Kitchen

[jannabelle1]

I used to cook dried Great Northern beans for ham & beans, along with cornbread. Now, I just buy a big jar of Randall's (already cooked) northern beans at the grocery store and add the ham, celery and a little diced carrot - and make cornbread, of course!

[ECBG]

None for me, since I was a child. Many thanks.  Enjoy!!!

[KingstonsMom]

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@mizree wrote:

Love beans and favorite is baby lima beans.  Mama used to make lacy cornbead fried in a cast iron skillet.  She would tell us to to save two for your Daddy.  Bless his heart, when we were young he didn't get any with the delicate crispy edges.   

Wouldn't think of New Year's meal without black eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread.  I cook chick peas and black beans from dried which we usually have with taco meals. i like boiled peanuts when green peanuts are available.

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@mizree 

I've been in boiled peanut heaven for several weeks now! I even boiled some to put in the freezer for later, just reheat in hot water.

They're in season here in the south (GA), but you have to be quick to grab a 4 lb bag before they're gone, LOL!

[KingstonsMom]

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@Sooner wrote:

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@Lake4 wrote:

I have never cooked dried beans, but I love canned black-eyed peas simmered until hot, with lots of Frank's hot sauce. Yum!

Love black beans with mexican food or by themselves, too! 

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@Lake4 Have you ever cooked dry black-eye peas?  We like them better than canned, but maybe it's just what we grew up with.  

You might try them some time just to see what you think! My mom put two strips of bacon in them, but we usually go with ham, but sometimes just cook them in chicken broth.  

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@Sooner 

And if you're out of bacon or ham, I use ham flavored 'Better Than Bouillion' which I always have in the pantry (till opening) in different varieties; beef, chicken, lobster, ham.

[HLP]

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@Meowingkitty wrote:

I've never cooked a dried bean in my life. Wouldn't know where to start. 

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Start by covering with water. add an onion ,chopped, add ham, thats been in a food processor, put a stick of butter in it , salt and pepper. when they {white navy or soup beans] cook down some, take a potato masher, and mash around a bit.This thickens it.  Taste to make sure it's done,{beans are cooked}. Buy Jiffy corn bread muffin mix, bake them . the meals ready.

[Meowingkitty]

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@HLP wrote:

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@Meowingkitty wrote:

I've never cooked a dried bean in my life. Wouldn't know where to start. 

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Start by covering with water. add an onion ,chopped, add ham, thats been in a food processor, put a stick of butter in it , salt and pepper. when they {white navy or soup beans] cook down some, take a potato masher, and mash around a bit.This thickens it.  Taste to make sure it's done,{beans are cooked}. Buy Jiffy corn bread muffin mix, bake them . the meals ready.

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 Thanks for the recipe but  I don't like ham or corn bread. I'll stick with my Bush's beans.

[depglass]

Just adding ham to bean soup isn't going to help much.  You need a genuine ham bone with some meat left on it.  Our markets package them separately.  

[wagirl]

I like all beans, but don't cook them from dried very often,  altho they cook great in a pressure cooker---I use canned beans. 

[Sooner]

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@Meowingkitty wrote:

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@HLP wrote:

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@Meowingkitty wrote:

I've never cooked a dried bean in my life. Wouldn't know where to start. 

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Start by covering with water. add an onion ,chopped, add ham, thats been in a food processor, put a stick of butter in it , salt and pepper. when they {white navy or soup beans] cook down some, take a potato masher, and mash around a bit.This thickens it.  Taste to make sure it's done,{beans are cooked}. Buy Jiffy corn bread muffin mix, bake them . the meals ready.

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 Thanks for the recipe but  I don't like ham or corn bread. I'll stick with my Bush's beans.

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@Meowingkitty Well you always learn something here!  I have never added butter to beans.

I will say we often cook them without ham, using just chicked broth.  And I am not really fond of beans cooked in the pressure cooker.  To me, they stay more the texture of canned beans unless you cook them too long and the skins sort of explode.

Beans don't always have to have ham or even meat.  You can add any kind of spices you like, and I like a little heat with a spicy addition of Franks Red Hot or Siraracha.  You can do chili bean flavorings too, or add veggies for more of a bean soup.

I like beans best soaked in water over night, that water poured off in the morning, broth added back to cover the beans about an inch or a little more then gently simmered in a pot on the stove until they are the texture you like. 

One thing about beans, to me they need a good helping of salt and pepper to begin with, then the flavors you like added--and I love them with crackers or rice or toast too! 

[RedTop]

Butter has never been added to any pot of beans I've ever cooked, and it's not something my mom or grandparents ever did either.   

My maternal Papaw cooked awesome pots  of pinto beans!   My first memory of eating his beans was when they simmered all day on the wood stove with a chunk of salt pork, but they were just as good once he learned to cook on the electric stove.   

It took me many years to figure out the secret to the taste and thickness of his bean soup.  I had just about given up trying, when I had a dream of Papaw in the kitchen with a canister in his hand, and realized his secret ingredient was sugar!  

In this house, Jiffy mix is not considered cornbread.   If I only cooked for me, I might be more tempted to use a mix.