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Directions
A bag of bean tricks to help you buy, soak, cook & store dry beans.
Canned beans do not require additional cooking since they have been
thoroughly cooked in the canning process, but there are several ways
of preparing dry beans for cooking. All start with a thorough
inspection for damaged beans and foreign material, then washing in
cold water. The next step, which is highly recommended, is soaking
the beans. This not only helps make the beans cook faster, it also
improves flavor, texture, appearance and digestibility. For maximum
improvement of these factors, it is recommended that the soak water
be discarded and the beans rinsed and cooked in fresh water.
SOAKING TIPS: Hot-soak (preferred) and Quick-soak method.
For every pound of dry beans, any variety, add 10 cups of hot water.
Remember beans will rehydrated to at least twice theri dry size, so
be sure to start with a large enough pot. (Note: up to 2 teaspoons of
salt per pound of beans *may* be added to help the beans absorb water
more evenly.) Heat to boiling, let boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove
from heat, cover and set aside for at least 1 hour (quick-soak
method), but *preferably* four hours or more. The longer soaking
time is recommended to allow a greater amount of the gas-causing
properties to dissolve in the water, thus helping the beans to be
more easily digested and lessening the aftereffects. Whether you soak
the beans for an hour or several hours, remember to DISCARD THE SOAK
WATER.
COOKING TIPS: (for each pound of dry beans)
Standard method: Drain and rinse soaked beans; put into a good- sized
kettle. Add 6 cup of hot water, 1 to 2 Tablespoons shortening and 2
teaspoons salt. Boil gently with lid tilted until desired tenderness
is reached.
Savory Method: Use standard method (above), but use 2 teaspoons
onion salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt instead of plain salt. Add 1
Tablespoon chicken stock base or 3 to 4 bouillon cubes and 1/4
teaspoon white pepper.
* Simmer beans slowly. Cooking too fast can break skins.
* Acid slows down cooking. Add tomatoes, vinegar, etc. last.
* Add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (no more) per pound of beans
when cooking in hard water to shorten cooking time.
* At high altitudes, beans take longer to cook. A pressure cooker
helps, but follow manufacturer's directions. [Personal note: Tom says
1/2 hour in the pressure cooker at 15 lbs pressure is equivalent to
cooking them overnight. Don't put too many beans in the pressure
cooker, as they expand: you don't want to plug up the vent hole.)
* Refried beans are made from freshly cooked pinto, pink, red or
kidney beans, mashed and cooked in a skillet with bacon drippings,
lard, oil, butter or margarine.
[ California Dry Bean Advisory Board ] Posted by Shelley Rodgers.
Courtesy of Fred Peters.
Servings: 6 servings
A Bag Of Bean Tricks Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bean; Pressure Cooker
The History of Recipes
Written recipes as a concept can be found way back into the distant past, in fact as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that maybe, generally, these old records were just simple pictorial instructions for preparing food.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe found, according to experts is a series of clay tablets in Sumerian which describe the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel `blissful`. Later on, in The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of documents which described recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his works, Apicius recounts how the roman meals were divided into appetizers, entrees and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius also tells us how the ancient Romans used many aromatic flavours, including some that we all recognise for example basil, mint and parsley. Later on in the 1400s, knights returning from the crusades brought back many new spices and herbs from the holy land, including coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices led to an outbreak in recipe books, many of which still exist in private cookery archives. For the decades that followed, the upper-class families of the West tried to serve up the most exotic banquets, and consequentially the best cooks and their recipes were highly sought after. Nevertheless, it was during the 1800s that cookery and recipe collections became really popular. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated their lives to collecting, trying out, and recording the recipes of their peers. By the time we get to the 20th century, cookery publications were increasing in popularity mostly due to better eduction, people having more leisure time and being a little richer. The arrival of television brings us celebrity chefs and the accompanying recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everyone to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this A Bag Of Bean Tricks recipe.
