red beans & rice

Posted on February 9, 2013 by lovettlovett

Nothing says NOLA like red beans and rice. I know it’s sacrilege, but believe it or not these red beans and rice have no bacon, sausage or any hints of meat. They’re slow cooking, flavor-packed, and will make your kitchen smell like a French Quarter cafe. The real secret to these is time (you’ll also need a little thyme).

You’ll need:

Kosher salt
1 pound small red beans, rinsed and picked over
3 tbl butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 small bell pepper (I used orange), seeded and chopped fine
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Ground black pepper
3 cups veggie broth
6 cups water
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, plus extra for seasoning
Basic White Rice

Your beans: Start by soaking & brining them — combine 3 tablespoons of salt with 4 quarts of water. If you’re a planner, you can soak your beans for 8-12 hours over night the night before. I am not that on top of things, so I erred on the side of the quick soak. To prep your beans with the quick method, rinse your beans then combine them with salt & water in a large, covered dutch oven. Bring the water to a boil and then remove from the heat and let them rest for 1 hour. Drain your beans and then start making them tasty!

Melt your butter in a large dutch oven & add your onion, celery, and peppers. Cook until your vegetables are soft (~4-5 minutes) and then add your garlic.

Add your spices (thyme, paprika, bay leaves, cayenne, and pepper) & let the flavors start to meld for a few minutes.

Add your beans, broth & water, and bring the mixture to a boil. Once your mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an hour. Stir in your vinegar and continue cooking for at least 30 more minutes. Honestly, I kept the beans on low heat for at least two additional hours. Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

xoxo,

HungryTexans

king cake

Posted on February 7, 2013 by lovettlovett

Sharing King Cakes during Mardi Gras season is a cherished Gulf Coast tradition, but it wasn’t until college that I realized King Cake folklore isn’t universal. Jaws dropped when I explained there’s a prized baby Jesus baked inside! There are competing interpretations of what it means to eat the slice with the baby. In some circles, he or she who finds the baby is declared King or Queen for the day while in others finding the baby means bringing the King Cake next Mardi Gras. Any way you slice it, King Cakes are fun for all. Even if you don’t buy the King Cake superstitions, who can object to a giant, glorified cinnamon roll? Not us!

A homemade King Cake isn’t the easiest feat, but you should try it once! Especially if you’re nowhere near the third coast.

You’ll need:

Dough
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 cup buttermilk

Cinnamon Filling
1 cup milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
5 yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cinnamon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons raw sugar

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
purple, green and gold colored sugars for garnish
traditional King Cake baby, penny, or trinket

Start by making the dough. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer & mix for 15 whole minutes. I know this seems like a crazy long time, but alas! it works and your dough will be a silky ball after 15 whole minutes. Transplant your ball into a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap and leave to proof for ~2 hours. Note: your dough would be much happier proofing in an environment resembling the Gulf Coast (~80 – 90 degrees) than a drafty DC kitchen, but we made do!

While your dough is proofing, make your filling. To make your cinnamon filling, start by combining your milk & sugar in a small saucepan. Stir rigorously to dissolve all the sugar. Once the milk & sugar mixture starts to boil, lower the heat slightly. Combine your cornstarch, vanilla, and egg yolks in a measuring cup & then add some of your warm milky mixture to the egg mixture (temper your eggs). Then, add your tempered eggs to the hot milk mixture, slightly elevate your heat, and continuously whisk your mixture until it begins to boil & the mixture resembles a thick custard. Remove custard from heat, cover & place in the fridge to chill. Once chilled, stir in cinnamon.

To make your cinnamon sugar mixture, combine all ingredients!

Once your dough is proofed, you get to play with it!

flour your work surface
flatten your ball of dough
cut into two equal parts
roll out each part into a rectangle
spread your cinnamon filling liberally on each rectangle
sprinkle your cinnamon sugar generously on each filling covered rectangle
cut each rectangle in half (hot dog-style)
roll each rectangle pinching the seems to form a cinnamon-filled snake
braid your cinnamon-filled snakes so that you have two braids
place braids on a parchment lined baking sheet & pinch ends of each braid with the other braid’s end until you have a circle

Now leave this to rise. Should rise for 90 minutes to 2 hours, although mine didn’t get greatly larger in size (it should double!).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown!

To make your icing: cream cream cheese until soft, add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla & pinch of salt. Add powdered sugar until your icing reaches desired consistency. I went with a thin icing to drizzle over my cake through the tip of a Ziploc turned piping bag.

Once your cake cools, drizzle with icing and decorate with yellow, green, and purple colored sugars (you can make these yourself with a few tablespoons of sugar and a few drops of food coloring!). If your trinket’s plastic and could easily melt, we recommend slipping it into a seam after your cake has cooled. If you’re using something heartier like a penny, you could pop it in before your cake goes in the oven. To each her own!

laissez les bon temps rouler,

HungryTexans

a hungry texans super bowl

Posted on February 1, 2013 by lovettlovett

Hopefully one day soon we’ll get to root for one of our teams on the grid iron as they vie for victory in the Super Bowl (go Texans! go Redskins!), but until then these Hungry Texans would rather spend our game day munching on Super Bowl snacks on snacks on snacks.

Dipp-ability & cheesiness are award-winning characteristics when it comes to Super Bowl snacks. Whether you’re hosting your own Super Bowl party or looking for a dish to bring to a friend’s look no further than these delicious dips & apps!

Jalapeño Poppers

Red, White & Blue Nachos

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Pineapple Salsa

Ninfa’s Green Sauce/Tomatillo Salsa

Those snacks are perfect munchies for the Big Game, but if you’re looking to round out your menu with something a little heartier, we recommend crab cakes (in honor of the Ravens, “crab cakes & football that’s what Maryland does!“), veggie chili, or some Chicago-style DC half smokes.

Finally, to satiate your Super Bowl sweet tooth, whip up a batch of these One Bowl Brownies! If you’re a 49ers fan, we recommend using Ghirardelli cocoa powder for good luck!

Wishing you all a super Super Bowl!

yay, sports!

Hungry Texans

ninfa’s green sauce

Posted on January 28, 2013 by lovettlovett

Every Houstonian knows Mama Ninfa is an institution, and this green sauce know doubt helped her emerge as a Tex-Mex queen! I found this Houston Chronicle newspaper clipping for Mama Ninfa’s famous green sauce and didn’t skip a beat before I tried to recreate this famous salsa. The secret that’s not clear from the recipe below, is that this recipe is really good for three unique salsas/dips! With proper pauses, you can stretch this recipe from one creamy green dip into creamy green dip, avocado tomatillo salsa, and tomatillo salsa. All three are delicious in their own right, so use this recipe for one or all three!

You’ll need:

3 medium green tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4 tomatillos, chopped
1 -2 jalapeños, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves
2 tbl olive oil
3 ripe avacados
¼ c cilanto
1 tsp salt
1 ½ c sour cream (less if you go for more than one of the salsa varietals)

Combine your tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic & oil in a small pan. Bring to a boil & then simmer for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft.

For salsa 1: let all these ingredients cool to room temperature & then mix in a food processor adding your salt, cilantro, and lime. Remove as much of the tomatillo salsa as you’d like to enjoy.

For salsa 2: add your avocados to the tomatillo mix & combine in the food processor. This is another reasonable point to pause! Scoop aside some avocado tomatillo salsa & enjoy.

For salsa 3: the most decadent, Ninfa’s-esque, creamy dip, add your sour cream & combine. Depending upon how much salsa you’ve removed already, modify the amount of sour cream you add to reflect the proportions remaining in the bowl of your food processor. Add sour cream to taste & to your desired level of creaminess.

Enjoy any of these three salsas with tortilla chips, as enchilada sauce, or taco toppers!

spinach artichoke dip

Posted on January 26, 2013 by lovettlovett

Dips take deux with this Spinach Artichoke Dip. I made this for the Texans v. Pats playoffs game a few weeks ago (these Hungry Texans will get our vengeance on those Boston Boys’ team one of these days!), but it will certainly be seeing a return appearance on our Super Bowl spread.

You’ll need:

1 package frozen spinach, thawed
1 can artichoke hearts
8 oz cream cheese
½ c parmesan (usually we prefer the real stuff, but jarred parm is a-okay for this!)
2 tbl crushed garlic
1 c sour cream
¼ c cottage cheese
Hot sauce & pepper to taste

Start by thawing your spinach and wringing out as much of the excess liquid as you possibly can. Place spinach, artichokes, and garlic in a food processor & pulse, pulse, pulse until they’re thoroughly chopped.

Then add & mix in your cream cheese.

Then add & combine your sour cream!

Then add your cheeses. Full disclosure, I usually add way more mozz, but when I set out to make this dip I got home from the store only to realize we had about 2 tbl of mozarella in the fridge (oh, rats!). I ended up adding the sprinkling of mozz I had, but the cottage cheese I substituted in worked great, so feel free to get creative with your queso!

Next, season to your desired level of kick — I did a few shakes of each pepper & hot sauce — and give it all a final few whirls around your food processor (taking time to scrape the sides and ensure it’s all combined!).

You could start dipping away now, but I think this dip’s better hot, so fill a square pyrex dish with your dip & bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until the top starts to get the littlest bit golden and crusty.

Enjoy with your favorite dippers and root your team to victory!

Go Texans!
Hungry Texans

pineapple salsa

Posted on January 22, 2013 by lovettlovett

The Baltimore Ravens & San Francisco 49ers have two weeks to prepare for the big game in the Big Easy. While the teams practice kicking, throwing, and clobbering, these Hungry Texans will be hard at work prepping a Super Bowl menu full of culinary “touchdowns”. This pineapple salsa will brighten any Super Bowl spread, and it’d also make a killer topping for fish tacos!

Start with:

1 whole pineapple, diced
1 jalapeño, diced
½ red onion, diced
¼ cup cilantro, diced
juice of one lime

Chopping and a little time are the only tricks to this recipe. Finely dice all of your ingredients and then combine. With a juicy pineapple the flavors meld quickly, but give your ingredients at least 30 minutes to marinate together before diving in & starting scoop with your favorite chips!

cupcakes we can believe in

Posted on January 16, 2013 by lovettlovett

Even though Obama ate more custards than cupcakes during his first term in office, there are few desserts more “DC” right now than cupcakes. We took a tropical, Hawaiian twist on the DC favorite with these Pineapple-Coconut Cupcakes. What makes these cupcakes extra-special is they use crushed cookies instead of flour. You read right…cookies! One bite of these coconutty, cookie cupcakes & you’ll want to forget flour all together!

For the cupcakes: (makes about 22)
1 stick unsalted butter
½ c coconut oil
2 c sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla
6 eggs
1 c sweetened coconut flakes
¼ c crushed pineapple
1 box of crushed vanilla wafers, crushed into a fine crumb
½ cup of pecans, crushed into a pecan meal

For the icing:
8 oz cream cheese
4 tbl butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 c powdered sugar (or until reaches desired thickness)
2 tbl pineapple

Start by creaming your coconut oil & butter together with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. Once your fats are combined and a nice pale yellow, add your sugar & continue creaming.

Splash in your vanilla & then start adding eggs. Add eggs one at a time allowing enough time for each egg to integrate (scraping the side of the bowl as necessary). Once you’ve added all six eggs, your mixture should look almost custardy.

At a slow speed fold your coconut and pineapple into the batter. Once combined, add your vanilla wafer & pecan meals to the mix thickening it all up. Scrape the sides of your bowl and give your mixture a final few paddle rotations.

Prep your favorite cupcake pan with liners.

Fill close to the top. These cupcakes will rise a little bit, but not too much, so be generous with your fill!

Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes or until they’re golden and pass a toothpick test.

For your pineapple cream cheese frosting, start by creaming softened butter & cream cheese together. Add vanilla & pineapple. Begin gradually adding powdered sugar until your frosting reaches your desired thickness (we erred on the thinner side). Once your cupcakes have cooled, frost ’em up!

Excellent room temperature or chilled, we dare you to eat just one!

xoxo,

Hungry Texans

chicago-style deep dish pizza crust

Posted on January 14, 2013 by lovettlovett

The Hungry Texans are pro-pizza. Round, square, cracker-thin crust, New Haven style- we’ll take a slice of anything. And now, we’re proud to have a Midwest pizza crust recipe in our back pockets- and with good reason! This recipe, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, will make enough for one deep dish pizza, so we recommend doubling it. Because, trust us, you’ll want more than one of these crispy, flavor-filled pies.

You’ll need:

1 ½ c + 2 tbs all-purpose flour

¼ c cornmeal

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 packet instant yeast

½ c + 2 tbsp water (room temp!)

2 tbsp + 2 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp olive oil

Start by combining your dry ingredients (flour, corn meal, yeast, sugar, & salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add your water & melted butter. We started with the paddle attachment & transitioned to a dough hook once the dough began balling up. Knead your dough in the mixer for 6 to 8 minutes or until the dough is a discrete ball & no longer sticky to the touch (it should be leathery & smooth!). Transfer your ball of dough to an olive oil coated bowl with enough room for expansion. Let your dough rest & rise at room temperature for about an hour or until the ball has doubled. Once your dough is doubled, it’s time to get hands-on & tactile with it. Place your ball on a clean work surface (don’t worry about flouring it!). Roll your dough into a 7 x 9ish rectangle, and then brush your rectangle with butter (exclude the outer 1/2 inch perimeter). Roll your buttered rectangle up into a log, place the seam of the rolled cylinder closest to the counter, & then smush your cylinder so it’s more rectangular than cylindrical. Finally, fold your long rectangle into an “s-like” shape (if we’re being fancy, this step is called “laminating”). “S-like” shape, you ask? To achieve this, fold over the top third of your rectangle & then fold under the lowest third of your dough. Voila! “s-like” lamination! Place your dough back in its oiled bowl, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and pop it in the fridge for at least another hour (dare that dough to double again!) or until you’re ready to roll it out as a real life deep dish pizza crust. When you’re at a pause in your dough-making process (we recommend during its first rise!), get your sauce a simmering and toppings ready. Here’s an easy recipe for the most delicious marinara!

After the dough has doubled again (probably 40 minutes), roll it out into a 13 inch circle and place it into your olive-oil-rubbed pizza pan. We used a springform pan and it worked purrfectly. Then, layer your cheese first (so important!) and your sauce and toppings next.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Then let your pizza rest for 10 minutes and pop it out of it’s springform.

That’s it! Easy as pie 🙂

xoxo,

Hungry Texans

cornbread

Posted on January 8, 2013 by lovettlovett

There aren’t many sides more Texas than cornbread, and these HungryTexans love ourselves some cornbread. Hot, cold, honey buttered or molassesed, we’ll eat it any way you slice it & believe it or not it’s almost as easy to make homemade cornbread from scratch as it is to bake from everyone’s favorite blue & white box. You’ll be done in a jiffy (*wink*).

You probably have most of this in your pantry already!

1 c corn meal

1 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbl sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp old bay (Texas meets Mid-Atlantic, yall!)

1 dash of chili powder

1 egg

1 c sour cream

1 tbl honey

1/4 c buttermilk

2 tbl vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 400 & start by combining all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add your egg (note: I regretted using a whisk for this task, I recommend a fork so your egg doesn’t get all caught up in the tines!).

Then mix in all your soggy ingredients – sour cream, buttermilk, oil & honey.

Pour your chunky-ish batter into a greased loaf pan & bake 25-30 minutes until your loaf is golden!

Serve alongside your favorite soup or g’nosh a big hunk for breakfast!

savory oyster crackers

Posted on January 1, 2013 by lovettlovett

Happy New Year, HungryTexan-verse! We have a lot up our sleeves to keep your mouths watering and tummies full in 2013. Just in case you woke up this morning reaching for the holy trinity of manymanymany ounces of water, a gatorade, and a grande iced coffee; popping ibuprofen; and scarfing a Five Guys egg & cheese faster than a 10-second countdown to midnight, with the looming knowledge that in a few short hours you need to function like a human and put your best, “I-have-slain-my-hangover” foot forward at New Year’s Day festivities…here’s an easy breezy recipe for savory oyster crackers that all the guests at the party will love munching on! Here’s one of my Mimi’s delicious holiday staples that you’ll nom by the handful.

You’ll need:

1 & 1/2 bag of oyster crackers

1 package of ranch dressing mix

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp dill weed

1/2 cup of a neutral oil (I used canola)

Since reading might be a little much right now, here’s a picto-recipe & the captioned cliff notes.

Combine oyster crackers & all seasonings in a large bowl. Once seasonings are evenly distributed, mix in 1/2 cup of oil. Start nibbling immediately.

Stay tuned for the full works on all the recipes you need for a traditional Texas New Year’s Day feast!

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