Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

Earlier this week we went to check out a property for sale about thirty minutes out of town; it is a big old farmhouse badly in need of major renovation.  It is fantastic with its high ceilings, large rooms, hardwood floors, fabulous mouldings, beautiful views of fields and forest, but literally everything needs to be updated, repaired or replaced.  All week long I've been dreaming (okay, fine - obsessing) about how to go about doing just that, what we'd plant on the land, how to incorporate parts of the old barn into the house renovations, and most importantly, how my kitchen would be designed.  The prospect of owning it and working on it and having it turn out exactly as it looks in my mind is incredibly tempting.

And while I was doing that, my beautiful peach tree was moaning under the weight of all the fruit begging to be picked.

When one thinks of the upper Midwest, peaches aren't the first thing that comes to mind, if at all.  Cherries, apples, corn...sure.  But peaches?  Yes!  This is our peach tree's third year, and it is absolutely bursting with sweet, juicy fruit.  Which is saying a lot because, as you can see, aside from picking and eating the fruit each August, I've ignored it other than to watch it grow.

So I've spent the past few days coming up with ways to use the all those gorgeous peaches; pie filling, cobblers, crisps, sauces, and bars.  The cobbler recipe I'm going to share is sweetened only by the peaches and honey, but you could sprinkle the top with some sugar and cinnamon before baking, if you'd like.  For the biscuit topping, I used cream, but milk would still yield a tender biscuit.  Water would even work, but the biscuit will be more crisp.

Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler
6 svgs

• 5 c peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 c raw honey
• 1 Tbs cornstarch (preferably a non-GMO brand such as Rumford)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 c walnuts or almonds, finely chopped
• 2 Tbs raw honey
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (preferably aluminum free, such as Rumford)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbs chilled butter, roughly chopped
• 1/2 c cream (or whole milk)

Heat oven to 400F.

In a large bowl, combine peaches, honey, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Pour into an ungreased 2 qt baking dish.

In the same bowl, combine flour, nuts, honey, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Mix well.  With your fingers (or a fork, but I prefer my hands), work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.

Pour in cream and mix well to form the dough.

Drop the dough in 1-2 inch chunks over the top of the peach mixture.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature.  Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Spinach and Feta Thin Crust Pizza

Making your own pizza is easy and fun - the possibilities for topping combinations are nearly endless.  The crusts are easy to tailor, too; thick, thin, herbed, cheese stuffed...  And the sauces!  Red sauce, white sauce, pureed beans, no sauce at all...  The best part, though, is that it's inexpensive, not very time consuming, and the whole family can get involved.  Pizza is just good, no matter how you look at it.

A few kitchen items I use when I make pizza include my food processor, a rolling pin, a pizza peel and a pizza stone.  No, you probably don't need any of those things, but I find they make the process easy and improve the quality and flavor of the finished pizza.  If you do not have a pizza peel or stone, you can always pat the crust into some jelly roll pans (or cookie sheets) and bake them on the bottom rack, but you will get a crisper, more evenly baked crust with the stone.

For this pizza, I like a thin, crispy crust.  It's pretty simple to achieve this with a basic pizza dough recipe; more yeast and less oil yields a thicker, more bread-like crust, and less yeast and more oil will turn into a crispy, thin crust.

Working with yeast isn't as tricky as a lot of people tend to think it is, and that is especially true with a pizza crust.  With this recipe, we will "proof" the yeast before we add it to the dry ingredients so that there won't be any Oops My Yeast is Dead surprises.  We'll feed the yeast some honey while it hangs out in some warm water and when it foams, we'll know our yeast is happy and our crust will be awesome.  If it doesn't foam, you need to go buy some new yeast and throw the old yeast away.  There is really no need to check the temperature of the water with a thermometer - it just needs to be warm enough to not be too hot.  It should be between 90-105 degrees, so you should be able to put your fingers in the water without needing to pull them back out right away, and it should be warmer than your hand.

The dough recipe makes enough for two 12-14 inch pizzas.  You can either use it all  now, or freeze half; after the rise, form half of the dough into a ball, wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze.  Thaw when ready to use.

For the dough:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp raw honey
1 cup warm water (about 90-105 degrees)

Pour the water into a 2 cup (or larger) measuring cup.  Quickly stir in the honey and yeast, breaking up any clumps of yeast.  Set aside to rest for about 3-5 minutes, or until there is anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of froth on top.  It will look like this when it is ready:

Meanwhile, insert the blade (the dough blade is ideal, if you have one) into the food processor.  Place the flours, salt and 1 Tbs olive oil into your food processor.  Give it a few pulses to mix.  When your yeast and water are ready to go, turn your processor on "dough" speed and slowly pour the yeast mixture through the tube.  If the flour looks a little dry, add some more water by tablespoons full until it catches and creates a ball.  Let the ball whirl around in there for about 30 seconds (this the "kneading" part we are able to skip by letting the food processor do it for us).

Place the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil in a large bowl.  Remove the dough (it will be sticky) and place it in the bowl, turning to coat in the oil.  Cover with plastic wrap (or even a clean towel) and set aside to rise for about 45 minutes while you get the rest of your pizza ingredients together.

Spinach and Feta Thin Crust Pizza
makes one 12 - 14 inch pizza

2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 c shredded Provolone cheese
3 c chopped fresh spinach
 5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 c thinly sliced red onions
a handful of pitted olives, chopped or sliced
1/4 c shredded fresh Mozzarella cheese
3 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
Grated Asiago or Parmesan
1/2 recipe thin crust pizza dough (above)
Cornmeal for dusting the peel

Preheat oven (with stone) to 500F. *If you are not using a stone, lightly oil two jelly roll pans or pizza pans and adjust your oven racks to the lowest level.

Dust your pizza peel generously with cornmeal. Divide the dough in half (decide if you will be making two pizzas - if not, wrap the other half of the dough in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate).  With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough directly on the pizza peel into a 12-14" inch round.  *If using pans, either roll it out or pat it into the prepared pans.

Using a pastry brush, evenly brush the olive oil over the whole crust.  Sprinkle with the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and provolone.  Top with spinach, tomatoes, onions, olives, Mozzarella, Feta, and grated Asiago or Parmesan.

Slide onto the pizza stone and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is just beginning to lightly brown. *If using pans, place them on the bottom rack and continue as directed for baking time.

Taco Dip

Nearly everyone in the world is familiar or even madly in love with some type of taco dip recipe.  There are thousands of recipes out there.  Some have beans, some have meat, some have both...and some have neither, which is the case for the recipe I'm going to share with you today.

This is not my recipe.  This is the recipe.  I have no idea where it came from, I'm just glad it came.  This dip has been a staple at every family get-together for as long as I can remember.  We love it so much that when I make it at home just for us, my daughter and I will eat half the tray for lunch, and come back to snack on it all the rest of the day until it's gone.  Sometimes I just make half the recipe because it's so addictive (and something tells me we probably shouldn't share an entire tray between just two people!).

A note about the cheese - I was fortunate enough to find some cheddar without added coloring.  That yellow color of the cheddar isn't actually a natural occurance; it's added, usually in the form of annatto, but I can't for the life of me figure out why.  It does nothing for flavor or preserving.  Maybe it's just because we psychologically connect cheddar and yellow?  Or perhaps it's so we can more easily spot mold?  I tried to do some research about why annatto is added to cheddar, and the best explanation I could find was that once upon a time, when dairy cows were all still grazers, the cheese did have a yellow tinge because of their diet of grass. When factory farming came into vogue and the cows' diets were altered so dramatically, the cheese lost its yellowness, so they added food coloring to make it look like the cows were still healthy and producing a quality cheese product.

At any rate, I like to try to find some unadulterated cheese (I mean, it should be pretty simple, right?), and that's why the cheese in these pictures is white.

Also, this recipe calls for Taco Seasoning mix.  It's very easy to make your own with seasonings most of us have in our spice cupboard already and skip the packaged mixes (which all contain various stabilizers and anticoagulants).  A quick google search will yield several results, all of which are pretty much the same: 1 Tbs chili powder, 1 tsp each: salt, black pepper, cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp each:  garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red chili flakes, oregano.  Mix it all up and this mixture equals the same amount that is in the package.  It's nice to make your own because you can adjust the spiciness of it by increasing or decreasing the chili powder or the crushed red chilies, or adjust the salt, or what have you, so you can tailor it to your liking.  It's also nice to double or triple the recipe and store it in a jar for easy grabbing when you need taco seasoning.

Taco Dip

this is a photo of half the recipe

yields one 10x15" tray

• 1 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 8oz container sour cream
• 1 pkg taco seasoning mix (or 2 1/2 Tbs homemade mix)
• about 5 cups chopped lettuce
• 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese (I like medium cheddar, but mild is nice, too)
• 1/2 c each of any assortment of the following veggies:  chopped red onion, chopped green onion, chopped red and/or green pepper, chopped tomato, chopped black or green olives
• Tortilla chips for dipping (I like to either make my own, or purchase some great organic blue chips)

Place the softened cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning into a bowl.  With an electric hand mixer on low speed, blend well (but don't whip).  Spread the mixture evenly into a 10x15 jelly roll pan (or something of similar size with sides).  Top with chopped lettuce, then the cheese, and sprinkle with your chosen veggies.

Scoop and eat with your tortilla chips.

If you need to store the dip, cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.  It will last for a couple of days.

Eggplant Parmesan with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Technically, eggplants, like cucumbers or tomatoes, are fruits, not vegetables.  But since they are eaten as a vegetable, I fully intend to refer them as such (plus, it's just easier and less confusing that way).  Honestly, I don't care what they're called; I just like to eat them.

Eggplant in season, much like a cucumber or tomato, is an entirely different vegetable from the eggplant shipped up from warmer climates during winter or spring.  Out of season, eggplant tends to be spongy, bruised, and bitter, and who would want to eat something like that?  If you've only ever eaten eggplant in that state, well, you have my deepest sympathies.  Right now, the farmer's markets are brimming with shiny, firm, sleek eggplant, and since it only comes once a year, I'm roasting, baking, frying, mashing, dressing and otherwise loving it.  It's so fresh that it doesn't need to be peeled or salted and pressed to help disguise the bitterness of age.  Baked, like the Eggplant Parmesan recipe I'm about to share, the eggplant takes on a creamy goodness that bears no resemblance to it's winter counterpart.  And it's a wonderful thing.

I love the traditional baked eggplant parmesan casseroles, layered with marinara and oozing with mozzarella.  But sometimes, I just want a lighter, but filling, pasta dish.  In this recipe, we'll bread and bake the eggplant cutlets, whip up a quick, fresh tomato basil sauce and serve it over pasta.  All those fresh ingredients working together on the plate make this dish heavenly.

When choosing your eggplants, look for ones that are about 3-4 inches in diameter, with shiny purple, taught, unmottled skin.  Try to avoid the larger ones for this dish if you can because those tend to have more seeds and seem to harbor more of those bitter qualities.  If for some reason you question the integrity of your eggplant, you might want to prep it with salt; after you cut your rounds, salt both sides of each round and place on a cooling rack or in a colander for about 30 min to allow the salt to bring out all the bitter juices.  Rinse the salt and pooled juices from each slice and squeeze the excess water by gently pressing them between your palms, and then pat dry with a towel.

Eggplant Parmesan with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Serves 6.  30-40 min cooking time.

• 2 medium eggplants (about 2lbs), peeled if desired, and sliced into 1/2" rounds (slicing on the diagonal makes for a larger cutlet, and is especially nice when you reach the narrow neck of the eggplant)
• 1 1/2 c dried bread crumbs (preferably homemade)
• 1 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• few pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbs water
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 
• Fresh Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)
• 1 13-14 oz pkg spaghetti, fettuccine, or linguine pasta 
• Grated Parmesan or torn pieces of fresh mozzarella for topping

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

On each of 2 15x10 jelly roll pans, spread 1 tsp olive oil with a pastry brush.  

In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  In another shallow bowl, blend together the eggs and water with a fork so there are no gloopy chunks.  

Dip each slice of eggplant into the egg mixture, turning to coat.  Shake off the excess egg and dredge the slice in the Parmesan mixture (use your hands to add more, if necessary).  Place each slice of eggplant on the prepared baking sheets.  When all the slices are coated, slowly drizzle a little olive oil over the tops of the prepared eggplant (about 1/2 tsp per slice).  It should look like this when you are done:

Place the sheets in the preheated oven for 20-25 min, turn the slices and bake another 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden.

• Meanwhile, get your pasta pot and tomato sauce going.  Prepare the pasta according to package instructions.  The sauce only takes about 5 minutes, so plan accordingly so everything is finished at the same time.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

• 3-4 large tomatoes (about 2 lbs), diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• few pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c chopped fresh basil leaves (loosely packed)
• 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

In a 12 inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Saute the garlic for about a minute.  Add the diced tomatoes and juice, salt and pepper, and stir.  Reduce the heat and allow the tomato mixture to simmer uncovered about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add in the basil and balsamic vinegar.  Stir well and remove from heat.  *If you are not ready to use the sauce right away, cover, leaving a vent, to keep warm.

Divide the pasta between 6 plates.  Top with 3-4 eggplant parmesan slices and a big spoonful of the sauce.  Top with either more grated Parmesan or with torn pieces of fresh mozzarella.

Cherry Tomato and Feta Crostini

I love those cute little multi-colored cherry tomatoes! They are so pretty,  so sweet, and for being so tiny, they sure do pack an abundance of flavor.  And because of all that flavor, not a lot needs to be done to enjoy what they have to offer.  One of my favorite ways to serve them (and eat them ) is in a lightly dressed salad and topped with some salty feta cheese.  Pile it all on top of little garlicky crostini, and they make a lovely, simple appetizer, or, in my case on the day I made the crostini in the picture, lunch for 4-6 people.

For this recipe, many of the ingredient measurements aren't listed because everyone likes a little more of this or a little less of that, and it's such an easy recipe that's it's literally impossible to ruin it.

Enjoy!

Cherry Tomato and Feta Crostini

• about 30-35 cherry tomatoes (preferably various colors)
• 4 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 12 basil leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• several  1/4" slices day old crusty bread (french, sourdough, etc)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled
• olive oil for drizzling
• Feta cheese, crumbled

Quarter the tomatoes and place them (and all the juice) into a medium size serving bowl.  Stack the basil leaves, roll up tightly, and run a sharp knife through the roll to create thin ribbons.  Like this:

Add the green onions, lemon juice and olive oil to the bowl of tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Gently toss the mixture and set aside.

Prepare your toasts:  Broil each side of the breads until nicely brown.  Rub one side of each with a garlic clove, just to get that yummy fragrance onto the toasts.  Drizzle each toast lightly with olive oil.

Pile the tomato salad onto each toast and top with crumbled feta cheese.

Slow Roasted Lemon Chicken

This chicken recipe is for a delicately flavored, slow roasted chicken.  I choose this recipe when I want to have left overs for other dishes and I don't want the herby or garlicky flavors of the chicken to be so pronounced.  This chicken has a mild lemon flavor, allowing the chicken to taste like, well, chicken.  Even though I love well flavored chicken dishes such as Herb Baked Chicken, there is something both elegant and favorable about a modestly seasoned roasted chicken.

Roasting a chicken is a pretty simple concept, but discussions about time and temperature get as heated as discussions about politics and religion.  Personally, I prefer a slow oven because it allows me more time to do other things while dinner is cooking, and I've never accidentally over-cooked it to the point of being dry.  In fact, slow roasting the chicken helps to keep it moist and tender and keeping it uncovered for the entire cooking time allows for perfectly golden skin with only one or two bastings.  I've found that the cooking  temperature is quite forgiving; it can be cooked at 250F for five hours, or 275F for four hours or 300F for three hours (approximately - it really does depend on the size of your chicken and what, if anything, you've stuffed it with), so depending on my schedule, I can choose a temperature to allow for how much time I need to get other things done.

When I make this recipe, I like to make two chickens; one to eat for dinner and one for sandwiches, soups, and other recipes later in the week.  I figure if the oven is on, I may as well take advantage of it.  I really dislike buying deli meat (nitrates, preservatives, price, the factory from which the animals came...), so I often will roast a turkey or a ham and freeze it in 1-2 lb portions to have on hand for sandwiches for those members of my family who like those things.  This chicken is great for that since I'm already making one and it's hardly any more work to pop in another.

This recipe calls for the lemons to be "zested".  By grating the yellow peel (not the white pith beneath the yellow peel - that part is bitter not at all tasty), the intense flavors of the oil are released and it makes a perfect seasoning. Since we are using the peel, I would strongly suggest buying organic lemons and just giving them a quick wash.  If you've never removed the zest from a citrus fruit before, it incredibly simple.  Get yourself a lemon and a hand-held cheese grater (the box type graters aren't the best for this, in my opinion, because the zest tends to get stuck in the little holes and I can't stand trying to clean it out).  Apply a little pressure and swipe the grater along the peel, trying not to go too deep and get any of the bitter white pith.  Continue over the peel of the entire lemon.  That's it.

To test whether the chicken is done cooking, I watch for the skin to begin shrinking slightly back at the bottom of the drumstick, test to see if the thigh is easily pulled away from the body of the chicken, and if that's so, the juices pooled there will be clear. If those things don't happen, the chicken is not done cooking. The FDA recommends a temperature of 180F for the dark meat (light meat will read 170F).  Keep in mind if you do use a thermometer that the chicken will continue cooking and rising about 10 more degrees during it's resting time after you remove it from the oven.

Slow Roasted Lemon Chicken

• 2 whole 4-5 lb chickens (preferably free range and organic), washed and patted dry inside and outside
• 8-10 sprigs fresh sage, roughly chopped, stems and all (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 2 organic lemons, zested and quartered
• 4 tsp sea salt
• lemon zest (from above mentioned lemons)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 300F.

Place each chicken in its own roasting pan.  

In a small bowl, mix together the salt, lemon zest, paprika, and black pepper.  Rub 1/4 of the mixture inside the cavity of each chicken. Next, place half the sage and garlic cloves into each cavity, followed by 2 onion quarters, 4 lemon quarters for each chicken (it'll be a tight fit, but mash it all in there).  

Drizzle 1 Tbs olive oil over each chicken and rub around to coat.  Next,  divide the remaining zest and seasoning mixture evenly between both chickens and rub that around, too.

Tie the legs together (I use the abundance of twist ties I have lying around).

Each chicken should look like this:

Place the chickens, uncovered, into the oven.
After about 2 hours, use a large spoon and baste the chickens with the juices in the pan.  If you want to, you can baste it one more time before it's done, but it's probably not necessary.
Cook for about 3 hours, or until the chicken tests as done.  Remove from the oven and allow to rest about 15 minutes before cutting.

Easy Taco Salad

 

When I menu plan for the week (and I do because I'd spend a lot more money at the grocery store than I really need to spend if I didn't menu plan), I always allow for super speedy dinners on those nights I know are going to be busy.  This Easy Taco Salad is one of those quick "go-to" meals for us.  And I especially like that I can feed 6 people a healthy, delicious, filling meal for under $7, including fruit on the side.

For the chips, I could just buy a bag of chips, but I prefer to bake corn tortillas in the oven.  I like that I can decide how they are cooked, how much and what kind of oil is used, what type of corn is used, and it's less expensive.  My favorite are the organic sprouted corn tortillas from Food for Life (they are in the freezer section of the grocery store because there are no preservatives to give them a lengthy shelf life).  There are 12 tortillas in a package.  I baste them with a little olive oil and run a knife through them to create eight chip size wedges per tortilla.  I just spread them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake them for about 8 minutes or until they are golden and crispy (no need to turn them).  With only two trays, I usually do two separate batches.

Leave a little breathing room between your chips to ensure even cooking

Remove them from the oven when they are golden

While the chips are cooking, I warm some chili beans on the stove (you could add some cooked shredded chicken or beef to the chili beans, too), and prepare our toppings.  At our house, everyone likes different toppings on their salads, so I usually chop some lettuce, red or green onions, bell peppers, avocado, tomato, etc, shred some cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack, etc), and set out some salsa and sour cream.  The chips are placed on each plate, topped with about 1/2 cup of warm chili bean mixture, then topped with whatever each person likes.  The salsa acts as a "dressing" for this salad, so I prefer a slightly cooked version.  Add some fresh fruit on the side, and dinner is served in about 15 minutes.

Easy Taco Salad
serves 6

• 12 6" corn tortillas
• 2 - 3 tsp olive oil
• sea salt
• 3 cups prepared chili beans
• 4 - 6 cups chopped lettuce
• a handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups (6-8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese (or other cheese you enjoy on your tacos)
• 1 1/2 c prepared salsa

Suggested various toppings:

• chopped red or green onions
• chopped green or red bell peppers
• chopped tomatoes
• chopped avocado
• sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using a pastry brush, lightly paint the oil on both sides of each tortilla.  Stack the tortillas and cut them through into 8 wedges (you should have 96 wedges).  Layer them on baking sheets, allowing at least 1/2 inch between each chip.  Sprinkle with sea salt and bake for about 8-10 minutes (depending on the kind of tortillas you are using).  When they are golden, but before the edges turn brown, remove them from the sheets and allow to cool.  (Note - depending on how many baking sheets you use, you may need to do a few batches.  If you use more than one rack in the oven, be sure to turn the trays or swap them from top to bottom to ensure even browning.)

Meanwhile, warm the chili beans in a pot on the stove. If you would like to add cooked beef or chicken, stir it in with the chili beans and adjust the flavors to your liking.

Divide the chips evenly among the plates.  Top each plate with 1/2 c of the warm chili bean mixture, a good handful of chopped lettuce (and cilantro if using),  and some shredded cheese.  Drizzle about 1/4 c of the salsa over each salad.  Top with which ever toppings appeal to you.

Chili Beans - Shortcut #2

Today I'm going to talk beans.  Sure, it's easy and cheap to just buy a can of beans with which to make dinner, but why bother when you can toss a pound of soaked dry beans into the slow cooker with some water for $1-$2 and have about  the equivalent of 5 or 6 cans?  Often with my recipes that call for beans, I put a measurement such as "1 1/2 c cooked beans" because I keep home cooked beans in gallon size Ziploc storage bags in my freezer and scoop out what I need when I need them.  For future reference, though, 1 1/2 c equals about 1 can of beans.

When searching the cans of beans in the grocery aisle, more often than not I found additional ingredients listed on the labels: calcium chloride, disodium EDTA, modified food starch, dextrose, and even high fructose corn syrup. Those additives are mostly stabilizers, sweeteners and "flavor enhancers", and nothing we really need in our beans.  There are, however, some brands that are savvy enough to just put beans, water, and salt into their cans, but you do have to search to find them on the canned bean shelf.  The problem for me with even those isn't so much the beans, but rather the can itself.

Bisphenol-A, or more commonly known as BPA, is a toxic chemical used to make plastics, and it also shows up in cans as a barrier separating our food from the metal.  Numerous scientific studies have indicated that  BPA is linked to negative health issues such as reproductive problems, behavioral and neurological problems, breast cancer (and thyroid and prostate cancers as well), obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and many more.  Some countries have already banned the use of BPA in food vessels, but not all.  Here, in the US, the FDA has finally banned the use of BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups just this year, but to my knowledge, that's as far as they have gotten.  Some larger corporations have "promised" to change the liners of their cans used for tomatoes, beans, vegetables, etc, but since they don't presently "have to", I'm not holding my breath.  I will keep an eye on the progress, though.

In the meanwhile, I think I'll skip the cans and make my own, thank you very much.  And thankfully, Ziploc and Gladware brand plastic bags and containers do not use BPA, so for the freezer, that's what I choose.

(If you are interested in learning more about BPA, a simple google search will turn up more articles than you would have time in this lifetime to read.  Here is a well sited Wiki entry, and here is an article from Science News  titled "Cans Bring BPA to Dinner, FDA Confirms" from May 2011.)


Okay, back to bean basics.  It's so simple, really:
-Inspect your beans for stones (I've only ever found 1 stone in all my years of cooking dried beans, but it's worth a check anyway).
-Soak your beans. You can either soak your beans overnight in water enough to cover by about 2-3 inches or you can do the "quick soak" method by covering the beans with same amount of water, bring them to a low boil, immediately cover, remove from the heat, and let soak for about an hour.
-Drain the soaking water from the beans and give them a rinse.  Many people don't drain the soaking water, and if you don't want to, don't.  I do because I've heard that the beans release into the water some of their indigestible compounds when soaked, and I'd rather be comfortable than sorry later.
-Cook your beans.  There are three ways to do this; refill the pot with water to cover by about an inch and simmer for a couple hours (length of time depends on the bean), put them into a baking dish, add water, cover and bake at 350 for a couple hours, or use a slow cooker (add water to cover).  I prefer the slow cooker method because the beans always turn out perfect with consistent texture every time.

So, today we are making Chili Beans (not to be confused with chili with beans, but rather those flavored beans in the can at the grocery store).  We love chili beans because they are great to grab for nachos and taco salads and even as a chili starter because they are already seasoned.  This recipe makes the equivalent of about 5 cans of  chili beans, so be sure you have containers available in which to freeze them.  About 1 1/2 c of the bean mixture equals one can.

Cooked pinto beans before draining and adding sauce

Homemade Chili Beans

• 1 lb pinto beans, soaked
• 1 onion, cut in half
• 2 cloves garlic, each sliced in half once  
• 1 bay leaf
• 6-8 c water (enough to cover the beans)

Place everything in a 6 quart slow cooker, cover and cook on high 6-8 hours.  When the beans are tender, drain over a pot or bowl, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid.  Remove and discard the onion chunks and bay leaf. Place the beans back into the slow cooker, stir in the sauce (recipe below), cover and cook on high for 30 minutes more.  Cool, place in them freezer containers and freeze.  Thaw when ready to use.

For the sauce:

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 1 med onion, finely chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (if you want less heat, remove the seeds)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced (about 3-4 cups)
• 2 c reserved cooking liquid from the beans
• 2 Tbs cumin
• 2 Tbs chili powder
• 3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a 12" skillet over medium/high heat, saute the bell pepper, onion, jalapeno and garlic in the olive oil until tender, about 5-6 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, stir in the tomatoes, and simmer uncovered about 10 minutes.  Add the reserved bean liquid and all the spices.  Reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer about 5 minutes.  Add to the beans in the slow cooker and continue with the directions above.

There are only 3 left for me to freeze because we used 2 for dinner (Taco Salads).