Sunday night
Dec. 20th, 2009 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmithThe thing is, I had never used dried beans before.
I knew you had to soak them--well, depending on the bean--but I had never actually soaked any. So I didn't know how long it would take and what they would look like and how much water they would soak up. So when I found this recipe for Smoked Sausage and White Bean soup, I thought hey, what a great way to get rid of the pound of kielbasa that has been in the freezer for too long *and* break in the new french oven. I also thought, hey, I like beans, and thick soups. I'll just soak three pounds of beans instead of one. So I took one bag of navy beans and two bags of great northern beans, tossed them into my 4-qt mixing bowl, and added water to cover. They filled less than half the bowl. No worries.
I realized a few hours later that I had a problem. Not as bad as beet pulp, but still. I split the beans into two containers, added lots more water, then went to bed. Awoke to find that they had taken up a little more water. After a total of 12 hours, they had increased in size to the point that they filled the 4-qt bowl to the brim, and weighed about 6 pounds instead of the original 3.
I couldn't use all the beans in the soup. I like baked beans, and thought why not. I found this recipe and went to work. Omitted the peppers and the soy sauce, and added maple syrup. Had less than the required amount of bbq sauce, but added a full bottle of amber ale. Tossed it all in a roast pan and put it in the oven.
You will notice that the beans in the recipe are canned.
Then it was on to the soup. Used some of the bacon fat along with the olive oil to saute the onion and garlic. Added chopped celery, carrots, and turnip because. Cleared out just about all my chicken stock. Also added white wine. Some chilis in adobo that I found in the freezer. Some tomato paste. Stuff started cooking at 1130. At least the recipe stated that it could take longer than three hours for the beans to cook. This was when I realized that the baked beans would take at least as long, and that there wasn't enough liquid in the roast pan to allow the beans to cook properly.
So. I checked the roast pan every half hour or so, stirred the little bullets, and added more liquid. Veggie stock. Water, water, and more water. A slug of dark rum. I knew they would soften eventually unless the beans were really stale.
The soup was ready by 330. I took out half the beans and mashed them with a potato masher, then returned them to the pot. At 430, the baked beans were pretty much done. They are dark, dark brown, and not as sweet as canned. Smoky, a little. Rich. I hope they freeze well, because I have a lot of them.
The soup came out well. Lovely color. A little on the hot side, but good. I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to because I was kinda full from tasting beans for doneness all day, I had a headache by that point, and I knew from experience that soup like this tastes better the next day. I have five meals worth to freeze, and a quart or so for the week.
Soup:
Beans:
In other news, MW '09 reports still no mice. Gaby continues well--she's outside now, yodeling at something. King is in here in the office with me, sleeping. I have some day job work to do. Blackhawks are on tonight. Not looking forward to Monday, as always, but at least it's a short week. Two days, then out for five. Yea.
I knew you had to soak them--well, depending on the bean--but I had never actually soaked any. So I didn't know how long it would take and what they would look like and how much water they would soak up. So when I found this recipe for Smoked Sausage and White Bean soup, I thought hey, what a great way to get rid of the pound of kielbasa that has been in the freezer for too long *and* break in the new french oven. I also thought, hey, I like beans, and thick soups. I'll just soak three pounds of beans instead of one. So I took one bag of navy beans and two bags of great northern beans, tossed them into my 4-qt mixing bowl, and added water to cover. They filled less than half the bowl. No worries.
I realized a few hours later that I had a problem. Not as bad as beet pulp, but still. I split the beans into two containers, added lots more water, then went to bed. Awoke to find that they had taken up a little more water. After a total of 12 hours, they had increased in size to the point that they filled the 4-qt bowl to the brim, and weighed about 6 pounds instead of the original 3.
I couldn't use all the beans in the soup. I like baked beans, and thought why not. I found this recipe and went to work. Omitted the peppers and the soy sauce, and added maple syrup. Had less than the required amount of bbq sauce, but added a full bottle of amber ale. Tossed it all in a roast pan and put it in the oven.
You will notice that the beans in the recipe are canned.
Then it was on to the soup. Used some of the bacon fat along with the olive oil to saute the onion and garlic. Added chopped celery, carrots, and turnip because. Cleared out just about all my chicken stock. Also added white wine. Some chilis in adobo that I found in the freezer. Some tomato paste. Stuff started cooking at 1130. At least the recipe stated that it could take longer than three hours for the beans to cook. This was when I realized that the baked beans would take at least as long, and that there wasn't enough liquid in the roast pan to allow the beans to cook properly.
So. I checked the roast pan every half hour or so, stirred the little bullets, and added more liquid. Veggie stock. Water, water, and more water. A slug of dark rum. I knew they would soften eventually unless the beans were really stale.
The soup was ready by 330. I took out half the beans and mashed them with a potato masher, then returned them to the pot. At 430, the baked beans were pretty much done. They are dark, dark brown, and not as sweet as canned. Smoky, a little. Rich. I hope they freeze well, because I have a lot of them.
The soup came out well. Lovely color. A little on the hot side, but good. I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to because I was kinda full from tasting beans for doneness all day, I had a headache by that point, and I knew from experience that soup like this tastes better the next day. I have five meals worth to freeze, and a quart or so for the week.
Soup:
Beans:
In other news, MW '09 reports still no mice. Gaby continues well--she's outside now, yodeling at something. King is in here in the office with me, sleeping. I have some day job work to do. Blackhawks are on tonight. Not looking forward to Monday, as always, but at least it's a short week. Two days, then out for five. Yea.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-29 08:34 pm (UTC)Jody in PA.