Dry beans (Recipe: everything-from-the-pantry bean soup)

By nature and by habit, I am a decanter.

Not the kind with an hourglass figure (don't I wish?) and a cork stopper.

No, I am a person who decants almost everything in my pantry into clear jars so I can see how much of each item I have on hand. I've never been able to divine, just by looking at a box on the shelf, exactly how much sugar, or rice, or bulgur wheat, is left in the box. The smaller jars, mostly one-quart canning size, hold the things I use in smaller quantities: lentils, cocoa powder, arrowroot, table salt for baking. In medium jars, I keep various kinds of rice, and breakfast cereals. The large jars hold the basics: sugars, kosher salt, flours.

My favorite jars are what I call the amalgamators: the jar that holds leftover odds and ends of dry pasta, and the one that gathers dry beans. I only allow like-minded beans — those that cook in approximately the same time, or have the same texture or color — to cohabit. Today, my bean jar contains red kidneys and Anasazi beans, and a few navy beans hiding at the bottom. At other times, it might have cranberry beans, if I'm lucky enough to find them, or pink pintos. By the way, the United States is the world's leading producer of dry beans; I never knew that.

As kids, we were taught (by whom, I can't remember....): Beans, beans, good for your heart/The more you eat, the more you f***/ The more you f***, the better you feel/So eat your beans at every meal.

True?

Yes, indeed. Beans are good for your heart — rich in dietary fiber, potassium, folate, and iron, as well as complex carbs and protein.

It's also true that there are well-known consequences to eating beans at every meal. Beans contain enzymes that produce flatulence and, while it's said that the more often you eat beans, the more your body acclimates to the enzyme, it's an indisputable truth that the gas will escape from your body from time to time. You can mitigate the gas by changing the soaking or cooking water occasionally. Pouring off the water helps gets rid of the indigestible complex sugars that create gas in your intestine. And there's always Beano, for those who'd rather fight one enzyme with another.

Though adzuki beans do make an appearance in sweet Asian desserts, most beans go the savory route: cassoulet, bean salads, soup, chili, or rice and beans.

And if, like I do from time to time, you find some really old dry beans languishing at the rear of the pantry shelf, give them a second chance — they make fabulous pie weights.

EVERYTHING-FROM-THE-PANTRY BEAN SOUP
On a visit to New York many years ago, I was foraging in my friend Joyce's freezer (don't you do that when you're visiting??) and came across a container of something she called French Market Bean Soup. It was hearty and healthy, and I've modified her recipe a bit and made this soup often. This tastes best if made at least one day ahead — and  it freezes very well. Serve with a green salad and crusty bread. Make it a vegetarian dish by using vegetable stock, and eliminating the chicken and sausage. Serves 12, at least.

15 oz dried beans, a mix of red kidney, Great Northern, navy, Anasazi, or whatever's in your bean jar
1-1/2 quarts water
1-1/2 quarts chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium canned)
1/4 cup smoky barbeque sauce
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp oregano
1/2 Tbsp thyme
28-oz can whole pear tomatoes, drained, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1 clove garlic, minced
Tabasco or other hot sauce, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
8 oz chopped chicken breast (optional)
8 oz sliced smoked sausage (optional)

Wash and pick over beans, and soak in water to cover for at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain. Place in a large stockpot, and add water, chicken stock, barbeque sauce, bay leaf, oregano and thyme. Simmer, covered, for 2-1/2 hours. Add tomato, onion, celery, garlic, Tabasco and pepper, and simmer, partially covered, for 1-1/2 hours. Add chicken and sausage, if desired, and simmer uncovered another 40-60 minutes.

Comments

[rupert]

And for those of us who can't quite recognize what's in the jars, it's handy to cut out a label to put in the jar with the product. Sometimes instructions can be kept that way too -just how much water do you use with that particular rice? or do you add an egg to that pancacke mix or just water?

[Marcia]

My glass jars full of beans look so pretty on an open kitchen shelf.
Grocery store beans are not always the freshest. For a good source of this year's dried beans, try Indian Harvest: (www.indianharvest.com). Several seed catalogues also feature dried beans for eating: Wood Prairie Farm in Maine (www.woodprairie.com) sells their organic two pound bags..with recipes! Native Seeds/Search at (www.nativeseeds.org) carries several varieties of beans, specializing in Native American and Hispanic beans which have been grown for centuries in New Mexico and Arizona.

[Lydia]

Marcia, thanks so much for these wonderful sources! The best dry beans I ever bought were from a roadside stand on the way to Taos, New Mexico. Anyone else have a great source?

[Pauline]

Hi! I just caught up on the "Perfect Pantry" articles that were put on "hold". What a delightful couple of hours browsing through all the good food and recipes. I was hoping to see some of the decorated cookies, maybe you're saving them for another time????? Now that I'm back I'll be sure to keep in touch. Thanks for your good wishes.

[Lydia]

Welcome back, Pauline. I'll be posting cookie photos on the web site (http://www.ninecooks.com/dropin.html) within the next week, so stay tuned.....

[Elaine]

Thanks so much to Marcia for posting the link to nativeseeds.org. After I read this, I immediately went to the site and purchased beans, smoked chiles and a Chocolate Habanero Sauce that sounds wonderful! Can't wait to make this soup.

[mimi]

I, too, am a decanter, Lydia. It stems from my years in living in downtown Madison — you wanted your food in air-tight jars so kitchen pests (a more palatable euphemism) could not get inside. I have tons of those glass jars with the rubber stoppers and flip-down lids. I went through a stage where I collected different beans because they looked good in the jars.

[Lydia]

Mimi, I used to collect jars because they'd look good filled with beans, and I have tons of the jars with rubber rings and flip-down lids, too.

Elaine, I'm so glad you found good things at Native Seeds. Thanks again, Marcia.

[Karen]

The Bean Rhyme
The rhyme I learned (in the '40s) was "Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot." We thought that was hilarious, but then we had a lot of time on our hands back then.

[Lydia]

Karen, welcome to The Perfect Pantry. I learned that version, too, but as a kid I always found the "fruit" thing a bit confusing....! A little slow on the uptake, I guess!