Like Water for Chocolate or Smash it Like You Mean It?

Hello my friendly readers!  Thank you for sticking around while I turned into a slacker with the postings.  If you've been waiting patiently, thanks so much.  If you forgot all about me since I haven't posted in a few weeks - please come back!  I'm sorry to have left you hanging in the breeze.


Things have been rather hectic around here as I've taken up a new hobby - sewing.  I started making aprons, and I've gotten rather addicted to the process.  This has caused me to slap together many a meal for my family in a fairly haphazard way.  My husband keeps asking me if I took pictures or wrote them down for my blog, but to me they've been uninspired so I didn't pass them along.  He & my son seem to be most smitten with the Smiley Face Pancakes.  I'll work on them over the weekend and post it then.  I'm trying to get down Jack-O-Lantern pancakes. Once I do that, I'll post them all.

This morning, however I'm working on a pot of beans.  I'm dying for cool "soup & stew" weather.  Here in Arizona, we're still nearing 100 degrees so soups have still been out of the question. I did make that one with left over roast beast a few weeks ago (my last post, as a matter of fact.) But I'm dreaming of pumpkin soup & other wonderful winter squashes.  For now though, a pot of beans will have to do.

Beans are so simple. I can throw it altogether in a slow cooker & then sew to my heart's content - and not have the troops rifling around in the kitchen like they hadn't eaten in 4 days.  So, that's my decision for the day.  Beans it is.


A while back I bought one of those packages of "15 Bean Soup" things.  All it is is a bag of different dried beans.  It looks like it's got pintos, kidney, black, cannelini, split peas, lentils & I don't know what else.  Anyway, I thought it would be yummy.  I'm sure the recipe on the bag calls for ham hocks or something of that sort, but I don't have that on hand and this is definitely an "on hand" meal. I did have a package of mild Italian sausage so I cut them up and tossed them in. 


Before I tossed in the sausage, I turned the pot on to low - 8 hours.  Then I looped around the inside of the pot a couple times with some olive oil.  Since I don't have a single onion in the house (a crime punishable by a slow, agonizing death by bland meals, in my opinion)  I dumped in some dehydrated onion. I'm guessing probably 2 Tbsp of that. For good measure I put some cumin in the pot. I'm a Texas girl, so beans must include cumin.  Then I took an entire bulb of garlic and smashed it, one clove at a time.  


Now, there's rarely a time that I smash garlic that I don't hear my girl, Anne Burrell in my head saying, "Smash it like you mean it!"  But as I'm smashing away, back in the dark recesses of my brain I conjure thoughts of my little hippie-chick-best-friend's banana bread recipe written in her swirly writing, saying "Smash the bananas with love." Quite the dichotomy of thoughts.  It got me thinking, if my life could be summed up in food it would be feed the ones you love & love the ones you feed.  (Still smashing garlic, by the way.)  Both thoughts bring me to the story, Like Water for Chocolate.  If you've never read it or seen the movie, please do!  It's a wonderful story of love & passion both for food & the people in your life. 


Since my seeing the movie some 15 years ago, I have made it a point to always incorporate love into my food. If I don't, it's almost a guarantee for me that it won't be good.  If my heart's not in it, there's no chance of it being a delight to my family.  Not that my love will guarantee it's the best thing they've ever eaten, but it will guarantee their knowledge that I cook for them because I love them.  

So when I've finished smashing my garlic like I mean/love it, I slice my sausages and toss them in the pot along with the beans.  Now I'm praying I have some broth of some sort in the freezer because water won't make it a party.  I'm in luck!  I have a gallon size bag of it! 

This is the key to all your soups/stews. Whenever you roast a slab of meat of any kind - beef or chicken, be sure you save the broth!  After it's cooled, pour it into a storage bag, label it, & lay it flat on a shelf in the freezer. You'll thank yourself for doing so. Freezing it flat will make it easy to store.  Also be sure if you made something with special seasoning to note that. If you've done a coq a vin or a spicy beef or curried chicken or anything with a dominant flavor - label it as such so you don't get any surprises in the end.  I also keep the leftover juice from when I make mussels so I have a delicious fish stock when I need it. Mmmmm....mussels....another day.

This frozen bag of stock will yield about 3 cups when thawed. When I'm really good, I'll measure it before freezing and label it that way.  To thaw it, I just get a large bowl, put the bag in it, run hot water over it and let it sit for 5 minutes or so.

Lastly, I added a can of petite diced tomatoes. It's my go-to item in nearly everything. I realize I should make my own, but opening a can of them is pretty quick and always on hand.  


Now, we wait.  By the time my hubby gets home, the house will smell delicious & he won't be feeling neglected by the food fairy.  I do need to learn how to master the corn muffin.  That would be a delicious treat to go along with the beans. I know. It's a shame a Texas girl like me doesn't know how to make corn muffins!  Perhaps I'll give them a try today.  Right now though, I've got 2 more aprons to put together. They're so cute!  I'll post 'em this evening when I follow up with the beans.


Have a beautiful day and love the ones you feed!!!


Peace