Second Breakfast

A friend visited us for dinner the other night, and we served this dish, whose provenance is somewhat unknown to us — Alan e-mailed me the recipe, but we don’t know where it came from now. I’ve made some adjustments based on my own preferences and have rationalized the amounts from the original. While the ingredient list looks lengthy, its mostly things that a typical kitchen would likely have on hand.
The point of this dish is the contrast of the sweetness of the potato with the savoryness of the beans. When assembling each tortilla, be sure to keep the potato and beans separate so that when eating one can get a bit of potato or bean, or a little of both (versus having everything just mixed together).

Items

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
• 2 Tb butter and a little bit of milk
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 2Tb olive oil
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1Tb cumin (I toast my own from seeds and grind them in a pestle, but I’m fussy)
• 1Tb coriander
• 2Tb soy sauce
• 1Tb prepared mustard
• 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
• Few grinds of black pepper
• 6 large flour tortillas
• 2 15oz cans mild enchilada sauce (preferably w/o MSG, check the label)
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped cilantro

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425F.
2. Boil the potato chunks in salted water until tender. Drain, and mash with milk and butter like you would do with regular mashed potatoes. Set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat, and sautée the onion until tender, 8 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the black beans, and mash a bit (use the potato masher). Add the water, and cook the beans down a bit, stirring as needed to avoid burning or sticking.
5. Remove from the heat, and add the cumin, coriander, cayenne, soy sauce, black pepper, and mustard. Stir to combine.
6. Pour one can of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 13″x9″ baking dish.
7. Take 1/6 of the potato mixture and place it in a line in a tortilla. Place 1/6 of the bean mixture alongside it. Fold in the ends slightly and roll up like a burrito. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
8. Top with the other can of enchilada sauce so all of the tortillas are wet with sauce, and top with cheese.
9. Bake 15 minutes until heated through. Broil briefly at the end if you like your cheese crispy on top.
10. Top with the scallions and cilantro and serve alongside some Spanish-style rice and a green salad.

Serves 4-6.

These are the final three books in Clemens’ “Banned and Banished” series, and as a whole present a fairly satisfying work of modern epic fantasy fiction.  As I found previously, there’s nothing in Clemens’ fantasy that is wholly original or new, but he takes the familiar tropes of good vs. evil, the uses and perils of power, self-sacrifice, redemption, and courage and works them into a tale that is both nicely-plotted and peopled with compelling characters.

The main thrust of the remainder of the plot arc is encountering and defeating the minions of the “Dark Lord”, and preparing for the ultimate final conflict that has been brewing since the beginning of the series.  In the last two books Clemens introduces a new character who prompts the unlikely fellowship of heroes to ask “so just who is this Dark Lord guy anyways, and why is he being such a dick to everyone?”.  Not a bad question, and one that is often ignored in these good-v-evil stories.

I’d say here is where Clemens’ writing does fall down a bit.  The answer that he ultimately gives for this particular bad guy in the final book just doesn’t quite account for the rather nasty behaviour of the bad guy and his lieutenants in the previous four books.  A lot of people die in bad ways because this guy has a grudge that isn’t explained terribly well. Perhaps that’s just like real life, but Clemens is obviously trying to provide a context for the action of the story as a whole, and it just didn’t add up for me.

Authors often have a terrible time with endings, particularly with long series fiction.  I think they get too attached to the story and the characters, and just don’t quite know how to let the thing go.  I wouldn’t say the ending to the series is terrible — but maybe a little unsatisfying.

This was a good winter distraction with a few memorable moments.

“Pesto” (Ital: paste) traditionally refers to the sauce made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and cheese, but one can make wonderful uncooked pasta sauces out of just about anything.  One of my favorite pestos is made from walnuts and a host of other fats, some good for you, some less so (although you can feel good about the amount of good, HDL-promoting fats and omega-3 fatty acids).  Despite the amount of lipids, this dish has a light yet savory flavor, which pairs well with dry white wines, and meats like sweet sausage, poultry, or fish.
This recipe makes enough sauce for two pounds of pasta — the leftover sauce freezes nicely.

Items

• 7oz (ca. 1 1/3 cups) shelled walnut pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 Tb butter
• 1/2 cup (approx.) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup parmaggiano reggiano, pecorino romano, or similar hard sharp cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb fusilli, gemelli, or similarly shaped pasta

Method

1. Put the pasta water on to boil.
2. In a food processor, chop the walnuts and the garlic until finely ground.
3. Add the butter and cream and combine.
4. Add the olive oil slowly while the processor is running until the sauce has a smooth, creamy texture.
5. Add the cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
6. Cook the pasta in salted water according to package directions.  When done, drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
7. Toss half of the sauce to the pasta along with the reserved pasta water.

Serves 4-6.  Yum!