Elle's New England Kitchen

Writer's block. No idea what to say. Help.
Send cold meds. And tissues. And pity. While I'm waiting for those things, here's a really nice stew recipe--good for warming you up, and pretty, too.

Originally found on Allrecipes. Looked good, read the reviews, changed it up a little bit. There (posted by CRVGRL), it's called Brazilian Black Bean Stew. Is it really Brazilian? I don't know. And since I don't know for sure, and it's loaded with good things like sweet potatoes and black beans, Sweet Potato and Black Beab Stew it is. (See that? I didn't mean to spell "beab," but my nose is so stuffy, that must be how it sounded in my head.)

This makes a lot, so you can cut it in half if you're only cooking for a few people. Very much like chili, and not at all sweet from the potatoes and mangoes, and could definitely use more spicy heat. It's got a nice, but subtle smoky flavor from the chorizo and the ham. Good stuff.



Sweet Potato and Black Bean Stew

*serves a small crowd

1/2 pound chorizo sausage, chopped
1/3 pound cooked ham, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled, cut in small cubes
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 small hot green chile pepper, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp adobo
2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 mangoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Heat a large pot over medium heat, add the chorizo and ham and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Stir in garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or so.
Stir in the sweet potatoes, bell pepper, undrained (*see note below!) tomatoes, chile pepper, broth, and spices.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. (Be sure you've cut them small enough to cook completely in this time--bite-sized.)
Add the beans and let them heat through, just a couple of minutes.
Stir in the mango and cilantro, and season with salt.

Does that look like a poached egg on there? It's not. It's a dollop of Greek yogurt, with a sprinkle of cayenne.

Buffalo Wings--really good. Oven Baked Buffalo Wings--even better. Oven Baked MANGO Buffalo Wings with Mango Cream Dipping Sauce? I think I could eat these every single day.

This is my entry for the Royal Foodie Joust sponsored by The Leftover Queen. April's winner is Michelle at Thursday Night Smackdown. These are both great blogs that I hope you'll all check out. Michelle got to choose the three required ingredients for the current joust, and she chose mango, brown sugar, and cardamom. Great choices, right?

Update: I won the Joust! I'm very excited, and a big thank you all of you that voted, and commented here on my blog. Thank you!



I did a lot of thinking about what I wanted to do. There's lots of sweet choices, but also lots of savory ones. What I came up with is a little of both. The wings are spicy, with a hint of mango, and while oven baked, still nice and crispy. The dipping sauce is perfect alongside the wings. It's cool, creamy, fresh tasting and a little sweet.

Some of you may remember my post on Oven Baked Hooters Style Wings. I knew this was the cooking method I wanted to use for these wings. I thought I could add pureed mango to the Frank's Hot Sauce that the wings get coated in. It worked really well! And even better, it really cut down on the amount of butter in the sauce!

And we'll need something cool and creamy to offset the spicy wings, won't we? Well what if we mix pureed mango with sour cream, add some lime and a bit of brown sugar and cardamom? Yeah, that works! And it helps that it's lick-the-bowl delicious! I'm already thinking of other ways to use this sauce...

I used three mangoes (the last three in the store!) for these two recipes, which was about two cups when pureed.


Mango Buffalo Wings

20 chicken wings
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce (or another hot sauce, if you prefer)
1/2 cup pureed mango
1/4 cup melted butter or canola oil

Heat oven to 400°. In a large ziptop bag, combine flour and dry spices.
Add the wings to the bag, seal, and toss to coat.
Place the wings on a plate and chill in the fridge for about 30-35 minutes.
In a bowl, mix the pureed mango and hot sauce. Stir in melted butter or oil.

Carefully dip each wing in the sauce, turning to coat. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, covered with foil and lightly greased.
Bake for 40 minutes, carefully turning the wings halfway through cooking time. When the wings are done, remove them from the pan and put them on a cooling rack to prevent them from getting soggy.


Serve with Mango Lime Cream.


Mango Lime Cream Dipping Sauce

Makes approx 2 cups.

1 1/2 cups pureed mango
1/2 cup sour cream
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tsp brown sugar
3/8 tsp cardamom

Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and process until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to serve.



I have to add that my husband and I just loved these. He's not hard to please, but I can tell when he doesn't like something...he's quiet and politely eats. When he loves something he's eating, he's very vocal and keeps telling me how much he loves it, which he did with these wings. And that sauce is perfect with these. It's cool and creamy, and wonderful for cutting the heat of the wings. I'd suggest giving each person they're own little bowl, because there's going to be lots of double dipping going on, hehe. Not only did he clean his wing bones, but he was sure to get every last drop of the mango lime sauce that he had. And he was looking to see if I had any left to give him. I was feeling nice and tossed him an extra wing, hehe.