One of the easiest things to cook, although a bit time consuming, is beans. The time spent cooking up a big batch of these lovely legumes is well worth it. Served with cornbread (and maybe some fried potatoes) or slightly mashed with Mexican food are just two of the many ways this cheap and easy dish (not to be confused with some of the girls in my high school – get it, cheap and easy?). Anyway, back to beans. Besides being an excellent source of protein, beans offer complex carbs and fiber. They contain a powerhouse of nutrients including antioxidants, and vitamins and minerals, such as copper, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium and zinc. They’re just good for you.
So learning to cook up a big pot will serve you well. You can absolutely use the canned version as a side dish or in recipes. Those work just fine. But it will be better for you to cook them fresh and freeze some of what you cook for future recipes.
I do not soak my beans the night before as the package and many others suggest. Mostly, it’s because I forget. But this method works great and doesn’t affect the taste at all.
2 lb. bag of pinto beans
16 cups water
Large heavy bottom pot
1 Tbs. garlic salt
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbs. bacon grease
(Optional: 1 tsp. cumin or chili powder or both)
“Look” your beans. You don’t want to bite down on any rocks. Sometimes little rocks gets packaged right along with the dry beans from the gathering process.
Put them in strainer and wash them. They sometimes also have grit you probably wouldn’t find very appetizing.
Pour them into pot filled with the water.
Add the spices and bacon grease. (Unless you are trying to be super healthy – then add just a little olive oil or coconut oil)
Cook on medium-high heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Nice and steamy. Reduce heat to low-medium and cook 3-3.5 hours longer, stirring occasionally.
I don’t add a lot of salt at the beginning because you can’t take salt out, but you can add more now.
So test those beans and if you think they need salt or any other spice, go for it!
Package 2 or 3 quart bags or containers and freeze. Enjoy the rest with a nice big pan of cornbread right now. Go on – enjoy!
Pinto Beans and Cornbread
Beans: (feeds 8-10)
8 cups water
1 lb dry beans
1/2 Tbs. Salt
1/2 Tbs. chili powder
1/2 Tbs. garlic (paste or minced)
1 Tbs. olive, canola or vegetable oil (bacon grease if you have it)
Optional: 1/2 onion or 1 jalapeno, slit
Directions:
Look through beans and cull out any small rocks or bad-looking beans
Put into stock pot with 8 cups water (enough to cover with about 2” above top of beans)
Bring to boil on medium heat.
Remove from heat and rinse.
Refill pot with another 8 cups water and place on low-medium heat.
Add seasoning and oil.
Simmer 1-1 1/2 hours.
Check to see if more water needed so no scorching occurs or if more seasoning is needed.
Turn heat lower and simmer another hour or two.
Buttermilk Cornbread: (feeds 10-12, 9×13 pan)
1/4 cup oil
2 cups cornmeal
2 cup AP flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups buttermilk (3 Tbs. lemon juice and add milk to 3 cup mark)
2 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Pour oil on 9×13 pan to coat and heat in oven.
Combine dry ingredients and mix well.
Add eggs and buttermilk.
Mix well.
Pour into hot pan, spreading evenly.
Bake 20-30 min., until golden brown.
Story behind this dish
Our first day of official work (but the day before our official opening) began at 6:30 a.m. with a quick trip to the grocery store to purchase forgotten items needed for the catering gig we’d landed. Yes, I’d gone the night before (after I’d left “work” at 6:30), purchased a shopping cart full of stuff, and brought it back for the next morning. But, of course, I’d forgotten one or two things.
Anywho, JoAnne was already hard at work on the carrot cake. She routinely got up at 5 a.m. to run 5 miles and would then go on into work. She really was a godsend.
Rebecca arrived as I did and we both rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Now, I’ll tell ya, making anything at home doesn’t seem to take all that long. But when cooking for a crowd of 45, it seemed to take forever. And we weren’t dilly-dallying. All 3 of us were hurrying.
We had beans simmering, salad and dressings made, cornbread cut and packaged, paper goods boxed and ready, and the cake iced, cut and packaged.
Rebecca was making 4 gallons of tea and JoAnne was finishing the chicken n dumplins as our state health department inspector waltzed in. She was supposed to come in the afternoon. But here she was, catching us cooking for a luncheon in our uninspected kitchen.
I recognized her. She’d taken the ServSafe course with me. (A course that certifies you know kitchen requirements). This could go either way. Either she’d know I knew what I was doing and go easy or she’d know I was supposed to know better and write us up.
She asked when we were opening and I answered honestly. Rebecca and JoAnne were both friendly but kept their heads in their jobs and let me do the answering. She then asked if we were just doing prep work for it, although she could see we were full-blown cooking. Again, honesty: I smiled, “Well, we had a pharmaceutical rep call and request a lunch for today. So we went ahead and did it. I hope that’s okay.”
She was checking our temperatures in cold storage. She just smiled. I followed her around our small kitchen checking our oven and stove temperatures, since we had them going. She observed our washing and sanitizing stations and checked our grease trap (glad we’d cleaned that out!).
“You are cleared to cook,” she said as she handed me a copy of the report she’d turn in. She smiled and wished us luck.
“Thank you,” I said as she left.
I turned to Rebecca and JoAnne.
“Glad that’s over. I was afraid she’d shut us down just for getting our cart before our horse,” I said.
Rebecca looked up from packaging the tea in our carrier, “Me too. I was nervous about that….”
As we launched into a conversation about that big stress being past us, JoAnne reminded us, “Yes, but right now we need to get this meal to 45 people on the other side of town and we are 10 minutes late.”
JoAnne would prove to be our much-needed time keeper and “reminderer”.
Cooking on a schedule was proving harder than it looked.
For a crowd: (feeds 32-40 as main dish)
Beans
1.5-2 gallons water
4 lb dry beans
2 Tbs. Salt
2 Tbs. chili powder
2 Tbs. garlic (paste or minced)
4 Tbs. olive, canola or vegetable oil (bacon grease if you have it)
Optional: 2 onions or 3 jalapenos, slit
Directions:
Look through beans and cull out any small rocks or bad-looking beans
Put into large stock pot with water (enough to cover with about 2” above top of beans)
Bring to boil on medium heat.
Remove from heat and rinse.
Refill pot with more water and place on low-medium heat.
Add seasoning and oil.
Simmer 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
Check to see if more water needed so no scorching occurs or if more seasoning is needed.
Turn heat lower and simmer another hour or two.
Buttermilk Cornbread: (feeds 40-48, 2 large steam trays)
1 cup oil
8 cups cornmeal
8 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
8 Tbs. baking powder
8 tsp. salt
6 tsp. baking soda
12 cups buttermilk (3 Tbs. lemon juice and add milk to 3 cup mark)
8 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Pour 1/2 cup oil into each 9×13 pan to coat and heat in oven.
Combine dry ingredients and mix well.
Add eggs and buttermilk.
Mix well.
Pour into hot pans, spreading evenly.
Bake 30-45 min., until golden brown.
This is an ongoing diary of my experience becoming a caterer/meal prep worker to the masses. I will include a recipe or two from each entry. Hope you enjoy!
