Bean There, Done That

One of my most favorite things to cook is a pot of beans when the weather is cool. 1. It's easy. 2. You can make it healthy. 3. It's tasty. Please hold any 4th grade "magical fruit"/"good for your heart" jokes until the end of this blog post. 

Last week I put up a pot of black beans and they were fantastic. Someone asked me once what it means to "put up a pot" of something. I was kind of perplexed. I've always used that expression. I'm fairly certain it's southern if not Texan. I never really questioned its exact meaning and always use it to talk about cooking beans, peas, or other things you would cook for a long period of time in a pot on the stove. If someone has a proper history for this expression please fill me in... any linguist expert type people? No? Shocking.

The sorted life of black beans....

SO, I made black beans. I used dried beans, so they required some soaking. Step one in bean management involves sorting and picking through the dried beans to make sure there aren't any rocks or other non bean type items in there. Some people skip this step. I used to. Then I bit into a rock. Lesson learned. 

Bean Rinse aka Clean yo Bean

After you finish sorting, you want to give the beans a rinse in a colander. Then you have a few options.  All options start with you putting the beans in a pot (or large bowl) and covering them with LOTS of water. Specific amounts will likely be on your bean bag - mine said six cups. If you did the large bowl, make sure it is very large and cover it with a dishtowel to keep random mishmash from getting in there. Then leave the beans on the counter overnight or for at least 6-8 hours. You can do this same thing in a pot. I personally prefer the quick boil method. Mostly because I get tired at night and forget to soak the beans. For a quick soak, the beans need to be in a pot. Bring the water to a full, rolling boil, turn the heat of, cover them, and leave them to sit for 2-3 hours. 

 

Water Covered Beans

Boiling Beans

I did this first thing in the morning since I was making the beans for dinner that night. My plan was to have everything in the pot simmering by 4pm. When L went down for her nap I got to chopping. 

Back to the Grid Method.

Finished Product

I chopped one VERY large onion, sliced about six cloves of garlic (If you don't like garlic you should leave now before one of us gets hurt), and took the beans out of the pot to do one last rinse. I make this one a quick rinse so that I don't lose a lot of the goodness that is naturally in the beans. Next I got out my cast iron pot and turned the stove to medium to heat it up. Once it was nice and hot I added about a tablespoon of EV Olive Oil and tossed in the onions and garlic. 

My Garlic Friends

My lovely garlic press that has a slicing mechanism. Thanks wedding registry! 

Once in the pot, I stirred the onions and garlic until my house smelled amazing and the onions were soft and becoming "clear" in appearance. 

Clear Onions, Full Heart, Can't Lose...... it's late. shut up. 

I put a smoked ham hock in the pot and gave it a little browning on the sides before adding in about 4 cups of chicken stock. You can always add in water, but I prefer to use stock if I have it.  

Stock

Stock and Hock

 After bringing that up to a boil, I added the beans back in along with two more cups of water and two Goya Ham seasoning packets. It's like Ham bouillon. It's magical. 

Ham Flavah.

Full pot.

 I wanted the broth to cook off of the beans so they would be less like soup, so while I boiled them I left the top off and checked in on the broth level. I cooked them over a low boil for about 2.5 hours. You'll want to check the beans after two hours to check the consistency and see if they are getting to what you prefer. I like mine to still be firm, so 2.5 hour timing works well. 

Low boil, badly captured.

 After a couple of hours my beans looked like this. I took out a spoonful to sample.

Taste Test

 This is the point where I see if my beans need added salt. Because I am cooking with broth and a ham hock, and ham seasoning, I like to see how much natural flavor and saltiness I can get out before adding more in. I also (just to remind you again) don't really salt things that can be easily salted to taste after they are cooked. 

I love chopped tomatoes in my black beans. BUT tomatoes and cast iron are not friends. Also, if you put the tomatoes in too early, they wilt into nothing. I took about four roma tomatoes, gave them a rough chop, and put them in to cook for about 15 minutes with the beans. 

Tomato Party

Now  I want this again.

 The last thing I do, right before serving, is take an entire bushel of washed cilantro and tear it into pieces over the pot, dropping it all in but the stems. You have a couple of options with the ham hock. I usually leave it in and then add it to the leftovers, keeping it until all of the beans are gone. You can also pick all of the meat off of the hock and add it in with the beans and throw the non meat rest of the hock away. Do as you please. 

Up close and personal.

Finished product.

 We are usually a brown rice family. I like brown rice and if it's better for me, then bonus. I happened to have the brown and wild rice I used with the chicken soup that is fantastic, so I decided to try that out with the beans. WINNER. Here is a photo op in case any of you want to seek it out and try it. 

You know it's good because it says "Arroz"

Cooked to perfection, even though I need a new rice cooker. Suggestions appreciated. 

Things that are great to serve with this meal include: sliced avocado, Mexican cotija cheese, sour cream (or non fat plain greek yogurt), salsa, or pico de gallo. We did avocados and Cotija cheese. 

The final product. Perfection in a bowl! 

Because I was making this for us AND Landy, I didn't add jalapenos, which I usually do and love. If you want to do that, I like to add in one jalapeno (deseeded then chopped) with the onions and garlic, and then take a second jalapeno, chop the top off of it to expose the seeds and insides, and drop it into the water to boil with the beans. I remove the remaining whole jalapeno before serving. 

Cooking in pots is the best thing about cool weather. And if you happen to be home with the kids or on a Saturday or Sunday, you can work on it little by little throughout the day and still have plenty of time with your kiddos. This is also something you might be able to adapt to a slow cooker if you work during the day. I'm not great at slow cooking, but it's one of my goals to figure that out this cool weather season. Here's a quick recap of my ingredients:

1 16oz package of dried black beans

1 T EV Olive Oil

1 very large white or yellow onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 smoked ham hock

4-6 cups of chicken broth or water

1-3 packets of goya ham seasoning (to taste)

4 large roma tomatoes

1 bunch of cilantro

rice

Optional:

Jalapeno

Avocado

Cotija Cheese

Sour Cream (not really optional)

pico de gallo

This is one of my absolute favorites. I think I make it twice a month during the fall and winter. It is another warm, filling dish that is actually pretty healthy and simple. It is also EXTREMELY cost effective. On the health front, just remember, you are in charge of your own sour cream intake. I love sour cream, so I try to sub it out for plain, non fat greek yogurt. Can't even tell. Share your beans with someone you love. They are magical, after all. 

-RT

Can You Boil Water??

Great! Good job. That means you are well armed for winter cooking. A lot of cooking intimidation comes from not knowing how easy it really is to make something delicious and healthy. My favorite things to eat in the wintertime are made in pots on the stove. Basically, you are boiling water and just throwing things in the pot. Today I'm going to talk about HEALTHY comfort food. Food that makes you feel warm and full, but is great for you and the whole family will love it. One of my personal favorites: Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup. 

My cooking adventures began with a last minute decision to try out the new Trader Joe's. I have heard ALL about Trader Joe's from my friends on both coasts, but I forgot that the new Houston location had opened until my Aunt was talking about it on Saturday. I will definitely go back, but I feel that it is a store that is best taken advantage of with a game plan. I had no idea what I was walking into. BUT I have good first impressions. They really do have amazing prices, especially on their organic produce and their flash frozen fish. Cons: I like having a butcher and a seafood monger. Call me old fashioned, I like to interact with people at the store. The staff was super friendly, and the people shopping there were as well, despite the fact that it was SO crowded and everyone was kind of stalled by people just coming in to visit and not shop. I digress... 

Step one in my Chicken, Rice and Vegetable Soup starts the night before. I picked up a big, fat organic boiler to... well to boil. Here is some very important advice if you ever cook with a whole chicken or turkey or any sort of fowl... there is usually a package stuffed inside with the neck and  some organs (liver almost always, heart sometimes). Listen up: TAKE THIS OUT BEFORE YOU COOK THE CHICKEN. 

Ma Trader Joe's Chicken.. Great price for an organic chicken that is this big.

Reach up in that chicken and pull out that packet o' neck and such.

 I took my chicken and rinsed it under some water. Chicken skin really weirds me out for some reason. Just wanted to throw that in there. Then put your chicken in a tall pot and cover it with water. 

Chicken funeral

I figure you know what boiling water looks like. I brought the water to boil and then kept it on somewhat of a low rolling boil, mostly covered, for about 45 minutes. Then I turned off the stove, closed the lid on the top and let the pot come to room temp. THEN I put the whole pot in the refrigerator and didn't look at it again until this morning. This is a weird step, but it helps make this soup much more healthy. You could easily buy a package of chicken breasts and some boxed chicken broth and make a really great soup, but nothing tastes like the broth that comes from boiling a whole chicken. You just have to take an extra step. The next day when you remove your pot from the fridge, a nice layer of fat will have floated to the top and solidified. Get out a skimming spoon and remove it. Toss it out. You won't miss it. Get ready.... this is my Oprah Wagon of Fat moment.

Solid Fat

Once you see this, you won't want to eat it. Especially once you see it in person.

So after I skimmed the fat I removed the chicken and put it on a plate (to be molested at a later date.) When you do this your broth drops down to an alarming level, but don't sweat it. You are about to add TONS of things to the pot, and you won't know if you need add water until you are done adding everything back in. I put the pot with the broth on the stove and turned the heat on medium. Then I got to chopping.

About 3 cups of celery and 3 cups of carrots.

Three zucchini

One VERY large yellow onion. If you have small or medium onions use two.

The carrots went in first, then the celery. I added a couple of teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon for some added flavor and then added in the onion (cut into large chunks) and a cup and a half to two cups of brown and wild rice. I had some leftover so I just dumped the rest in.

Great find courtesy of Mama RT.

While all of that was cooking on a nice low boil with the top of the pot partially covered to keep all of that delicious broth from cooking off, I started my least favorite task.... chicken mutilation. Chicken skin is just.... gross. Unless it's fried, then it's completely fine. Even better than fine. But we are being healthy here, so it has to go. I didn't shred the chicken, because I like getting a good bite of chicken in my soup. I just took it all off of the bone and made sure it was in manageable pieces. I got elbow deep in chicken goo, but I made it through. 

Some chicken goo got on my iphone lens so we've got fuzzy chicken pieces.

Veggies and rice living a happy life.

 I had the veggies and rice on the same low boil for about 30 - 40 minutes and then added the chicken back in and let it boil 10 more minutes. Then I took out a scoop and made sure the veggies were tender and the rice was cooked (they were and it was) then covered the pot and turned the heat off. I don't salt my chicken soup while it cooks just because sometimes I don't want the extra salt and I don't miss it. With something like this people can always salt their bowls to their taste. Easy.  

It was a big hit with Landon, who loved the carrots most of all, but ate all of the veggies and the rice. Right now she is only eating chicken when it's part of Brown Bag Deli chicken salad. I take what I can get. Here is a finished bowl... the one I had for dinner tonight:

MmmmmMMMmmmMMmmmm

Here is the great part: it's filling, it's warm, it tastes amazing and it's just chicken, fresh veggies, brown and wild rice, and a couple of scoops of bouillon. You can add whatever veggies you want. Sometimes I love to take out the zucchini and throw in some broccoli for a little crunch. It's also very easy. If you boil the chicken the night before (so you can scoop off the yucky wagon of fat) all you do the day of is chop, add, molest a chicken, and heat for 45 ish minutes. Really you are just boiling water and taking things in and out. YOU can do this. I know you. It is so possible. 

-RT