Sunday, January 13, 2008

Featured Food of the Week


As resident family chefs, it is very easy for us homemakers to get stuck using the same ingredients over and over, not venturing out to try new things. I am hoping that with this weekly section, I will help introduce you to a new food that is nutritious and tasty for your family. I will tell you a bit about it then tell you how to cook it and give you a recipe. I hope that this will help broaden your recipe portfolio and help give you a little education about what foods there are out there.

This is my first week and I thought I would start with the PERUANO BEAN since I just listed a Mexican recipe. We all know that beans are high in protein and a great food source for us all. When beans are combined with corn, such as a corn tortilla, it becomes a complete protein.Most kids will eat them which also makes this a plus. I was introduced to this bean by my mother-in-law about a year ago and it quickly became my substitute for the regular pinto. It is a yellowish bean on the outside but cooks up to a lighter version of the pinto. It is very creamy and even a little sweet. It is great to use in any form just like the pinto. It absorbs flavors very easily so it is great in Mexican food. It comes from Mexico and has been there most popular bean since 2005.
Now, if you are not a "bean cooker", you need to get on it. Beans are so good for you and so easy to cook with. I cook beans regularly and use my pressure cooker as I can finish them in about 45 minutes unsoaked or about 20 mn presoaked. If you don't own a pressure cooker (Which you really need to consider), you can cook them just like a pinto:

SOAKED METHOD

Rinse beans, cover with twice as much water and
soak overnight. Dump water, rinse and cover again
with twice as much water. Bring to boil then simmer
until soft. About an hour. This just depends oh how
long they have soaked. Salt and pepper after you
cook them. Salting before will increase cooking time.
If you do not soak them, Rinse and cover then cook
as above but cooking time will be around 3 hours.


1 comment:

Kim Henke said...

I love your blog! It seems we share the same philosophy that food storage foods don't have to be prepackaged and unhealthy. My family loves beans. I recently hosted a class on bean cooking. I put together a booklet with lots of cooking info and recipes that is available here on my website if you are interested: http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/food-storage-forums
You'll need the latest version of Adobe Reader to open it. I hope you find it helpful!
Kim
www.allaboutfoodstorage.com