Индикатор Форекс Salt

Recipe ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere.  Many of my recipes come from recipes that I grew up eating or from meals that I have had while dining out.  This bourbon maple chicken recipe actually came from an episode of Iron Chef America.  I love watching cooking shows and getting ideas for things to whip up in the kitchen.  The episode of Iron Chef America that I was watching just so happened to feature one of my favorite things in the world&#; Bourbon.

Seeing how chefs at that level can use one ingredient in so many different ways has always been interesting to me.  One of the chefs in the episode made quail on the grill and finished it in a maple bourbon sauce.  I loved the idea and knew that I had to try it for myself.

Not having a grill in my kitchen or easy access to quail I knew that I had to make an audible in my rendition of the dish.  I ended up deciding to substitute the quail for chicken thighs and bake the chicken in the oven and finish it in on the stove in the sauce.

I really had no idea what to do about the sauce.  I started off the first time with a bunch of bourbon, some bourbon, and a bit of apple cider vinegar.  It was really good, but I had no idea ow I made it so the second time I made the dish it didn&#;t taste the same.  Working through a few iterations of the bourbon maple sauce (actually measuring out ingredients) I ended up with up the recipe you see below.

You&#;ll see that I served the chicken with my asparagus soup recipe.

As always thank you for taking a few moments from your day to read over this and I hope that you are able to try this recipe sometime and that you enjoy it.  Feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

Have a blessed day,

Benjamin

October 30,

The Vast Project

musicians, songwriters&#;all together in Cossack,

being inspired by the environment and each other.

There will be a music album produced, a documentary film,

and exhibitions of the visual artists&#; work in

For my project:

A kind of vast self-portrait.

I expanded the outline of my body, lying like a starfish, spread out to fill an empty room in the old post office building in the ghost town of Cossack.

I filled in the outline with&#;. terracotta turtles.

I made clay turtles using plaster press-molds, aiming to use my body weight [54 kg] in clay. It took a few hours every day, so was thankful to get a bit of help from visiting school kids and some of the other Vast artists and musos. On the last day I reached my target, 54 kilos of clay, approx. turtles of varying sizes.

The result was photographed (best pic by Russell Ord Photography) in the room, then turtles were packed up and relocated on the salt-encrusted tidal mud-flats nearby, where Stormie Mills (famous street artist) and Bob Moore (ex-Mambo designer, muso and painter) collaborated on a giant drawing. Their work dwarfed my little installation in every way, but it was a fun new experience for me. (Mike Fletcher got some drone perspective overhead pics).

I was also out on the mud-flats earlier in the week, as &#;bride wrangler&#;, helping to get some shots and footage for Baby Guerilla&#;s ghost bride concept.

Share:

FacebookTwitterPinterestTumblrEmail

It had been a non-working Wednesday. It was raining and both me and my little one felt too sleepy or lazy to get out or do anything constructive. Luckily, I had some sourdough bread getting ready to be baked (and eaten) so I did not feel like I was totally wasting my day.

As usual, some research was needed before I could find a recipe that made me feel comfortable. After consulting a couple of Swedish books on bread and a few Italian ones, plus several really well-made bread dedicated websites, I was more confused than before. Sourdough bread is apparently not as easy to make than bread made with yeast, which I just started to master. Hours and hours of fermentations are necessary for sourdough, the naturally rising, bread and it also seemed that complicated turns to the dough were needed at fixed intervals. Also shaping looked, oh so, difficult. I needed somewhere to start. An easy &#;ice-breaking&#; method to make bread with my new-born starter. And then I found it. Hidden in an Italian food-blog there was the picture of a beautifully rustic-looking loaf. The directions were brief but the author, a very talented La Cuoca Felice (the happy cook), was prompt in answering to all my (oh so many) questions. Including those on how to convert a recipe using a 50% hydration starter into a % one. The main problem with Italian bread recipes is that they ALL use 50% hydration sourdough. In fact, they call it &#;pasta madre&#; (mother dough), which gives you an idea of how thick the typical Italian starter is.

So I adapted the recipe, taking away some water. What attracted me most of this method is that there was no kneading involved. I really do not know yet how to treat sourdough and I was nervous about &#;working&#; it. Differently from what I thought, no-knead methods are not recent development, but are part of many ancient bread baking traditions, included one that comes from Central Italy. To such tradition belongs the famous &#;Pane Toscano&#; (Tuscan bread) and also the bread I am going to describe. When I asked to La Cuoca Felice where did her recipe came from, she said it was the result of her experience in making bread&#; so, since this gifted cook is from Nepi, a beautiful ancient town not so far from Rome, I named this bread &#;Nepi Sourdough&#;.

NEPI SOURDOUGH

You need: gr  (little more than 1 and 1/2 cup) % hydration sourdough starter, gr (little less than 1 and 1/4 cup) water, gr (little more than 3 cups) bread flour (or Manitoba), gr (little more than 1 and 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, 3 teaspoons marine salt. Suggestion: get a scale!

How to: The evening before you are planning to bake, mix the sourdough with the water and the sugar. Add the flours and the salt (last). Work the dough as little as possible, just enough to get all the ingredients mixed together. If using a machine, put it on the lowest speed and work the dough for no more than 2 minutes. Pour the mixture in a big bowl and let it rest at room temperature (20 degrees Celsius, 68 Fahrenheit) for about 3 hours, covered with a kitchen towel. Passed this time, cover with plastic foil and place in the fridge until the following day.

Pour the baby in the bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. Don&#;t forget: salt last

The morning or the early afternoon after (depending on your schedule), take the dough out, cover with the kitchen towel again and let rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Now the dough is ready to be quickly shaped.

Transfer the dough on a wooden surface covered with some semolina (durum) flour and fold the 4 corners of the ball into a rectangular &#;package&#; (this is how I understood the original &#;tirare i 4 lati&#; instruction).

Flip the &#;package&#; over a semolina flour covered kitchen towel, making sure that the top of the folds is on the bottom. Close delicately the kitchen towel and let rest for hours at room temperature.

Passed the hours, place a little pot with water on the bottom of your oven and put in also the oven tray you are going to use to bake the bread. Turn the oven on degrees (Celsius,  Fahrenheit) and, when it reach the temperature, flip the dough on the hot baking tray, making sure that the folds are now on the surface again. To do this smoothly, I first flipped the dough on a baking paper sheet and then gently placed the baking sheet with the dough over the hot baking pan. When you put the dough in, also spray some water on the sides of the oven, to create more steam. Close the oven and lower immediately the temperature to degrees (Celsius,  Fahrenheit). Bake for minutes. After this time, open the oven and remove the pot with the water. Take away also the baking tray and place the bread directly on the oven grid. Close the oven and lower the temperature to degrees (Celsius,  Fahrenheit). Bake for further minutes. Now turn off the oven, open and let the bread rest there for 10 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven, cut in half and place on a cooling rack to allow the steam to come out (and keep the crunchy crust). The bread is ready!

Still warm and steamy&#; not bad for a first-time experience with sourdough bread!

CONSIDERATIONS: Yesterday, when eating this bread with some Parma ham, I had a reverie&#; a taste long forgotten came back to my mind. I remembered the bread I used to eat as a kid each time we, me and my family, went to the lake (in the beautiful Roman country side). The memories from our Sundays at the lake, with the amazing rustic bread sandwiches we always bought there, are among my dearest ones. However I could not, up to yesterday, recollect the exact taste of that lovely bread. Now I can. It must have been a no-knead sourdough loaf. This whole bread baking experience is giving new meanings to so many things. Try to make your own and tell me. It brings bread to a totally different dimension. It is good. And nurturing. For our souls even more than for our bodies.

Hope this bread is good enough for YeastSpotting.

The following two tabs change content below.

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

An easy recipe for making the best slow cooker black beans you&#;ll ever taste!

I&#;ve been told I make the best slow cooker black beans ever, but I can&#;t take all the credit. When we were still dating, my husband taught me how his family made Brazilian-style black beans when he was growing up.  His aunt showed me how to make black beans in the slow cooker.  Before that, I thought beans had to cook them in a pressure cooker to get them soft like the canned beans we bought.  (I still remember trying to chew on the crunchy beans we&#;d try to cook at my house when I was growing up! Ha!)

Over the past 16+ years, I&#;ve perfected it.  (High five!)  It&#;s not too difficult, but because I make slow cooker black beans about once a week or so, it was important for me to get it right and I had ample opportunity for practice.  We eat them throughout the week either as a side on top of rice, in soup, or one of my favorite ways, mixed with quinoa and salsa for breakfast.

There are a few secrets to making awesome slow cooker black beans, and it applies to other types of beans and legumes too.

Let&#;s get started!

Flavoring Slow Cooker Black Beans is Important

The difference between the beans I make and other recipes is that I rely heavily on aromatics to flavor the beans as they cook.  It truly does make all the difference.

The aromatics I use:

• Yellow, white, or red onion &#; chopped or halved, it doesn&#;t matter as long as it&#;s in there. If you don&#;t want chopped onion in the cooked beans, use larger pieces so they are easy to remove after cooking. I like to use onion halves while cooking, then add sautéed chopped onion to the beans before we eat them.
• Whole garlic cloves &#; remove after cooking; add fresh garlic when using the beans in a recipe (same as above)
• Bay leaves &#; these are integral!!! Don&#;t be tempted to bypass the bay leaves. The flavor they add is unmatched and really make these the best beans ever. Promise.
• Salt &#; ADDED AT THE END OF COOKING TIME!

In the comments below, you can read what other readers have added to make the recipe their own. Totally add cumin, oregano, paprika, chili powder, or other chopped veggies like celery, chilies or bell peppers. I prefer to make a large plain batch of beans and add those other spices and ingredients when I&#;m making a recipe with the cooked beans. I think of them and use them the same way I do canned beans. But by all means, spice it up!

One of the best things we do is add a ham bone to the pot. (Yes, there&#;s salt in that, but it hasn&#;t made too much of a difference like adding plain salt has.) It becomes the base of Brazilian feijoada (black bean and meat stew) to which we add other meats and sausages.

But, what if you add salt to beans at the beginning of the cooking time?!

Do Beans Have to Be Washed Before Cooking?

Yes! It&#;s VERY important to sort the dried beans and give them a good rinse before before cooking them.

Before you rinse the beans, sort out any small stones, broken, wrinkled, or otherwise misshaped beans.

I will place the dry beans into a large bowl or on a large plate and go through them. I find that black beans are more notorious for stones than other varieties of beans; probably because they are smaller. Dried beans aren&#;t usually washed before they are packaged up. I&#;ve bought dried beans from a local farmer&#;s market that were covered in dust from the field, tons of small rocks, and even bits of grass, weeds, or grain. I don&#;t like eating dirt&#;I don&#;t know about you!

To rinse the beans, you can do one of two things: 1) place them in a large colander (with small holes) or a fine-mesh sieve and rinse under running water, or 2) my preferred way, place the sorted beans in a large bowl of cool water. Agitate the beans with your hands to loosen any dirt, drain through a sieve or colander; repeat until the dirt is gone. The black beans will color the water, so it won&#;t ever &#;run clear.&#; But you should be able to see that there is no longer dirt at the bottom of the bowl.

Do You Have To Soak Beans Before Cooking? What About Boiling Beans First?

Ah, the most frequently asked question! I used to think you HAD to soak beans before cooking until I didn&#;t one time and they cooked in the same amount of time as when I soaked them. This got me to thinking that it probably wasn&#;t an issue when using a slow cooker. I&#;m not sure how much it cuts down on cooking time on the stovetop.

Soaking is thought to help remove anti-nutrients or the extra starches that can cause gas and bloating commonly associated with beans. Personally, I don&#;t believe soaking them makes them all that more digestible, nor do I believe the part of anti-nutrients. Eating beans often will help your body become accustomed to the fiber and starches in the beans and you&#;ll probably end up with less gas and bloating.

This advice (remember I&#;m not an expert per se), does not pertain to kidney beans. They should be boiled first in water, drained and rinsed, then placed in the slow cooker with fresh water. I&#;ve never been sick from eating beans that weren&#;t soaked or boiled, but some may have more sensitivities than I do.

My advice: Do what you think is best for YOU and your family. The slow cooker I use is a high end one and I know that it heats properly and cooks at a high enough temperature. I also use HIGH rather than LOW most often. Like I said, we have never been sick from a pot of beans &#; not even once. I&#;ve cooked hundreds of batches of slow cooker beans with no problem at all.

Read this article from eunic-brussels.eu for more info.

That being said, please read the comments below and inform yourself based on the experiences of others.

Now We Put The Beans, Water, and Aromatics in the Slow Cooker

Everything goes into the slow cooker, except the salt, and is covered with water.

My slow cooker is very large (affiliate link), so I can make 2 pounds or more at a time.  I use around 6 cups of water for each pound of beans.  That is more than enough water. It may seem like too much water, but if too little water is added, the beans might absorb what water there is and burn.  (This may or may not have happened to me a few times.)

You can always drain them later. We like to ladle a bit of the cooking liquid with the beans onto rice &#; it&#;s very flavorful. If I make black bean soup, I will also reserve some of the cooking liquid to flavor the broth.

How Long Do You Cook Slow Cooker Beans?

• For my particular slow cooker(s) I cook the beans on HIGH for 3 hours, or LOW for 6+ hours.
• This varies a little if the beans are older or if I am cooking more than one pound at a time.
• Different brands, sizes, and shapes of slow cookers may vary slightly. Use my directions as a guide and take notes the first few times until you get it just right.

When Do You Add the Salt to Slow Cooker Black Beans?

About 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, remove the lid of the slow cooker and remove a few beans with a spoon and blow on them.  If the skins peel back, the beans are done.  They may still be a little firm. Taste one to be sure. If it&#;s still a little crunchy, the beans need more time. Another hour on HIGH, or a few hours on LOW.

How Much Salt Do You Add To Beans?

I use 1 TABLESPOON per 1 POUND of dry beans. That sounds like a lot of salt, I know! But that salt will absorb into the beans and be just the right amount. Now, if you are on a salt restricted diet, of course you can omit the salt completely or use less. We&#;ve found we like the 1 Tablespoon per pound and that the beans are well-seasoned and ready to eat or use in a recipe.

After stirring in the salt, replace the lid and let them continue cooking for the additional 30 minutes, or longer. If the beans cooked more quickly, I will remove the insert, add the salt and put the lid back and let the beans absorb the salt off the heat.

 

How To Store Slow Cooker Black Beans

The beauty of making a big batch of slow cooker beans is that you can use some now and save some for later.

After cooking the beans and seasoning them, I let them cool completely before transferring to containers or resealable freezer bags for storage.

The beans freeze very well separated into quart or gallon-sized bags. Freezing them in flat layers helps with both storage and thawing. They stack nicely and are easy to slip into a bowl of warm water when you&#;re ready to use them.

The slow cooker black beans will keep for about a week in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep several months in a normal freezer, or even up to a year in a deep freeze.

How Many Cups Does One Pound of Dry Beans Equal?

One pound of dry beans yields about 5 cups of beans (minus the liquid), which is the equivalent of about 3 (ounce) cans of beans, give or take.

Recipes Made With Slow Cooker Black Beans

These are some of my very favorite recipes that I make over and over again using slow cooker black beans:

• 

  And from some of my favorite bloggers:

  Which Slow Cooker Should I Buy?

  I have owned a few different slow cookers over the years. I started with a CrockPot given to me by a good friend. I loved that slow cooker and used it often until it stopped working. Boo! I then purchased an All-Clad Quart Slow Cooker with a non-stick metal oven- and stovetop-safe insert. I loved that slow cooker dearly, but unfortunately the non-stick coating bubbled and peeled and I believe it became hazardous to keep using it. It also stopped working shortly thereafter or I would have replaced the insert. (Or it might have been our wonky old house and it&#;s crazy electrical system that did it&#;)

  

  Next, not wanting to give up completely on All-Clad, I bought another All-Clad Quart Slow Cooker, but this time with a ceramic inserts. I ADORE THIS SLOW COOKER. But it is a bit more expensive and not always practical for everyone. It&#;s huge, basically. As far as price goes, they have come down a lot. They used to sell for around $ and now you can find them under $

  Because I use my slow cooker numerous times a week, and because I sometimes photograph cookbooks and recipes for clients, I needed an extra slow cooker to keep up with all the slow cooker recipes I photograph. Ha! I added a CrockPot 7-quart slow cooker because they are affordable and work well. (Not as well as my All-Clad, but a decent second place.)

  I have yet to purchase an InstantPot or pressure cooker. I have used one in the past, but I have an irrational fear of both pressure cooking and deep frying. I&#;m trying to overcome both. ;) This year () I will buy an InstantPot and add directions for those that have asked.

Troubleshooting: My Slow Cooker Black Beans Aren&#;t Soft! What Did I Do Wrong?!

First thing, take a deep breath and before you leave a nasty comment, a few things: 1) it&#;s not the recipe. I&#;ve literally made this hundreds of times successfully, as have numerous readers and friends. 2) it&#;s probably not you! I&#;ll explain more below.

Here are common reasons your slow cooker beans didn&#;t turn out:

• The beans were old. This is a tough one because you never really know how long a bag of beans has been hanging out on that grocery store shelf or in that bulk bin. My advice is to purchase beans from somewhere that has a decent turn over of their products. Dust on a bag is a good clue it&#;s been there for awhile. And still, you may get a back of old beans despite your best efforts. They may never get soft even if you cook them for three days. Sorry, it&#;s not you or me, it&#;s the beans.
• Your slow cooker may not be cooking at the proper temperature or there may be something else going on. (Raise your hand if you&#;ve forgotten to turn it on or plug it in&#;just me? Ahem.) Slow cookers wear out. You may have bought a lemon. Your electrical circuit may not be functioning properly. Who knows? If it&#;s not bubbling under the lid when it&#;s on HIGH, you&#;ve got a problem.
• You added salt at the beginning and weren&#;t one of the lucky ones for whom it didn&#;t make a difference. Boo! I&#;m sorry. You can try draining off the water and starting with some fresh water and try again. Or you can cut your losses and remember to save that salt for the end next time.
• Um, it&#;s not any of those things above!!! Yeah, well, I&#;m so sorry I can&#;t be of more help. Sometimes recipes flop. Don&#;t throw your slow cooker out the window or sent me hate mail just yet. Give it another try with another bag of beans and see if that helps.
  

  One Last Thing&#;

  If you have made this recipe for slow cooker black beans and you enjoyed it (or maybe you didn&#;t!) please leave a comment below so other readers can gain from your insight. And if you feel inclined, please rate the recipe as well. Thank you!

   

  Print
  

  • 1lb. black beans, picked over to remove broken or wrinkled beans or small stones
  • 6cups water
  • 1 onion, halved or diced
  • 2&#;3 whole garlic cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon salt (this seems like a lot, but is fine with this much water, you can use less)

  1. Place the beans in a big bowl, cover with water, agitate the beans a few times to remove any dirt, drain in a colander and rinse again.
  2. Place black beans, onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Add water.
  3. Cook on high for about hours, testing after 3 hours. To test doneness, spoon out a few beans and blow on them. If the skins peel back, they beans are ready. Taste just to make sure. If all of the water has been absorbed, add more. Beans must stay completely covered to prevent them from burning. If cooking on low for hours, test the beans at the 6 hour point.
  4. Add the salt and let cook, or sit with heat off for another minutes, to absorb the salt. Remove the bay leaf, garlic cloves, and onion before using, if desired.
  5. Use immediately, or allow to cool before transferring beans and some of the cooking liquid to a zipper-lock freezer bag or airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze up to 3 months. If freezing, flatten bag in freezer&#;it makes for easier defrosting. Defrost in warm water.

  Notes

  Variations:
  White beans (Great Northern, Cannelini, navy, black eyed peas)
  -add to the slow cooker: chopped vegetables (carrots, fennel, celery), rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, onion.
  -use in salads, soups, purees, braised (side dish)

  Pinto
  -add to the slow cooker: a few sprigs fresh cilantro, dried oregano, a diced chile (serrano, jalapeno, etc), ground cumin, onion, garlic, bay leaf.
  -use in chili and soups, salads, refried, etc.

  Kidney
  -cook the same way for pinto or black beans
  -for use in Italian soups&#;proceed as for the white beans

  • Author:Lindsey Johnson
  • Prep Time mins
  • Cook Time:4 hours
  • Category:side dish
  • Cuisine:Brazilian, Mexican, American

  Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.