Hello and welcome back to another installment of The Stone Soup Cook: What’s Cooking in Keri’s California Kitchen Tonight?–I’m really glad you’re here!
Earlier this week, I shared that I had smoked pork belly in my Big Green Egg:
And later in the week, I made a terrific pot of pinto beans using a traditional Mexican recipe:
And last night, I found myself with a pile of leftover smoked pork belly, 3-4 cups of leftover cooked pinto beans and a crisply cool fall evening. What better excuse than to put together a pot of chili:
bake some cornbread:
and put together a terrific pear, candied pecan, lettuce and blue cheese salad that embraces all the yumminess of fall fruits and vegetables:
This was a really fun meal to put together–not only did it put some delicious leftovers to good use, but it embodied all the comforting flavors of the season. We enjoyed it with August Briggs 2019 Meritage, which from what I can find is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, but it’s not listed on the label. In any case, it has soft tannins and is robust and fruit forward and runs around $50 a bottle, which in my opinion is a great price for this lovely wine. We enjoyed it last night, but it would easily hold for another few years.
So let’s get started!
Here’s what you’ll need:
~1 lb smoked pork belly (the closest substitute I can think of is some meat off a ham hock–the pork belly is seasoned, but not necessarily as salty as a ham hock. The hock would have some nice fat, though, which you need for the chili because the beans have no fat in them)
3-4 cups of leftover cooked pinto beans
1 lb box or can of diced tomatoes with juice/puree
Chili spices, salt, pepper
1/2 an onion, diced
2 cloves galic, minced
Olive oil
Corn meal
Flour
Baking powder
Salt
Sugar
Egg
Milk
Pecan or vegetable oil
Basic vinaigrette
Comice pear
Candied pecans
Butter or romaine lettuce
Blue cheese crumbles
Bon appetit! I hope you enjoy this flavors of fall menu tonight–preferably with someone you love.
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
