Canary Bean and Mussel Soup

A few days ago I wrote about getting mussels in a 10 lb bag in the post about Spicy Seafood Stew.  After I made that stew I still had 5 lbs of mussels in the refrigerator.  Being a frugal sort, I decided to go ahead and steam the remaining mussels in a pot with more white wine lest any go bad while I was deciding how to use them.  They were steamed using the method discussed here, Mussels in White Wine


After the mussels were steamed, I picked the meat from the shells and stored them in the wine broth for later use.  The wine and mussel liquor came to a little over 2 cups.


As for using the canary beans, I found them at our favorite ethnic grocery store, Grand Mart.  I was on the side of the store that is primarily foods from Hispanic regions and saw a good selection of dried beans.  Since the pressure cooker makes quick work of dried beans, I decided to see if there were some we hadn't tried before.  That's how I came to have canary beans at the house.


Of course with cold weather soup seemed to be a natural choice.  Having the primary ingredients on hand it was just a matter of deciding on additions to help flavor the soup.  This soup is the result.


Canary Bean and Mussel Soup


1 1/2 cup dried canary beans
meat from 5 lbs of mussels, steamed
4 - 6 oz bacon, diced
1 medium onion, finely minced
2 cups white wine broth from steaming mussels
2 cups water
2 - 3 bay leaves


Put dried beans in pressure cooker with the diced bacon and minced onion.  Pour in the white wine broth and water and stir.  Add the bay leaves and stir.  Put the lid on the pressure cooker and set timer to cook 40 minutes under pressure.  Allow pressure to naturally release.  Stir in mussels and let set until the mussels come up to the temperature of the soup.  Taste broth and add salt and pepper if desired.  Serve with hot crusty bread.  Makes 4 servings.




Canary bean and mussel soup

Cooking the canary beans with the pressure cooker for 40 minutes left them with a firm texture.  Next time I may add a few minutes to get the beans a bit softer.  They weren't under done they were just a bit firmer than we usually eat.  They were a nice contrast to the soft texture of the mussels.


If you don't have a pressure cooker then soak the beans over night and make the soup in a slow cooker.


For the bread I used the same recipe referenced in the link above with the same changes.  The changes are after proofing and bake time.  After proofing divide the dough in half and roll into long loaves.  Use the same time for the second proofing.  Bake at the same temp but only for 25 - 30 minutes.


We finished this soup last night.  It reheated well and as usual the flavors melded to make the soup better the second time.  A slow reheat also kept the mussels from getting tough.


Give this soup a try as a way to get more beans into your diet, not to mention an excellent use for mussels.  I think you'll like this soup.  If you fix it, let me know how you liked it.


Uncle T

Pressure Cooker Chili and Johnny Cakes

What's a good way to drive away the chill of a dreary drizzly winter day?  A good hot bowl of chili.  Well the other day was just such a day so we just had to have some chili.  We'd been planning on chili at some point to be able to try out some of the chipotles in adobo sauce the good wife had canned this summer.  I smoked and dried some of the jalapenos that came from our garden and she did the rest.  We're quite pleased with how they turned out.


I know some won't consider this chili since it has beans but that doesn't really bother me.  Chili is one of those dishes that has many regional variations and people will argue over them in a manner similar to barbecue.  Heck, I even know some that put spaghetti noodles in their chili.  I'll definitely not get on my soapbox about barbecue other than to say that barbecue is a product not an action.


So, without further ado, let's get into Uncle T's chili.  The instructions are for an electric pressure cooker.


Pressure Cooker Chili


2 lb beef chuck roast
1 1/2 cup dried light red kidney beans
1 cup dried small red beans
4 oz jar chipotles in adobo sauce
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 bottle red wine
2 Tbs oil
seasoned flour
salt


Put oil in pressure cooker and turn on sear function.  Cut the chuck roast into 4 pieces and dredge in seasoned flour.  Brown the pieces of chuck roast on all sides.  Once they are browned turn off the sear feature.  Pour in the red wine and enough additional water to just cover the meat.  Pressure cook for 40 minutes.  After the timer goes off release the pressure.  Mince the chipotles. Add the red beans, kidney beans, diced onion, and the chipotles with the adobo sauce to the pressure cooker.  Add a couple of pinches of salt and stir to combine everything.  Pressure cook for 40 minutes.  Let the pressure naturally reduce for 10 minutes then manually release the remaining pressure.  Pull out the chunks of chuck roast and finely dice then stir back into the pot.  Fill a bowl and enjoy.

A bowl of chili and fresh hot Johnny cakes

I used wine for this recipe since it adds a nice flavor profile to the broth.  A good stout beer would also work if you are more inclined.  You could also use beef broth in place of the water but I didn't think it would need it.


Johnny cakes are an excellent accompaniment to chili.  Johnny cakes also vary greatly by location.  They range from something that looks like Southern cornbread to a fluffy pancake to a crispy fried flat bread.  What I'm talking about is the crispy fried flat bread.  Some in the South will use self rising flour and even eggs and milk but I go back to the more basic version.  Of course, a point that will drive some a bit crazy is that these are best fried in a cast iron skillet in bacon grease.  Yes, in old school Southern homes, bacon grease is kept and used for seasoning and frying. 


Johnny Cakes


3/4 cup corn meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1tsp salt
water


 Put the corn meal, flour, and salt in a bowl and whisk together.  Add water and mix together until you have a fairly thin batter.  Put enough bacon grease in a cast iron skillet to cover the bottom to a depth of 1/8 to 1/4 inch on medium heat.  Using a large spoon, spoon the batter into the hot bacon grease making sure the cakes don't touch.  As they cook, holes will appear in the batter.  When the edges start to get brown, check the doneness on the bottom.  If it is brown enough to suit you then flip the cakes and fry on the other side.  These don't take very long to cook.  Put on paper towels to drain while you cook the next batch. 


The water amount and consistency of the batter are up to you.  I vary them depending on how I want the cakes to turn out.  To go with the chili I wanted a thicker more substantial cake so I didn't use as much water.  At times, I want a thinner crispier cake so I'll use more water to make a runny batter.


You should add these to your winter meal rotation.  If you give them a try, let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Red Beans with Kohlrabi Greens and Roasted Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is not normally on a Southern boy's menu.  We tried some in our early Fall garden and liked it so I put out 8 plants for the late Fall garden.  Two of them were ready to harvest the other day and since there is nothing quite as good as eating something straight from the garden we had them for supper.


Kohlrabi is related to cabbage and as such the leaves can be eaten as well as the bulb.  I wanted to use the greens as well as the bulb for supper.  I also wanted to try something different with the kohlrabi than I did earlier in the year.  Previously I'd made fritters and a slaw with the kohlrabi so I figured roasted was the next thing to try. 


The greens I wanted to cook and I was wanting to cook some more dried beans in the pressure cooker so the red beans and kohlrabi greens came to mind.  I will have to say that this dish turned out to be very good.


Red Beans with Kohlrabi Greens


1 cup dried small red beans
Greens from two kohlrabi, stems removed
4 oz bacon, slab is best
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups water
1 tsp roasted ground cumin
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper


Dice bacon in 1/4 inch cuts.  If using sliced bacon cut in 1/2 inch pieces.  Put in pressure cooker and start to brown.  Add diced onion and cook until it starts to turn translucent.  Turn off heat.  Add everything else except the kohlrabi greens.  Set pressure cooker to 20 minutes.  Once the timer goes off release the steam.  Taste the broth and adjust seasoning if needed.  Stir in the kohlrabi greens and set the pressure cooker to 10 minutes.  Release the pressure once the timer goes off.  Serve in a bowl to get the good broth.


I used some ends and pieces of bacon from the last batch of bacon I smoked and sliced.  I only used 1 cup of chicken broth because that is what I had in the refrigerator.  I think using the broth gave a greater depth of flavor over using just water for the beans.


Roasted Kohlrabi


1  kohlrabi per person
olive oil
salt
pepper


Peel the kohlrabi and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Put the cubes in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Toss to coat.  Dump kohlrabi onto baking sheet and put in a 400F oven for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and toss then return to oven for 10 more minutes.

A most excellent supper

We had butter fried pork chops with a pan sauce since I'd processed a pork loin the day before.  The pork chops are super easy.  Let the pork chops come to room temperature.  Season with salt and pepper while they warm.   Melt 2 - 3 Tbs butter in a skillet.  Once the butter starts to bubble add the pork chops.  Fry for about 4 minutes until browned on the bottom.  Turn the chops and fry for another 3 - 4 minutes.  Move pork chops to the plates.  To the pan drippings add 1 - 2 oz whiskey or brandy and allow alcohol to cook off.  Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half and spoon over the pork chops.


As you can see, we're really liking the pressure cooker.  I think it is a great investment for our kitchen.  I'll be posting more recipes from the pressure cooker for sure. 


Give these recipes a try sometime and I believe you'll enjoy them.  After you make them let me know what you think. 


Uncle T

Pressure Cooker Sausage and Kale Soup

Have I mentioned that I really like my electric pressure cooker?  While there are some things that a long slow cook is to be preferred, some meals are just as good when using this quick method.  Dried beans come to mind as something that is just as good when pressure cooked.  Soups turn out very well also.  To that end, I've been thinking about soups to try in the pressure cooker.

Sausage and Kale Soup ready to serve

I was searching soups recipes and came across a list of soups that had pasta and one of them was sausage and kale.  The picture looked good so I started looking at sausage and kale soup recipes.  Seems most of them call for potatoes rather than pasta but I wanted to include pasta.  That was as much for the pasta as it was the chance to cook pasta in the pressure cooker.  Another change from other recipes was the use of dried beans instead of opening a can or two.  I also noticed that most recipes called for sweet Italian sausage and the rest for some sort of smoked sausage.  I used some of my home made hot Italian sausage.


The soup was cooked in two sessions with the two sessions totaling only 25 minutes.  Making the meat balls was the longest bit of prep work for this meal.  I used my small portion scoop, a #70 scoop,  to make the meat balls a consistent size.  After the meat balls were made they were lightly browned using the sear function on the pressure cooker.  Nothing like only having one pot to clean up after supper.


 Sausage and Kale Soup (Changes listed after the instructions)


1 lb hot Italian sausage
8 oz Rigatoni
1.5 cups dried great northern beans
4 - 6 cups chopped Kale, stems removed
2 quarts chicken broth
2 Tbs Italian seasoning
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt


Make meat balls out of the sausage, approximately 1/2 oz each.  Lightly brown in the pressure cooker.  Pour in the chicken broth, dried beans, and pasta.  Add the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and stir to mix.  Put the lid on, making sure the valve is set to pressure cook, and set timer for 15 minutes.  After timer goes off, release the steam.  Add the kale to the cooker and stir to fully incorporate.  Put lid back on and pressure cook for another 10 minutes.  When done, manually release steam again and serve.

A bowl full of goodness

Changes I'll make next time I make this include upping the amount of chicken broth to 3 quarts, waiting to put in the pasta, and just letting the hot soup wilt the kale rather than pressure cooking it.  It needs more chicken broth because I underestimated how much would be soaked up by the beans and pasta as they cooked.  I would do the meat, broth, and beans for 15 minutes, then add the pasta for the final 10 minutes.


Doing the dried beans this way yielded beans that were fully cooked but were still firm.  For something like this you don't want them cooked to mush like you would if you were just cooking a pot of white beans to eat with sausage and cornbread.


If you have the time to make it, some fresh hot crusty bread would go good with this soup.  It is not necessary though.