Quick Barbecue Beans

I’ve collected many, many recipes for baked beans, even though I have a perfectly good one (my mom’s; I’ll have to share it here some time) to which any others would have to measure up. Lately, however, I’ve been looking for something a little quicker that might still have some of the feel of a pot of tangy-sweet slow-cooked goodness. I also wanted to eat barbecue sauce.

And so I decided to try a quick and cheating method of flavoring up some cooked beans in a skillet. I didn’t want to just drown them in barbecue sauce, and I wanted to put together something a little more versatile that might be varied in flavor depending on what I had on hand. I ended up trying a combination of simple and accessible ingredients – onion and garlic, ketchup and mustard, cider vinegar and brown sugar – as a flavor base, a combination that I thought might competently host lots of different barbecue-style sauces, from sweet to spicy, smoky to fruity. I ended up being very happy!

While I prefer the firm texture of home-cooked dried beans, you could make this even quicker by starting with canned beans. For my kitchen, I like to keep lots of cooked beans on hand in the refrigerator or freezer anyway, so I’m already prepared to take the extra time to cook them. Most recently when I made this dish, I used white navy beans, which are easy to come by, but the first few times I played around, I used brown tepary beans (which I bought from here and highly recommend). Any small bean that holds its shape well when cooked is suitable for this recipe.

I’ve used a basic “sweet and spicy” variety of a reasonably priced, well-known brand of barbecue sauce, as well as some fancier specialty sauces and all were delicious. I’m thinking of trying this Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce as well. Since the beans are fairly neutral in flavor and the base of the sauce is pretty basic, I think any barbecue sauce would be suitable. Use your favorite and, like me, you might just get a little bit excited about finding another excuse to eat barbecue sauce! 

Barbecue Beans

You could use any small, firm bean in this recipe. I prefer to cook dried beans, rather than using canned beans, but either would probably be fine.

Use your favorite barbecue sauce.

1 tablespoon canola or other neutral oil

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 medium garlic clove, finely minced

3 cups cooked and drained white navy beans (about 2 16-ounce cans)

½ teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup yellow prepared mustard

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

½ cup barbecue sauce

1. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and just beginning to brown. This should take 5-8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook about 30 seconds more.

2. Add the beans, salt, ketchup, mustard, cider vinegar and brown sugar, stirring well to coat the beans. Bring to a simmer, reduced the heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 8-10 minutes, or until much of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture becomes very thick.

3. Stir in the barbecue sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes more, or until thick and just beginning to get a little sticky. Taste the beans for seasoning, especially salt, and adjust as desired.

Makes about 4 side-dish servings.

Other recipes like this one: White Beans with Sage and Garlic, Stewed Beans with Bacon and Caramelized Onions, White Beans with Sundried Tomatoes and Olives, White Bean Stew with Tomatoes and Rosemary

One year ago: Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Bean Salad with Mole Vinaigrette

It was a good nine months ago that I got my hands on a bottle of a very interesting dark chocolate flavored aged balsamic vinegar. I know, right! Such a thing really exists. And it tastes amazing! In fact, it might have been a bit too precious of a purchase for me, because I was kind of afraid to use it.

Of course, a simple vinaigrette would have been a worthy place to use that vinegar, or I could have been deliciously happy to drench some good bread in it. I had an idea, though; an idea I got immediately upon tasting it. Wouldn’t a chocolate flavored dark vinegar be a good base for a salad dressing reminiscent of mole sauce? And wouldn’t that mole vinaigrette be delicious on a bean salad? And wouldn’t that bean salad be more interesting if there were three different kinds of beans in it?

The short answer to all three of those questions is, “Yes!” I cooked dried beans, pinto, black turtle and huge Christmas lima beans. You, of course, could use whatever beans you like, but I really like this combination. You might have to search for Christmas limas if you have your heart set on them, but another large bean (or frankly whatever you want) will do. If you are interested in exploring some new and delicious beans, however, this place is an excellent source (I got both my Christmas limas and black turtle beans there.)

 

Now, I didn’t make a dressing that was anywhere near as complex as a true mole sauce, but I think I came up with something representative of those dark, rich flavors. I combined that chocolate-flavored vinegar with olive oil, chili powder, garlic, shallots and smoked paprika, and I loved it! I admit that a similarly flavored vinegar might be difficult to find (I got mine at a specialty shop), but I’m wondering if a small sprinkling of cocoa powder added to a good balsamic vinegar might replicate this wonderful flavor, at least for use in a salad like this one.

I hope to try that cocoa powder idea when I run out of the chocolate-flavored vinegar, because I love the complex Southwestern flavors of this hearty salad. It’s a good side dish salad, but is also a light meal on its own with plenty of flavor to dominate as a main dish (I served it with quesadillas). I can’t wait to make it again! I also hope to find some other delicious applications for that vinegar. Oooh! How about a reduction over strawberries? Now that I got bold enough to open that bottle, this could be a really happy summer.

Bean Salad with Mole Vinaigrette

You can replace the dark chocolate balsamic vinegar with plain balsamic vinegar. You might also try adding a small amount of cocoa powder to plain balsamic vinegar.

1 ½ cup cooked pinto beans (about 1 16-ounce can), drained and rinsed

1 ½ cup cooked black beans (about 1 16-ounce can), drained and rinsed

1 cup cooked Christmas lima beans, or other large beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup chopped green onion

½ cup finely chopped cilantro

1 medium garlic clove, chopped

½ teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons dark chocolate balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 tablespoons finely minced shallot

Quartered cherry tomatoes and cilantro sprigs for garnish

1. Combine the pinto beans, black beans, Christmas lima beans, green onions and cilantro in a medium-size bowl. Set aside.

2. Place the chopped garlic on a cutting board. Sprinkle with the salt and create a paste as described in this post. Scrape up all the garlic-salt paste and place it in a small bowl.

3. To make the dressing, add the olive oil, dark chocolate balsamic vinegar, chili powder, and smoked paprika to the garlic-salt paste and whisk until smooth. Stir in the shallot.

4. Pour the dressing mixture over the bean mixture and stir to coat. Top with the cherry tomatoes and cilantro sprigs to serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Another recipe like this one: Corn and Black Bean Salad with Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes

One year ago: Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Shells

Creamy White Onion Soup

This is the most delicious new recipe I’ve tried in a long, long time. I had been collecting onion soup recipes, but I what I was really looking for was dark, brothy, French onion-style soups. I tossed this recipe in with the rest, however, hoping it would have some ideas within it to steal. It turned out to be so wonderful, that I might just forget about French Onion soup!

The original recipe was fancy and complex, not because the soup itself was particularly fussy, but because there were a few fussy accompaniments. You see, this recipe was from a high-end restaurant, and was designed to satisfy someone with much higher expectations that I would have for a weeknight supper. There was a tiny toast garnish with cheese along with a dollop of onion jam. All good things, I’m sure, but I just wanted the soup.

For the most part I stuck to the recipe for that delicious soup. I didn’t have one or two of the ingredients for the subtle flavorings, but I either left them out or made a pretty adequate substitution. I also left things a wee bit rustic by not straining the soup after pureeing it, which I found to be just fine.

The soup gets its beautiful pearly whiteness when white onions are cooked until they are very soft, but without letting them brown. My soup had a few flecks of color because I added crushed red pepper flakes, not having fresh chiles on hand. I didn’t mind the slight marring of the appearance, but you could use a fresh chile instead. As a complement to the rich, creamy texture, I recommend some kind of crunchy garnish, like croutons or crostini, or sesame sticks like I used. A sprinkling of fresh chives goes a long way toward making a bowl of this soup look beautiful without a whole lot of extra work.

In the end this soup is fabulously flavorful and extremely satisfying. It’s sweet and rich, flavored almost entirely with white onions, wine, and cream. The onion flavor is the dominant flavor, but it is balanced and enhanced by the cream. The two kinds of wine that go into the soup, dry white wine and sweet mirin, bring out interesting tastes in the onions as well as contribute their own flavors. I really do recommend using white onions and the full dose of butterfat from the heavy cream. The resulting melded flavors and smooth, luscious texture is something you just don’t want to miss!

Creamy White Onion Soup

Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

You can replace the red pepper flakes with a small, diced chile pepper if you wish.

¼ cup olive oil

4 large white onions, peeled and chopped

1 leek, white and pale green parts, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ teaspoon coarse salt, plus more to taste if needed

4 medium-size cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup mirin

½ cup heavy cream

Crunchy croutons or sesame sticks for garnish

Finely chopped fresh chives for garnish

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, leek and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are just soft, about 10-12 minutes. Do not let the onions brown.

2. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook about 1 minute more.

3. Add the dry white wine and the mirin. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook at a low simmer until the onions are very soft and translucent, about 25-30 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. Transfer the onion mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth. (Add a little water if needed.) Return the pureed mixture to the pot and add the heavy cream. Reheat over medium-low heat. Serve hot and garnished with croutons or sesame sticks and chives.

Makes about 6 servings.

Another recipe like this one: Potato and Garlic Scape Soup with Chives