Well, I did it again....
I should backtrack. I have all these big plans for this year. I want to take advantage of my raw milk connection and make fresh yogurt and kefir. I want to brew my own kombucha before I go broke buying it by the half gallon at the co-op. My daughter really wants to make her own bread. I want to make my own pickles. I have this super sized pressure canner I think I've used three times.
None of this is rocket science, and I'm a reasonably intelligent person, but I have my doubts and this is why:
I can't cook beans from scratch.
Over the years I have tried every recommendation. Pre-soaking overnight. Soaking and cooking with a strip of kombu. Adding salt after an hour. Not adding salt at all. Boiling them for a few minutes and then leaving them to soak. Using tap water. Using filtered water. Adding a little oil to the water...ad infinitum.
The result? Split skins floating in a mushy mess or firm little pellets that we grimly chew 100 times before we can even think about swallowing them.
So, for years now, I have relied heavily on canned beans, all the while kicking myself because dried beans are clearly the better choice. Not only are they significantly less expensive, but I wouldn't be dosing my family with BPA leached from the lining of the can every time we decide to have beans for dinner. There's also the whole canning process - the preservatives, the wasteful packaging, etc.
I'm determined to get this right. So the other night, I was about to fall asleep when I remembered, "Soak the beans!" I jumped out of bed, rinsed some dried navy beans, covered them with water and left them for the night. The next morning, I drained the water, covered them with fresh water and set the slow cooker to low. A few hours later and I had a vat of mushy beans that completely disintegrated the moment I touched them with a spoon, and because I'd used the slow cooker, none of the cooking liquid had evaporated so we were facing down a watery soup for dinner.
Sigh. Am I going to have to get all scientific on this? Keep a little bean prepping journal documenting all the variables?
I ended up transfering the beans from the slow cooker to a stock pot in order to reduce the liquid and transform my bean mess into soup. It wasn't a bad soup, it just wasn't what I'd planned for dinner. I wanted whole beans, and I wanted to set some aside in the freezer so as to recreate the convenience of last minute canned beans for supper. The pre-soaking of dried beans thwarts me almost every time. I am not particularly organized in the kitchen. Meal planning is one of my least favorite domestic obligations.
I'm not giving up. I foolishly enthusiastically bought a lot of dried organic beans at the co-op on Monday.
