More Beans

I've never really been one to use recipes. I've always had a pretty good culinary intuition, but some of you want actual recipes, so I'll give it a shot.

Here's an awesome pot of beans I made this weekend.

Zeke's Latest Bean recipe.
1 pound black beans
1 pound pinto beans
3 chicken thighs
3 Tablespoons cumin (or to taste
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons onion powder
3 Tablespoons chili powder
salt

1. Soak the beans overnight in a 5 quart dutch oven, then drain off the water and add fresh
2. place the chicken thighs skin side down in a pan and brown them. Don't worry about actually cooking them, we just want the flavor that comes from browning.
3. Place the chicken thighs in with the beans.
4. bring the beans to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Lets the beans almost cook. This can take up to two hours.
5. remove the chicken and shred it with a few forks. Put the meat and the bones back into the pot.
6. Add the spices and let the beans finish cooking. Remember salt will nearly stop the cooking process. I also wait till near the end to add the spices as much of oils that give them their flavor will cook out.
7. let simmer a while for flavors to meld and enjoy!


What could make this recipe better? Well if you aren't a broke tired college student like me, you can cook some fresh onion and garlic and add that. The flavor will be much better. you also keep more of the healthy chemicals in the food that way.

Lets not forget that beans feed your intestinal flora. Why pay good money for inulin or fructo-oligosaccharides? Beans contain the same indestible sugars that feed our gut bugs. Where do you think all that gas comes from?

Eat Natto Now!

It's sticky. It's stinky, It's slimy. It's natto.

Most modern soy foods are not fit for human consumption. The only soy foods that are safe to eat are traditional fermented soy products, and natto fits the bill perfectly.

So what is natto?
Natto is an ancient Japanese food made from soybeans that have been boiled and fermented with Bacillus subtilis bacteria. The story of its discovery goes like this. Minamoto no Yoshiie was on a battle campaign in Japan when one day he and his men were attacked while boiling soybeans for their horses. (Notice they weren't going to eat the soybeans, as they knew they weren't appropriate for human consumption.) They hurriedly packed up the beans, and did not open the straw bags until a few days later, where they found fermented soy beans. They tried it and liked it. The rest is history.

Natto has a very strong ammonia like smell, which some compare to cheese. It is covered with a gooey coating of polyglutamic acid that makes spiderweb like strings when pulled apart. They are usually made with a type of soybean called, surprisingly enough, a natto soybean.

So what does natto taste like? Some think it tastes strong. Some say it tastes like coffee. Some people find it bland. I'm in between somewhere. I can taste a hint of coffee, but its not intense.

I buy my natto at my local Asian market. I plan to make natto next week. I will of course let you know how it turns out, and hopefully take some pictures.

To eat natto you take it out of the package and put it in a bowl with some shoyu and mustard, then you stir the crap out of it. It will get more and more gooey. Then you put it on top of some rice and chow down!

While the dangers of modern soy products are quite bad, Natto is extremely healthy.

One of the most important things about natto is an enzyme called "nattokinase." It is a fibrolytic enzyme. It can actually break up blood clots! Nattokinase is becoming popular. Some people take nattokinase in the form of a natto extract. It also contains pyrazine, another chemical that can stop blood clots. Now that really is heart healthy soy!

Natto also contains vitamin K2. Many believe this to be Weston A. Price's "Activator X."

Natto is one of the few fermented soy foods you can safely eat every day. I'm going to make some next week. I'll take pictures so you can see how it's done.

This post is part of Fight back Fridays at Food Renegade.

Beans, The Musical Fruit!

It doesn't matter whether you call them pulses or legumes, beans are one of my favorite foods!
I've heard some conflicting evidence on beans. Some say they are difficult to digest and mildly toxic, while others claim the longest lived cultures on earth eat plenty of beans. I tend to believe the latter more. Just look at the Japanese, they have taken soy, aw very unhealthy bean, and turned it into miso and natto. Two of the healthiest foods around!

These days even the average megamart has a variety of beans to choose from. You can find dried butter beans, organic anasazi beans, and even mayocoba beans. My personal favorite is good old fashioned pinto beans.

Cooking with dried beans is simple. I fill the pot I want to cook with about a third full with beans, then I cover them with water and let them soak overnight. If I can I change the water every three or four hours. Soaking beans is important for the same reason as soaking grains. Its draws out excessive phytates and other antinutrients. It is possible to cook beans without soaking them or to use the fast soak method, but they will not be as healthy.

After your beans have soaked, give them some new water and start cooking. Bring them to a boil then allow them to simmer. I find it usually takes me about two hours.

Whatever you do , don't ass salt until your beans are cooked through! Salt virtually stops the cooking process! Wait until your beans have softened to your preference before salting.

Salt brings up the next topic. Seasoning. Almost any common culinary spice will work with beans. My all time favorite bean spice is cumin. It is almost mandatory for beans here in Texas. Sometimes I will also ad a chili powder blend to make a kind of (I cringe when I say this but I don't know what else to call it) vegetarian chili. Don't get carried away though if your chili powder has salt in it, you can get carried away and easily add too much chili powder and have extra salty beans. Always check the label.

You can make a more greek style bean recipe by using cinnamon, anise and allspice to your beans.

Enjoy

This blog is part of Real food wednesdays.