Adventures in Cooking
Jan. 26th, 2008 11:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teddywolfI've gotten in a fair amount of cooking this week. Not all of it has been from scratch, but enough of it has had the feel of creating that I can't object about that. I look in my kitchen, full of vinegars and spices and herbs, and in my The Fridge filled with tamari and teriyaki and a variety of mustards and jarred crushed ginger, and I know that my cooking is generally two to three removes from raising and/or hunting my own food. I'm exceedingly glad I don't have to rely on my hunting and gathering skills, as I'm much better shopping for King Arthur flour than collecting sheaves of wheat. And yes, I do think King Arthur flour is that good. I've seen lower gluten bread flours than their all purpose.
This week more of my cooking has gone to baked beans, but I also had a bit of fun with potstickers and made my very own fresh hand-breaded fried cod. So without further ado, the baked beans project, which can take a good 10 hours to cook although most of them you can spend doing other things. Like sleeping.
Project 1: Baked Beans. With Beef!
Hardware:
3 quart pot with lid, all metal steel clad
medium size skillet
small collander
several spoons
cutting board
Chef's knife
Can opener - for the tomato paste
Foodware:
1 lb dry beans - most recent type was navy beans, which despite the name are white
Beef to taste - I used about 1.5 lbs this last time as I like a lot of beef. Preferred cut is steak tip*
1 Tbsp oil for searing the beef - I like canola for this and do not recommend EVOO*
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar, as you like it.*
1 tsp dry yellow mustard powder, or 1.5-2 Tbsp non-grainy mustard.*
Garlic powder to taste, or up to a half dozen cloves of crushed garlic
1 large onion, chopped - for this recipe, 1/2 to 1 lbs of onion.
1 cup vinegar - I used a cane sugar vinegar from my local Asian market, but cider and white wine work well too
1 qt water plus 1 Tbsp vegetable soup base, or 1 qt stock if you don't have the base. All your base are belong to us!
pinch of pepper - I used some ancho and some ground black
Salt is optional if you use stock or soup base. Maple syrup (2 Tbsp) is optional but tasty. I added a splash of ceam sherry because it was near, but it didn't make a large flavor difference.
*Approximates
Rinse your beans in your collander in the sink, looking for any small pebbles or for any beans that don't look good. Once you've done that, put them in your pot and put in your water or stock (if you use water, put in the soup base when the water hits a boil). Bring the beans to a boil on medium high heat, then keep them at a boil uncovered on medium for a good 20-30 minutes - this is the parboiling section. You could alternately soak your beans in water or stock overnight. Nah, I'm lazy too.
This is a good time to turn your oven to 240 degrees.
While the beans are boiling, cut your onions on your cutting board and put them to one side - I use a large dice for this. Next, turn on the heat under your skillet to medium high and add your oil. Now cut your beef. If the piece is wider than your two thumbs next to each other, nails facing your eyes, you should cut it in half. Sear your meat on each side, then add to the bean pot.
At the end of the parboil, add the vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, mustard, garlic powder, pepper and any of the final optionals like salt and maple. Stir it in so the tomato paste has incorporated with the liquid. Now add your onions.
Bring it back to a boil, then cover and put in your oven. Cook for at least 8 hours, until the beans have gained some of the color of the liquid and gotten a bit brown. It's a good idea to give them a stir once or twice, but no hurry as to when.
Everyone in the house who's had them has liked them. Yes, even the cat.
Cut for those of you who don't want the recipe. For my vegan friends, simply remove the beef and oil and change the vinegar over to balsamic, the industrial stuff as opposed to the kind you eat on your strawberries.
This week more of my cooking has gone to baked beans, but I also had a bit of fun with potstickers and made my very own fresh hand-breaded fried cod. So without further ado, the baked beans project, which can take a good 10 hours to cook although most of them you can spend doing other things. Like sleeping.
Project 1: Baked Beans. With Beef!
Hardware:
3 quart pot with lid, all metal steel clad
medium size skillet
small collander
several spoons
cutting board
Chef's knife
Can opener - for the tomato paste
Foodware:
1 lb dry beans - most recent type was navy beans, which despite the name are white
Beef to taste - I used about 1.5 lbs this last time as I like a lot of beef. Preferred cut is steak tip*
1 Tbsp oil for searing the beef - I like canola for this and do not recommend EVOO*
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar, as you like it.*
1 tsp dry yellow mustard powder, or 1.5-2 Tbsp non-grainy mustard.*
Garlic powder to taste, or up to a half dozen cloves of crushed garlic
1 large onion, chopped - for this recipe, 1/2 to 1 lbs of onion.
1 cup vinegar - I used a cane sugar vinegar from my local Asian market, but cider and white wine work well too
1 qt water plus 1 Tbsp vegetable soup base, or 1 qt stock if you don't have the base. All your base are belong to us!
pinch of pepper - I used some ancho and some ground black
Salt is optional if you use stock or soup base. Maple syrup (2 Tbsp) is optional but tasty. I added a splash of ceam sherry because it was near, but it didn't make a large flavor difference.
*Approximates
Rinse your beans in your collander in the sink, looking for any small pebbles or for any beans that don't look good. Once you've done that, put them in your pot and put in your water or stock (if you use water, put in the soup base when the water hits a boil). Bring the beans to a boil on medium high heat, then keep them at a boil uncovered on medium for a good 20-30 minutes - this is the parboiling section. You could alternately soak your beans in water or stock overnight. Nah, I'm lazy too.
This is a good time to turn your oven to 240 degrees.
While the beans are boiling, cut your onions on your cutting board and put them to one side - I use a large dice for this. Next, turn on the heat under your skillet to medium high and add your oil. Now cut your beef. If the piece is wider than your two thumbs next to each other, nails facing your eyes, you should cut it in half. Sear your meat on each side, then add to the bean pot.
At the end of the parboil, add the vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, mustard, garlic powder, pepper and any of the final optionals like salt and maple. Stir it in so the tomato paste has incorporated with the liquid. Now add your onions.
Bring it back to a boil, then cover and put in your oven. Cook for at least 8 hours, until the beans have gained some of the color of the liquid and gotten a bit brown. It's a good idea to give them a stir once or twice, but no hurry as to when.
Everyone in the house who's had them has liked them. Yes, even the cat.
Cut for those of you who don't want the recipe. For my vegan friends, simply remove the beef and oil and change the vinegar over to balsamic, the industrial stuff as opposed to the kind you eat on your strawberries.
