Whoopie Ti-Yi-Yo

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No, they aren’t little doggies…

…they’re called Jacob’s Cattle Beans, and I plucked and shelled them on a warm fall afternoon. I wish they’d have been more mature in their pods, but this has been a most unusual year for weather, freezes, thaws, rains, sun, and all of the above… And then some!

Here is a recipe from The Wild & Weedy Apothecary to use for seasoning beans of all kinds. (We also talked about it at the September class at Sandpoint Library.) Of course, you can use this blend to season other soups and stews if the moment strikes.

Greens for Beans Seasoning Blend
1/2 cup chopped, crushed or snipped kelp (also known as kombu or konbu)
1/2 cup dried, crushed nettle leaf
2 tablespoons each dried marjoram, oregano, sage and summer savory leaf and/or flower
1 teaspoon each dried garlic and ginger root powder
Put all ingredients into a bowl, blend and crush with your fingers, and spoon into a jar for keeping.
Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

Use this seasoning to flavor your dry beans – which have been soaked overnight in plenty of water and rinsed a few times, and then brought to a boil in fresh water for 10 minutes… turned down to a simmer, then you add a healthy pinch of seasoning blend –
well, then, after the beans are about half done (approx. 1 – 2 hours), add some salt – about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon, to the beans. Simmer until done, another hour or so. Be careful with the salt… I like to use tamari or good soy sauce as an additional deep flavoring. You could also use broth instead of water, as long as it’s unsalted. Too much salt at the beginning makes the beans tough, That’s what the kelp/kombu is for, to tenderize the beans. Plus it’s full of trace minerals. And even though it’s seaweed, it doesn’t taste like low tide once the beans are cooked to savory tenderness along with the spices and garlic.
 

Make a lemony cole slaw and foccacia to go along with the beans. 
A simple supper is always nice for the New Year –
Yum!

 


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