6/27/05 | S&W Black Beans
[ Currently Eating: A Strange Pineapple Mini-Cake ]
The other day my mom gave me 3 cans of S&W Black Beans because she had gone to CostCo and bought the bulk 12-pack of cans of beans. Well, she gave me the cans the other day, but she actually bought them at CostCo in April of 2004. Hm… the cans are only a year old. I guess that never stopped me before.
I’ve gotten S&W brand beans but never the black ones or “frijoles negros” as they say on the package. The two types of other beans that I’ve tried are Kidney Beans and Garbanzo Beans. You can make a mean pseudo hummus with Garbanzo Beans but that’s for another episode…
So as for generic brand beans, I’ve tried the S&W Kidney Beans side by side with Albertson’s brand kidney beans and honestly I can’t tell the difference. I used them straight up in a pasta salad too, instead of cooking them, so I suspect that it’s a good bet they can be substituted.
I’ve never tried either name brand or generic Black Beans, though I’ve always wanted to. I do like beans quite a bit, whole, smashed, boiled, refried, and even rotten (Natto, haha. You have to see, or rather smell this to believe it.) Everyone should eat more beans. After all, the saying goes “Beans, beans are good for your heart. The more you eat the more you FART”. Toot, toot.
Many people I know don’t like refried beans and/or burritos made with smashed beans. I think a roommate gave me the nicest description of what he felt bean burritos resembled: a used baby diaper. I had to laugh like hell.
Anyhow, I ate a few of these straight out of the can. Not bad actualy, though a little sweet. All these canned beans come packed in a kind of syrupy, sugary sauce that I usually throw out except if you are making some sort of stew or chili in which case you can keep a little of it in there for color and as a thickening agent.
I think in general it’s probably tastier and more economical to actually cook up a mess ‘o dried beans from scratch. A lot more work, soaking and whatnot. But if you must eat from a can, then you might want to fix up your beans a bit. The method I use is including something called a “sofrito”(?). Basically it’s some veggies you cook down in fat until soft. Then you take some of the heated whole beans, add it to the sofrito and mash it up. Then re-add it to the whole beans. Yum, it actually improves it significantly. Not restaurant quality, but certainly better.
I’m not sure if this is called a sofrito everywhere or if I’m doing this right. I got the idea off a package of dried beans. I make mine by first frying up 2 strips of bacon till crispy. Then, set aside bacon, remove all but 1 tbsp of fat from pan, and add in 1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery, red bell pepper and about 1 tbsp chopped garlic. Add 1 cup water and simmer that till it’s soft, about 10-15 min.
Meanwhile, you heat up the black beans along with most of the liquid from can. Might want to add a little more water, or even a little chicken stock. When it’s hot, take a 1/2 cup of the beans and about 1/2 cup of the liquid and dump it in the veggies. Get a wooden spoon and smash up the beans. Cook for about 5 min more and then add back to the pot of beans. Mix in bacon and serve it.
I think this is a good compromise for people who don’t like smashed up beans. I mean the beans are whole for the most part, but the smashed up stuff is hardly noticeable though it gives it a better “body” and depth. The veggies are important, if only to make it look better. The bacon… well, everything tastes better with bacon.
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10
June 27th, 2005 at 9:42 am
I am confused as to what you mean by “psuedo hummus”? Is it because you do not soak the beans and then cook them yourself? That is silly if so. When I went to visit family in that “area” they canned beans all the time!
As for the black beans you can make a killer and ultra cheap black bean soup. Here’s how (from epicurious.com because I am at work):
1 1/2 cups dried black beans (10 oz), picked over and rinsed
8 bacon slices (7 oz), chopped (1 cup)
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (3/4 cup)
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped seeded fresh jalape&241;o chile
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
3 qt reduced-sodium chicken broth (96 fl oz)
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Accompaniments: sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro
Cover beans with cold water by 3 inches in a bowl and soak at room temperature at least 8 hours, or quick-soak (see cooks’ note, below). Drain well in a colander.
Cook bacon in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to a small bowl and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Reserve 2 tablespoons chopped bacon for topping, then return remaining bacon to pot and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, chile, oregano, bay leaf, and thyme and sauté, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
Add beans, chicken broth, and white pepper and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until beans are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Discard bay leaf and stir in cilantro.
Serve soup topped with sour cream, chopped cilantro, and reserved bacon.
Cooks’ notes:
• To quick-soak beans, cover dried beans with 3 inches of cold water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over moderate heat 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover pan, then soak beans, covered, 1 hour.
• Soup can be made 3 days ahead and cooled completely, then chilled, covered. Thin with water if desired when reheating.
On my side note: i use two ham hocks also that I shred off the bone. I boil them in chicken stock and take the meat off the bone and the hocks add a smoky flavor to the stock.
Cheers!
June 27th, 2005 at 9:49 am
bonz - nicely done … the bean soup you mention actually sounds similar to one of the recipes on the bag of beans that I got the “sofrito” idea from.
“Pseudo-hummus” - I said that because the couple of times I made it I didn’t follow any recipe and just made it up. Mash canned beans, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, salt, pepper .. by hand as well (in a mortar and pestle). I suspect the “real” hummus has other things like tahini(?) and is made in the blender. But the one I made was delicious … so I haven’t bothered to look up any other recipe for hummus! =)
June 28th, 2005 at 8:02 am
I love refried beans and it’s one of my favorite things to eat.
I really like making black bean burgers with canned black beans. It’s good for something different.
When I make Zatarans, I add some great northerns to it. I forgot to mention that before.
June 28th, 2005 at 8:18 am
How do you make BB burgers?
June 28th, 2005 at 9:11 am
andie - Hey, I have the same question bonz does, is it like a chili burger… or do you smash it up and mix it in? Also, what are great northerns? =)
June 29th, 2005 at 8:30 am
Great Northern beans are green beans that have matured, so they are out of the pod. Like how butter beans are matured lima beans. I’m such a bean educator. LOL I’ll try to give the recipe as best as I can. I don’t measure when I cook so all these will be approximate. Bear with me!
Black Bean Burgers:
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 quarter onion (I like yellow)
1 half of a green pepper (you can also use red)
1 clove or more of garlic
Toss those in a food processor and blend it all together to get a mash consistancy. Put the mixture in a mixing bowl, add whatever spices you like (I like salt, pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder). Add one egg and mix. Add breadcrumbs, enough to thicken up the mixture so it’s not wet and can stick together. Form into patties, and cook in a skillet in a bit of olive oil and unsalted butter. Cook on both sides at med-low heat, about 5 minutes on each side or until each side is a nice crispy brown and the burger is slightly firm.
Serve on buns.
Sometimes I like adding a bit of BBQ sauce to the mixture to give it a bit of a smokey flavor. Not enough that you know there is BBQ sauce in it, just enough to give it a little kick of something extra. Then I take some of the BBQ sauce, mix it with mayo and use that as the sauce to spread on the bun.
I’ve also added horseradish sauce to it and thrown in some shredded cheese to the mixture.
It’s not a super firm sandwich and it was something I had to get used to, but it’s really good and with a basic recipe you can do it up however you like. I hope you try it!
June 29th, 2005 at 10:09 am
Andie - wow this sounds great and it has all the things I like in it! It also sounds simple and cheap - I usually have all those items in the fridge so I’m going to try that out soon.
My mom taught me how to make these “potato” burgers that I guess would be similar. I have been meaning to put the recipe up. They are called “croquettes” (or “koroke” in japanese) and are sort of like a latke(sp?) Except you boil and mash the potatoes, add cooked ground beef and yellow onion, form into patties, dredge in flour, dip in egg wash, roll in bread crumbs, and deep fry in oil. Yum, with ketchup, bbq sauce, or hot sauce!
June 30th, 2005 at 10:06 am
Those sound fantastic! My mom used to make something like that with leftover mashed potatoes and we called them “mashed potato pancakes”. My favorite version is to mix in some shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, and some crumbled bacon. Making almost like a “loaded baked potato” flavor. Mmmm
I never thought to add ground meat to it and that sounds like it would be super yummy. Is the onion sauteed before adding it to the mixture?