Will and I like to make huge batches of different soups. We freeze half (in Tupperware) and eat it weeks or even months later. We eat like kings for a week or two on the other half, normally feeding at least a few friends along the way.
Yesterday I put the beans into soak. My mom swears that if you rinse the beans, boil them for three minutes, and rinse again before soaking over night, your beans are less gassy. It’s worth a try, right?
As I filled the giant bowl with water* I noticed some of the beans were all shriveled up and wondered if I normally remove the bad ones, as I’ve read one ought to do. I started pawing through the beans and as I searched for bad ones, more and more started popping out as bad. Indeed, I could find an imperfection in about one of every ten**!
I called my mom, and we discussed how much time one ought to spend removing bad beans. She said she just looks for rocks and really shriveled ones. I noticed as I was doing it that the worst of the shriveled beans rise to the top in the water, making the process much less laborious than the one I had concocted.
She’s going to be out of town for the next four days for her birthday, so I need to be sure not to plan any major cooking projects. There’s spotty cell reception up where they’re going, and I can’t make much more than a breakfast scramble without calling her.
Lucky for me, I have hella chili to eat on. It’s pretty good too. Chorizo, black, red and kidney bean with lots of veggies***. Mmmmm.
*We always overestimate the number of beans that will fit in our pots…it’s a curse and a blessing. We really like leftovers. 🙂
**Indeed, I could find an imperfection is just about anything. I have a Virgo Moon and it makes my attention to detail a terrible load to bear. I’ll do something like the clean the whole house and instead of noticing how wonderful and clean it is, I’ll spot a roving hairball that didn’t make it to my dust pan. I’m working on re-patterning my brain not to focus on imperfections so much… we’ll see.
***I no longer insist on adding kale or other leafy greens to chili. It’s just weird.
Go Jennifer!
I love adding kale or leafy greens to beans, especially when there’s a little room left in the pan. It’s like, wow, way to capitalize on the room in the pan.
mmmmmmmmmmmmm and woot woot for family comments! I love you two!