I got my bean-cooking instructions from The Complete Vegan Cookbook. I highly recommend that everyone everywhere grab a copy of this book because it is one of those books that not only has nutritional info for every single recipe, but there’s not a thing in there that isn’t good for you, turns out perfectly and tastes freaking amazing. You will astound yourself and everyone around you at the mastery you can wreak with simple ingredients once you come into possession of this book.
The book called for the beans to be soaked (see yesterday), rinsed thoroughly, then simmered with a few bay leaves, garlic cloves and chili flakes. Worked like magic. The beans really do taste better than their canned counterparts, and the flavour the seasoning adds is so subtle, it just highlights everything good that’s already in the bean.
A word to the wise, though: If you work at home, you might want to think twice about tackling this step of bean preparation first thing on a Monday morning because you may be tempted to stand over the pot and give yourself a soothing bay leaf steam facial for however long the cooking time is. It varries, and for me it was 1 hour and 45 minutes.
That’s the nice thing about recipes that simmer forever. They make your whole apartment smell like someone’s gramma lives in your kitchen, in a cupboard under the stairs, only, you know, far less sinister than that.Seriously, someone should market a room freshener that smells like this pot of beans.
My assistant in the kitchen was Slimey, the timer who creeps. He oozes across the counter as he counts down the time.
The Delightful Rapper is fond of winding him up, releasing him and yelling “Go, Slimey! Warn the others!”
Poor Slimey. He’s never gonna make it.
Simmered: 1 pound of white kidney beans
Cooking time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Yield: 5 1/2cups
| What it’s cost so far: | |
|---|---|
| beans | $1.27 |
Comments
Comment from Katie
Time: January 10, 2006, 11:49 pm
My pot o beans turned out well too. I simply simmered my well soaked black beans in a big pot of water for a couple of hours (enough time for me to leave the house between work and school and trundle down to the lab to have 8, read EIGHT, vials of blood sucked from my poor arm), and voila, they were done. I made our typical Tuesday night rice and beans dinner, and it was delish.
I only soaked 1 cup of dried beans, so ended up with about 3 cups. Fab! Still so many left, and for so cheap! I also bought dried chick peas, but I’m thinking another trip to the bulk food store is in order, to expand my bean empire. I’ll have to try the bay leaf, garlic and chilli flakes. Do you leave the garlic clove whole?
I’m curious to hear what you will do with your pot o beans.
:)Katie
Comment from Jill
Time: January 11, 2006, 9:55 am
Yep, garlic cloves are peeled but whole. (That’s them you see floating on the surface in the simmering picture.)
I don’t envy you your blood tests. 8 vials sounds like a lot to me. You’d need your beans after that.
Comment from Isa
Time: January 11, 2006, 5:35 pm
Yay, this is so exciting! (Slimy just made it to Brooklyn and told me that the beans were ready)
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Time: January 13, 2006, 11:17 am
[…] Michelle Collins of You Can’t Make It Up is one funny New Yorker, and a woman with a great and tender senstivity for anthropomorphic kitchen timers. […]
Comment from Addison
Time: January 16, 2006, 3:21 pm
I have to know where you got slimy, the kitchen timer….I want one!!!!!!
Comment from Jill
Time: January 16, 2006, 3:33 pm
I have been totally caught off guard by the soaring popularity of Slimy.
I bought him at the Iconic Shop on Queen West in Toronto.
If you want to track Slimy in your area, you might try starting with the manufacturer’s web site to get his birth name and details and maybe see if they can point you in the right direction.