Kenyan Kidney Bean Stew: Maharagwe

Some people make this as a soup (more liquid), while others limit the liquid content somewhat and make this as a stew. It is often served with "ugali," a very thick kind of porridge of white cornmeal and water (it seems a few add some salt, and even fewer add butter or oil). I use a 2 to 1 ration of water to cornmeal, but I've seen recipes that use 2 1/2 or 3 to 1 ratio, but on the other hand, I've also seen a couple of recipes with a slightly less than 2 to 1 ratio. The cornmeal and water is cooked and stirred until the mixture is no longer fluid and essentially you can stand a spoon up in it (it requires LOTS of stirring). In this way it is very much like some recipes for Italian polenta or American cornmeal mush used for frying, and both of these are also made from cornmeal, although often yellow cornmeal. There are many names for this basic cornmeal dish across Africa, with "fufu," "nsima," "nshima" and "pap" being just a few of the names.  

Ingredients (5 to 6 servings):

 

2/3 cup chopped white onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil + 3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 medium jalapeno or serrano chili pepper, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces) with juice

2 cans (15 ounces each) kidney beans, drained

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 can coconut milk (14 to 15 ounces)

1/2 to 1 cup water

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also called coriander by some)

 

In a heavy bottom pan or pot, add the oil over medium heat, and when it's hot, add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic and ginger and saute another minute. Now add the 3 tablespoons of water followed by the chopped red bell pepper and the chopped jalapeno or serrano chili pepper. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and add the dry spices (ground coriander, ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground cardamom, ground black pepper), stirring to mix, then add the diced tomatoes with juice. Put the pan back onto the heat and let cook until the vegetables are all softened, stirring often. Add the drained kidney beans, honey and salt; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water, and stir to mix. Let the stew come to a simmer (adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer, not a full boil). Simmer the stew for 6 to 7 minutes, and add the other 1/2 cup of water if the stew is too thick (if you want more of a soup, add the amount of water to make the consistency you want), return to a simmer and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro (coriander) and stir. Serve hot.     

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Anvil-This is a compound word, with the second part of the word related to "felt," the noun for a type of fabric, which is from the Germanic roots of English, to "filter," a word with a Germanic base that was borrowed and expanded by Latin and then borrowed by English from Latin, with Latin-based French reinforcement, to the main body of "appeal," a Latin derived word borrowed by English via French, and to the second part of "compel, also Latin-derived and borrowed by English via French. The first part of "anvil" goes back to Indo European "an/(h)an/(h)aen," meaning "on, onto, above." This gave Old Germanic "ana," meaning "on, onto, upon." The second part of "anvil" goes back to the Indo European root "pel" (there were several forms of "pel," with varied meanings), with the idea of "beat, hit, beat down;" thus also, "compress." This gave Old Germanic "filtan/feltan," meaning "to beat, to hit, to strike," and gave the West Germanic compound form "anafalt(a)/anafilt(a)," meaning "a place to beat metal into various forms." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "anfilt(e)/anfealt," with the same meaning, and this then became "anfilt/anvelt," before the modern form "anvil." Forms in the other Germanic languages: German had "Anafalz," and Low German had "anfilts, and Dutch had "anavilt" (also "anevilt?"). NOTE: Modern German has "Amboss," Low German has "Ambolt/Ambeld," Dutch has "aambeeld," West Frisian has "ambyld" (also "aambyld"), Danish has "ambolt." These all came from other forms of "anvil," with these forms going back to the Old Germanic ancestor of "bolt." (The German form "Amboss" is spelled with double s because of a sound shift in the high Germanic dialects long ago that made many 't' sounds into 's' or 'ss;' for example: English "water," but German "Wasser," English "kettle," but German "Kessel," English "vat," but German "Fass.")      

Cape Verde Islands Bean & Hominy Stew: Cachupa

Cape Verde is a country made up of several islands (an archipelago) in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 350 miles off the western coast of Africa. Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese, and the name is "Cabo Verde" in Portuguese. The Portuguese were great explorers and Cape Verde was discovered by the Portuguese in the mid 1400s, and it became a colony of Portugal in the late 1400s, and Cape Verde gained its independence in 1975. The population is nearly a half million, with people of Portuguese ancestry being common, but with some of other European ancestry too, as well as people of Middle Eastern and Sub-Sahara African background. The capital is Praia, and it is located on the island of Santiago, the largest island of the archipelago.

 

"Cachupa" is the national dish of Cape Verde, and as with popular dishes, there are variations, with even a vegetarian style prepared. Most of the variations have to do with the types of meat used, as well as the mix of beans used; and yes, the dish typically includes more than one type of bean. Cape Verdeans generally use dried hominy and dried beans, so the preparation time is naturally longer, but I use canned hominy and canned beans, everything rinsed, to shorten the overall time needed to enjoy this stew, and it is a good one! 

 

Chouriço is traditionally a smoked Portuguese sausage, typically flavored with garlic, red wine and some smoked paprika. While it is akin to Spanish chorizo, it is not really the same, as the Spanish sausage is typically not smoked, but rather it is cured by drying over a period of time and it has more paprika as a seasoning. Neither of these sausages is the same as Mexican chorizo, as the Mexican version is generally fresh and needs to be thoroughly cooked. The Mexican version is the most common chorizo in the U.S. and "likely" also in Canada, although Spanish chorizo can be found in the U.S., but it "may" take a bit of effort. I'm in Cleveland, and the Greater Cleveland area is quite diverse, with people from all over the world. A few years ago, I wanted to do a Spanish recipe* that needs Spanish chorizo, so I went to our West Side Market, but no vendor there had Spanish chorizo, and not only that, one or two of the vendors weren't quite sure what I meant by "Spanish" chorizo, so strong is the influence of Mexican chorizo. If you like trying to find ethnic foods, see if your community has Portuguese chouriço or Spanish chorizo, but if not, you can easily find either online, or you can use some pepperoni, although it won't be the same. "Blood sausage" is commonly called "blood pudding" in Britain, and in Portuguese it is "morcela." Blood sausage is "generally" sold in delis, and again, if you live in an area with a number of people of Portuguese heritage, you'll likely find "morcela," but it can also be found online, and you can substitute other blood sausage, like Spanish (morcilla) or British (blood pudding).           

 

This stew is commonly served with piri piri sauce on the side. Piri piri is Portuguese hot sauce, and it is my understanding that people in Cape Verde do not add the pepper sauce to the dish itself, but rather piri piri is put on the table for each person to season their stew to their own heat level preference.  

 

Ingredients (6 to 8 servings):

 

1 1/2 pounds pork ribs

1 pound chouriço, sliced into about 2/3 to 1 inch pieces

2/3 to 1 pound blood sausage, sliced about 2/3 to 1 inch thick

8 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 slices bacon, chopped 

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups chopped onion 

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced

1 cup chopped yam

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or just white vinegar)

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

1 tablespoon tomato paste (or thick ketchup) 

1 can (14.5 to 16 ounces) yellow hominy, rinsed

1 can (14.5 to 16 ounces) butter beans, rinsed

1 can (14.5 to 16 ounces) red kidney beans, rinsed

3 cups chopped kale 

In a pot, add the pork ribs and 8 cups of water, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook until the ribs are tender, remove them to a plate and let them cool down, and then take the meat off the bones. Skim off the foam from the cooking water, then strain the water into another pan or other container (just in case there are any bone or gristle bits), then add it back to the pot. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the bacon, followed about 2 minutes later by the onions, followed about 2 minutes later by the garlic. Saute for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften, then add the contents to the pot (oil, bacon grease and all), along with the the chouriço, blood sausage, chopped yams, bay leaves, vinegar, ground white pepper, smoked paprika, tomato paste/ketchup, rinsed hominy, rinsed butter beans and rinsed kidney beans. Bring to a light boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a steady gentle simmer. Use a lid or foil and cover and cook for 45 minutes to one hour, periodically checking the pot and stirring. Remove the lid/cover and add the chopped kale and stir it into the stew. Cook uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes. Stir well before serving in shallow bowls with some crusty bread and hot sauce on the side. 

* The dish was "Spanish Butter Bean & Chorizo Stew," known in Spanish as "Fabada Asturiana." Here is the link to the recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/04/spanish-butter-bean-chorizo-stew-fabada.html 

 

WORD HISTORY:     

Yam-This word technically is used incorrectly in English as another name for a sweet potato, a vegetable to which scientists say true yams are not related. I'll skip the technicalities, since "yam" IS used in English for a sweet potato, but the word's origin lies in West Africa from one of the Niger-Congo languages of that region,^ perhaps Fulani, which has "nyami," a word that actually means "to eat," but true yams are a main source of food in some cultures in Africa; thus, a form of the word is applied to "yams." Both the Spanish and Portuguese were involved in the slave trade in West Africa during the 1500/1600s where they borrowed a form of the word; Spanish has "ñame" (pronounced like "nyahmay") and Portuguese has "inhame" (seemingly pronounced both "in-yah-mi" or "in-yah-meh"). "Perhaps" English picked up the word in Jamaica, once a Spanish possession with numerous West African slaves, but taken over by England in the mid 1600s.    
 
^ The Niger-Congo family of languages includes many African languages and dialects, including Zulu, Swahili and Fulani. Niger-Congo is to these languages what Indo European is to English, German, Italian, Hindustani or Persian (and many others).

Macedonian Baked Beans: Tavče Gravče

I'd like to say my Macedonian is a little rusty, but I don't speak Macedonian, so that kind of shoots that in the rear end. Macedonian is a Slavic language of the South Slavic branch, and its closest relative is Bulgarian, with Serbo-Croatian also being closely related. Anyway, "Tavče Gravče" seems to be pronounced as if, "tav-cheh grav-cheh/tav-chay grav-chay." A "tava" is a type of skillet, and "grav" means "beans." The history of Macedonia is complicated, and it is probably best to say that Macedonia is more of an overall region in the Balkans, with sections forming parts of Greece, Bulgaria and the independent country of North Macedonia.* There is contentiousness about the name "North Macedonia" among people living there, and that name, actually the "Republic of North Macedonia," only became official in early 2019. Previously, the area had been part of Yugoslavia, as "Macedonia," until that country's breakup in 1991. Yugoslavia had been formed in the aftermath of World War One. North Macedonia has a population of about 2.1 million and its capital city is Skopje.   

 

Considered by many to be the national dish of North Macedonia, this bean dish is often meatless, but certainly not always, as some use pork chops or pork ribs to prepare it, and some also use lamb. Serve as a main dish with feta topped salad and crusty rustic bread or rolls. In Serbia the dish is called “prebranac.” I must have read 25 recipes for this dish, and with the exception of some using meat, they were all pretty close in the ingredients, except for the natural "this one used more of this, and that one used more of that." I've made this dish a couple of times, and the first time I did what most of the recipes I'd read had called for, and that was the use of a good deal of the seasoned water when preparing the actual dish, but I found it to be TOO MUCH WATER, and it made the beans "soupy," so I cooked the dish a little longer without the lid, which helped cook off some of the liquid. The next time I made the dish, I cut down on the water, and I liked that result. So the only "difficult" thing about this dish is getting the right amount of water, so that the beans are neither too dry, nor too soupy. It's best to add too little water at first, as you can always add more water to the beans while they cook if they are getting too dry. 

 

Ingredients (multiple servings):

 

To cook the beans:

1 pound dried white cannellini beans or 3 cups canned (rinsed)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large onion, peeled and quartered

2 to 3 whole dried or fresh hot chilies, if using fresh, cut a slit in the chilies

10 black peppercorns/slightly crushed to release their flavor**

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the dish:

2 cups chopped white onion (if you only have red onion, use it!)

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces

1 green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil  (for the dish)

1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil for the skillet or baking dish

3 tablespoons sweet paprika 

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons crushed dried mint leaves

2 teaspoons salt

tomato slices, for the top of the dish

1/2 of a red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch x 1 inch strips, for top of the dish

 

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda stirred in. The next day drain the beans and add fresh water in a cooking pot and put over high heat. Add the quartered onion, whole dried chilies and 2 tablespoons oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a good steady simmer, not so much of a rolling boil. Stir occasionally and skim off the foam that forms on the surface. Cook until the beans are almost tender (not too soft, as they are going to cook more). Drain the beans, remove the big pieces of onion (if you don't get it all, don't worry about it), but reserve the liquid, then stir the salt into the beans  For the dish: add the 1/2 cup oil to a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and saute for a few minutes, until it begins to lightly brown. Add the garlic and saute a further 2 minutes, lightly stirring. Add the red bell peppers (cut into bite size pieces) and the green bell pepper, also cut into bite size pieces. Cook until the peppers begin to soften (everything will cook further shortly). Sprinkle the sweet paprika over the onion/garlic/peppers mixture and stir well to coat everything. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons oil to the bottom of the baking dish (or pan) you are using. Add one third of the beans to the dish, then add half of the onion/pepper mixture to the top of those beans (spread it out as evenly as possible). Now add another one third of the beans on top of that and then add the remaining onion/pepper mixture to the top of that. Add the remaining one third of the beans, the bay leaves and the dried mint leaves and carefully pour enough of the reserved cooking liquid into the dish to come even with the beans (the second time I made this dish, I used 1 3/4 cups, but you can always add more if the beans are getting too dry during cooking). Top the beans with the remaining 1/2 uncooked red bell pepper, cut into strips, and a few tomato slices (see photos, below). Cover with foil or a lid and bake at 250 F for 3 to 4 hours, then remove the cover/lid and increase the heat to 400 F for 20 to 30 minutes to give the top a bit of a crust. Serve with crusty bread or rolls and a salad, if you'd like, or serve as a side dish for a more elaborate dinner. "IF" you have some fresh mint, you can also sprinkle some chopped fresh mint to the top of the dish.

 

* North Macedonia came from the former Yugoslavia, and a large majority of the population is of Christian religious background, especially Eastern Orthodox, but there is a substantial Muslim population too, a result of the Turkish involvement in the Balkans for centuries. 

 

** I usually put them onto a napkin, fold it over, and then run over them with a rolling pin or give them a couple of light whacks with my kitchen mallet. YEOW! Make sure you keep your fingers out of the way!

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Sodium (Soda)-"Sodium" was coined in 1807/08 by Humphry (not a misspelling) Davy, an English chemist from Cornwall, which is the southwestern tip of England.^  "Sodium" was based upon the existing word "soda," a word with a shaky history. One theory is that it goes back to transliterated Arabic "suda," meaning "splitting headache," which was used as a base for the Latin noun "sodanum," meaning "headache remedy," but it also was used as a another name for "glasswort," a plant the ashes of which produced soda ash, which then were used to help make glass, but it was also used for headache medication. The word seems to have been shortened to "soda" in Latin, or perhaps first in Italian (and then picked up by Latin), and English borrowed the word circa 1500 (some sources say mid 1500s).   

 

^ Cornwall's basic population of more than a half million is of Celtic heritage. Likewise, the Cornish language is Celtic. In modern times, fluent Cornish speakers are extremely rare, as English is now spoken as the first language in Cornwall, although, from what I understand, some people in Cornwall know a few words or phrases in Cornish. When the Germanic tribes, generally known as the Anglo-Saxons, invaded Briton, these Germanic elements did not pursue the Celtic population with any major forces into Cornwall nor Wales; thus, these areas remain Celtic in basic heritage. 

Italian White Beans, Tomatoes & Herbs

Italians have lots of easy but flavorful dishes with common ingredients like beans and tomatoes. Here you make you own tomato sauce for the beans... that's it! Get the best Roma tomatoes you can find, because they are key to this dish.

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1 can (14.5 to 16 ounce) cannellini beans, drained

4 ripe Roma tomatoes, halved or quartered (any thick stem part cut out)

+ 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves garlic

4 basil leaves

1 tablespoon rosemary

4 sage leaves

1 red chili pepper, chopped (seeded, if you prefer)

1/4 teaspoon sugar (a little more if sauce if too tart) 

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano + more for serving

 

To a blender/food processor add 4 Roma tomatoes, garlic, basil leaves, rosemary, sage leaves, red chili pepper, sugar, salt and 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Blend until a smooth sauce. Heat the sauce over low heat for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomato (this adds some chunky texture to the sauce), and cook until it cooks down to the desired thickness. Stir in the beans and when they have heated, mix in 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano. Serve with more Pecorino Romano on top and crusty bread on the side.

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Grease-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown. "Grease" is related to "crass," a Latin-derived adjective borrowed by English via French. "Grease" goes back to the Latin adjective "crassus," which meant "fat, thick, dense, solid." This produced the noun "crassia," meaning "fat, animal fat in melted or less than solid form." "Crassia" seems to have later become "grassia" in Latin, as Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese all have forms spelled with a "g," although Old French may have first had "craisse," then "gresse," which became "grece" in the Anglo-Norman French spoken in England, and this was borrowed by English circa 1300, most commonly as "grese." The verb form developed from the noun in about 1400 and meant "to smear with fat (grease);" thus, "to lubricate." (Note: I'm not sure about the verb's pronunciation in the U.K., but in the U.S. both "greese," like Greece, the country, and "greez," rhymes with "cheese," are heard.)      

Baked Bean Curry

A few years ago, a stand opened at Cleveland's West Side Market featuring English food products. It was called "English Treats," and one of their main products was Heinz canned baked beans in a variety of "flavors," one of those being "curry." I tried a can of these curry baked beans, and I liked them, but I just really assumed it was a "flavor" of beans developed from the British close association with the Indian subcontinent dating back to British Colonial India, but later I learned the beans are actually Indian. I don't often mention brand names, but in England and other parts of the British Isles, "Heinz" canned baked beans are VERY popular. One of the ladies who worked at the food stand told me this, and she is from England. "It is my understanding" that similar is true in India, where, I believe, the Heinz baked beans are vegetarian. In the U.S., this brand of baked beans is marketed by Heinz as "Vegetarian Baked Beans" (you've got to admit, it's a catchy name that undoubtedly took someone at least 3 or 4 seconds to come up with). Anyway, if you like baked beans with meat, typically bacon, do it! And if your last name's Pruitt, "do it, Pruitt!" I use the vegetarian beans, but if you use the beans with meat, just don't tell me, I won't sleep for a week; other than that, it won't bother me. Understand too, use whatever brand name canned baked beans you prefer, and there are many good ones to choose from, and I only mentioned the Heinz brand, because that's how this all started. (Okay Randy, we get the point! Now YOU get TO the point! Geez!)

    

Baked beans come in various size cans, but use one that is between 14.5 to 16 ounces (415g to 450g). Use ground red pepper to suit your taste, but heat lovers will want a full tablespoon of red pepper, and Indians generally use that amount. This bean curry is often eaten on toast or with Indian breads like naan or chapati.

 

Ingredients: (about 4 servings)

 

1 can baked beans (14 1/2 to 16 ounce can)

1/3 cup chopped onion (white or red)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 or 3 green chiles (jalapeño or serrano are great), split lengthwise (or chopped)

2 teaspoons grated ginger

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon ground red pepper (cayenne or other type)

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped

 

 

Heat oil over medium heat in a skillet or a sauce pan. Add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes, then add the chilies and saute until the onions soften, stirring frequently to prevent sticking or burning. Add the ginger, garlic, ground coriander, ground cumin and ground red pepper, mix well and saute for about 1 minute. Add chopped tomato and cook until the tomato is mushy (use a fork or spatula to press down on the tomato pieces). Add the beans and salt, mix well and cook for 5 more minutes (still medium heat). Stir in chopped coriander.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Stint-This word is closely related to the verb "stunt," and it is somewhat more distantly related to "stutter," both words from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "(s)teu," and its extended form "steud/steut," which had the notion "beat, hit, pound, knock." This gave Old Germanic "stuntijanan," which meant "to make shorter, to make blunt." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "styntan," which meant, "to make blunt;" thus also, "to make dull;" thus also figuratively, "to dull the mind." Over the centuries the verb extended beyond "making dull" to "stopping (something)," then "limiting (something)," likely from the idea of "shortening," a meaning likely either added to or reinforced in Old English by Old Norse influence.^ The noun came about circa 1600 with the meaning, "a job limited in duties and/or time," which then broadened to mean things beyond work, as in, "Mary had a stint at home when her company closed for three weeks," or, "Joey's parents ordered him do a 3 hour stint studying, after he failed his arithmetic exam." (But he only studied 2 hours. Hey, I told you he failed his arithmetic exam. hahaha). Relatives in the other Germanic languages are tough to untangle from the verb "stunt" (to hinder growth), but German has the noun "Stint," meaning "smelt" (the fish that looks like a small salmon or trout, which is perhaps the reason for the name?).

 

^ Old Norse was another Germanic language, but from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages. Its most prominent descendants are Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. Old Norse speakers settled in parts of northern and eastern England about 1000 years ago, which added Norse words, meanings or grammatical influences to English. The direct "to shorten" meaning has not been found in Old English, although the "to make blunt" meaning common in the English of those times implies "shortening." Old Norse had "stytta," a relative of the English word and meaning, "to shorten, to reduce," and that's why it's main meaning may have influenced the English word. 

Corsican Vegetable Soup: Minestra

Corsica is an island located some 100+ miles southeast of the French coast (at its nearest point), about 60 miles west of the northwestern Italian coast, called "Liguria," and about 7 or so miles north of the Italian island of Sardinia. It was under the control of Genoa for a few hundred years (this was well before Italy was united as a modern nation) and there was a brief period of independence, followed by a takeover by France in the 1760s. The ethnic composition of the island was varied in those times, as many peoples traipsed across the island at one time or another, but "likely" the population was more tilted to Italian than any other one group, and Italian and a Corsican dialect/language (closely related to Italian) prevailed as the languages on the island until French was strongly pushed after the takeover by France, whereupon French became the dominant language during the mid 1800s, as it remains to this day. Napoleon Bonaparte was born to Italian parents in Ajaccio, Corsica in 1769, and his birth name, "Napoleone di Buonaparte," reflects his Italian heritage. Since France took control of Cosica in the 1760s, there has only been relatively weak interest by some Italians on the mainland, as well as by some highly vocal Italo-Corsicans, to reestablish Italian control over Corsica. This intensified during the fascist era of, "don't you want to go back to the Roman Empire; nothing like the past," but except for a brief period of less than one year of Italian military occupation, reinforced by some German military units, Corsica's control by France has remained intact, although with much debate about Corsican autonomy within France.      
This recipe is a version of Italian vegetable soup, called minestrone, but the Corsican version is made with smoked pork, like ham hocks, smoked pork shoulder or even bacon, and this imparts a smoky taste to the soup. Don't be intimidated by the rather lengthy list of ingredients, because many are vegetables, and I've never found any one vegetable added to the soup that makes it "Corsican." Both the Corsicans for minestra and the Italians for minestrone use the vegetables that are freshly available by season, so there really isn't a set recipe. Corsicans sometimes use Swiss chard, but cabbage is also common, and leek is another common ingredient, but if you don't use leeks much, you can leave them out, Napoleon won't get you, he's been dead for quite some time.   

Ingredients (8 to 12 servings, depending upon serving size):

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups canned cannellini beans or about 2/3 cup dried cannellini beans soaked in water overnight
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, sliced into about 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 medium head of cabbage, cut into fairly large pieces, about 2 inch pieces (no thick stems)
2 small to medium smoked ham hocks
8 cups chicken broth (you may want to even add more later)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 baseball size tomato, chopped
1 cup green beans cut in 1 inch pieces
1 zucchini (washed and skin on), chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped smoked pork shoulder (I chop the pork into about 1/2 inch pieces)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary
2/3 cup macaroni
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional, remember, the broth and smoked pork likely have salt)
1 teaspoon black pepper
extra virgin olive oil for serving 

In a pot over medium heat, add the oil and let it heat up briefly, then add the onion and garlic, saute for a couple of minutes. If using dried beans, add them now along with the carrots, potatoes, celery, cabbage, ham hocks, chicken broth and oregano. (NOTE: I check the ham hocks to make sure no pieces of bone are loose and therefore likely to fall off into the soup. I've actually wrapped ham hocks in cheesecloth to prevent bits of bone from getting into the soup also.) Bring the soup to a simmer and keep the heat at that level to maintain a gentle simmer for about 75 minutes. (Note: if you use dried beans, they naturally will soak up lots of liquid, so you'll likely need to add more broth, or just water.) Now add the zucchini and tomato and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the chopped smoked pork shoulder, thyme, rosemary, macaroni, black pepper, salt (if using), and if using canned beans, add them now (check the liquid level too and add more, if needed; to me, broth is better than plain water). Simmer the soup for about another 20 minutes, or until the macaroni is just tender. Take the soup from the heat, take the ham hocks from the soup, cut off the skin and remove the meat from the bones, and return the meat to the soup. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top of each serving.

WORD HISTORY:
Vend (Vendor)-This contracted compound is closely related to "venal," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English through Latin-based French. The very abbreviated ending is related to "donate," another Latin-derived word borrowed by English through French. "Vend" goes back to Indo European "wes," which had the meaning, "to buy, to sell." This gave Latin the noun "venum," meaning, "something for sale." The ending goes back to Indo European "do" (long 'o'), which meant, "to give;" thus also, "to present, to offer." This gave Latin "dare," meaning, "to give." Together Latin had "venumdare," meaning, "to give for sale, to offer for sale." This produced the Latin verb "vendare," meaning, "to sell," but with a secondary meaning, "to offer for a bribe." Old French had "vendre" ("to sell") from the Latin, and likely English borrowed "vend" from French, but with heavy reinforcement by Latin, although it could be the other way around, circa 1600. French also had the noun "vendeor," which was "vendor" ("seller") in the waning days of the French spoken in England (Anglo-French), and this was also borrowed circa 1600. French had the word from the Latin noun "venditor," "seller," but also, "one who sells for corrupt purpose."     

Albanian Bean Soup: Pasul

Albania is one of the countries of the Balkans, in southeastern Europe. When I was a kid, Albania was scarcely ever mentioned on the news, although for those younger folks nowadays who have grown up with the Internet, cable television and 24 hour access to news, it may be hard to imagine a time when news was MUCH MORE limited, and if you wanted to learn about a particular subject, like Albania, you had to actually go to the library and read information in books. hahaha!

Anyway, Albania was a communist-dominated country, run by Enver Hoxha (pronounced like, "en-vair hode-jah") from the time the Axis forces of fascism withdrew from Albania late in World War Two, until he died in the mid 1980s. As I've noted here before, when I was a kid, times were tense in Europe, as Soviet-dominated countries in eastern Europe faced off against far more democratic countries in central and western Europe, led by the three Western Allies of World War Two, the United States, Great Britain and France, all of which provided occupation forces in their respective zones of Germany in the postwar era. These forces increasingly provided a counterbalance to Soviet and Soviet satellite nations in Europe, although initially they were there to prevent the reemergence of Nazism in Germany and Austria. The one thing I remember about Hoxha's Albania was, it was not dominated by the Soviet Union, but in fact, it allied itself with China, then always referred to in the U.S. as "Red China," to distinguish it from Taiwan, which was always called "Formosa," back then, and which was recognized by many nations as "China." Are you confused yet? If not, I could go on, but I'll spare you (hahaha!), but such were the international politics of those times.

Albania was long under the dominance of the Ottoman Turks, and indeed, it wasn't until the early part of the 1900s that Albania gained its independence, which was lost to Mussolini's Italy in 1939 and regained with the defeat of fascism. The Albanians have had many influences from their neighbors and conquerors, as the former Christian nation saw a majority of its people convert to Islam a few centuries ago, and many culinary influences came from the Italians, the Greeks and the Turks.

For decades there was a popular Italian restaurant in downtown Cleveland called, "The New York Spaghetti House," founded by an Italian immigrant who had spent his first couple of years in the U.S. in New York City. When he moved to Cleveland and opened his restaurant, he named it after his first American home city. I ate there often over the years, and there was a waiter there who was from Albania! I can't remember his name now, but my curiosity about other countries, other peoples and other languages led to some conversations with him. He never wrote down customer orders, he remembered each order. There may have been some other waiters there who did the same, I just can't recall now.... so don't ask me to remember your order!   

This soup, also seemingly made by some as a thicker stew, is one of the national dishes of Albania, although it is also called "fasule" or "grosh" by some Albanians, and there are numerous variations in recipes. You can certainly use dried beans to make this dish, but I like to "cheat" and use canned beans.If you want more of a stew, thicken the mixture to the desired thickness with some flour and water.

Ingredients:

2 cans (15 to 16 ounce cans) white cannellini beans (or great northern beans), drained
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil 
2 tablespoons sweet paprika (preferably Hungarian)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (or a 14 to 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained)
1 lamb shank 
1 tablespoon mint
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
water to cover 
 
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it softens, then add the lamb shank, the tomatoes, the paprika and enough water to cover. Bring the mixture to a simmer and adjust the heat accordingly to keep the soup at a gentle simmer. Cover and cook until the lamb is tender, then add the beans, the mint, the pepper and the salt. Simmer for another 20 to 30 minutes. Adjust the seasonings to suit your taste. I take the meat off of the lamb shank bone and add it back into the soup. Serve with pieces of crusty bread and a salad.  

Pasul with a kale salad ...

WORD HISTORY: 
Yearn-This word goes back to Indo European "gher," which had the notion of, "to want, to desire, to like to have or do." This gave Old Germanic a form like "gernanan," with the same meanings, but by extension further to, "to be eager for, to have a liking for." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "giernen" (also "geornan" in some dialects), meaning, "to long for, to desire, to seek for, to be eager." The beginning sounds came to be spelled as "y," and thus produced modern "yearn." The extensive nuances in meanings have produced numerous relatives of "yearn" in the other Germanic languages, including: German "begehren" (to desire, to wish for), gieren (to crave mightily, to greedily crave), and the common adverb "gern" (gladly, readily, willingly), English once had "georn" (desirous, eager); Low German "gieren" (to ask for something; that is, something desired); Old Norse had "gjarn" (desirous).    

Honduran Tortillas: Las Baleadas Hondureñas

Honduras is a country in Central America. It has a population of more than 9 million, with Spanish as its official language, and it was conquered by Spain in the 1500s, but gained independence from Spain in 1821, and Honduras became a truly separate country in the 1830s. The nation's capital is Tegucigalpa (pretty much pronounced like, "tay-goose-see-galpa").  

There is the basic baleadas, "baleadas sencillas" (simple baleadas), but then Hondurans often add other toppings, one of the most common of which is scrambled eggs, but perhaps also avocado and fried or grilled meat. I looked at 20 to 25 recipes and all were very similar in the basic ingredients, but some made the tortillas very thin, while others made them much thicker (see photos, below). This recipe is so you can make your own fresh flour tortillas, but you can certainly just buy some flour tortillas, heat them, and then fill them. Shhh .... I didn't tell you that! Perhaps you could double the tortillas when assembling the finished product to make the thicker type?  

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup warm water
refried beans*
crema or sour cream **
crumbled queso fresco (cotija cheese is good for this)
avocado

Mix together the flour, the salt and the baking powder; then, mix the oil into the dry ingredients. Add the warm water and mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough until it is smooth. Divide the dough and roll the pieces into golf ball size rounds. Coat the rounds very lightly with some oil, cover them and let them sit for about a half hour. Heat a griddle or skillet (a cast iron skillet is good for this) on medium heat. Form the rounds into flattened circular shapes and place on the griddle or into the skillet. Cook for "about" 45 seconds per side. Some brown spots may develop on the tortillas, and that's okay. Spread a layer of refried beans on each tortilla, then add some crema or sour cream and crumbled queso fresco, and other toppings, if you so desire.

* For my article on "refried beans," this is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/11/refried-beans-frijoles-refritos.html 

** I have not had Honduran sour cream, "mantequilla (blanco)," but just reading about it, I noticed some Hondurans who have moved to the United States say they buy sour cream, add varying amounts of heavy cream and a little salt, and they have "Honduran mantequilla." It is also my understanding that "mantequilla" generally means "butter" in Spanish, but in Honduras (perhaps elsewhere too???), it means butter, but also their style of sour cream. Mexican "crema" is available in many supermarkets in the U.S., but from what I understand, the Mexican variety is not quite like the Honduran. 

The thicker baleadas, left unfolded to show the topping

The thin, folded baleada

WORD HISTORY:
Grill-This word, coming in both noun and verb forms, is related to "griddle," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English. "Grill" "seems" to have originated from Indo European "kert," which meant, "to turn," which gave the idea of "braiding, twisting, weaving, entwining." This gave its Latin offspring the noun "cratis," meaning, "wickerwork;" that is, "products made by weaving twigs or small branches together." This then produced "craticula," meaning, "grill, grating, gridiron." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "graille," meaning, "grill, gridiron, fence railings." This then became "greil," then "gril." It was borrowed by English in the mid 1600s, by which time its main meaning was "gridiron, metal grid for cooking over a fire." The verb developed from the noun immediately thereafter. Old French "gril" later developed an alternative spelling of "grille," which meant, "grid, grating," which seemingly was used more in reference to "gates, fencing." This too was borrowed into English in the mid 1600s, with the distinction, but over time that distinction has become murky, as some restaurants use the spelling "grille" in their names; at least, in the U.S.       

Refried Beans: Frijoles Refritos

The term "refried beans" is used in English for a common Mexican cooked bean dish (see "Word History," below), although in modern times, the beans and other ingredients are most often simply cooked in water, and only sometimes are the beans cooked and then fried with other ingredients. "Refried beans" is also a dish common in other Latino cultures, including in heavily Latino influenced Texas and in all of the American Southwest, stretching to California. You can buy dried beans and then soak them for several hours, rinse them and then cook them for awhile, before proceeding with the recipe, but to be quite honest, it is far easier to buy cans of beans, rinse them and go from there. To be clear, you open the cans of beans and then rinse the beans. It took me some time to figure that out, because I bought cans of beans and I was told to "rinse them," and so I did; I rinsed the cans, but when I opened cans, the damned beans still had all that yucky liquid on them.   

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon regular olive oil
2 cans (14.5 to 16 ounce each) pinto beans, or red kidney beans, rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
good pinch of ancho chili powder
good pinch of salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Heat the oil in a pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about a minute, then add the garlic. Stir in the cumin, ancho chili powder and salt. Add 1/4 cup water and the beans, mix well. When the beans are well heated, use a masher to mash the beans. If the mixture is too thick, add more water, mixed in a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the consistency you desire. I don't mash every bean, as a few whole beans gives the mixture a nice texture.   

WORD HISTORY:
Refried-This word is partially a bad translation of Spanish "refritos," which is used in "frijoles refritos;" translated into English as "refried beans." The second part of the word is, of course, closely related to "fry," a word of Latin derivation, borrowed by English. ^ The "re-" prefix, often denoting, "to repeat, to redo, to do over again," also is used in some Latin derived words to add emphasis, rather than adding a more specific or detailed meaning; thus, in this case, it is more aptly translated as, "thoroughly (fried)," "completely (fried)," or, "well (fried)." Initially, the beans of the dish were likely always "fried," although the ancestor of "fry" once was a broader cooking term that also meant, "to roast." As time passed, even though many people no longer "fried" the beans, the term was too fixed in Mexican culture, and it remained, even when frying was not the method used to cook the beans.

^ For the history of the word "fry," and the base of the word "refried," here is the link to the article with the "Word History:"  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/12/mexican-egg-sandwich-torta.html

A Little Bit of Malta: White Beans With Garlic & Parsley

Malta is actually a group of islands (archipelago) in the Mediterranean Sea, with the island of Malta being the largest island of this nation, once a colony of Britain. The islands of Gozo and Comino are the other two main islands, but there are smaller islands that are uninhabited. The capital is Valletta, located on the island of Malta. The little island nation has a population of nearly half a million and it lies south of Italy and north of Libya. Maltese is the official language of Malta,* but English is also an official language, and Italian is also widely spoken or understood by more than half of the population. During World War Two, Malta, then a colony of Britain, became a major thorn in the side of the German and Italian forces in North Africa, as British air units and naval forces (particularly submarines) stationed in Malta posed a formidable problem for the Axis Mediterranean supply line from Italy to Libya. The islands were severely bombed by both the German and Italian air forces and a joint Italian and German plan to invade the islands was never carried out. Malta gained independence in the mid 1960s, and became a republic in the mid 1970s.**  

The name of this dish in Maltese is, "Fażola bajda bit-tewm u t-tursin." It is great as an appetizer, side dish or as part of a light lunch. 

Ingredients:

2 cans large white beans (butter beans or cannellini beans, 15 to 16 ounce cans), drained
3 green onions (scallions), chopped, along with some of the green
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2/3 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

For serving:
olives 
Italian or other crusty bread

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, cover it with some plastic wrap and let it sit for about 15 or 20 minutes. Serve with some olives and Italian bread on the side.  

* Maltese is a language from the Semitic languages, with relatives like Arabic and Hebrew. It is the only Semitic language using the Latin alphabet and its vocabulary has been heavily influenced by Italian, English and Sicilian. Sicilian, while perhaps thought of as an Italian dialect by many, is actually classified as a language in its own right. It is spoken on the large Italian island of Sicily and also in parts of the southern Italian mainland. In more modern times Sicilian has certainly been influenced by standard Italian, which is taught in all schools in Italy.

** Initially, the British monarch remained as the head of state, but by the mid 1970s, Malta changed its law and elected its own president to serve as head of state, although Malta still has ties to Britain as a  member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

I had my beans with some Kalamata olives and anchovy stuffed green olives, along with some Italian bread, which I had the bakery slice.

WORD HISTORY:
Extra-This is both a word forming part and a word in its own right, used as an adjective, adverb and even as a noun. Many of the uses began in English in the 1600s as an abbreviation of the word "extraordinary," a word borrowed from Latin "extraordinarius" in the first half of the 1400s, and which meant, "out of regular or usual order." "Extra," in all of its meanings, goes back to Indo European, "eghs/ekhs," which had the notion of, "out from." This gave Latin "ex," with the meanings, "out from, from the inside, out of, from or since a period of time." Its comparative was "exterus," meaning, "outside, outward." "Extra" was derived from its ablative form "extera."

Colombian Red Beans: Frijoles Rojos Colombianos

You can use dried beans and then soak them overnight, but it is much easier to use canned kidney beans, a VERY common food product in the United States, and in many other countries too. There are variations for this dish; and in fact, some people serve fried ripened plantains* on the side, rather than using plantains in the actual beans. I likely checked about 12 to 15 recipes, and all but 3 or 4 had no meat, with one of those using smoked pork, and the 2 or 3 others using chorizo (sausage).

Ingredients:

3 cans (15.5 to 16 ounces each) light red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 green plantain, peeled and chopped 
2 packets Sazón Goya with annatto **
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2/3 teaspoon salt
cubed avocado sprinkled with a little lemon juice for a garnish
green onion, chopped, garnish

Put the chopped plantain into a pan with some water over medium heat. Cook the plantain until softened. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and add the onion, bell pepper and carrot. Saute for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and saute further until the vegetables are softened. Add the tomatoes and cook just a couple of more minutes. Add the drained and rinsed beans, the cumin, the Sazón Goya with annatto, the cooked chopped plantain and the black pepper; mix together and add the chicken broth, stir well again. Increase heat to medium until it begins to simmer. Adjust heat to just maintain a simmer and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro and the salt and stir. Serve the beans in bowls, adding some pieces of chopped avocado and some chopped green onion on top, and serving some rice along side.  

* The ripened plantains, which usually have a blackened peel or a peel with black spots, are peeled, sliced and sweetened with sugar (often brown sugar) and fried in some oil.

** Sazón Goya is a Latino seasoning that is easily obtainable in the Latino section of the supermarket or any Latino market. I bought a small box of 8 packets for about $1.75. There are different types, but the one with coriander and annatto is the one you need. Annatto is a seasoning and food coloring product from the seeds of the achiote tree. It is commonly used in dishes from the Caribbean and Central and South America.

WORD HISTORY:
More (2)-English has a couple words of this spelling, but this is the noun, which was long the English word for "carrot," until replaced as the main word by that borrowed word, "carrot." It goes back to Indo European "murk/mrk," which meant, "edible root." This gave Old Germanic "murhon," ^ with the more specific meaning "carrot," but also, "parsnip." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "moru," with those same meanings. This then became "more" (likely pronounced as if, "mor-eh"/"mor-ah"). "Carrot" began to overtake it in the early 1500s. It is still used as a dialect word in parts of the UK. Low German and Dutch both had "more," but it was overtaken by "wortel," a word related to English "root" (likewise with West Frisian "woartel" ^^). German still has "Möhre," but it shares the meaning with "Karotte," also borrowed by German, and both forms are commonly used.    

^ This may have been a West Germanic survival from Old Germanic, as I could not find any forms in the North Germanic languages or in Old Norse from centuries ago, except as a borrowing.

^^ Low German and Dutch "wortel" and West Frisian "woartel" (German has "Wurzel") are related to Old English "wyrtwala," which meant "root, lower part of a plant." Old English "wyrt" itself meant, "herb plant," which were also used to flavor old forms of beer, and the term is still associated in English with beer making to this very day, as well as with certain plants like, "Saint John's Wort."

Chili

 (Added note about chili and beans: 11-29-23)

"Chili" is a type of stew, based around "chilies," that certainly shows the Mexican influence on the cooking of Texas, and a dish which spread throughout the United States. It became a staple of corner diners and roadside restaurants and its popularity led to canned versions that came to be offered in supermarkets and neighborhood grocery stores. (Note: There are lots of "purists" who say chili doesn't have beans; in fact, there is even an episode of the popular comedy "The Big Bang Theory," where Sheldon, who was from Texas and played by Jim Parsons, tells everyone about chili not having beans.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Mexican-style chorizo (bulk or removed from casings)
2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 cup chopped onion (red or yellow)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
(optional) 1 fresh jalapeño chili pepper, chopped
1 or 2 dried red chili peppers
2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dry adobo seasoning*
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Spanish paprika (smoked)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup ground tortilla chips
2 teaspoons brown sugar

In a crock-pot/slow cooker, add all of the ingredients, except the brown sugar, the ground tortilla chips and the kidney beans. Cook on high for 75 to 90 minutes, then turn setting to low or regular and cook for another 4 1/2 to 5 hours, or until the onion is tender. Add the brown sugar and the beans at the 3 1/2 hour mark, and stir. Add the ground tortilla chips at the 4 hour mark and stir well. You can serve the chili when done, OR, to be quite honest, I think this gives the chili a far better flavor, let the chili cool down, then refrigerate it until the next day. Heat the chili again, or heat individual servings and serve with crumbled Mexican cheese (I use "cotija," which is similar to "feta"), good bread or tortilla chips.

* To make your own abobo seasoning, this is the link:    http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/adobo-seasoning.html

Served with some crumbled "cotija" cheese as a topping and some bread/roll pieces on the side

WORD HISTORY:
Orchestra-This word goes back to Indo European "ergh," which had the notion of "put something into motion." This gave its transliterated Greek offspring "erkhomhai," which had the meaning "to go, to come, to move." This then produced transliterated Greek "orcheisthai," which meant "to dance," which gave Greek "orchestra," which meant, "the specific part of the stage used for singing and dancing by performers." Latin borrowed the word from Greek and English borrowed the word from Latin in the early 1600s, by which time the meaning had altered to "the part of a theater for the chorus." The meaning then altered to "area of a theater where musicians performed," and from that also came the name for "the musicians who performed."

Mexican Egg Sandwich (Torta)

This is a fried egg sandwich, or "torta," a word that in Spanish often means "cake," but also means "sandwich" in Mexico. Typically, "bolillo" are the rolls used for this sandwich. A bolillo is a type of French bread roll popularized during the heavy French influence in Mexico in the mid 1800s. The sandwich is a fixture in Mexico, but they are also common in the southwestern areas of the U.S., and other areas where people of Mexican background live. If you cannot find bolillos, you can easily substitute sausage rolls or ciabatta rolls. The "torta" can also be made with chorizo. Remember, the word "torta" is a generic word for "sandwich," and there are a variety of "torta" in Mexico, not just with egg. 

Ingredients (per sandwich):

1 fried egg, yolk intact and slightly runny, or yolk broken and mixed in with the egg white
2 tablespoons refried beans
1 or 2 tablespoons red enchilada sauce (store bought or homemade)*
1 bolillo roll, sausage roll or ciabatta roll, split, then toasted
1 or 2 jalapeño or serrano chili slices, for some "heat"
2 slices Monterey Jack cheese or manchego**
1 or 2 avocado slices
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
sliced onion, sliced tomato and extra enchilada sauce, on the side

Spread the refried beans on the bottom of the roll, top with the cheese. Add the egg and top with the chili pepper. Drizzle on the enchilada sauce. Spread the avocado on the top portion of the roll and sprinkle on the chopped cilantro. Press the sandwich together. Serve with sliced onion and tomatoes on the side. If you like enchilada sauce, as I do, put some in a dish for dipping. YES!

* This is the link for my article about enchilada sauce:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/05/red-enchilada-sauce.html  

** Manchego is a cheese made from sheep's milk in Spain. It has various classifications according to how long it is aged. Mexican manchego is based on the Spanish cheese, but it is typically made with cow's milk and then aged to a point where it is "similar to" Monterey Jack in taste and texture.  

WORD HISTORY:
Fry-This word goes back to Indo European "bher/pher," which "seems" to have had the notion of "fire, heat;" thus also, "cook or roast." This gave Latin "frigere," meaning, "to fry, to roast," two forms of cooking for which we now have separate terms. This passed to Latin-based Old French as "frire," with the meaning, "to fry." English borrowed the word as "frien" in the latter part of the 1200s. 

Venezuelan Creole Pavilion

Pabellón Criollo Venezolano is the name of this dish in Spanish, the national language of Venezuela. Venezuela was once a colony of Spain. As you will see, there are really several recipes that when done, are then put together to form an entire dinner. The main components show the racial mix in  Venezuela's racial population, with the brown/reddish brown stew, the white rice and the black beans. None of the recipes is hard to do, but the meat just takes time to cook. I checked more than 20 recipes for this dish, many by people at least claiming to be Venezuelan, and there were generally only slight variations, often about tomatoes in the stew part of the dish, with some calling for tomato paste, others calling for tomato sauce and still others using chopped tomatoes. At the other end, a recipe or two did not use ANY tomatoes, in ANY form. Also most recipes used red bell pepper, but a few used green bell pepper, so I liked the idea of using both; thus, my version. For the rice, you can certainly leave out the garlic, but many, not all, of the recipes I saw used garlic in some quantity in the rice, that's why I added it. Almost all of the recipes showed plantains, but there were a couple that did not note their use as an accompaniment. Buen provecho, my friends! 

Ingredients:

To cook the meat:
1 pound of flank steak, cut into three pieces or more, so as to fit into the pot you will use
water + 1 heaping tablespoon beef soup base (also called, "bullion," by some)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (the soup base has lots of salt)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

While Venezuelans boil/simmer the meat, I prefer to bake things in such cases. So, you can cook the meat on top of the stove, or in the oven. Cut the steak into 2 or 3 parts, so it will fit easily into a pot. Add some water to the pot and mix in the soup base. Add the meat and half of a large chopped onion, the salt and pepper, then add more water to just cover the meat. If cooking on the stove, heat to boiling over high heat, then cover and reduce heat so that the meat gently simmers. Simmer until the meat is very tender, likely 90 minutes or more. For using the oven, cover and bake at 300 F for one hour, then reduce heat to 275 F. Bake until meat is very tender (I let it bake for 2 3/4 hours, total. Let the meat cool. Use a couple of forks or just use your fingers to pull/tear the meat apart into strands.

For the stew, after the meat is cooked:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
4 tablespoons broth from the cooked flank steak
shredded steak

 Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the other half of the large chopped onion, half of the chopped red bell pepper, half of the chopped green bell pepper, saute for a couple of minutes, then add 4 cloves of chopped garlic. Saute a further couple of minutes. Add the cumin, Worcestershire sauce and mix in well. Now add the shredded steak along with the broth and tomato sauce; mix well, then over low heat, cook until the liquid is reduced, stir the meat mixture occasionally.  

For the black beans:
2  15 ounce cans black beans, partially drained (drain off half of the liquid in each can)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion, the chopped red and green pepper and saute a couple of minutes, reduce heat to low and then add the chopped garlic and saute until the onion and peppers are softened. Add the black beans and part of their liquid, the oregano and salt and pepper, stir well. Cook over low heat for about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, to prevent sticking.    
 
For the rice:
1 cup white rice
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups of water

Follow the instructions provided by the brand of rice you buy, but otherwise, generally, bring the water to a boil, then add the ingredients and stir gently, only once. Reduce the heat so that the liquid just barely simmers. Put the lid on the pan and let the rice cook 20 minutes without removing the lid. 

For the plantains:
2 ripe plantains
1 cup olive oil
salt

Peel and thinly slice the plantains. Add enough oil for an inch or 2 in a heavy duty skillet; cast iron is good for this, but not a necessity. Heat the oil, but it should not be smoking hot. Fry the chips in batches, removing them to paper towels to drain them as you go. Add salt to taste.

WORD HISTORY:
Creole-This word, distantly related to "create" and to the "crease" parts of "increase" and "decrease,"^  goes back to Proto-Indo-European "kreh/kerh (“to grow, become bigger”). This gave Latin "creare," which meant, "to make, to produce, to create." This then gave Latin "criar," which meant, "to rear or to raise or to bring up young (that is, to help them grow up)." This then produced "cria," meaning, "a person brought up in one's home, or in a particular region or area." This gave Portuguese "crioulo," which meant, "European or African person born in Brazil" (then a colony of Portugal), which differentiated the Portuguese born in Brazil from those native to Portugal. Spanish either borrowed the term from Portuguese or developed its own version from the Latin, but I'm not certain on this. The Spanish ("criollo") and Portuguese seem both to have influenced French, which had "creole," with likely reinforcement by Latin itself. With Portuguese, Spanish and French all Latin-based languages, with many similar words, it is difficult to separate out all of this. English borrowed the word in the early 1600s, from French. The meaning of the word varies from area to area, as in American English, the word came to mean "person of French ancestry in Louisiana," circa 1800, or perhaps a little before, but in British English it generally now refers to a person of African descent from (that is, born in) the West Indies, and further, it can refer to the mixed language of these people of the West Indies or of Louisiana. 

^ "Create," "increase" and "decrease" are not original English words, but rather, they were borrowed into English. 

Spanish Butter Bean & Chorizo Stew (Fabada Asturiana)

The Spanish name for this dish is "Fabada Asturiana," as it originated in the Asturias region (capital: Oviedo) of northwestern Spain, but the dish is not uncommon in other parts of Spain. I looked at so many recipes for this dish, I lost count, but 25 would be a good guess. Some used smoked pork belly or smoked pork hock or salt pork, but I chose, as I saw in some recipes, raw pork belly, but I added a small smoked pork hock, just to add a slight smoky flavor to the smokiness of the Spanish paprika. I used dried, and thus firm, Spanish chorizo,* which is also seasoned with paprika. I like to bake many dishes that others cook on the stove top, and this recipe was no exception. It would also be a good dish to fix in a crock pot. Frequently served in Spain with hard cider or red wine and good crusty bread. 

1 pound white beans (fabada beans, butter beans or cannellini/white kidney beans)
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 medium tomato, chopped 
3/4 pound raw pork belly (you can trim off some of the fat)
1/2 pound firm chorizo, cut into about 1/4 inch slices 
1/2 pound Spanish morcilla blood sausage (also called, "blood pudding"), cut into two inch pieces
1 small smoked pork hock (also called "ham hock")
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sweet paprika, preferably Spanish, or Spanish-style
2 tablespoons olive oil
a good "pinch" of saffron threads (saffron is an expensive spice derived from the crocus flower. Many supermarkets or spice shops have it. The spice is a common addition to dishes in Spain; thus, I have used it in the Word History, below)
water

You can soak the dried beans overnight, or put them into a pot, cover them with water and bring the water to a boil. Add no salt to the water. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let the beans soak in the hot water for 60 to 75 minutes. Drain. Heat the oven to 325 F. In a pot or casserole, put the beans, the onion, the garlic, the salt, the pepper, the paprika, the tomato, the olive oil and the saffron. Stir to mix the ingredients a bit. Add the bay leaf, and snuggle in the pork belly, the chorizo slices, the morcilla and the pork hock. Add enough water to almost cover everything. Cover and bake for 75 minutes. Check to see if the dish needs water added (the beans won't cook properly if they don't have water). Bake until the beans and the pork belly are tender. The paprika from the chorizo and the loose paprika, along with the saffron, will give a reddish color to the stew. You can further slice down the morcilla blood sausage before serving.  

* Americans and Canadians are much more familiar with the soft chorizo which is common in Mexico, but most Spanish chorizo is more the texture of salami or pepperoni. 

WORD HISTORY:
Saffron-The ultimate origin of this word for the expensive thread-like spice taken from the crocus flower is unknown, although an Indo European or a Semitic origin seems likely, due to the plant's history in the general area of the Middle East, where people speaking Indo European and Semitic languages interacted, sometimes peacefully, but sometimes violently. Arabic, a language from the Semitic family of languages,^ had the transliterated "zafaran," as the word for the spice. Latin borrowed the word as "safranum," and this became "safran," in Latin-based Old French. English borrowed the word in the early 1200s. Spanish has azafrán.

^  The most common modern Semitic languages are Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew and Tigrinya. Arabic and Hebrew are commonly known in much of Europe and North America, but Amharic is spoken in a large part of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also spoken in parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, another East African nation. 

Greek Style Baked Lima Beans (Gigantes Plaki)

This is a vegetarian Greek dish, often served as an appetizer. The Greek name, "Gigantes Plaki," means "giant or large beans."

Ingredients:

1 pound dried lima beans
2 onions, chopped
1/2 carrot, chopped
 2 stalks celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cups tomatoes (chopped or diced with juice)
15 grape tomatoes, halved
2/3 to 1 cup water
 
Put the dried beans into 7 cups of hot unsalted water, bring the water to a rolling boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let sit for 1 hour. Rinse the beans. Put the beans into a casserole dish or baking pan. In a pan, use some of the olive oil to saute the onion, carrot and celery, then after a few minutes, add the garlic. Saute just another couple of minutes. Keeping the pan on the heat, now add the mint, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper and the rest of the olive oil. Stir well. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes and the grape tomato halves. Add 2/3 cup water, mix well. Bring the mixture to a simmer for just a couple of minutes. Heat the oven to 350 (F). Add the sauce mixture to the beans and stir well. Bake for one hour, stir the beans. Bake another 35 minutes, stir lightly and see if more water is needed; if so, add 1/3 cup water and stir. Bake another 35 minutes, check to see if the beans are tender. Much, but not all, of the liquid should be absorbed. If the beans need more time, do so; otherwise, remove beans from oven for about 10 minutes before serving. You can drizzle a little olive oil over each serving.

You can click on the photo to enlarge it...

WORD HISTORY:
Kudos-This word goes back to Indo European "(s)keue," which had the notion, "be alert to, to pay attention, to recognize." This gave Ancient Greek the transliterated "kydos," then "kudos," meaning "fame." English borrowed the word in the very late 1700s, and the meaning gradually changed from "fame" to "the praise given to make someone famous, or to those already famous." While likely thought by most English speakers to be a plural form, the "s" ending is singular and is just a typical Greek word ending.