AlBEANia

One of my favorite parts about this cooking challenge is that my husband, who is somewhat of a picky eater, has agreed to eat everything I make. The list of foods that Ted loathes is actually pretty short, but sadly includes some of my favorite ingredients. Here is a sampling of that list:

1) Beans (unless they are green)

2) Avocados (unless they are mashed smooth into guacamole)

3) Tomatoes (unless they are pureed into ketchup)

4) Nuts (unless they are heavily salted and plucked from a can that says Planters on the side)

When Ted used to travel for work four days a week, there were many nights that my dinner would consist of a huge mound of black beans and diced avocados, with a side of broiled salmon. Now that Ted is home every night, I have been sneaking these items into recipes and telling him at the last minute, "You'll hardly even notice the diced tomatoes!"

But now I have free license. So when Ted came home from work last night I couldn't wait to declare that we were having BEAN soup, veal with WALNUTS, and spinach pie for dinner! In Albania, these dishes would be called Jani me Fasule, Gjellë me Arra të Ellit, and Byrek me Spinaq. Byrek me Spinaq is Albania's version of Spanikopita. I wasn't surprised to find that many Albanian recipes mirror Greek dishes, since the countries are neighbors.

I also read about a liquor called raki that is often enjoyed in Albania before a main meal. I checked our local liquor store for raki, but gave up there, as I had a feeling it would be a long and possibly fruitless search for something that I couldn't even taste...

I started early yesterday with the Jani me Fasule, because I needed to let it simmer on the stove top for over two hours. It was also the dish I was most looking forward to. The temperature here in the Northeast took a drastic drop earlier this week, and apparently so did my and Henry's immune systems. We both have a nasty cold. So a warm and hearty soup was all I had on my mind yesterday! I started by boiling dry white beans in water for twenty minutes, then adding sauted onions, tomato sauce, chili powder, parsley, and fresh mint, and letting it simmer for the long haul. I followed the online recipe to a tee, but ended up using a lot of additional tomato sauce, chili powder, salt and pepper before I took the pot off the stove. I'm not sure if the recipe was bland as written, or if I just require an immense amount of seasoning on my food. Either way, my final product was delicious and exactly what I had in mind. The addition of the mint added a unique flavor that was a treat for my stuffy nose.

What's that saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"? Well, I have a new saying: You can lead Ted to beans, but you can't make him eat. He took one bite of my bean soup, and the corners of his mouth turned so far down I thought they might land on his lap. Luckily the rest of my Albanian dinner was more of a hit with my husband.

The Gjellë me arra të Ellit can be made with either chicken or veal. I found some wonderful fresh veal cutlets at the supermarket, so I jumped on them. It turned out to be a great choice for this recipe. Despite the entire stick of butter and clove of garlic that went into the walnut sauce, this dish was fairly bland. But the veal was so delicate and tender, it could have stood on its own. The Byrek me Spinaq was exactly what I expected, and didn't disappoint. A mixture of spinach, green onions, olive oil, and feta cheese baked in filo dough until it was crispy on the outside and warm on the inside.

Another successful meal!

The score for our Albanian dinner was a 2.25.