I hesitat to get into the very controversial subject about the only authentic or traditional way to make cornbread, for today, but I'm feeling a bit of a deja vu re cornbread here. I will look it up and see who won.
Oh ok....
Beans and peas are a big part of our diet. I love them! I cook almost exclusively from dried beans/peas and I like to do it in a small slow cooker. No pre soaking or fast boil. The creamiest way to make them. Anywhere from 3 hours to 6 depending on the bean.I always keep on hand, red beans, pinto beans, navy beans, great northern bean, black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans (great in soups and salads) and last but no where near the least, black eyed peas, my very favorite.
I have a fantastic red beans and rice recipe....red beans, onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bag leaves, cayenne, Cajun seasoning (see Greger's suggestion above), parsley, and most of all sage...in my opinion, the most important. I've made it with andouille sausage and with no meat at all. (we were meat free for a long time, now we're meat less). I also might put a splash of sherry in.
I cook this in the slow cooker. Toe curling good!
Hey Tat, I grow collards year around here too. What you say, so right about wintertime collards!
Hi Olyve,
I knew there had to other beanophiles out there! I have considered starting a new thread, but have been looking for just the right title for it. Should it be "You don't know beans!" or "KILLER BEANS, RED KIDNEY ALERT!!"?
Having been unjustly accused of
or even worse
purrhaps it would be better to take it elsewhere, but since the actual topic is explicitly "What's for dinner?" it would be appropriate for me,
it happens,
to continue here as beans are very frequently included in my dinner, particularly with dried beans that provide so many leftovers compared to cans.
Re: Killer beans, there were 50 or so cases of kidney bean poisoning/toxicity reported in Britain between 1980-90 that were recognized to be due to raw or under-cooked kidney beans. This wont kill you, but can cause GI distress, from end to end, with possible dehydration needing IV fluid replacement
Killer beans toxicity, symptoms, treatment, and preventionThere have been particular concerns about low temp slow cookers, that on low heats may not reach a high enough temperature to destroy the toxin phytohemaglutinin, that we call PHA for short, and use ut in the lab to stimulate lymphocytes to divide. Kidney beans have some of the highest levels of it, but other beans also have it.
I have never noticed a problem, but I dont use a slow cooker for beans. I would be interested in the details about what you call a small slow cooker, brand model, and the temperatures that you use. If it boils part of the time, like 10-15 minutes or more, that may explain why you haven' noticed any GI problem with it.
Curiously, poorly cooked beans, may have 5 fold increases in toxicity, compared to raw beans, as the toxin can be released from the beans, but not destroyed by the low heat.
Pressure cooking seems from my experiment to be OK even with short high pressure times and temps, but I haven't tried it the the large red kidney beans that have the most toxin. 4-5 beans poorly cooked can cause symptoms. I'm considering testing pressure cooking the Big Reds, but not when I'm going out.
Greger is missing out, but safe with his canned beans, as that canning process destroys the toxin. Otherwise we wouldnt be able to eat kidney beans right out of the can, when camping, or mimicking cowboys on the trail.
Most slow cooker recipes that I have seem lately, use canned bean, or soaked boiled beans.
As for wintering collards, Athens, greater Hotlanta, has winters that used to be a bit different from Syracuse, and in fact when I just looked outside, it was suddenly white.
Moar BEANS
TAT
