What's Cookin' in Kelli's Kitchen

Psst.  I have a confession to make… I LOVE BEANS.  My husband once introduced me by saying that my top three days in order are: #3 - our wedding day, #2 - when the Cubs won the world series, and #1 - when I gained entry to the Rancho Gordo Bean Club (and he is not wrong).  I have bean t-shirts, bean jewelry, bean cookbooks, special bean pots and spoons, and most importantly a stash of fancy beans in my pantry. At least once a week we have a batch of beans simmering on the stove and I can wax philosophically about my favorite bean varieties for hours.

I am not just talking about the dusty bags of pintos and black beans found on the staple aisle of the local grocery store (though they will do in a pinch).  I am here for Eye of the Goat, Tarbais, Royal Coronas, Yellow-Eyed Woman, King City Pinks, Ayocote Morados (and Amarillos), Christmas Limas, and Hidatsa Reds.  I want my pantry stocked with Azufrado, Flor de Mayo, Flageolet, Chickpeas, Desi Chana, Lentils, and Black-eyed Peas, Black Beans, Red Beans, White Beans, Yellow Beans, and especially BIG Beans.

Over the course of the year, we have seen quite a few pandemic-related food fads.  During the stay-at-home people were perfecting loaves of crusty bread and feeding new sourdough starters, fermenting kombucha, growing gardens, and trying out preserving their harvest (leading to a national mason jar shortage)!  AND - people were hoarding beans.  Thanks to the aforementioned bean club membership my personal supply was not depleted--but wait times for orders placed at Rancho Gordo (purveyors of the best beans) climbed to as much as 5 weeks and the wait-list for the bean club ballooned to over 12,000 names.

I am so excited to welcome all of the new bean-iacs and want to help spread the love of beans from sea to shining sea.  Here are some helpful tips:

50. Start with good beans and you won’t really need to do a whole lot to them to make them shine!
50. Sort and Rinse your beans (remove any stones, broken pieces, or other non-bean items). 
50. If you are using specialty beans you don’t really need to soak them because they are likely from a recent harvest--but a soak for a few hours or overnight won’t do much harm. 
50. If I am going to soak my beans, I use salted water (3 quarts of water and 3 Tablespoons of salt).
50. Put your drained beans into a large pot, cover with water, and add a couple of glugs of olive oil, a bay leaf or two, an onion cut in half, and some garlic cloves.
50. Bring your beans to a boil and simmer hard for about 7-10 minutes (you want to show them that you are the boss)
50. Reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cook them till they are done.
50. Season to taste and enjoy

Your cooked beans can be eaten as is, used as an ingredient in soup or chili, pureed into a dip, or made into a salad… The possibilities are endless.

While the season for New Year's resolutions and traditions has passed us by (can you believe it is already mid-April) I am sharing this recipe because: a - It is one of my favorite ways to cook a legume that, for a long time, I didn’t think that I liked; and b  - there doesn’t seem to be a specific time of year at this point where a little extra luck wouldn’t come in handy. 

June 1 marks the full re-opening of Nevada for the first time since early 2020 and since we collectively could use all the luck that can be mustered, I would like to share my favorite black-eyed pea recipe AND I encourage you to join me in cooking up some luck on your stove-top.  Let’s celebrate June 1st with a little black-eyed pea magic.

FOR GOOD BEANS:

Rancho Gordo - www.ranchogordo.com

Chili Smith - www.chilismith.com

Vermont Bean - www.vermontbean.com

Zursun Beans - www.zursunbeans.com

Black Eyed Peas with Coconut Milk (apologies to Marcus Samuelsson)

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

2 cups dried Black Eyed Peas - picked over and rinsed

Kosher salt

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large red onion - minced

1 ½ Tablespoons fresh ginger - peeled and grated (or two of those handy freezer cubes)

3 cloves Garlic - minced

1 habanero chile - seeded and minced (optional but delicious)

2 teaspoons chile powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

3 medium tomatoes - chopped (or a large can of diced tomatoes)

1 can coconut milk

1 cup stock (chicken or veggie)

1 bunch cilantro - chopped

2 ea green onions - thin sliced

Directions:

1. In a pot or large saucepan, cover peas with water and bring to a boil; boil for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook until tender (about 45 minutes).  Add salt as peas are beginning to soften.  Drain and set aside
2. While peas are simmering: In a large saucepan, melt butter.  Add the onion, ginger, garlic, and habanero and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to brown (about 12 minutes).
3. Add the dry spices and cook, stirring frequently, until you can smell them (about 2 minutes).  Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until softened (about 5 minutes).  Add the coconut milk and stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes are broken down and sauce starts to thicken (about 20 minutes).
4. Add the cooked peas into the tomato-coconut sauce and simmer, stirring until the peas are lightly coated with sauce (about 10 minutes).  Check seasoning and add salt & pepper as you like.
5. Garnish with cilantro and green onions and serve.

Kelli Kelly is a slinger of produce, a slurper of dumplings, a reader of books, AND a proud member of The People of The Bean.