by Amy
Pinto Bean Chilli
Substitutions: 200g dried cannellini beans instead of the tin of pinto beans
One extra pepper
Dried oregano instead of fresh
Rating: 8
So maybe I'll never be a professional food photographer but believe it or not this was pretty lush. Pinto beans are proper hard to get hold of so I used cannellini, which is also a white bean. Next time I might use kidney beans; they have a floury stodginess that I think would work better with the spices, which is probly why kidney beans are the "definitive" chilli bean. Why fight convention, Hugh?
Note: There were a LOT of fresh herbs in this which made it more expensive than it would otherwise be. Dried is probably fine. Incidentally, is coriander an authentic Mexican herb? We seem to be throwing it in everything nowadays.
Lemony Guacamole
Substitutions: none
Rating: 6
Oh si si, me gusta guacamole MUCHOS! Actually the guac wasn't so hot and mostly tasted of lemons. I mean, I like lemons, but everything in its proper place. Maybe the clue is in the title but, in Stu's words, "avocados are expensive so it would be good to be able to taste them". Juice of one whole lemon, Hugh? Let's not go overboard. I couldn't even taste the coriander. TBF maybe I just had an unusually juicy lemon. Next time I'll add juice of just half a lemon, and pause to taste.
Sounds like somebody needs a herb garden...
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, Amy! This is on our menu for next week too and I was thinking of using kidney beans instead of pinto because Lidl don't know what they are. I might just do it now. Or traipse around the whole foods section of Tesco for the rest of my life...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I will try it with dried herbs and will let you know what it's like. Probably fine.
I might not bother with the guacamole.
I have a herb garden, Rhys! It's brown and shrivelled as a result of neglect. 2012 project?
ReplyDeleteNot even the Tesco whole foods aisle has pinto beans. I never realised they were so obscure.