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By Root 665 0

bucks for a sauce pan. All I can say is that you get what you pay for, and it really depends on how much control you want over your food. I cook my eggs in a twelve-dollar Teflon-coated aluminum pan from a restaurant supply store because I know what to expect from it, but I cook my soup beans (I really like soup beans, by the way) in a 150-dollar sauce pot because it makes a difference. Pick your battles. (See Appendix for more about pots and pans.)

While it’s true that some of the oligosaccharides do leach into the water during soaking, so do a lot of nutrients and more than a little bean flavor. And I hate to see flavor go down the drain. So if you suffer from emission troubles, keep the bean water and pick up a bottle of Beano or one of the other commercial preparations containing alpha-galactosidase, the enzyme that breaks down oligosaccharides.

Dried Beans Experiment

Application: Simmering

Do a quick inspection of the beans: remove beans that are discolored, cracked, or shriveled. Cooking will not improve a bad bean. Give the rest a thorough washing to remove dust and any other undesirables.

Soak the beans overnight in 6 cups of water. If dried beans don’t soak overnight, they’ll take at least twice as long to cook. The exceptions are lentils and split peas, which are fast-cooking to begin with, and black beans, which can squeak by with only a 3- or 4-hour soak. Be prepared: beans will double in volume during soaking, so make sure the soaking water covers them by an inch or two so they stay submerged.

Leave the soaking beans out on the kitchen counter, covered. Although you can refrigerate them, it is slower. Don’t soak for more than 12 hours or you’ll get mushy, flavorless beans. In a rush? You can do a speed soak by bringing the beans and water to a boil, removing from the heat, and letting them soak for about 4 hours.

Drain the beans and season with salt. Put the beans and chicken stock in the pot over medium-high flame and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in the sauté pan, heat the oil and add the garlic, letting it toast until nice and brown. Add the rosemary for just a few seconds to release its oils, then add the garlic and rosemary to the bean pot. To the pot add the carrots, onion, celery, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and a couple of grinds of fresh pepper. Put the lid on the pot and place in a 250° F oven for 1½ hours.

When the beans are done, check the seasoning, correct if necessary, and serve them with style.

Yield: 2 quarts of delicious beans

Software:

1 pound of dried beans

Kosher salt

4 cups chicken stock

Olive oil

2 tablespoons garlic, sliced

2 sprigs rosemary

½ cup diced carrots

¾ cup diced onion

½ cup diced celery

Freshly ground black pepper

Hardware:

5-quart ovenproof pot with lid

Collander

Small sauté pan

Wooden spoon

Alabama Alchemy

Being Southern, I like collard greens. Though there’s a trend toward picking them young and cooking them fast, I still prefer mature greens cooked long and low in a flavorful liquid. In this case, time, liquid, and low heat collaborate to soften the cement that holds the leāf tissues together without turning them to mush. At the same time, the connective tissue of the ham hocks breaks down into gelatin. That gelatin mingles with the collard broth to produce a powerful liquid those who live below the M-D line call “potlikker.”

Could you make this dish without the smoked ham hocks? You could, but no hocks, no alchemy.

Application: Simmering

Preheat the oven to 250° F.

Place the cut collards in a big sink of cold water and wash thoroughly. Using your hands, gently remove the collards from the sink to the large pot. Do not shake off the clinging water. Add the ham hocks, the water, and the vinegar and seal the pot with foil before putting the lid on.

Move the pot to the oven and cook for 2 to 3 hours or until the collards reduce to ¼ of their original mass. (How long this takes depends on the collards; mature plants are heartier and more time will be needed to break down the cell walls.) Move