Boston Baked Beans

Well, I made the move to the Boston area, so now that we’re settling in, it’s time for me to learn how to make the regional specialties, right?  First up… Boston Baked Beans.  I didn’t bother to actually look for a recipe.  I mean, it’s beans, not rocket science.  That being said, I have no idea what special ingredients Bostonians traditionally use, so I just used what sounded good to me.  Am I sounding a bit like Seeley this week?  Perhaps she’s rubbing off on me. 

Anyway, here’s what you’ll need:

3 – 3 ½ cups Great Northern beans
2 cups diced bell pepper
2 small onions
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
7 slices of bacon
1 cup tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

The first thing you want to do is soak your beans.  Well, so much for sounding like Seeley.  Personally, I think beans should be soaked.  All it takes is little bit of planning ahead, and it makes the actual cooking of them so much easier.  So, inspect your beans, removing any that are discolored and anything that’s not a bean.  Then place them in a large pan and cover them with cool water. 

Make sure there’s a good 2 quarts or so of water, and plenty of room for the beans to grow.  Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon of baking soda.  The soda helps get them ready for cooking, and is also supposed to help with gas.  I’m a little skeptical about that last part… we’ll see. 

Cover the beans and leave them overnight.  The next day, drain the water off and give the beans a thorough rinse. 

Pour the beans into a large pan.  If you’re using the same pan you used for soaking, wash it before putting the beans back in.  Pour in 7 cups of water and bring it to a heavy boil.  You’re going to get lots of foam on top. 

Don’t panic.  It’ll go away on its own.  Boil the beans for about 3 minutes, then lower the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for an hour.  Check on them every 15 minutes and make sure they haven’t dried up completely and stir them to keep them from sticking or burning on the bottom.  My beans were very soft at that point, but if yours aren’t, keep simmering them until they become soft, adding water if necessary.  When all is said and done, they should be nice and soft, and there should be very little water left.  Only about a cup will remain in the bottom of the pan.  If you have more than that, just pour some off.

While the beans are cooking, you can use that time to do some of your other prep work.  First, dice up your peppers, onions, and garlic.  When I cut into the red pepper, it was moldy inside (wtf?) so I ended up using just green and yellow.  You can use whatever combination you like, just end up with a total of about 2 cups. 

Next, slice up your bacon into ¾ inch pieces.  Throw it into a hot skillet with a tablespoon of oil. 

You don’t want to cook the bacon all the way, just long enough to render off some of the fat.  Remove it from the pan and place it on a paper towel lined plate.

Allow the pan to cool down just a bit before adding your veg so that you don’t get spattered with hot oil.  Throw them into the pan and sprinkle with a bit of salt. 

Once again, we’re not going to cook these all the way.  You just want to sweat off a bit of the moisture.  Once that’s been accomplished, set them aside and return to your beans.  When they’ve finished cooking, add the brown sugar, tomato sauce, tomatoes, vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper. 

Stir gently until they are well distributed and the beans are evenly coated.  Stir in the onion and pepper mixture, and pour the whole thing into a baking dish. 

A glass 3 quart pan worked perfectly for me, but as you can see, it was a close call.  Cooking it on a sheet pan is definitely a requirement in cases like this.  It ensures that your oven will stay clean.  Sprinkle on the bacon and place the whole thing into a preheated 325° oven. 

Bake it for 2 – 2 ½ hours, checking every 30 minutes to make sure it’s not burning.  When it’s done, it should be nice and brown on top, and will be bubbling away. 

Give them a good 15 minutes or so to cool down, then serve them however you like them.  Perfect for a meal on a cold evening, or a side dish anytime. 

So, Boston Baked Beans have been conquered, what comes next?  Boston Cream Pie?  Boston Clam Chowder?  What special dish is your home state known for?           

The 32 Hour Day

I need one.

I do promise that eventually I will make Creamsicle cookies for Lyra. But omg math. I spent 9 hours on one day of the long weekend doing homework (more on other days too!) and I'm just managing to keep up. I've also started hiding in empty boardrooms on my lunch break so I can scribble numbers in peace. This is not looking like my funnest summer ever.

And after eating sandwiches and cereal for dinners last week I decided I really needed to make freezable meals again this weekend. Not that I object to cookies for dinner from time to time (you so have and you know it) but I just don't think a full week of it is a good idea.

So instead, I made meaty balls. Froze them. No pics.

And chili.

Or at least, what I call chili.

I'm sure there are purists of all kinds who are going to complain about one thing or another but you know what? Go make your own freaking chili. No beans allowed? Too bad. I love the musical fruit so they're in there. Ground beef? Yup. Deal with it. Tomatoes? Holy freaking crap you'd think the world was gonna end if someone put tomatoes in chili. But you know what? I did. And I still have an assignment due next week so obvioulsy it can't be that catastrophic.

Chili, The Way I Felt Like Making It

What you need:

• about 1 lb of lean ground beef
• 2-3 onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried crushed chilis
• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce
• 3 poblanos
• 2 anaheims
• 2 sweet red peppers
• 1 jalapeno (at least)
• 1 c dried pinto beans
• 1 c TVP (I'll explain later)
• 2 c crushed tomatoes
• 2-3 c beef broth

What you gotta do:

Chop your onions and garlic and combine them in the biggest pot you have (you know, the one you have to put on top of the cupboards because it doesn't fit inside them) with the ground beef and oregano.

While that's cooking (stir it from time to time to bust up the meat) chop your peppers. A coarse chop is fine. They're going to be in there all day simmering and will break down quite a bit, so save yourself the work.

Speaking of saving work, since you're going to be adding heat and seeds to this, don't worry about picking every single seed out of your peppers. If you just cut around the top:

And then pop the core out:

Good enough.

It's particularly easy to do this with poblanos, but it works on any pepper really.

Do it to them all, chop em, and toss em in the pot.

Give it a stir and then pile in the spices.

May as well stir them in too.

Now, add the dry stuff. Beans and TVP.

Textured Vegetable Protein. Yeah, I see you making that face. But you've probably already eaten it. I first learned of it from a vegetarian roommate. He'd use it to make spaghetti sauce, meatballs, pretty much anything that would normally have meat in it. It's cheap, fat free, veggie sourced protein and when it's reconstituted it has the same texture as ground beef. Even some restaurants use it (yup, you've probably eaten it). You can find it at most bulk stores, any health food store, and even at some supermarkets.

And it makes a pound of beef make a lot of chili.

But it is dry, and needs liquid. That's where the tomatoes and beef broth come in. You could use water, beer, or any other liquid you like. Start with about a cup and a half.

After a while, the beans will be wrinkly.

But then they'll start to puff up. You might need to add more liquid. I did.

I cooked mine on fairly low heat with the lid on (do not need the extra humidity in here). But still, check it from time to time, and add more liquid of choice if it seems too dry. And then eventually, you'll have something that looks like this:

And you'll be able to mash a bean against the side of the pot.

And the peppers will have broken down, and the TVP will look exactly like the beef, and the whole house will smell freaking amazing.

And since there was no way I was turning the oven on (it's finally warm here and I'm really thinking I need to get myself a little window AC unit) to make corn bread, I had it with corn chips. Organic blue ones. Fun!

And then I bagged the rest and froze them for later this week.

And probably for dinner next week as well since I really don't like eating the same thing for dinner every night. Except, apparently, when it's a bowl of cereal.

I really need a couple 32 hour days so I can get all the crap done that needs to be done. Like feeding myself.

What would you do with a 32 hour day?