Beans for the Backyard Barbeque

My mom always made pretty good baked beans. She started with cans of Campbell's pork and beans, adding a little of this and a little of that.  Dad was the real bean-eater in the family and baked beans always remind me of him.  He'd eat pork and beans cold right out of the can if Mom wasn't round to see him do it.  I could never get my baked beans to taste as good as hers and simply gave up when I stumbled across Bush's baked beans--you know, the ones in a can made with a family recipe so guarded that the dog doesn't even know it.  They are good, really convenient and most people like them, but they lack the baked taste or texture or whatever that special something is that homemade baked beans have.

So...this past Memorial Day, with my mind and creative energies being focused on beans, I was determined to create baked beans 100% from scratch and better than Mom's.  My original intention was to use the oven and honestly bake the beans, but good baked beans require six to eight hours bake time and I just couldn't bare running the oven for that long on a ninety degree day.  I looked at several recipes and came up with what I think turned out to be a darn good crockpot version of baked beans  The secret (mine and the Bushes), I have decided, is time.  From washing the beans to scraping the bottom of the crockpot of its last sticky bean took about twenty hours.  This is just one of those things that cannot be rushed if it is to be done right.  This recipe is worth the time.  The reviewers at my Memorial Day BBQ gave these a two thumbs up!

Memorial Day Baked Beans in a crockpot

2 cups navy beans, washed well
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tblsp. yellow mustard
1/4 pound thick bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

In  a crockpot, cover beans with 6 to 8 cups water and soak overnight.  Drain water and rinse the beans then return them to the crockpot.  Cover beans with water so that the water level is about 2 inches above the beans.  Add onion bay leaf, and salt.  Cook on high until the beans are soft and easy to mash with a fork (about 2 hours).  Drain, reserving 3 cups of the cooking liquid.  Stir into the beans the 3 cups liquid and remaining ingredients.  Cover and continue to cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or on low for 4 to 5 hours.

Creamed Bean Francais

Twenty-two years ago I ended my one-year teaching career in order to be a stay-at-home mom to our soon-to-be-born first baby.  Jeff had also quit his job so that we could move from Washington, D.C. to a city where we could more easily live on one income.  While he was looking for permanent employment in Minneapolis, Jeff worked for a temp agency.  Needless to say, finances were tight. 

My midwife suggested I sign the baby and myself up for WIC (a government program that provides nutritious food for women, infants and children).  So, for four or five months we qualified to receive vouchers for milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, and ...dried beans.  It is because of WIC that I learned to cook and like eating legumes.  During one monthly meeting with a county nutritionist I was walked through the basics of cooking beans and given the book titled If You Don't Know Beans About Beans...or even if you do *.  In addition to a lot of basic information on legumes, this book has nearly seventy bean recipes.  I was thumbing through it last week when I noticed that my nutritionist had starred the Creamed Bean Francais recipe and I remembered her saying that it was her personal favorite.  I decided to make it for dinner with a few changes of my own. 

Verdict:  The family said it was good.  It reminded me of au gratin scalloped potatoes.  And I will definitely make this again. 

*Erickson, Kay, ed., If You Don't Know Beans About Beans...or even if you do; Saint Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul-Ramsey County Nutrition Program, 1985.

Creamed Bean Francais, tweeked
(or, Beans Au Gratin...either way, it's French!)

4 cups cooked, Great Northern beans (navy, or blackeyed peas would work as well)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1  1/4  cups lowfat milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 - 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (the cheesier the better, I say)

Prepare beans according to general directions or use canned beans.  Saute onions and carrots in 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter until tender and set aside.  Make cheese sauce by melting 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter in a heavy saucepan.  Whisk in flour to make a rue.  Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until sauce begins to thicken.  Stir in cheddar cheese and add salt.  Combine beans, vegetables and cheese sauce in a casserole dish.  Optional:  top with more grated cheese or bread crumbs.  Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 300 degrees F.

Laura

The Magical Fruit

"Beans, beans, the magical fruit..."

The subject was bound to come up.  So, what about flatulence?  (flatulence: excessive gas created in the stomach and intestines)  How can you eliminate the uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing after-effects of eating beans? 

The internet search I did to get to the bottom of it all revealed some interesting facts.  I am by no means a medical authority, but let me share what I gleaned from my research. 

Apparently, eating high fiber foods like beans can cause your body to produce gas.  It is possible that a sudden increase in fiber may also aggrevate the problem, leading me to assume that continuing to eat a high fiber diet will eventually decrease the occurrence of gas.

The small intestine does not effectively digest a carbohydrate found in beans and other foods that tend to make people gassy. One source suggested that smaller beans may cause less gas.  (I can only imagine how one measures such a thing!)  This may very well be true as I have not noticed a gas problem after eating black beans even when I don't discard the soak water.  Several articles I read said that beans that are cooked until very soft will not cause as much gas as those cooked for a lesser time. 

I don't want to be long-winded on the subject, so let me simply share with you four suggestions for lessening the gassy after-effects of eating beans I found on ehow.com.  The first, which details the best way to soak beans before cooking them, is the only one I've tried and it seems to work.  I'll keep my eyes open for the epazote leaves that are referred to in suggestion number two, I've never tried Beano as mentioned in suggestion number three, and suggestion number four is just plain common sense.

1.  Soak the beans overnight in filtered water. Drain the beans. Do not save the water. Rinse the beans under a steady stream of filtered water. Fill a pot 3/4 full with fresh filtered water. Add the beans, and prepare the beans as planned.

2.  Add a handful of fresh epazote leaves while cooking the beans. Epazote is a plant found in Mexico. It is a seasoning that can reduce gas in beans. Find fresh epazote in supermarkets that specialize in Latin American foods, as well as health food stores and high-end supermarkets. The epazote leaves can be left in the beans, or removed before serving.

3.  Take a Beano product before eating prepared dried beans. Beano comes in tablet and chewable tablet form. Beano prevents gas from occurring. It contains all-natural enzymes that prevent gas and bloating. Find Beano in supermarkets, pharmacies and health food stores.

4.  Chew beans thoroughly, and eat slowly. When a person eats quickly, they also swallow large amounts of air, which can add to gas problems. Drink at least two glasses of water after eating beans. This helps with digestion.

Read more: How to Prevent Gas With Dried Beans | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7700652_prevent-gas-dried-beans.html#ixzz1FOcBROtx

Hope you found this all helpful!  'Til next time.

My New Favorite Bean

It's only been in the last few years that I was introduced to black beans.  The first time I had them was as an alternative to refried pinto beans at a Mexican restaurant.  Yummm.... About a year ago I went to a party (Okay, it was Bunco, but that's as close to a party as I usually get invited to) and one of the guests brought homemade black bean and corn salsa and chips.  Really yummy.

Black beans, according to http://www.foodreference.com/, originated in South America and have since spread in use throughout the world.  Black beans have a mild flavor and are good in most south-of-the-border dishes.  From their dried state, they cook up faster than other beans-because they are so small.

Late yesterday afternoon I rinsed about half a cup of dried black beans and let them soak for a few hours.  After adding salt and letting them boil and then simmer for thirty to forty minutes I used them in the filling for grilled chicken tacos.  I find black beans a good way to add extra fiber and nutrition to many dishes.

Laura's Grilled Chicken Tacos
1 - 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or cubed
6 inch flour tortillas
taco seasoning
your favorite salsa
cheddar or monterey jack cheese, shredded
cooked black beans
butter

Heat chicken in frying pan with desired amount of taco seasoning (1 to 2 tablespoons) and 1/2 cup water.  Simmer and stir until water cooks down almost completely.  Lightly butter one side of a tortilla and place butter side down in a non-stick pan.  On one half of tortilla add some of the chicken mixture, a little salsa , some black beans and cheese.  Fold the tortilla in half and cook on medium heat until browned and cheese is melted.  Turn over and brown the other side.  Serve with guacamole and sour cream.

My next post will reveal everything I have learned about beans and flatulence.  You don't want to miss reading it!

America's Favorite Cookie

I read somewhere that chocolate chip cookies are, hands down, America's favorite cookie--and I have to agree.  Although I like most variations, I've tried numerous recipes in order to produce the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  For the time being, I have settled on the standard Tollhouse recipe you can find on the back of a bag of Nestle's chocolate chips.  In fact, it is one of three recipes I have taped to the inside of one of my cupboards--the home of my most frequently used recipes.

The white bean puree I blogged about previously worked beautifully in my oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I wanted to put it to another test.  The oatmeal cookie is a hardy cookie with lots of texture for the bean puree to get lost in; a tollhouse cookie, on the other hand, is gooey with a smoother texture.  The challenge was to substitute half the butter in the tollhouse recipe with the white bean puree and still get a yummy cookie.

On Wednesday I put on an apron and began my experiment.  The recipe calls for one cup of butter, so I put 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter and one of my frozen half-cup lumps of bean puree in a mixing bowl.  At this point I was feeling skeptical because the puree, in its frozen state, felt and looked dry.  The puree also wasn't thawing as fast as I wanted it to, so I stuck it in the microwave for about thirty seconds then put it back in the bowl.  From this point on, I followed the recipe exactly.

The finished cookies were a little puffier than a regular tollhouse cookie when using one hundred percent butter, but they looked very nice.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted one of the warm cookie; the outside was a little crispy and the inside was soft and yummy.  I put one of the cooled cookies on a paper towel to see how much grease the towel would absorb and after one hour found practically no traces of grease.  Yesterday (Thursday) they tasted a little firmer, but still good.  Today I ate the last cookie of the batch and, although the flavor was still good, it was kind of hard.  Three adults and seven children tasted the cookies on the day I baked them and they all loved them...even when they knew there were beans in them!

Would I use white bean puree in my tollhouse cookie recipe again????  Absolutely.  Not only were they tasty (although different than a traditional tollhouse), I felt good about eating a cookie lower in fat and with a little fiber. 

Here's the Nestle's Tollhouse Cookie Recipe with the white bean puree substitution.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened or 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup white bean puree, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter (or butter and white bean puree), granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Had you watched me in the kitchen yesterday you would probably have thought that I have no business teaching math to my homeschooled ten-year-old daughter.  Trying to come up with one half of three fourths cup of white bean puree that was measured out in half cup mounds took me back to my fifth grade math class.  It all returned--Mr. Whatshisname standing in front of the class teaching us about fractions...  and me staring at the blackboard in utter confusion. I'm embarassed to describe how I arrive at the right amount, so just trust that I got it close enough.  Now that I'm sitting down and not rushing to get the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies mixed up I can clearly see that one half of three fourths is three eighths. I think.

I was a little skeptical about replacing half the butter in the recipe with pureed white beans; I thought it would alter the texture or taste.  I'm happy to report that the cookies look and taste just same as the original recipe.  Even my official taste testers, Jeff and the kids, said they taste great.

Note:  Next time I make white bean puree I'll be sure to measure it out in one fourths.

I planned to put a photo of the cookies right here, but I can't seem to get it downloaded from my camera.  Maybe later...  Here is the recipe:

Oatmeal Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter (or 3/8 cup butter and 3/8 cup white bean puree)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water
3 cups quick oats, uncooked
1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 cup dried cranberries

In a small bowl, sift flour, soda and salt together. 
In a larger bowl, cream butter (and white bean puree) and sugars toroughly.  Add egg and vanilla; mix well.  Stir in 1/4 cup water, oats and flour mixture.  Add nuts, chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned .

Bean Butter

So, I was sharing with my friend, Miriam, the fact that I am writing a blog with zero followers when we got into a discussion about beans.  Go figure!  Miriam told me about a friend of hers who moved to the United States from Mexico and was lamenting over her recent weight gain.  Suspecting a fatty American diet to be the culprit, she decided to go back to the rice and beans diet of her homeland and, reportedly, has lost the extra pounds.

This story led us to talking about how to replace the fat in some of the yummy baked goods we love to eat but really shouldn't.  "Did you know that you can replace butter with pureed white beans?" Miriam asked me. Well, no, I did not.  Truthfully, I couldn't imagine putting beans in my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie without altering the flavor.  Miriam insisted that it could be done and I did like the idea of replacing the fat in my baking.  So...I googled 'how to replace butter with beans' to discover that it is indeed a thing which can be done.  (Not that I doubted you, Miriam.  I just needed confirmation.) 

There is no trick to making bean butter.  The information I found on eHow said that any white bean will work.  I had some small white navy beans on hand and used those.  Here is how I did it:

1)  Soak then cook 1 cup white beans according to directions on the bag.
2)  When the beans are tender, rinse them off in a colander and drain thoroughly.
3)  Place the beans and 2 to 3 Tablespoons of water in a food processor and pulse until they are fully pureed and of a thick consistency.  (Idon't have a food processor, so I used my blender, blending 1/2 cup of beans at a time..

I filled a one cup measuring cup with the bean butter then, running a knife around the inside edges of the cup, tipped it out onto a plate.  I covered the plate with wax paper and put it in the freezer overnight.  In the morning I put the mounds of "butter" in a plastic storage bag and returned it to the freezer.  The one cup of dried beans made two cups of bean butter. In the next few days I'll try it in my cookie recipe and report on the results.  'Til then...

Here are the nutrition facts for white bean puree that I got off TheSneakyChef.com.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (43g) (Recipe makes 1 cup) The following items or measurements are not included below: great northern beans
Calories 391
Calories from Fat 13		(3%)
Amount Per Serving		%DV
	Total Fat 1.5g	2%
	Saturated Fat 0.5g	2%
	Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6g
	Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 7mg		0%
Potassium 1297mg		37%
Total Carbohydrate 70.0g		23%
	Dietary Fiber 23.2g	92%
	Sugars 0.0g
Protein 27.6g		55%
Vitamin A 3mcg		0%
Vitamin B6 0.4mg		19%
Vitamin B12 0.0mcg		0%
Vitamin C 4mg		7%
Vitamin E 0mcg		0%
Calcium 226mg		22%
Iron 7mg		39%