Crock Pot Cassoulet

I went to Kona this past weekend to buy some bulk items...dog food, eggs, toilet paper, etc.  It was the first weekend for the new offers, so, as can be imagined, Costco was packed. 

Going to Costco on a weekend is a sure-fire way to run into many people you know.  I saw the boss man and his lovely wife in the frozen foods aisle.  I even saw my neighbor!  Had I stayed longer, I would have also run into the BWCK ohana.  But staying longer in Costco was out of the question.  Because of the crowd, it was difficult to navigate, and I spent barely over $100.

In spite of the masses at Costco, the worst part of the day was driving to and from Kona.  There were a whole bunch of idiot drivers on the road.  Going over, some slow ass red Geo Metro was taking their sweet time.  The Honda Pilot following was no better, as it refused to pass.  Fortunately, the Pilot pulled off the road, which allowed The Help to pass the red Geo Metro just before we got to the thick blanket of fog on the DKI.

On the way home, a white Toyota Corolla held up over 2 dozen cars.  The Help was too far back in the lineup to make any attempt to pass, but it didn't stop him from cursing the second car, who should've been the one to pass the Corolla when the fog cleared.  Because of the Corolla, it took nearly 2 hours to get home, which is unheard of since the new section of the Saddle opened.

I didn't mention it above, but one of the things we bought was a bulk package of little smokies.  Costco sells them in 3- or 4-pound bags, and they have my favorite brand, Hillshire Farms.  Little smokies are a guilty pleasure.  Yes, I know they're packed with fat and sodium, but they taste so darn good.  I've tried several Pinterest recipes with them...grape jelly bbq smokies and the bacon-brown sugar baked smokies.  Both were delicious.  I love them just fried too!  Unfortunately, I'm getting back on the wagon in my battle against cholesterol, so I need to diffuse cholesterol in preparation for my upcoming dr appt.

About a year ago, I saw the recipe for Smoked Sausage Cassoulet Soup in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser one morning (I've since seen that version called Smoked Sausage Cassoulet in Cooking Light).  I don't normally get to the paper until the afternoon, but I happened to open up the app one morning.  12 hours later, we were sitting down to our version of it for dinner.  Thank goodness The Help wasn't working that day, and thank goodness he can follow my directions.  I adapted the recipe to make use of what we already had on hand. . .little smokies and fresh herbs!

In spite of being tempted to make the brown sugar-bacon smokies, I will be making Crock Pot Cassoulet instead.  The chilly weather and the smell of it cooking sort of eases the pain of missing out on brown sugar & bacon!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Crock Pot Cassoulet

(adapted from Hawaiian Electric/Cooking Light)

     3 bacon slices
     1 onion, chopped
     3 thyme sprigs
     1 tsp rosemary needles
     3 garlic cloves, minced
     1/2 teaspoon salt
     1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
     2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained
     2 (15-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
     1 pound boneless pork (I used shoulder), cut into 1-inch cubes
     1/2 pound little smokies smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
     3 tbsp finely shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
     2 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add onion, thyme, rosemary, and garlic to drippings in pan; sauté 3 minutes or until tender.  Stir in crumbled bacon, salt, pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Add beans, pork, and sausage; stir well. Place half of bean mixture in a 3 1/2-quart electric slow cooker; top with half of tomato mixture. Repeat layers.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours.  Ladle into bowls, removing thyme sprigs.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley.  Makes 6 servings. 

Toaster Oven Food: Baked Beans

Last week's post was cole slaw, a wonderful accompaniment to barbecue.  This week's post features another terrific side dish for 'cue:  baked beans.

If you grew up in Hawaii, especially if your family hails from plantation days, I'm almost certain canned Pork & Beans was served at some time in your home.  I often had it with cut-up hot dogs (red, of course).  Sometimes it was served alongside hot dogs (yes, red again) in buns.  When I lived in Honolulu, my roommate used to eat it with mayonnaise.  As she ate the pork & beans, she would mix in small amounts of mayonnaise (Best Foods, of course).  She said she learned to eat it that way from her dad.  She grew up in Kona (Holualoa, specifically), so maybe thats Kona style.

Although I ate pork & beans, I never thought it was anything special.  I didn't learn how to doctor it up until I was an adult.  Once again, playing league tennis in Hilo afforded the opportunity to sample this dish at one of the after-match potlucks.  Since that time, this is the baked beans I've made.  A bowl of this has been taken on fishing trips to the southern part of the Big Island:  Honomalino, Kahuku Ranch, Kapoho.  It was requested by one of Mr. Dependable's friends, a fucking idiot who promised me a mu (bigeye emperor fish) in exchange for this.  I guess I'm the bigger idiot.  I made the beans and never got the mu.

Two weeks ago, I began a new posting category, "Toaster Oven Food".  These are dishes which I can prepare in my toaster oven (Cuisinart).  Of course, all of these dishes can be done in a conventional oven as well. This baked beans recipe will easily fit in a toaster oven.  You may need to play around a bit with the casserole dish/pan you use.  Its just nice to know you can do this without heating up a huge oven and racking up the kilowatts.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Baked Beans

     3 cans (about 15 ounces each) Pork & Beans
     1 small onion, diced
     1 portuguese sausage, diced
     1/2 lb bacon, diced
     1 tbsp instant coffee crystals
     1/2 c ketchup
     2 tbsp shoyu
     1 tsp white vinegar
     3/4 c brown sugar

Fry onion, portuguese sausage, and bacon.  Drain fat.  Place pork & beans in a large bowl.  Add coffee, ketchup, shoyu, vinegar, and brown sugar.  Add bacon mixture.  Stir well.  Place in a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.  At this point, beans can be refrigerated overnight.  Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes (45-60 minutes if refrigerated overnight).

Shaka continues to charm us with his antics.  The Help swears Shaka has been saying "hello" and making obnoxious burping sounds.  Most of his talking seems to happen in the morning, when I'm not home.  Aki is growing into his role as older brother.  He loves flying over to Shaka's cage in the morning.

Shaka

Crocodile Dundee stopped by on Wednesday afternoon with a package for me (courtesy of The Help).  It replaces the 2-waffle Krups Belgian waffle maker I've been using.  The Help thought it was taking too long to make waffles with making just 2 at a time.  His reasoning was that he could eat sooner with 4-waffles at a time.  We tested it out this weekend. . .recipes to come later.

top view

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And for anyone out there keeping track, there are 15 days of school left in the school year...Zone adults have 18 days left.  I have 17 days left since I'm on personal leave today, preparing treats for BOTH Ds to take to a K-Kids potluck. D2 volunteered for cupcakes, and D1 decided to bring rainbow jello.

There will be big changes happening.  Soon it will be time to pack my stuff. . .

Cool (Sweet) Beans!

 One of my favorite restaurants in Kona is Manago Hotel.  While the pork chops cannot be beat, I usually end up eating the fried butterfish.  But the real treat in dining at the Manago Hotel is the side dishes which accompany the meal.  There is always a bowl of potato-macaroni salad, but the other three or four dishes are a surprise every time.  A few years ago, one of the side dishes I had was a plate of sweet kidney beans.

Sweet, cooked beans is a traditional japanese side dish.  While it doesn't call for a lot of ingredients, it does take a long time to prepare, especially if you count the soaking time.  I prefer this made with pinto beans, as kidney beans are not my favorite.  You could always use lima beans or cranberry beans too.

This is a great accompaniment to practically any Asian meal, but it also makes a nice addition to a green vegetable salad.

 click on recipe title for printable recipe
Sweet Beans

     3 c dried beans

     10 c water, divided

     3 c sugar, divided

     1 1/2 tsp salt

Rinse dried beans and soak overnight in 9 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, add 1 cup of water.  Skim scum as necessary.  Cook for 1-2 hours over medium-low heat until beans are tender.  Once beans are tender, add 1 cup sugar.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add another cup of sugar.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add last cup of sugar.  Cook for 1 hour.  Add salt and cook for 10 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove beans from liquid and place in a large, heat-proof bowl.  Set aside.  Boil sauce for 15 minutes.  Pour over beans.  Pack into containers and refrigerate.

Cannelini Beans with Rosemary

This is another A-dedicated post.  For years, A has been eating healthy food, going to the natural food stores to pick up lunch.  When we go out for lunch, she'll always have something healthy while I usually order something deep fried.  I've often told her how her menu selections are all fodder for farting.  In retrospect, teasing A proved portentous in that I have come to (or perhaps now willing to admit) enjoy fart food, namely, beans, myself.  Bean soup, sweet beans, tempura beans, chili, edamame, refried beans . . . any kind beans (but not peas).

A few years ago, I got a new cookbook, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift.  Lynne Rossetto Kasper is the voice on Public Radio's show, The Splendid Table.  Her distinctive voice could make dirt sound tasty.  Anyway, this is about her book, not her radio show.  In the cookbook is a recipe for white beans with rosemary . . . I can't remember the exact title off-hand.  I tried making it and it was ono.  As great as it was as a side dish, its something which could be eaten as a meal in itself.  I did make a few changes to the published recipe:  kicked up the rosemary and toned down the garlic.  Lynne recommends using canned organic white beans, as she insists the flavor of organic beans surpasses non-organic.  I've only made this with canned organic beans because the only place in Hilo to get canned cannelini beans is Island Naturals.  I suppose this could be made with other types of beans, but it will change the flavor of the dish.

Being gentle with the beans will keep them whole.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Cannelini Beans with Rosemary

(adapted from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper)

     1 tbsp bread crumbs

     1 1/2 tbsp parmesan cheese 

     2 garlic cloves, crushed

     1/4 tsp salt

     2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

     1/2 tsp chopped rosemary leaves

     1 can (15 oz.) cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

     1 handful torn lettuce

Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.  Set aside (used for topping).  Heat olive oil in a small skillet.  Add garlic and salt.  Stir in rosemary.  Add beans and fold very gently.  Heat about 3 minutes.  Add lettuce and heat an additional minute.  Place in serving dish and sprinkle with topping.