Jack is home from India! (green pepper bean cakes, tomato and fennel stew)

Jack is home from India! 

Jack is home from India!!!!!!!

His mother is very happy!!!!!!!!!!!

My son has been teaching in Dhrangadhra in Gujarat for the past six months.  We picked him up this morning at EWR and drove down the turnpike home in complete joy.  We are very proud of the kid.  He went to the other side of the world to do a job that he had never done before and apparently did it well.  We got some stories out of him, but mostly we’ll have to wait until the jet lag wears off and he is a little more coherent.  So now, he has taken a shower and is resting.  For how long, dunno, he was pretty jangled before he stumbled upstairs. 

Readjusting to Pennsylvania in winter will be a challenge.  He said that it was awful cute that his students would show up for class wearing sweaters and gloves whenever the temperature in Dhrangadhra dropped below 65°.  Today was 20° and windy, with a covering from yesterday’s snowfall.  The bigger adjustment will be with food.  That part of India is populated by Hindus and some Muslims.  The diet is largely vegetarian with the occasional chicken, no pork and certainly no beef.  Jack lost 30 pounds.  And this is a kid that didn’t have 30 pounds to lose to begin with.  Someone asked me what his “re-entry” plan is.  I don’t think he has one, other than loading up on kielbasa from Czerw’s http://www.kielbasyboys.com/, Banh Mi sandwiches and strombolis from Romano’s http://www.romanostromboli.com/.  We’ll have a processed meat theme for the next few weeks, I’m sure.

Jack said that he learned some of his favorite recipes before he left by hanging out with the women in the kitchen.  He has to formally write up what they taught him and that might be tricky since they were teaching in Hindi or Gujarati and he was learning in English.  In spite of that, I expect some good meals. 

I don’t know Indian cooking; however I did spend almost a year solely cooking vegetables in a French place in Philly.  Vegetables are difficult to cook properly, less forgiving than say, a pot roast.  It takes surprising skills to make a vegetable preparation that has real depth of character.  There’s technique involved.  You can’t simply throw everything in a pot and stew it for an hour.  Following is a recipe for bean cakes with a tomato and fennel stew.  The absolute best thing about this dish is that you can make it ahead of time and reheat the thing in about 10 minutes.  Really!  And it is better reheated!  Resist the urge to use canned beans.  The texture will never be right.

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Green Pepper Bean Cakes

1# dried white beans

1 green pepper, seeded, roughly chopped

1 cup spanish onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tbs olive oil

3 qts. water

salt and pepper

In a large stockpot, put the beans in water, season with salt and pepper and put on a low heat.  When it comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, the beans will have begun to swell and soften.  Add the green pepper, onion and garlic.  Continue to simmer the beans for a further 30 minutes.  By that time, they will have completely softened and started to break down.  The water will have almost evaporated.  The bean cake mixture will be the consistency of thin mashed potatoes.

Remove from the heat and add the olive oil.  The olive oil is added last to preserve its delicate, aromatic  flavor.  With a spoon or a hand potato masher, smash the bean mix until it has a consistent, lumpy texture.  It should resemble thick mashed potatoes.  Transfer the bean cake mixture to a plastic container and refrigerate until cold, overnight is best.

When it is time to serve the bean cakes, heat a large sauté pan or electric griddle.  Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil and fry patties of the bean cake mix that are about the size of small, thick pancakes.  When one side has browned, after about 5 minutes, flip the cakes and brown the other side for a further five minutes.  Transfer to a platter for serving and top with the tomato and fennel stew.

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Tomato and Fennel Stew

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 head fennel, sliced, about 1 ½ cups

1 cup finely diced onions

1 tbs. sugar

2 tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper

In a large sauté pan on low heat, fry the onions and fennel in olive oil.  Season with sugar, salt and pepper.  The sugar will help moderate the acidity of the tomatoes.

When the onions and fennel have cooked, becoming transparent, add the tomatoes, increase the heat and simmer the stew until it has cooked down to sauce consistency, similar to a chunky tomato gravy.  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately over top of the green pepper bean cakes or refrigerate to be reheated later.

Leftovers?  This will make a serious stuffing for a morning omelette.