“Walmart Beans”
October 30, 2019 | Beacon, NY
Sam Anderson used to attend my cooking classes when I used to teach out of my kitchen in Beacon, NY, many years ago. He was an excellent student (and an award-winning writer to boot), filling his recipe sheets with beautiful marginalia. He was the first person I thought of when I was looking for guest home cooks for this podcast. Sam wanted to learn to how to make a good breakfast burrito at home, something he always orders when he spots it on a restaurant menu.
NOTES: Read Sam Anderson’s famous New York Times’s soliloquy on flavor and his excellent new book about the birth of Oklahoma City, Boom Town.
CULINARY QUESTIONS: Please post those on the Kitchen Radio FB page.
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WHAT WE PUT IN SAM’S BREAKFAST BURRITO
Spiced potatoes with poblanos
Smoky black beans
Scrambled eggs
Jack cheese
Fresh cilantro
Salsa (even though I prefer hot sauce)
RECIPE for SPICED POTATOES w. POBLANOS
- Peel 1 pound peeled Yukon, red, or russet potatoes, and cut into 2 inch pieces. In a saucepan, cover potatoes with 2 inches well-salted water and boil until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
- In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 small diced onion, 1-2 diced + seeded poblano peppers, and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons smoked paprika and 1 teaspoon cumin (and optional healthy pinch of cayenne) and cook for 1 minute. Add the drained potatoes and mash with the back of a fork. Season generously with salt.
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RECIPE FOR SMOKY BLACK BEANS
- In a bowl, cover 1 pound dried black beans with 3 inches water and let soak overnight (or use the “quick-soaking method”: in a saucepan, cover dried beans with 2 inches water; bring to a boil, turn off heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour).
- Drain off soaking and cover with 2 inches fresh water. Add 3 dried ancho chiles (with the seeds and stem removed) and 1 small onion, halved to the pot and simmer until beans are tender, 45-60 minutes roughly. Season generously with salt (but not until after the beans are softened).
