Black Bean and Corn Salsa Recipe

Black bean  salsa/A Cook and Her Books

I’m sure I’m not the only who finds themselves hummin’ a little Gershwin in these sultry late spring days. After the trees leaf out, but before the tree frogs start their thrumming, a chorus of “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy, fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high…” plays through my head. The song, as I’m sure you know, is from George Gerswhin’s Great American Opera, “Porgy and Bess,” set in sweltering summery Charleston. The songs are grand and glorious and so infectious that I tend to forget that I’m not exactly Jessye Norman when it comes to musical ability.

And yes, I do know all of the words, and I will sing them off-key at the drop of any hat.

Here’s a summertime recipe, a little salsa that I put together with ingredients from my pantry and the farmer’s market ~ canned black beans, fresh tomatoes and corn make for an easy and delicious salsa that can be a snack, or on a sultry summer evening with the proper beverage, a meal.

Bean and Corn Salsa

1 can black beans, drained

3 or 4 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

3 or 4 scallions, chopped

Kernels scraped from 1 ear corn

1 clove garlic, minced

2 sweet mini peppers, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeds & membranes removed, chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro, chopped, optional

One avocado, diced, optional

1.       Combine all ingredients. Adjust seasonings and serve with tortilla chips. Refrigerate leftovers.

Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits

Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Introducing a new favorite around our house, Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits. Do I even need to tellyou that this is a Paula Deen recipe from the word go? My husband saw Miss Paula talking about her recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits a while back, and asked me to make a pan of them, after all, Pineapple Upside Down Cake is his very favorite cake. Miss Paula's innovation is to create individual servings by placing the pineapple and brown sugar mixture into a muffin pan. Miss Paula pops open a tube of biscuits to top off her little cakes and I thought why not make a homemade biscuit and wouldn't they be even better? And you know what? I was right.

Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits

1 (10 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained, with juice reserved

½ cup light brown sugar

½ stick butter, melted

12 maraschino cherries

1.       Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tins.

2.       Combine pineapple, sugar and butter in a small bowl and mix well. Divide mixture among the muffin cups. Place cherry firmly in center of each muffin cup.

Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour, White Lily preferred

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons shortening, chilled

1 cup buttermilk, whole milk preferred (I use Marburger brand)

1.       Into a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add shortening and cut the fat into the flour using a fork or pastry blender. I use my fingers to rub the fat into the flour ~ it’s messy, but I get a better feel for how the fat is distributed throughout the flour.

2.       Pour in buttermilk and using a large spoon, stir until a dough is formed. With a light touch, place dough on lightly floured counter, gently press out with your hands to a uniform 1/2-inch thickness and cut out 1 dozen, 2-inch biscuits. I usually end up with 14, so you may have extras to bake alongside the pineapple biscuits.

3.       Place biscuits on top of pineapple mixture. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 13 minutes. Biscuits will be lightly brown and spring back when done. Place muffin pan on countertop to cool for five minutes.

4.       Cover a baking sheet with foil and turn muffin pan out onto baking sheet. Serve biscuits warm. Store leftovers in a covered container and refrigerate.

Text and images copyright 2014, Lucy Mercer.