So an Englishman is in a grimy American diner and he orders the soup of the day. When he gets it he looks at it and says, ‘Good lord! What is this?’ The waitress says, ‘It’s bean soup.’ The Englishman says, ‘I don’t care what it’s been. What is it now?’
Anyway, I made a crock of ham hocks and black eyed peas yesterday. In looking through the cupboard I see that I have a pound each of dry red kidney beans, Navy beans, large lima beans, black beans, and split peas. I know what I’m going to do with the lima beans and the split peas: Ham and limas, and split pea soup with ham. I think I know what I’m going to do with the black beans: Cook them in a crock with a couple tablespoons of cumin seeds, which I will crush with a mortar and pestal, a chopped yellow onion, and maybe a can of stewed tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes. (I’ll take under advisement any other ideas.)
So what about the red kidney beans and the Navy beans? How about a chili recipe using the red beans? (Yes, yes; I know.) For the other, Navy bean soup? Boston baked beans?
I was shocked to learn that purists don’t consider chili with beans to be real chili, I tell you!
Pound of lean ground beef
Two small cans tomato paste
Two medium cans tomato puree
Two or three large cans red kidney beans
One or two onions
Chopped red pepper
A lot of chili powder
Garlic, quite a bit
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
A smigeon of cayenne
A smigeon of cinnamon
Brown beef, add chopped onions, cook. Add seasonings. Transfer to large pot. Start opening cans and dumping in ingredients. Simmer for a couple of hours.
Eat.
It tastes better to me after freezing, though, so I like to make a big pot and freeze two-serving-size portions. I have been known to shred zucchini and put it in there, too, sneaking more vegetables in.
After about age 30, chili started making me toot, so I now eat it over rice, and the toots are no more. I make it a bit spicier (more chili powder, and stuff) if I’m going to serve it over rice.
Upon posting, I see your kidney beans are dried. I haven’t cooked with a lot of dry beans, so I just make my mother’s 1960s-era, can-intensive recipe.
I would like to get into eating more beans that don’t come in cans, as they’re good for ya, but I’m intimidated by the packets of dried beans. Who’s got beginner-friendly recipes for those?
I’d probably make navy bean & ham soup with those.
For the kidney beans, Red Beans and Rice. (There’s a different kind of red bean you’re supposed to use, but I usually use kidney beans because they’re easier to find.)
Saute some minced onion, carrots and garlic in some olive oil until soft. Add the soaked beans and water. I usually put some bouillon in for salt and flavoring. You can throw in a hamhock instead, if’n ya wanna. Cook until done.
When they’re close to done, make some rice.
Brown some andouille sausage (or a smoked sausage, if you can’t find andouille) and serve alongside. You can put the sausage in with the beans instead, it adds flavor but tends to be a bit greasy for me.
Serve with baguette or other crusty bread and a salad. [channelling justin wilson]Hoooey dat’s good! I guarontee![/cjw]
Ham hocks and black eyed peas. If you don’t like black eyed peas, you can use pinto beans instead.
Soak a pound of dried beans overnight. Rinse. Put the beans in a crock pot or slow cooker. Add a couple of smoked ham hocks and cover with water. Cover and cook on high for about six or eight hours. Remove the ham hocks. Remove the skin, fat and bones from the ham hocks, mash up the meat a bit, and stir the meat back into the pot.
Split pea soup is easy. I made it with leftover corned beef and cabbage stock and it was too saly to eat. So just boil the peas in water (no need to soak them) with some ham. Add salt if you didn’t get enough from the ham.
My variant on Beans and Rice - Risotto with beans. Make a basic risotto, add some crispy fried ham when sauteeing the onions/arborio at the beginning, add cooked beans closer to the end of cooking the rice (before the last couple ladles stock), add small-leaved English spinach at the end (so they wilt, but are not mushy).
Vary the meat (bacon or pancetta rather than ham), the beans (speckled, kidney, haricot), the greens (rocket? Cress? herbs - rosemary is good)
I made my bean soup on Saturday - YUM! I prepare the (Navy) beans using the quick soak method - put a pound of beans in about 6-8 cups of water and bring to boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then take it off the heat, cover, and let soak for an hour, drain.
I had a ham bone saved from Easter, and I put that in the bean pot with about 6 cups of water. I had some “Little Smokies” smoked sausage that I chopped into quarters and fried up along with 1/2 pound of bacon and a chopped onion. I drained off the fat, and added the fried stuff to the pot. After it had been simmering for an hour, I took out the ham bone, and cut off the meat and added it back to the pot. Then I added some more leftover ham, thyme, white wine, salt, and pepper. Another 45 minutes of cooking, and it was ready to serve, along with some nice fresh baked bread.
Finally got round to making some more beans. I used the red beans, which I’d soaked overnight. I added sliced pork andouille sausage, an onion, a can of organic diced tomatoes, and seven teaspoons of Cajun spices and let it simmer for a few hours. I made a big batch of white rice and mixed everything together. Needs more cayenne pepper, but it turned out tasty.
I also made cornbread from scratch for the first time. I forgot the time and it baked four minutes longer than intended. Fortunately it didn’t burn. I baked it in one of my 10" cast iron skillets. I turned the cornbread out onto a plate, and it just fell out of the pan. Hurray for nicely seasoned cast iron! I used a Southern recipe for the cornbread, so there’s no sugar in it. It tastes good with butter and honey. Now that I know I can make basic cornbread, I think I’ll make some jalapeño cornbread in the near future.
Edit: On re-read it looks as if I made my red beans and rice in a way ver similar to redtail23’s recipe.
This is the red beans and rice recipe I use, and I get the small red beans at Safeway, their house brand. I add a few splashes of liquid smoke and a coffee spoon of red pepper jelly to the beans as well. Nums!
Chili with beans is fine by me. Who can eat a whole bowl of meat?
It’s the tomatoes I have a quibble with. Once you’re made chili with a proper amount of chile, you’ll never poison your pot with a tomato again.
Here’s John Thorne on chili. Ignore what he has to say about beans; he disagrees with me, and is therefore incorrect. But the other shit he has to say is primo.
