Tales of Two continents

Lunch today was all about multi-ethnic appetizers with inspiration coming from my Greek and Mexican friends. I think I managed to link the two  lands through food and drink. Here are two of the dishes that  I made for my fan club.

What made these two dishes come alive was a good glass of Retsina wine. Never heard of it?  Well ,its an ancient Greek wine made with white grapes and then resinated with Pine tree Resin.  Resinated, you say? Yes, you  heard it,  the stuff that when fossilized , becomes amber;  yes the stuff that that encased Dinosaur DNA in Jurassic park. Freaky, isn't it ? Nope, tasty instead!

Dandilions with Pinenuts and Mexican Frying Cheese
Ingredients
2 bunches of Dandelions, cleaned, blanched in salt water
Medium Yellow Bell Pepper , coarsely diced 
2 cloves Garlic , slivered
Super fresh , Pignoli Nuts
EVOO., S/P, 
Mexican Frying Cheese (queso de freir), cubed and browned on all sides





Rating 
Some honesty here. Dandelions, a mildly bitter green, can be an acquired taste. Nevertheless, there were no leftovers.

Recipe 
Clean , Wash and blanch the greens. Then cut into 2 inch strips, Sautee the greens, peppers, and garlic. After cooking plate, and garnish with the cheese cubes and pignoli.

Then let the chilled Restina flow.


Spicy Chipolte Black Beans

This dish can also go a long way when at informal parties. Use a topping for nachos or corn chips. My favorite way is to serve then in mini buttered soft-tortilla rolls.


Ingredients
Black Beans, pre-cooked to speed things up.
Red Bell Pepper, coarsely diced
Medium red onion, diced 
3 cloves , crushed garlic
Chipotle Peppers in adobo sauce, chopped up
Fresh Cilantro , a nice handful, coarsely chopped
White Wine 1/4 cup



Recipe 
I used pre-cooked blackbeans which I washed to remove all starchy broth. Toss all ingredients in a skillet, except the herbs which are added in towards the end of the cooking period. Cook for 10 minutes at most. Double the amount of Chili pepper  for extra heat.


Salute !

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