What about Beans?!

[Front-Ranger]

Great idea on the potato! I used frozen beans. They have a nice flavor and a good lima green color.

I also added a couple of teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning and some minced garlic.

[southendmd]

My friend Joey made her famous Boston baked beans for a neighborhood dinner in Ptown last weekend.  Served along two kinds of sausage, spaetzle, roasted root vegetables, the beans were a big hit.  She makes them with a big ham hock, bacon, molasses, spices and a secret ingredient--bourbon!

We even had the traditional New England brown bread in a can. 

[serious crayons]

It is New Year's week still so I am making lima beans for lunch. I'm simply stewing them with onion and turkey bacon; then I will make a soup with the rest. Let me know of any good ingredients I should add.

What are the chances?! I literally just finished a (late-ish) lunch of lima beans. I made them a while ago; this was a small container I'd stashed in the freezer and thawed.

I use dried beans soaked overnight, like Jeff's mother, and cook them in the crockpot with a ham hock and broth. At some point about midway through, I add chopped and saut?ed bell peppers (red in this case, but any color works), onions and garlic and a can of tomato sauce (I once read that tomato sauce causes the beans to stop softening, so you want to make sure they're soft first; I'm not sure this is true, but I follow the advice). I serve them with Louisiana- or Crystal-brand hot sauce -- I use those rather than Tabasco because they're slightly less hot and, I think, more flavorful.

I've cooked all my dried legumes the same way for years and I should probably try to branch out. In fact, they're almost always limas; haven't made black beans or lentils or kidneys or even blackeye peas in a while (I think I confessed here that I forgot to make blackeyes on New Year's Day). And I used to use bacon a lot but I've fallen into a ham hock habit. So I'm open to suggestions, too!

[Front-Ranger]

Good news on my annual exam...my cholesterol has fallen by 30 points! I attribute it in part to my love of beans. Veggies as well, in fact the whole Mediterranean diet thing.

Today's a snow day and the polar vortex makes it impossible to go out for more than a few minutes. So, I'm cooking. I've been soaking dried chick peas and am going to roast them with some homemade curry powder. Will serve myself a rice or noodle bowl topped with the peas, radish slices, carrot, red cabbage and soft boiled egg!

[Jeff Wrangler]

Great idea on the potato! I used frozen beans. They have a nice flavor and a good lima green color.

My mother would never use green limas except as a side dish. But maybe I've misunderstood? I was thinking you were making this as a main dish.

Dried lima beans soaked overnight, then basically stewed with ham hocks and broth, with diced potatoes added--that would have been a main dish. Before crock pots were invented, my mother would have done all this on the stove. Later she would have used a crock pot. Of course she cooked the ham hocks first, to make the broth. Then she would have removed the meat from the bones and added it to the beans and potatoes.

Ham hocks, bacon, molasses, brown sugar, and I-don't-know-what-all else is the way cooks where I come from would make homemade baked beans (unfortunately no bourbon). The difference would be that they would use dried lima beans--soaked overnight, of course. Maybe that's a Central Pennsylvania thing.

The funny thing is, this is also basically the way she made bean soup. She just would have used dried navy (?) beans instead. (Except for lima beans and kidney beans, I'm a little vague on bean types.    )

Ham hocks, bacon, molasses, brown sugar, and I-don't-know-what-all (no bourbon)--that's the way cooks where I come from make homemade baked beans. The difference is that they use dried lima beans--soaked overnight, of course. People tend to think that's weird. Maybe it's a Central Pennsylvania thing.

[serious crayons]

My mother would never use green limas except as a side dish. But maybe I've misunderstood? I was thinking you were making this as a main dish.

That's the only time I've eaten green ones, too -- when my mom served a package of frozen lima beans as a side dish.

Dried lima beans soaked overnight, then basically stewed with ham hocks and broth, with diced potatoes added--that would have been a main dish. Before crock pots were invented, my mother would have done this on the stove. Later she would have used a crock pot. Of course she cooked the ham hocks first, to make the broth. Then she would have removed the meat from the bones and added it to the beans and potatoes.

Your mother and I follow almost exactly the same method. Main difference is I don't add potatoes -- I have, in the past, served beans over rice, but I've mostly cut rice out for carb reasons (beans are also high in carbs but their high fiber makes up for it). And I don't make the broth with the ham hocks; I use chicken broth, sometimes canned (well, usually boxed, but it's liquid) sometimes homemade from the carcasses of store-bought rotisserie chicken. I add it and the ham hock at the beginning of cooking the beans.
 

Ham hocks, bacon, molasses, brown sugar, and I-don't-know-what-all else is the way cooks where I come from would make homemade baked beans (unfortunately no bourbon). The difference would be that they would use dried lima beans--soaked overnight, of course. Maybe that's a Central Pennsylvania thing.

In my part of the country we usually just open a can of Van Camp's, maybe add some browned hamburger or bacon. But we don't often  eat baked beans anymore; that was more of a '60s thing around here.

[Jeff Wrangler]

That's the only time I've eaten green ones, too -- when my mom served a package of frozen lima beans as a side dish.

I once bought half a pint of fresh limas from a produce vendor at a farmers'market. They were good. ...

I have, in the past, served beans over rice.

That's the way I like chili, not as something you eat out of a bowl, but over a bed of brown rice. Sometimes I'll melt cheese on top of it. I usually pair it with a salad and a slice or two of whole-wheat bread. Not the healthiest of meals, but I like it. (OCD once told me I was weird for eating chili that way. I don't care. I like it that way.)
 

In my part of the country we usually just open a can of Van Camp's, maybe add some browned hamburger or bacon. But we don't often  eat baked beans anymore; that was more of a '60s thing around here.

They're still very much a thing, at least in Central Pennsylvania. When I buy canned baked beans, I prefer Bush's.

[Front-Ranger]

My latest meal involving beans is a turkey tortilla soup. It is a delicious mixture of black beans, corn, shredded turkey, Rotel tomatoes and chili, chicken broth, onions, garlic, and potatoes with garnishes of sour cream, green onion, and crisped tortilla strips.

[Jeff Wrangler]

My latest meal involving beans is a turkey tortilla soup. It is a delicious mixture of black beans, corn, shredded turkey, Rotel tomatoes and chili, chicken broth, onions, garlic, and potatoes with garnishes of sour cream, green onion, and crisped tortilla strips.

Sounds yummy!

[serious crayons]

That's the way I like chili, not as something you eat in out of a bowl, but over a bed of brown rice. Sometimes I'll melt cheese on top of it. I usually pair it with a salad and a slice or two of whole-wheat bread. Not the healthiest of meals, but I like it. (OCD once told me I was weird for eating chili that way. I don't care. I like it that way.)

What do you mean? It sounds healthy to me.

When I buy canned baked beans, I prefer Bush's.

Yes, another classic brand.