Foodie fridays: texas caviar

When you hear the word caviar, what images come to mind?

Tuxedos? Yachts? Diamonds? For us, the word caviar reminds us of that British reporter, Robin Leach. He was the host of the famous T. V. show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous that aired from the mid-80’s to the mid-90’s. Come on, you know you watched it! Anyways, he would always wish the viewer, “Champagne wishes and caviar dreams” at the end of the show. We were only ten years-old at the time and thought there was no way in heck we would ever get to sip bubbly or eat caviar in our lifetime. Sigh. Well, as it turns out, champagne wishes and caviar dreams don’t require you to have a wallet full of Benjamin’s. In fact, our now twenty-nine year-old self has had plenty glasses of champagne and tasted caviar, and we don’t roll around in an Aston Martin. Truth be told, we'd definitely give champagne an 11/10, but caviar, not so much. We realize that people consider caviar a delicacy and that’s all great and wonderful. But! Who wants to pay $1500 a pound for fish eggs? Not I. So, let us introduce you to a kind of caviar that doesn’t require fancy packaging, a fishy smell, and will not break the piggy bank, Texas caviar. While vacationing in Steamboat Springs with our husband and in-laws a couple weeks ago, we quickly realized that we had much to learn. One, map reading is key to survival. Two, if it’s raining and you’re in the woods look for dry ground by a tree and stand under it to keep dry. Third, Texas caviar does exist. Apparently we have been lost in the deep forest for most of our life because we've never heard of this caviar from Texas. When we asked our Southern mother-in-law if she’d ever heard about this black bean, corn, and everything but the kitchen sink concoction, she replied, “Oh yeah. Been makin’ it for years.” WHAT?! How could we not know about this savory, fresh “caviar”? Well, you can bet your sweet peach behind that we had her email us that recipe because there was no way this Northern girl was missing out on all the fun. Typically this recipe is made with black-eyed peas, but our mother-in-law, being ever so clever, swapped them for black beans and then added feta to kick things up a notch.

The rest of the ingredients are pretty standard – corn, cilantro, red pepper, red onion, and red wine vinegar. Mix everything together in a large bowl, open a bottle of Shiner Bock and put on your cowboy boots and you’ll have Robin Leach wishing he was saying, “Cold draft wishes and Texas caviar dreams.”

(inspired by mother-in-law, Susie Grier) Yields about 6 cups Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes + 4 hours to chill Ingredients: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 corn on the cobs (or about 3 cups), husked, washed 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained, rinsed 1 small tomato, diced 1/2 jalapeno, deseeded, diced 1/2 cup red onion, diced 1/2 red pepper, diced 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper Feta cheese crumbles, garnish or mix in 1/2 cup (optional) Directions: Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Rub 1 tablespoon of butter on 1 corn cob, repeat with remaining three. Grill corn for 45 minutes, rotating to ensure even grilling. Once grilling is complete, remove kernels from cob. In a large bowl, combine corn kernels, beans, tomato, jalapeno, red onion, and red pepper. Mix together olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pour mixture over veggies and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with Feta or mix in about 1/2 cup if desired. Serve with tortilla chips!