Some Notes on Beans

Here are a few basic tips about cooking with beans (specifically dry beans):

Beans are very easy to prepare, so long as you allow enough time and use enough water. Don't be scared of them!

There are a lot of kinds of beans, but most of them are pretty interchangable. For example the classic "beans and rice" that is served in most of Central/South America is prepared similarly in most areas, but different regions use different beans, according to what grows locally. In Sao Paulo they use pink beans, but I've used the exact same recipe with pinto beans, and my sister prefers it with black beans. SO, if the recipe calls for one kind of bean and you don't have it, get adventurous and substitute in something that you do have!

Use LOTS of water. Having a bit extra won't hurt anything, but having too little can make a scorched, stinky mess. The recipes rarely give specific measurments, so I just put in the beans, then water to twice the height of the beans, then check in on them every so often, and add more water if it gets below the level of the beans.

Beans take a loooong time to cook. I prefer to cook them overnight in the crockpot, but if you want to do them in one day make sure you allow at LEAST 3 hours for preparation. I still recommend letting them soak overnight beforehand, but there are "quick preparation" methods which can be done in just a few hours.

Beans grow a lot when cooked--the average bean (or lentil) will more than double in size...so 1 cup of dry beans will go a long way!

The average bean is fairly bland, which is why you can get away with making them into foods ranging from a main dish to a dip to even pie! As a main dish, I like to serve them with something more flavorful--either some kind of sauce, or something cooked in a good bone broth. When I make beans and rice, I cook the rice in broth which adds flavor to it. I suppose you could cook the beans in broth but I've never tried it.

I do hope to learn a bit more about the various types of beans, and when I do I will add those specifics to this post (which ones are best for various recipes, etc)

Finally, it IS on my blogroll, but if you're interested in more bean recipes, visit my friend Katie's Beans & Rice blog. ☺

Bone Broth

(I originally posted most of this here, and you might appreciate some of the comments that were left there. However it's still worth reading here as this post has additional information and links.)

The best broth in the world comes from bones, not from meat. Bones are full of nutrients, and even when the meat is gone, bones can provide several more meals if you know what to do with them. At our house, bones never end up in the garbage can!

The best part of the bird, really!

Here's a short overview:

• Bones (in the marrow) have lots of vitamins in them. The best way to get those nutrients out is to leech it out into broth. You know how you always heard that chicken soup was good when you're sick? Well, if it's made with real bone broth, it actually does have immuno-boosting properties! If you add 1 Tbs or so of vinegar to the water, it helps to get the nutrients out of the bone and into the broth. (This is in a 6-7qt crockpot)
• Add 1 Tbs salt (ideally unrefined sea salt!). It will taste really weird without it, I know it seems like a ton of salt, but good unrefined salt is actually really good for you--your body needs it for blood production and adrenal support.
  Adding onion, celery, garlic, or other herbs can make for a richer broth, but they are optional.
• Putting fat and skin in the broth will make it nice and fatty, and it does taste good, but those parts of the animal (especially poultry) tend to hold toxins, so many people prefer to avoid having them in the broth.
• Putting meat in the broth will not add to flavor, and it will suck the flavor out of the meat...so strip off the meat, then make the broth with just the bones. After the broth is done, strain it, and then if you want to make soup go ahead and put the meat back in at the end.
• Feel free to use bones that have been nibbled...after all, 12 hours of boiling will destroy any germs...
• If you don't have enough bones to make a broth yet, just save them in the freezer until you do have enough.
• Once made, bone broth can be canned in a pressure cooker and kept in the pantry, or it can be refrigerated or frozen. My mom puts it in a jar in the fridge to cool, then freezes it in ice cube trays. Once it's frozen into cubes, she stores it in a big ziplock bag in the freezer. Anytime she has a recipe that calls for broth, she can easily grab a cube or two or five and toss them in!
• Oh yeah, real bone broth tastes better than that canned stuff or *gag*choke* MSG-laden bullion. Use it for soups, sauces, graveys, or even cooking rice.
• "Broth is Beautiful" (published by the WestonAPrice Foundation)--this page has lots of information about the health benefits of bone broth, as well as specific recipes for chicken, beef, and fish stock, and how to use your stock to make sauces (the recipes are at the bottom--just scroll down).
  
• "Why Broth is Beautiful" is a lengthy article (with lots of references) explaining more of the health benefits of bone broth.
  

Chicken and Turkey Put the bones in a crockpot, cover them with water, and let them simmer at least overnight (they can stay as long as 2 days if you don't get to them sooner, but we find 24 hours to be ideal) . If you don't have a crockpot, you can let them simmer on the stove for at least 4-5 hours (ideally 8-12). At this point the bones will be bending, breaking, and literally falling apart. This is good--it means you've gotten all the nutrients out of them! Strain out all the solids, and voila, the best broth you've ever had.

Beef Same as chicken, just stick the bones in a crockpot or stockpot, and let them simmer for hours...

Ham Take that hambone and stick it in the pot along with any bits of leftover ham, plenty of water, and lots of beans. My mom always used pinto beans, my mother in law uses white 'navy' beans. You can pretty much use whatever you like. Add some onion, garlic, celery, or whatever else strikes your fancy. Let it simmer all day...

Fish I confess that I can't stand fish broth, but it's mostly because I don't care for most seafood...if you like seafood, or even a good clam chowder, try making fish broth! The whole heads can go in, so this is an especially good option if you catch your own fish, or buy them with the heads on. ☺

Pork (ribs etc) Honestly, we usually give these ones to the dog. She loves them. However pork bones can make a stock just like any other bones.

Mmmm, nothin like real broth!

(I know it looks ikky, but I just wish you could smell this picture!)

Great Grandma's Sugar Cookies

We had been making this recipe for years. It was extremely rich and we loved eating the cookies, but the dough was soft and could be difficult to work with if not chilled well enough (we had to put it back in the fridge between batches). When I was in my late teens, my mother came across another sugar cookie recipe and said "hey, this is almost the same as great-grandmas, except that instead of 1 cup of butter, it has 1 cube..." ...and then the light came on. Somewhere along the line someone had written "1c" instead of 1 cube, and ever since then we'd been doing a double portion of butter in the cookies. Since then I have opted to use 3/4 cup of butter--halfway in between the two. It maintains the rich flavor of our old recipe, but is much easier to work with.

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
a dash of almond extract if desired
2 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Add flour.
Chill thoroughly (at least an hour). Keep firm in order to handle (any portion you are not working with should be put back in the fridge). Roll out about 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters. Place on a very lightly greased cookie sheet with space between cookies (dough will spread a little). Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Cookies can be frosted, but I prefer to sprinkle them with colored sugar (or sprinkles) before cooking...they are rich enough without frosting, and sugar is just as pretty without the mess!

Meltaway Christmas Cookies

My mother had been making these for years, and told me that she liked them as a Christmas cookie. With sugar cookie snowmen in competition, I could never understand why she felt this was a holiday treat... After I was married I made them one day and my husband said "this is what they make at Christmas in Norway!" Aha!
makes 5 doz

1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour

Heat oven to 400*. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, vanilla. Stir in flour. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet (I roll little balls). (Cookies don’t spread.) Bake about 10 min, until set but not brown. While still warm, roll in powdered sugar.

Cardamom Bread

A braided Christmas tradition from Scandinavia.
I grew up with this from my Danish ancestors...imagine my delight to learn that my husband had grown up with an almost identical recipe--from his Finnish ancestors! While our recipes are the same, our methods of eating are different: the Danes frost it and put on maraschino cherries (as pictured) and then tear off chunks from the braid, while the Finns slice it, toast it, and eat it with butter. We all eat it strictly at Christmas--my family saves it for Christmas morning, but my husband's family enjoys it throughout the holiday season.
makes 2 large (or 6-8 small) loaves

8 cups flour
2 cups scalded milk
2 Tbs yeast
1/2 cup warm water (for the yeast to grow in)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup melted butter
1 tsp cardamom (powdered form, not the whole pods!)

Dissolve yeast in water and set aside. Mix milk, butter, sugar, egg, salt, cardamom, and a little of the flour and beat until smooth. Add yeast and mix again. Add the rest of the flour and beat well. Knead for about 10 minutes. Cover dough and let it rise until double. Place on a floured board and knead until smooth. Divide into 6 even-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a 'snake' and braid together into 2 loaves, tucking the ends under.
Put loves on a large greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 375* until golden brown--about 20 minutes for large loaves (less for smaller loaves).

If you are new to bread making, check out my bread making tips!

Sweet Pumpkin Pie

I got this recipe from my sister, who got it off a kitchen towel. Seriously, she did! Could I make that up?!

15 oz can pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (or homemade)
1 graham cracker crust

Preheat oven to 425'F. Beat together pumpkin, eggs, spices and milk. Pour into shell. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 350'F. Bake 35-40 minutes longer until done

[sister's notes]
I covered just the sides (crust) with foil before baking, so they were protected and the middle was exposed.
I baked it a lot longer than it said, until it stopped wiggling in the middle.
It was so darn yummy, I didn't even need whipped cream!

Peppermint Pie

There's a real irony to the fact that I like this pie...because I hate marshmallows! But somehow, when it's peppermint...well, nothing can be wrong with the world when I can smell peppermint!!

Makes 1 8" pie
If you want to make a 9" pie, or a deep dish, you need to double the recipe!

graham cracker crust (or a chocolate crumb crust!)
24 large marshmallows (or 3 cups minis)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
6 drops peppermint extract (doubled = 1/4 tsp)
6 drops red food color (doubled = 1/4 tsp)
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 Tbs crushed peppermint candy (this is great for leftover candy canes! Be sure to really crush them up though)

Heat marshmallows and milk in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, just until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, peppermint extract, and food color. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon.
Beat whipping cream in a chilled bowl until stiff. Stir marshmallow mixture until blended, and then fold into whipping cream. Pour into crust. Refrigerate at least 12 hours. *Just before serving, sprinkle with crushed candy.

Alternately, make it as bars instead of a pie. (I actually like this better, because I think the proportions of crust to filling come out nicer. Press the graham cracker crust into the bottom of a 8 or 9" square dish (make sure it's greased!). Don't put the crust up the sides--just on the bottom. Make a single batch of filling, and spread it over the crust. Put it in the fridge to set up overnight. Cut into squares. The first one will probably be hard to lift out (you might have to eat it ☺) but the rest should come up nice and pretty, something like cheesecake squares... :)
*if you sprinkle the candy on too early, it will sink into the pie rather than staying on top! If you do it more than an hour before serving, the colors from the candy will bleed onto the pie and the whole thing just looks a bit sad...