Hot summer kitchens

[Guest guest]

Canned beans are never as good and as a vegetarian I

love well-cooked beans.

 

When I lived in Sacramento CA, I dealt with a hot

kitchen two ways:

1. I cooked the beans in the middle of the night. I

would start them as I went to bed and got them nicely

settled into a low simmer. I would set the timer for

the appropriate time and set my alarm clock to back

this up. I'd get up in the middle of the night and

put the beans in the fridge--yes I know this is a

waste of energy.

OR

2. I cooked the beans in our camper in the driveway.

 

I now live on the Northern California coast where we

have very cool summers--never over 75 degrees. People

come here to cool off from places like Redding and

Sacramento.

 

Happy summer cooking.

 

Kathleen

Eureka CA

 

 

I can't bring myself

> to heat up my kitchen

> by cooking beans all day, but I did find a recipe

> where canned beans can be

> substituted and I already have all of the

> ingredients for. I've adapted it

> to using only one can of beans so that we won't have

> miles of leftovers.

 

> (This from a lady at Leeds on the Royal

> Horticultural Society page)

>

> Frijoles de Olla

>

> Recipes

> Use epazote to flavour Mexican and Caribbean dishes.

>

> Frijoles De Olla (Beans Cooked in a Pot)

> Serves 4

> This is an adaptation of a classic Mexican recipe.

>

> 1 can kidney beans or black beans

> 1 ½ Tbsp oil

> 3 cloves garlic, chopped

> 1 white onion, chopped

> 1 pepper, chopped

> ¼ chipotle, reconstituted and chopped (or chipotle

> powder)

> 15 Epazote leaves

>

> Crush ¼ of the beans with a potato masher or puree.

> Gently cook the

> garlic, chopped onions, chilli and pepper in the oil

> until soft. Add the

> whole and crushed or pureed beans. Season well and

> stir in epazote. Cook

> for a further five minutes and add a little

> vegetable stock if the beans

> become too dry. Serve beans with chopped onion and

> tomato or with sour

> cream, grated cheese and tortillas.

>

> (I may throw in a little frozen baby corn kernels

> before the last simmer

> since I have some.)

>

> Sherry

>

 

 

Kathleen M. Pelley