite beans from Tierra Vegetables (or other white, creamy textured bean)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
generous pinch of salt

 

Prepare the batter:
1) Soak beans overnight in double the volume of water or use the “speed” method: bring beans and double the volume of water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover and remove from heat and let sit till the bean skins are plumped.
2) Add a pinch of salt and cook beans over medium heat till very tender. Add more water as needed to keep from burning.
3) Mash beans with back of wooden spoon to make a coarse paste.
4) Transfer bean paste to bowl of food processor or quart container.
5) Add flour, eggs, oil and salt to bean paste.
6) Pulse or use a hand blender to mix batter until smooth, thin with water as needed.

 

Make the crepes:
1) Heat Teflon-coated omelet pan or well-seasoned crepe pan, spray lightly with vegetable oil.
2) Pour enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan, swirling quickly.
3) Allow to cook 1-3 minutes until edges dry and crepe is light golden on the bottom.
4) Using a silicon spatula, loosen the edge of the crepe and flip quickly.
5) Cook 1 minute more and place on plate.
6) Prepare the rest of the crepes, stacking on top of the other crepes, wrap with plastic and keep warm until ready to serve.

 

Filling:
2 red or yellow potatoes, boiled in water for 10-12 minutes, diced into 3/4 inch cubes
8 ounces chorizo, casing removed
1 small onion, diced
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 roasted and peeled mild chile pepper (poblano or green bell), cut into 1 inch strips

 

1) In large skillet, heat oil and fry chorizo for about 10 minutes, breaking up chunks.
2) Remove chorizo from pan, keeping fat in pan. If necessary, drain off excess fat not needed to coat bottom of pan.
3) Add onion and diced potatoes and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, scraping pan to keep potatoes from sticking.
4) Add pepper strips and chorizo, allowing to heat through for several minutes.
5) Season with salt to taste.

 

Assembling and serving crepes:
1) Take a crepe and put a 2-3 Tbsp of filling one side.
2) Fold over top
3) Serve 2-3 crepes per person garnished with queso fresco or crumbled goat cheese, salsa or fresh diced tomatoes and cilantro sprigs.

 

Listen to Kimberley talk about her recipe:

 

 

Serves 10-12 as a side dish; is an excellent item for buffet

For the beans
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 pound dried canellini beans
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” chunks
8 cups water
Herbs: choose among the following, depending on what you have – you can use some or all
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs marjoram
2 sprigs oregano
2 sprigs parsley
Salt to taste (I would start with 2 ½ tsp)
Freshly ground pepper to taste (I would start with ½ tsp)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Heat 3 T olive oil in heavy bottomed kettle
Add garlic and slowly sauté until softened
Add water, beans, potatoes and herbs and bring to boil
Reduce to simmer and cook, slightly uncovered until beans have softened and are falling apart (generally 2 ½ to 3 hours)
Remove bay leaf and/or stems from herb sprigs
Add salt, pepper, 1/3 cup olive oil and puree until fairly smooth – a few chunks do not matter (use hand blender in kettle if you have one; otherwise transfer to Cuisinart in batches)

For the radicchio
5 T extra virgin olive oil
4 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced or 1 medium sweet onion, sliced
2 pounds radicchio (either radicchio di chioggia or radicchio di Treviso
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar

Heat 2 T olive oil in small sauté pan over medium high heat until shimmering
Add shallots (or onion) and sauté, stirring frequently, until softened
Set shallots (or onions) aside

Cut radicchio into large shreds, taking care to cut the “core” into finer pieces
Heat 3 T olive oil in heavy bottomed sauté pan or large skillet over high heat until shimmering
Add radicchio and sauté, stirring constantly so that radicchio does not burn, but instead “roasts” and develops a brown glaze (6-8 minutes)
Add salt and pepper to taste
When cool, add balsamic vinegar and shallots (or onions) and mix

Place puree in large shallow bowl or deeply edged platter and spread over bottom
Distribute radicchio over top
May be served either warm or at room temperature

Recipe from:

Tom Jones

 

Listen to Tom talk about his recipe:

 

 

 

Servings: 25 appetizer size eggrolls

Recipe by Sherry Soleski

 

2 cups uncooked black beans

6 cups water (add more as needed)

1 onion minced

4 tblsp chopped garlic

1 tblsp cumin

1 tblsp chile powder

1/4 bunch chopped cilantro (stems and leaves)

1 jalapeno, minced (with seeds)

1/2 bottle Mexican beer (drink the other half)

 

2 tsp kosher salt (to taste)

 

1/2 bunch chopped cilantro (stems and leaves)

3/4 lb chevre cheese, broken into chunks

 

2 pkg. New Hong Kong Noodle Eggroll Wrappers (from G&G Market)

Rice bran (or your favorite oil) for frying

salt

 

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cups of your favorite salsa

 

Cook black beans with water, onion, garlic, cumin, chile powder, cilantro, jalapeno and beer til soft. Add salt and cook 10 minutes more. Drain beans (not completely dry) leaving a little juice for creaminess and cool. Add cilantro and chevre, toss gently to not break up the cheese chunks, reseason as necessary. Chill til ready to use, can be made 1 day ahead.

 

Put about 4 tblsp filling along the bottom of an eggroll wrapper and moisten the edges of the eggroll wrapper with water. Start rolling from the bottom, then fold in each end and finish rolling it up (like rolling a skinny burrito). Place on dry cookie sheet not touching other eggrolls, keeping the outside as dry as possible. Continue rolling until you have used all the filling, reserve any leftover wrappers for another use. Do not roll ahead, as the wrappers will get moist from the filling.

 

Heat oil and fry eggrolls til crispy and brown. Place on paper towels and immediately sprinkle with salt.

 

Cut in half on the diagonal and serve with a bowl of sour cream and a bowl of your favorite salsa for dipping.

 

Listen to Sherry talk about her recipe: