A less serious Coronavirus thread. With isolation at home and dining out less I thought a space devoted to recipes, cooking questions would be a nice change of pace.
1st question- I confess I buy beans in a can. All the stores in my area have had empty shelves. I found one container of dry “small red beans” at Sprouts today. How do I cook them? And suggestions as to how to make them flavorful.
Thanks
I cook my dry beans in the instant pot with chicken stock, garlic, onions, and cilantro.
I purchased an All Clad Slow Cooker in Marshall’s today; I’ve never used one but the price was right, so I thought I’d try it.
I went to the grocery store and ended up going to five stores to get almost nothing! It’s like Soviet Russia out there! Trader Joe’s is only admitting 5 ppl at a time and limited purchases to two of each item; they had no fresh fruit or veg., no milk, no butter and no eggs. I got milk in CVS (a first), and a tri-tip (which I’ve never tried) at another market, for the slow cooker. I am going to make food for a couple of elderly neighbors
I found a recipe for something called ‘water cake’; when I no longer have eggs, milk or butter, I’ll make a water cake!
@mom60 Here comes the US Dry Bean Council to the rescue! https://www.usdrybeans.com/health-nutrition/cooking-with-beans/
You can soak overnight, then prepare them like any baked bean recipe and slow bake. Dried beans end up creamier and more delicious than from a can. Maybe you’ll never go back to canned?
I’m making sous vide corned beef, with boiled veggies on the side - Irish soda bread is cooling. As of tonight, all my kids are home so I have to feed six adults, and with limited availability of some ingredients, I’ll have to get creative.
Tomorrow, I’ll make corned beef hash with poached eggs with the leftovers
I have the ingredients for lettuce wraps: saute chopped onion, brown ground turkey, stir in two bags of shredded cabbage/broccoli mix and stir fry. Finish with a sauce made of peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili paste, ginger, and garlic. Everyone can make their own with Boston lettuce or bibb lettuce. It’s healthy and actually addictive.
I do most beans in the pressure cooker, too.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, then soak them overnight before you cook them on the stove top. In general:
- Rinse the beans, picking out any stones or funny looking beans.
- Place beans in a container with a cover; sprinkle 1 tbl salt over the top and fill the container with enough water that it rises about 1" above the top of the beans. They'll grow as they absorb water, so better to have too much rather than not enough. You'll see old wives' tales about salt making beans tough - not only is that not true, but if you don't salt them that's part of why they're not flavorful after they're cooked. Salting them early helps give them flavor and doesn't hurt the texture.
- After the beans have soaked overnight (or approx 8 hours), drain and rinse.
- Put beans in a cooking pot (dutch oven works well), and again cover with enough water - or chicken/veggie stock - plus only 1 tsp salt. To give extra flavor, you can also add a bay leaf, garlic and a chopped onion.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer beans until tender. Depending on the size and age of the bean, that usually takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes. Just try one occasionally - you'll know when they're done.
We’re tending to make meals that allow for leftovers. DH made stew over the weekend. Today I made an egg/spinach casserole - kind of like a quiche without the crust.
I make beans often. I grew up poor and DH and I put ourselves through college, so beans were always on our menu since they’re healthy and inexpensive. For anyone who hasn’t made beans before but is trying because of the quarantines - don’t be afraid, they’re easy and tasty!
My favorite is probably black beans. Made the same way I describe in post #5, just add tons of garlic and black pepper.
Here’s my son’s favorite. It doesn’t even require soaking and makes your house smell great:
Ranch Beans
1 lb pinto beans, rinsed and picked over
1 Beer
2 tsp salt
1-2 large veggie bouillon cubes
1 chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
3-4 slices thick bacon, cut into ¼” dice
1-2 onions, chopped
2 crushed cloves garlic
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp Cumin
Cilantro
*Add all ingredients (except cilantro) to pot. Cover with enough water to cover beans by at least 1 inch. Simmer 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed. Serve w/ cilantro.
- That was the super easy version. If you want a little more depth of flavor, then first saute the bacon until the fat has rendered; stir in onions and saute until golden. Add chili powder and cumin, stirring and sauteeing one more minute until fragrant. Then add remaining ingredients and simmer for 3-4 hours, adding water as needed.
I don’t love lentils, but they’re really healthy and easy to cook (don’t need any presoak, cooks quickly.) Here’s my favorite lentil recipe:
Curried Red or Yellow Lentils with Coconut Milk
2 oz ghee or butter
1 chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 green chili, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 c red lentils (or yellow) – rinsed and picked over
2 c veggie or chicken stock
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 c coconut milk
Heat the ghee/butter in a dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Saute onions until soft, then add garlic, chili, cumin and coriander. Stir constantly until spices are very fragrant. Scrape mixture into bowl; do not wash heavy pot.
In the same heavy pot, combine lentils, turmeric and stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer with cover on until lentils are tender – about 20 min, stirring occasionally.
Stir reserved onion and spice mix into the lentils along with the tomatoes and pinch salt. Simmer another 10 -15 minutes until lentils are done.
Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk.
How about canned refried beans? I don’t like them but DH ought 8 cans. I haven’t cooked with it in ages. What can I add to it to take away the canned taste? Any recipe ideas?
Or maybe I can trade some for toilet paper. ?
The nonfat refried beans from TJs are pretty good. I like to reheat them on the stovetop, stirring in some beer and Chipotle Tabasco sauce. Then spread them on tortillas as a base for veggie quesadillas or put them on nachos.
Refried beans with some garlic, cheese,herbs and hot sauce are comfort food like mashed potatoes to me!
Cooking now is nothing new - I work AND cook most every night!
@momo2x2018 : “It’s like Soviet Russia out there!”
Rolling on the floor laughing.
I guess I’ll find out on Thursday morning, early: They’ve reserved 6:00 AM to 7:30 AM at my grocery store for old fogies. I know everyone else is ordering for delivery, but I like to fondle my fruits.
My daughter made this soup for us last week and it was so, so delicious!
https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/olive-garden-chicken-gnocchi-soup/
Easy, not weird ingredients, creamy but not too rich. I will make this over and over. Good for the family or for guests. We used kale instead of spinach because we love kale.
Saw someone at the store using produce bags as makeshift gloves to steer her carriage and thought it might be a good idea
One idea that I had and have been wanting to do is to attempt sourdough starter. Anyone have a tried and true method for me to try??
Tonight we had steak fajitas. I was only able to get one small pkg of meat to feed 3 adults and a pre teen boy. I was really apprehensive it wouldn’t be enough! But I bought a very small package of yellow rice. I put a spoonful of that into the tortilla first, then added everything else (cheese, meat, peppers). It was really good! I didn’t really even taste it, but it helped fill everyone up. I will be making it like that from now on since DH isn’t supposed to have much red meat anyway!
You can perk up canned refried beans by warming them up in bacon fat and adding a little oregano. cumin and chile powder. They are great on corn or flour tortillas with salsa, cheese, guacamole and/or sour cream.
I got a four pound leg of lamb. Half of it went on skewers and got grilled and served with a chipotle peanut sauce I bought at the farmer’s market last fall and forgot to use. (It’s basically satay and delicous.) The other half I made into my Mom’s curry which is saute some onion and some garlic in a mix of curry spices (measuring not allowed). Throw in some canned tomato, an apple if you have one, add lamb and cook a while, then add some potato or other vegetable cook till the vegetable is done. You can serve it with rice and whatever condiments you like. We just had chutney today, but my mom used to cut up a banana and chop up peanuts as well.
I have used the Instapot 3 nights now. Pork chops with apples onions and sweet potatoes, spaghetti and meatballs, and corned beef with cabbage potatoes and carrots. Coming up chicken stew and beef stew. Left overs in freezer.
We had some kale still that wintered over in the garden. I sauteed it with onions, turkey sausage (asiago flavored, bought a bunch on sale), can of diced tomatoes, and assorted spices. some wine. Couscous on the side.