Beans

Food & Cooking
1

No topic on beans?!

Always a favorite/staple in my kitchen.

I’ll start with the soaking method:

If one has the time and depending on type of bean one should soak overnight in cool water, changing the water 3 times. Usually the first water gets tossed out after one hour. This should alleviate most of the flatulence associated with beans. Some say vital nutrients are lost this way but one shouldn’t cook the beans in the soak water.

For larger beans such as chickpeas or pintos one can add a tsp of baking soda to the water first soak. I found this helps with the hydration.

2

The closest I get to beans, usually, is dal.  Toor dal is my standby, which is close to lentils, but chickpeas (chana dal) and gram beans (urud dal), moong dal (mung beans), all get cooked in their turn.  I change the water when soaking probably too much, at least a dozen times…toor dal particularly gives off a lot of cloudy and colored water while soaking.

On more American style beans, generally its plain chili beans from a can in my chili… :-[  Not very fancy!

3

Here’s a great recipe I like to use with anything BBQ.

Ingredients
2 cups navy beans
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup of your fav BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions
1.Soak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid.
2.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
3.Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.
4.In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
5.Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.

4

Beans, beans they’re good for your heart…

I like pasta e fragole and pasta e cheech. Not the soup the real live pasta nad beans. Ill post a recipe later.

I also love yellow rice and beans, Especially the way they do it at Freddy and Tony’s. Im working on that recipe.

5

This is in the pressure cooker as I type:

Quickie Black Beans

2-3 oz smoked chorizo diced
0.5  medium white onion diced
4 oz black beans well soaked and rinsed
2 sundried/dried roma tomatos ribbon-cut with scissors
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1-2 Tbs of leftover salsa
1 scant Tbs of freshly minced dried cilantro
2 tsp ham base
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
Grinds of black pepper per preference
3 cups hot water

Saute chorizo to release fat then add onion. When translucent add the beans and garlic and mix well. Saute while adding the rest of the ingredients with the water last.

Pressure cook for 7 minutes. Add more salt to taste.

Otherwise simmer until tender.

Serve on rice or alone with sour-cream, chives and cheese.

6

Well damn, that looks good…gonna give it a spin!

7

Here is a an old world Italian Recipe for pasta and beans. Beans in tomato sauce over pasta.

First saute some garlic and copped onions. Then add some meat bones the meat or bones is optional. you can also add some other veg at this time. i.e. greeen peppers, carrots, potatoes, etc. Brown the meat.then add oregano, basil, thyme, nutmeg, (lots of nutmeg) salt pepper and sugar.  At this time I add fresh chopped tomatoes and the beans, with a large portion of grated locatelli cheese. I cook everything over med. heat until the tomatoes turn to sauce.

Meanwhile I cook bow tie or rotini pasta, you can use shells or something else that creates a vehicle for the beans.

cook the pasta till it is still a little hard. When the water turns a little bit starchy from the pasta grab a few ladles full and put them in the sauce as needed. It should be a little brothy as it will thicken when you add the pasta to it.  Strain and add to the sauce and cook in the sauce for the last few moments.

Serve with chopped parsley and grated parm on top.

There are a few good Italian bean soups too. But contrary to popular American belief past fragole is the dish above not a soup.

The bean soup we call pasta fazule here  is actually called minestrone in Italy.  Minestrone when served with pasta, Minestra when served on top of large croutons.

8

I love pasta fazule. Got a recipe?

With the above pasta & beans recipe are the beans already cooked, soaked or dried?

Something quick is a rinsed can of cannellini beans, a can stewed tomatoes, fresh spinach, feta cheese and Parmesan over al dente rigatoni or bowties. Seasoned to taste if desired. Hearty and stretchable served in bowls.

9

I always use dry beans. We used to keep can beans around for use in a pinch but the pressure cooker makes the can beans obsolete cause it cooks dry beans just as quick. You could use them either way in these recipes just have to put the beans in at different times.

Here is a good recipe for a Napeladano style “pasta vazule” soup. Basically a more water version of the above dish.

Its made with small shell pasta, kidney beans. (some regions make it with green peas) a tomate broth and small meat balls the size of peas.

I use lamb and it is most traditional, also used is pork.

Take some bones and brown them with chopped onions and garlic (lots of garlic) add dry oregano, basil, rosemary, bay leaf, nutmeg, paprika, cinnamon, salt black pepper, a little sugar.

Stir around on low heat for a few moments. Now add a splash of red wine and deglaze.

Add water simmer for a couple of hours and make a stock. Strain the stock and return to the heat. Add enough canned  crushed tomatoes to make a tomato broth with the stock. It should be more on the thin ‘soupy’ side.

Now add can beans or beans that have been precooked or soaked.

Simmer over low heat till the beans are tender.

While that is simmering mix your ground meat with pureed garlic and onions,  a little bit of bread crumbs, eggs, nut meg, salt and pepper. Wash your hands really wel and then wet them with water or a little veg oil. and start forming them between your palms. For them as small as you can. The sign of a good Neapolitan chef is how patient he is in his ability to make smaller meat balls.

As you form them toss them onto an oiled cookie sheet. broil them for a few mins. only. Scrape them off into the soup after the beans are tender. Dont over cook the meat balls.

Now cook small shells until semi finished and still a little hard. Takee some of the sarchy water and add to the soup as need if it is to thick.

I like keeping the pasta on the side and mix it with the soup prior to serving each portion. This is because if you mix all of the shells in the soup and then store it in the fride a day or two the pasta will get all soggy.

I think I got all of it. Let me know.

I love this soup with peas or beans, pork and/or lamb.

10

I made no recipe beans tonight. Had a lot of ham pieces left over -  from smoking on Sunday, so beans it is. Just doesn’t seem right without slanine, which is why I had to throw in about 6 ounces of it to add in the proper flavor.Otherwise, onions, celery, and carrot sauted in pork fat(fried up the ham ends for a bit to get some of the fat). Boiled the ham bone with some meat left on it, then threw in a 13 bean mix. (soaked overnight) Simmer for a while then add… crushed tomatoes, vegeta, bay leaves, salt, pepper, herbs de provence, red pepper flakes, and a dash of lemon juice.

Just waiting for the bread to finish - dinner is late tonight.

11

Ok what the hell is sladine? Google doesn’t reveal much… Serbian bacon? ???

12

Alton Browns
Once and Future Beans are GREAT!

You can cut the bacon in half and they are still tremendous

13

This recipe sounds halfway interesting.  If nothing else, a cheap/healthy alternative to regular burgers.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Black-Bean-Veggie-Burgers/Detail.aspx

14

Ah, you have to read ALL the threads! Slanine was discussed in the ethnic cooking thread. But it’s just a smoked slab of bacon. I put in 5 or six pieces that look like this.

I just grew up with this flavor in beans and it didn’t taste right until I added it. Sorry, I figured if you’re reading the beans section you’re probably in the other cooking topics too.

Hey, learn to brew, cook, and speak another language all on one board! :smiley:

15

I hadn’t gotten around to the ethnic thread yet. Sigh. Next on the list.