Obamarama

It feels like New Year's day all over again, but I didn't make black-eyed peas...I made cookies! Today the new President is sworn into office and I'll be checking out an interesting blog called Obama Foodorama, which will be posting when possible from the crush of humanity in Washington D.C.. This blog is a chronicle of Barack Obama and food. At first I wasn't sure what that even meant, but getting into it is well worth it. You will find recipes, food-political commentary, informative links, goofy pictures, ag policy and cupcakes. The variety of items is intriguing and the blog paints a wide and complex picture of an interesting subject and our culture at this moment. These are attributes that Marinationwide can happily endorse. Let the inaugurating begin!!!

Winter Chocolate Liqueur

My friend Eric recently returned form Peru and brought me some cocoa beans. Thank you Eric! Opening the jar releases a complex and unmistakable smell. I spent a long time cracking them open by hand and picking out the dark shiny, jagged meat. There are quicker ways to do this, but I wanted to inspect them meditatively while listening to the radio on a snowy night.

Some of the beans really do have a purple color and remind me of Kalamatas. What to do with them? I followed a recipe for homemade chocolate liqueur from Epicurious that includes nibs, vanilla beans and the very flammable 151. I have to shake it every day for 21 days-away from heat and flame. Hopefully when I open the jar in three weeks I will be met with an intoxicating chocolate aroma (as one would imagine). I'll let you know.

Fine in '09

How many will she eat this year?

Happy New Year! Its time again to eat blackeyed peas for luck and fortune, a superstitious and delicious tradition. Usually I've used canned which works great but I happen to be in New Mexico where the options are broader! Frozen, fresh, dry AND organic? Alright!

Blackeyed Peas For New Years

-Blackeyed Peas, in some form, say two cans, drained (in my case this year, the fresh and frozens needed a lot of liquid to cook in to get done, so the green chile sort of dissolved into a stewy surrounding. There were also some cubes of pork involved.)
-Bacon, a few strips of thick cut, cut crosswise
-1 onion, diced
-1 bell pepper, diced
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 bay leaf
-5 roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped green chiles
-Crushed red pepper flakes
-Shake of Sherry
-Chicken stock and/or water
-Lots of S&P

Cook the Bacon, and take it out before it gets crispy. Brown the pork cubes and take them out before they're too done. Saute the onion, garlic, bay leaf and green pepper in the bacon fat till soft and add the peas, chile, stock, sherry and red pepper flakes. Season as you go along, but mostly at the end. Let cook for about 45 minutes, till tender and spicy and come together. Eat each bite knowing that it can only improve your chances this year. Salud!