I am tempted to start out with that poem my brother used to say in front of my friends, just to embarrass me. But I'm going to resist the urge. We both know it and surely agree that there is a good amount of truth to that stinky old poem. I think Ben Franklin wrote it, by the way. I don't know if he did, but it sounds like him. He was a naughty Founding Father, that Ben.
No need to say a lot about beans today. They're good for you and everyone knows it. Except for that one friend of mine who still thinks...well, never mind. I don't count her.
Tonight's menu:
A Big Ol' Pot of Great Northern Beans
Cottage Cheese - I prefer Small Curd, whole fat.
Cornbread (I just use the recipe on the back of cornmeal)
Fresh tomatoes, chopped (if you have them on hand) or a can of chopped tomatoes
A small tossed salad - I throw this in for my husband who is of mixed Northern extraction.
This is how my mama always cooked beans, so I think it qualifies as a Southern recipe. Southerners love beans, which unfortunately, brings me back to that poem...
Great Northern Beans
1 bag of dry Great Northern Beans (or you can use Navy Beans - most any beans can be prepared this way.)
Soak beans overnight, or at least for a few hours in the morning. Drain water off. Put in a pot and fill with fresh water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Allow to simmer.
(If you don't soak the beans first, you can still cook them for the evening, but the poem we both know so well will take on a renewed meaning. Plan on cooking unsoaked beans for several hours. Bring to a boil, drain, and bring to a boil again. Crock Pots come in handy at times like this.)
Chop the following, or cut into bite sized pieces and Add to beans:
1 giant clove of elephant garlic or 3 or 4 cloves of regular garlic
1 large onion (Vidalias are my favorite)
1 or 2 stalks of celery
2 whole carrots or a dozen mini-carrots
1/2 bell pepper, if you'd like bell peppers
Add 1 teaspoon salt - you're going to want more. Add and taste, add and taste. Let it meld between tastings. Salt can sneak up on you when you're not looking. Sea Salt is best. Kosher is good, too.
2 or 3 fresh or dry whole Bay leaves
Optional:
A hunk of Salt Pork or a couple of slices of bacon - to reduce fat, you can cook and drain the bacon, and crumble into beans.
Before serving:
Add fresh ground pepper. I never use canned pre-ground pepper.
Bring everything to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. You'll need to add more water in 20 or 30 minutes, and keep adding water as needed. Cook a couple of hours, or until tender.
About 30 minutes before supper is to be served, cook the cornbread. I don't have my cornbread recipe here, because I use the one on the back of whatever package of cornmeal. They're all basically the same. If I want to go "gluten free" or less gluten, which I will tonight, I substitute wheat flour with spelt flour (a non GMO wheat) or a blend of rice and tapioca flours, and maybe some ground almond meal, which I buy at Trader Joe's. The secret to cornbread is to cook it in an iron skillet, heated in the oven and seasoned with butter or olive oil before pouring the cornbread in. Then stick it in the oven and bake.
When ready to serve, remove the Bay leaves (especially if serving for kids. The school cooks left them in when I was a kid, and I was grossed out with having leaves in my lunch.) Put the cottage cheese and tomatoes into pretty bowls and serve. We never do that, but it's a much more pleasant experience when you do. I'm going to do it tonight just to be fancy.
Now this is what makes beans and cornbread...well, Beans and Cornbread:
Cut a serving of cornbread in half, and lay open in a large dinner bowl. Put the beans on top of the cornbread, and cottage cheese on top of that. Top with tomatoes. Or you can put the tomatoes and cottage cheese on the bottom. Whatever. Heat in the oven or microwave until the cottage cheese begins to melt and everything is all hot and sassy.
Yum! Beans and Cornbread. Health food from Mama's kitchen to yours.
Excuse me whilst I check the beans...
They're ready already! It's not even been one and a half hours. Time for a teeny weeny taste of the Beanies...need just a liiittle more salt.
Note: This is a great Crock Pot food, as I hinted above. After soaking overnight, put the beans with water and veggies and spices in a crock pot and cover. Voila! It'll be done when you get home!
(Pesky Alter Ego: Did you tell them about the jalapenos?
Moi: It's not Jalapenos. It's pronounced: Jalapenos. But you'd spell it like, "Halapenios".
Alter Ego: I don't get it. Why din't you spell it like that in the first place?
Moi: I know you don't get it. You're not real, Annoying Alter-Ego. Anyway, Mama never used jalapenos.
Alter Ego: Well, I like it best with a dollop of Jalapenos on top.
Moi: That's not a dollop. It's a "few". Besides, this is Mama's recipe. She was probably 60 the first time she even tasted jalapenos. And you're not even Mexican, for goodness sake, Pain-in-the-neck Alter Ego.
Alter Ego: So? And you are not Franch.)
Sigh. Later, Gaters. Ignore that last imaginary conversation. It's beneath your dignity to even read such foolishness. It's beneath mine to write it, but I can't help myself.
Until next time, Happy Beans to You!
 |
| The Cook's Taste - Mmmm! |
No need to say a lot about beans today. They're good for you and everyone knows it. Except for that one friend of mine who still thinks...well, never mind. I don't count her.
Tonight's menu:
A Big Ol' Pot of Great Northern Beans
Cottage Cheese - I prefer Small Curd, whole fat.
Cornbread (I just use the recipe on the back of cornmeal)
Fresh tomatoes, chopped (if you have them on hand) or a can of chopped tomatoes
A small tossed salad - I throw this in for my husband who is of mixed Northern extraction.
This is how my mama always cooked beans, so I think it qualifies as a Southern recipe. Southerners love beans, which unfortunately, brings me back to that poem...
 |
| Cookin', cookin', cookin'! |
Great Northern Beans
1 bag of dry Great Northern Beans (or you can use Navy Beans - most any beans can be prepared this way.)
Soak beans overnight, or at least for a few hours in the morning. Drain water off. Put in a pot and fill with fresh water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Allow to simmer.
(If you don't soak the beans first, you can still cook them for the evening, but the poem we both know so well will take on a renewed meaning. Plan on cooking unsoaked beans for several hours. Bring to a boil, drain, and bring to a boil again. Crock Pots come in handy at times like this.)
Chop the following, or cut into bite sized pieces and Add to beans:
1 giant clove of elephant garlic or 3 or 4 cloves of regular garlic
1 large onion (Vidalias are my favorite)
1 or 2 stalks of celery
2 whole carrots or a dozen mini-carrots
1/2 bell pepper, if you'd like bell peppers
Add 1 teaspoon salt - you're going to want more. Add and taste, add and taste. Let it meld between tastings. Salt can sneak up on you when you're not looking. Sea Salt is best. Kosher is good, too.
2 or 3 fresh or dry whole Bay leaves
Optional:
A hunk of Salt Pork or a couple of slices of bacon - to reduce fat, you can cook and drain the bacon, and crumble into beans.
Before serving:
Add fresh ground pepper. I never use canned pre-ground pepper.
Bring everything to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. You'll need to add more water in 20 or 30 minutes, and keep adding water as needed. Cook a couple of hours, or until tender.
About 30 minutes before supper is to be served, cook the cornbread. I don't have my cornbread recipe here, because I use the one on the back of whatever package of cornmeal. They're all basically the same. If I want to go "gluten free" or less gluten, which I will tonight, I substitute wheat flour with spelt flour (a non GMO wheat) or a blend of rice and tapioca flours, and maybe some ground almond meal, which I buy at Trader Joe's. The secret to cornbread is to cook it in an iron skillet, heated in the oven and seasoned with butter or olive oil before pouring the cornbread in. Then stick it in the oven and bake.
When ready to serve, remove the Bay leaves (especially if serving for kids. The school cooks left them in when I was a kid, and I was grossed out with having leaves in my lunch.) Put the cottage cheese and tomatoes into pretty bowls and serve. We never do that, but it's a much more pleasant experience when you do. I'm going to do it tonight just to be fancy.
Now this is what makes beans and cornbread...well, Beans and Cornbread:
Cut a serving of cornbread in half, and lay open in a large dinner bowl. Put the beans on top of the cornbread, and cottage cheese on top of that. Top with tomatoes. Or you can put the tomatoes and cottage cheese on the bottom. Whatever. Heat in the oven or microwave until the cottage cheese begins to melt and everything is all hot and sassy.
Yum! Beans and Cornbread. Health food from Mama's kitchen to yours.
Excuse me whilst I check the beans...
They're ready already! It's not even been one and a half hours. Time for a teeny weeny taste of the Beanies...need just a liiittle more salt.
Note: This is a great Crock Pot food, as I hinted above. After soaking overnight, put the beans with water and veggies and spices in a crock pot and cover. Voila! It'll be done when you get home!
(Pesky Alter Ego: Did you tell them about the jalapenos?
Moi: It's not Jalapenos. It's pronounced: Jalapenos. But you'd spell it like, "Halapenios".
Alter Ego: I don't get it. Why din't you spell it like that in the first place?
Moi: I know you don't get it. You're not real, Annoying Alter-Ego. Anyway, Mama never used jalapenos.
Alter Ego: Well, I like it best with a dollop of Jalapenos on top.
Moi: That's not a dollop. It's a "few". Besides, this is Mama's recipe. She was probably 60 the first time she even tasted jalapenos. And you're not even Mexican, for goodness sake, Pain-in-the-neck Alter Ego.
Alter Ego: So? And you are not Franch.)
Sigh. Later, Gaters. Ignore that last imaginary conversation. It's beneath your dignity to even read such foolishness. It's beneath mine to write it, but I can't help myself.
Until next time, Happy Beans to You!
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