Cowboy Cookin': Bean Pie

At age 13, Verne Carlson ran away from his home in Connecticut to Utah where he became an assistant to a cowboy range cook.  Later, he spent eight years researching the cowboy life, gathering information and memorabilia, and then wrote a book in 1999 called The Cowboy Cookbook.  Click here to find it on archive.org.

ISBN 0-937844-00-4

It is quite a fun read.  He describes the history and development of the cattle trails, then outlines the design of a chuckwagon.  As someone who has cooked over fire and coals during historical cooking demonstrations, I appreciate the details on the equipment and how to best utilize the fire pit to "build" a meal for many hungry cowboys and have it all come out right.

The measurements chapter is hilarious because it contains the cook's lingo for a teaspoon ("gob"), a tablespoon ("lump"), and 2 rounded cupfuls ("a whole heap") versus one rounded cupful ("a heap"), among other things.  Carlson explains that he was able to get experienced camp cooks to reproduce their recipes but frustrated them by insisting that he get their measurements as they were doing it.  Their response was "Hell-far! A hand 'ud up and starve t'death waitin' for you to get it built!".  But at least we know the recipes are authentic.

The recipes are, as promised, inexpensive and easy to prepare, as was required when cooking on the cattle trail.  Vegetables are few and either boiled or put into stews as salad was considered "rabbit food".  Meat, beans, rice, corn, potatoes, and bread were the main ingredients, and a good cook knew how to do a lot with them.  Not just beefsteaks and stew meat, but all parts of a cow were utilized because the cowboys would slaughter as they needed food while they traveled.  There are recipes that use tripe, liver, and kidneys.

Often the beef fat was used, too, as well as lard and butter, in main dishes and desserts.  Sometimes beef fat was mixed with molasses to make a topping used like butter, called "Charlie Taylor."  Sourdough was a common ingredient, but the cook would use baking soda, too, for variety of bread types.  

I tried the Bean Pie recipe on page 112.

My Notes

Carlson gives many recipes for cooked beans, so I started with canned baked beans.  By the way, the cowboys called canned goods "airtights."

I poured off the liquid that was on top of the beans, but I did not attempt to drain them further.  

The beans (a little more than one can's worth; true to the range cook's credo, I didn't really measure but estimated) went into a bowl, then I used a potato masher to get them to a paste.  As you can see below, I didn't get them smooth, but they were definitely smoother.

They spread easily into the pan, then I gently poured the vinegar over the top, forming a pool.  I measured the brown sugar into a bowl then used my fingers to sprinkle it around the top of the beans.  The bacon made a pretty pattern, too.

Beans in the pan.  The amount of space above them is important.

Vinegar as a pool on top.

Brown sugar sprinkled all over.

Ready for the oven!

I baked it for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.  I noticed there was a lot of bubbling and the volume increased enough that it almost overflowed the pan.  The amount of beans was just right to avoid the overflow.  Don't be tempted to fill the pie pan more.

Hot out of the oven.

The Verdict

I served the bean pie with buttered sourdough bread and rabbit food.  I let it cool for about five minutes in hope the beans would firm up -- they looked very liquid right out of the oven, not at all what I expected for a pie.  They stayed liquidy, so I took scissors and cut the bacon into spoonable chunks before serving.  

Yummy rabbit food, too!

The flavor was, not surprisingly, of baked beans, but the vinegar and brown sugar added a lovely sweet-and-sour support - sometimes the vinegar made my mouth water - and the bacon was meaty and chewy.  We loved it.  My guest taster had several servings, and enjoyed spreading it on his bread.  Success, despite it not being a slice of pie.

I wonder if I should have drained more of the liquid off the beans before mashing them. The recipe says the paste should be poured into the pan, so I was unclear as to how much liquid they should have.  If I did this again, I would spend more time draining the beans through a sieve.

I imagine this technique as adaptable for say, mashed pumpkin or sweet potatoes in place of the beans.  Adding vinegar, brown sugar, and bacon would be gilding the lily.  Well worth the try.

Monastery Bean Soup - one of my Most Favorites

I reserve the last post of the year for one of my most favorite recipes.  Today's is one that I have made since the early 1990s:  Monastery Bean Soup.  I like it because it is different from most bean soups in that it is more brothy, very garlicky, and rich on the tongue.

I have no idea why it is called "Monastery".  I can only speculate and will probably be completely wrong.  This makes me laugh!

In 1993, my mom's side of the family organized a big reunion in Branson, Missouri. Many of us decided to contribute something memorable to the event, like performing skits, singing songs, telling family stories, and more.  I chose to gather family recipes and create a cookbook, and I put this soup recipe into it as part of my contribution.  I was able to assemble and print the entire thing before we gathered, and was happy to be able to hand out copies to everyone who wanted one.  Now, nearly 30 years later, it is fun and touching to read it over.  I think of that good time and of the really nice people in my family.

It is fitting to include this recipe in my most favorites list.  

Monastery Bean Soup

3/4 cup dried navy beans, soaked in hot water for 2 hours or in cold water overnight

6 cups broth (I actually prefer 8 to 12)

1 cup onion, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cup diced carrots

1 seeded and diced yellow pepper

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or more!)

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon soy sauce

garnish with croutons, red wine vinegar, plain yogurt

The broth is in the saucepan.

Drain beans, then add the broth and simmer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, sauté the onions and carrots in a little olive oil until the carrots are tender and the onions are limp and clear.  Add pepper, garlic, and caraway.  Cook 1 minute more.

Add a ladle of bean liquid to the onion mixture and stir.  Add onion mixture to the beans.

Simmer, covered, until beans are tender, about 20 minutes.  Thicken the soup a little by crushing some of the beans with a wooden spoon or potato masher.

Add tomatoes and soy sauce and cook 5 minutes more.

At the table, add croutons to the individual bowls, pour on soup, and add a splash of vinegar or a spoonful of yogurt.

My Notes

Today I soaked the beans in water that I heated on the stove until it was steaming.  Once it was hot I put the beans in, turned off the heat, put the lid on the pot, and let them stand for 2 hours.

Then I drained them and added them to the 6 cups of lovely, rich stock I had made from the Thanksgiving turkey carcass.  Once they started simmering I set the timer and got busy on the vegetables.

The broth is still jellied, so the beans sat on top.

The onions and carrots were so pretty as they cooked in the pan!  There was no rush to get them cooked and I noticed it took about 15 minutes to reach the desired level of tenderness.

Just starting.

I turned off the heat and let them wait until the bean simmer was nearly over.  Then I added the pepper, garlic, and caraway.  Now I love the garlic in this soup and I used garlic that was already chopped (from a jar).  I probably put in more than 5 cloves' worth, and I didn't mind at all.

The veggies!

It took about 30 minutes on the second simmer to get the beans tender.  Once they were ready, I added the tomatoes and soy sauce.  

Ready for the tomatoes.

I served the soup about 30 minutes after the tomatoes were added, so to avoid over cooking them, I turned the heat off as soon their five minutes was up.  Then I quickly reheated the soup to steaming just before serving.

The Verdict

How many croutons you put in the bowl is a personal choice.  They tend to soak up the broth and turn the soup into a stew, so judge accordingly.  I used seasoned croutons ("homestyle", meaning they were big) which add some extra flavor to the mix.  My guest taster and I both put a lot of croutons in!

Yum!

Our soup did turn into a stew.  We wished there was more broth, which is why I put my note in the ingredient list about using more.  Nevertheless, it was tasty, as I expected.

The dark is the balsamic drizzle.

My guest taster had never had it before and really enjoyed it.  He liked the amount of garlic, the croutons and the little crunch they added, and the flavor.  

I liked all of that as well as the fresh (not really cooked) tomatoes along with all the other vegetables.  He was surprised that the pepper was in it as he expected it to have a chile bite from it.  The yellow pepper I used is not fiery, just flavorful, and adds a different background note to the broth.

I also love the caraway in it.  Caraway is one of my favorite flavors, so I can't really go wrong here.  I think it brings the soup's flavor to a higher level.

When I put the recipe into the family cookbook, I had not yet learned about the joys of balsamic vinegar.  I was out of red wine vinegar and have a very nice aged balsamic (with a syrup-like consistency), which went very well on this soup/stew.  In the past I have also put sour cream on instead of plain yogurt.  It is all good.

This is a hearty main course dish, and made enough for 2 to 4 servings -- more if there is more broth to go around.  All we added to the meal was a good pinot noir.

Success, as always.  I hope you enjoy this personal favorite.  Think of good times and good people when you serve it.

More on Liquamen - Oh Wow!

Last May I wrote about my experiments with the Roman condiment called "liquamen."  You can read about it here:  Liquamen.  I was working from the book Cooking Apicius by Sally Grainger.

I didn't make it from fermented fish but used a more convenient recipe involving reduced grape juice and premade fish sauce.  My taste test showed that the best ratio of juice to fish sauce was 7 to 1.

Well, that turns out to be a good ratio if you are tasting the sauce from a spoon.  When it comes to using it as a base for a sauce, Ms. Grainger's recommendation of 3 to 1 is much, much better.

I have been experimenting with using the liquamen as a base for a variety of uses.  My favorite so far is as a steak sauce.  Another good use is as a dressing for steamed green beans.

Liquamen in a Sauce

Reduced grape juice and a purchased fish sauce or liquamen made from fermented fish
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper

For the steak sauce, I used

6 tablespoons grape juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (or to taste)
1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Mix well in a bowl and serve with a ladle so your guests can pour on the amount they want.

For the green beans dressing, I used

3 tablespoons grape juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (or to taste)
1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Mix well in a bowl and then pour over the hot, steamed green beans.  Toss to coat.  Good to toss them again before serving.

Very peppery

The Verdict

The steak sauce is very thin and runny.  I liked it poured over the steak, using enough to have the sauce make a puddle around the meat.  It is amazingly tasty and inspires the eater to want more!

In analyzing the flavors, I would say it touches all five of the tastes our tongues can sense.  It is salty, it is sour from the vinegar, it is sweet from the grape juice, it is bitter from the pepper, and the fish sauce makes it richly umami.

I wondered if the spices I used on the steak influenced my interpretation of the sauce.  Probably they do as I use a salt-free blend with black pepper, garlic, onion, brown mustard seeds, lemon peel, chile pepper, allspice, coriander, marjoram, and oregano.  Hey, I use this blend because it tastes good on the steak!  But the steak is even better with the sauce.

One of my guest tasters smoked a tri-tip and tried my sauce on it.  He said he couldn't get enough of the sauce once he started putting it on the beef.  He was surprised at its flavor because he expected it to taste fishy and it didn't.  He was also surprised at the pleasant sweetness.

And the wine!

The dressing stuck to the green beans because of the olive oil.  I liked the stronger pepper flavor and the other tastes, most of which were like the steak sauce.  I think the dressing might be even better with some vinegar in it, like an oil-and-vinegar dressing.

These mixtures are so much of a success that, once the meat and beans were eaten, we cleaned up the rest of the sauce on our plates with the pesto crescent rolls.  A simple and yet very tasty meal.

I have the ingredients to make more liquamen, so I will post updates if I find any other uses.

Hummos

Today's region of choice:  The Arab States.

The book:  The Arabian Delights Cookbook by Anne Marie Weiss-Armush, published in 1995.
 

ISBN 1-56565-219-3

It is a charming book because it explores "Mediterranean Cuisines from Mecca to Marrakesh" from the point of view of a woman who married into the culture and lived in it for eleven years.  During that time she learned the cooking and culinary traditions that her peers had absorbed in their childhood at their mother's knees.

Ms. Weiss-Armush's fresh perspective on an ancient culture brings insight to us all. 

She tells us that hummos, a silky protein-rich dip, is part of the mezzah:  "the fascinating array of small appetizers displayed on a multitude of miniature oval trays ... incredible in number and exciting in variety."

Mezzah means "half" and is supposed to suggest "half a dinner" but she is honest in pointing out that she rarely progresses past this phase.  "It is impossible to stop nibbling these wonderful specialties, and the appetite may be satiated rather than stimulated."  She lists savory pastries filled with cheese or meat, fresh or pickled vegetables, olives, bean salads, stuffed grape leaves, torn pieces of pita bread, and of course, dips like hummos.

One thing I noticed about her recipes for the mezzah is that many have just a few ingredients and a few simple steps for preparation.  This makes sense if you are the cook and need to prepare a variety for the afternoon meal.

I love hummos (in my area, spelled "hummus") but have always purchased it.  It just seemed right to learn how to make it so I can play with the flavors and have it handy for impromptu meals.

Hummos (page 33)

1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/4 cup low-fat yogurt, water, or liquid in which the chickpeas were cooked
2 cloves garlic, crushed with salt
1/4 cup tahini (ground sesame seeds)
1/3 cup lemon juice

Garnish:  olive oil, paprika, cumin, black Middle Eastern olives, minced parsley

1.  Puree the ingredients in a blender or food processor, reserving a few whole chickpeas for garnish.

2.  Add additional tahini and/or lemon juice if necessary until you have achieved a flavor and consistency that suits your taste.  This texture should be thinner than mashed potatoes but with enough body to hold an edge.

3. Spread in an earthenware dish or an oval serving platter, running the side of a spoon around the edge to create a slight rim.  Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with the reserved chickpeas, paprika, cumin, and olives to add a bit of color.  Serve with Arabic bread.

Easy peasy!

The Verdict:

Success!  This couldn't be any easier.  Put the ingredients in the blender--I put the liquids in first to help get the garbanzo beans started--and blend until the whole mixture is smooth, creamy, and uniform in color.

The recipe as she gave it suited my tastebuds just fine.  I felt no need to add anything more.

I've never cooked with tahini before.  It is like a very liquid peanut butter and added a depth of flavor and a slight bitterness that was pleasant.  The lemon juice adds a sparkle and lightness to the overall flavor.

It was fun to sprinkle on the garnishes to make it look pretty.  I think if I was serving it to a crowd, I would have put the hummos in a shallow and wide dish, so everyone could get to it easily.

A dash across the 'net reveals that records of hummos go back as far as the 700s A.D.  The ingredients themselves are ancient but the idea of blending them into a dip is not lost to history.

This was so simple that I want to explore variations on the theme.  I've had a store-bought hummus that was made with white beans and had minced basil mixed in.  I swear to you it tasted like luscious, creamy pesto and I felt sinful eating it on crackers.  Not that I stopped, mind you.

April, 2014 Update:  One 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans held just the right amount for this recipe.  The kind I bought was just beans, water, and salt, so I used the liquid from the can as the required liquid and adjusted the amount of salt with the garlic.

Boston Baked Beans -- the Classic Way!

The weather today is gray, cold, and wet.  In my opinion, the perfect time for a fire in the fireplace.  And, while I'm at it, why not cook something historical, too?

My taste buds said, "Baked Beans", the kind that you are supposed to cook slowly for hours and hours.  I checked several books and found a recipe, "Boston Baked Beans", in Pioneer Recipes and Remedies by Millie Foster Cheesman (page 168).

ISBN 0-9658406-0-3

A quick internet search told me:  "Back in colonial days, a favorite Boston food was beans baked in molasses for several hours. Back then, Boston was sort of awash in molasses - it was part of the 'triangular trade' in which slaves in the Caribbean grew sugar cane to be shipped to Boston to be made into rum to be sent to West Africa to buy more slaves to send to the West Indies. Even after the end of this practice, Boston continued as big rum producing city."  (About.com: Boston)

6 cups pea or navy beans
1 pound salt pork (I used bacon)
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup molasses
1 small onion (optional)

Pick over beans (you are taking out pebbles and ugly, shriveled beans), cover with cold water, and soak overnight.  In the morning, drain, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil very slowly, then simmer until the skins burst...

My note:  6 cups is a lot of beans.  This filled my 6 quart soup kettle!  You might want to start with a half recipe.   I did the soaking and simmering on the stove, saving the long term cooking for the fireplace.  Also, I skimmed off and threw away the white foam from the surface of the simmering beans.

Just starting to simmer. 

Drain beans.  Scald the salt pork, which should be well streaked with lean, by letting it stand in boiling water for five to 10 minutes.

Note:  I used bacon, since salt pork was out of stock at my butcher's.  So I didn't scald it.

Cut off two thin slices, one to place in bottom of pot, the other to cut into bits.  Score rind of the remaining piece with sharp knife.  Mix dry mustard, salt, black pepper and molasses.

Note:  I put two slices of bacon in the bottom of my large Dutch oven and cut up one slice to bits.

Alternate the layers of beans in the pot with the molasses mixture and the bits of pork.  If you use an onion, bury it in the middle.

This is about half of the beans, with some sauce, bacon bits, and onion.

When the bean pot is full, push the large piece of pork down into the beans with the rind sticking up.  Add boiling water to cover, put the lid on, and bake all day (a minimum of six to eight hours) in a 250 degree F oven.  Check from time to time and add boiling water if needed.  Uncover the pot during last hour of baking so the rind can brown and crisp.

Notes:  Once I got the Dutch oven to the fireplace and put in the boiling water (in that order!), I surrounded it with small coals and put some on the lid, too.  It is supposed to cook slowly, so I didn't put many coals underneath, just mostly ringed it.  It certainly was hot enough.  It was bubbling and steaming.  I kept moving coals away until it was at a very slow simmer.

The coals to the side are a "stockpile" to keep the heat going for hours.

I set a timer to check it every thirty minutes or so.  After a few hours, I added some more hot water, just to make sure it was covered.  This only needed to be done once.

The coals were nearly out after about 8 hours so I took the pan off the fire.  I had to stir the beans to see them and their taste was "watery".  So I put the pan over the stove with the lid off to thicken them a bit; it took about 30 minutes.

I love the color!

The Verdict:
The taste was good!  It was very close to what I recalled having once a long time ago; the only thing I thought was that I wanted it to be a little richer.  It could be that my sweet tooth was talking, but it tasted better with another 1/2 cup of molasses stirred in.  And I thought the flavor was even better the second day.  The bacon had cooked to little pieces and were fun to find in a mouthful.  Definitely a success.

I think this would be good with a plate of hot cornbread or a slice of ham and a green salad.

You don't have to have a fireplace to cook Boston Baked Beans.  As the recipe says, you can put it into a ceramic bean pot or any oven-safe deep casserole with a lid and bake it in your oven.  I was just interested in trying it in my fireplace!