Mountain Meadow Preserve and Vegetarian Tamale Pie

At the beginning of February one of my teaching positions had a short winter break. We decided to treat ourselves to a “Cabin Fever” mini vacation and traveled further north to Williamstown, Massachusetts in the Northern Berkshires- with even colder temperatures!

Williamstown is an idyllic small New England town that includes Williams College. We have often made day trips to visit the Clark Art Institute or to nearby North Adams to MASS MoCA, scene of my most recent blog post! We looked forward to having a leisurely dinner, going to see a film and not making the long trek back home in the dark!

We checked into the upscale but cozy Williams Inn made all the more attractive with inexpensive off season rates.

We decided to first visit the Clark Art Institute and headed to a favorite gallery that includes many treasures- paintings by Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Redon and sculptures by Rodin.

It was not crowded that day, the gallery was almost empty- we sat on a comfortable couch in the middle of the room. Surrounded by beauty, we pretended we were in our mansion in the drawing room; the troubles of the world drifted away.

In a nearby hallway we visited one of our favorite paintings, “Home at Montclair” by the American painter George Innes.

The painting expresses the stillness of twilight at the end of a cold snowy day. A wisp of smoke rising from a chimney and muted light from a window in the distance drew my thoughts inward; I imagined a warm hearth and a pot of soup simmering on a wood stove.

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to dinner at the Barn Kitchen and Bar at the Williams Inn. Although the setting was lovely with friendly servers, the food was bland and disappointing and so earns my new restaurant review- a simple, “Meh”. Some think that this word which means indifferent or expresses boredom, may be derived from Yiddish!

We still enjoyed ourselves and after dinner headed just down the street to a small independently owned movie theatre. We enjoyed the quirky movie “Poor Things” with excellent acting by Emma Stone and then returned to our inn and fell fast asleep in our cozy room.

The next day, we had a quick breakfast at a local diner and then had just enough time for a brisk walk before we needed to return home. We drove to nearby Mountain Meadow Preserve with views of snowcapped Mt. Greylock in the distance; we had last walked here on a steamy day in late summer.

Today is the first day of spring, but outside it is cold and blustery; still the kind of weather for making hearty casseroles in a hot oven! Vegetarian Tamale Pie from the NY Times Cooking section, is easy to make; with a crunchy irresistible cornmeal, cheddar and scallion topping!

Vegetarian Tamale Pie – based on NY Times Cooking: Recipe by Melissa Clark

Yield:6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1large red or white onion, halved
• 2jalapeños, halved lengthwise and seeded (I omitted the jalapenos in my version)
• 1poblano or green bell pepper, sliced in half lengthwise, seeds removed
• 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 1¾teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus more as needed
• 1(28-ounce) can whole plum or diced tomatoes
• 3fat garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
• 2tablespoons mild or hot chili powder, more as needed
• 2teaspoons dried oregano
• 1¾teaspoons ground cumin
• 3(15-ounce) cans black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems (optional)
• ¾cup/135 grams fine cornmeal
• 2tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1½teaspoons baking powder
• ½teaspoon kosher salt
• 1large egg, at room temperature
• ⅓cup/80 grams sour cream or whole-milk yogurt, plus more for serving
• ¼cup/57 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I used extra virgin olive oil)
• 2scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar

PREPARATION

1. Prepare the chili: Move a rack as close to the heating element as possible and heat the broiler. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Finely dice half of the onion and set aside for later.
2. Slice remaining onion half into ½-inch-thick half-moons and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Place jalapeños and poblano next to onions, cut sides down. Lightly brush vegetables with oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Broil 2 to 4 minutes, until vegetables are charred on one side. (If the chiles are small, they will be charred after 1 to 2 minutes.) Flip vegetables and broil until the other side is charred, 1 to 3 minutes.
3. Transfer pan to a rack until cool enough to handle, then stem the peppers. Transfer charred vegetables and any accumulated juices to a blender (or use a bowl and immersion blender). Add canned tomato and ¼ teaspoon salt, and blend to a coarse purée. You can make this up to 4 days ahead, and store in the refrigerator until needed.)
4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large Dutch oven, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high. Add diced onion and sauté until lightly browned, 6 to 9 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chili powder, oregano, remaining 1½ teaspoons salt and cumin, and cook until spices darken, about 30 seconds.
5. Add beans and the reserved tomato purée, and let mixture simmer until thick like a chili, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro, if using. Taste and add more salt and chili powder, if needed.
6. While the chili simmers, prepare the cornbread: In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.
7. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, sour cream or yogurt. Whisk egg mixture into cornmeal mixture until combined. Fold in scallions.
8. Spread cornbread topping over the chili, then top with grated cheese, if using. Bake, uncovered, until cornbread is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot or warm, topped with sour cream and more scallions. I topped our version with Greek Yogurt. ENJOY!

AND: Here is the “Tree of the Week”!

Happy Spring!