Cedar Braised Beans
This is a first for me. I have gone on a scavenger hunt for many of ingredients. Neighbors gardens and garage edges are frequent haunts.
I have cooked with cedar before. Usually sticking a slab of fish on a plank and burning the wood to a crisp.
Today is the first recipe I have from the South Dakota Sioux Chef cookbook (this one actually gives me hope of some good food.) but it has me scrounging the road ditches for a 5-6 inch branch of cedar.
Done.
Basically the recipe is throw the branch in with the beans for 25 minutes or so and then remove and continue cooking. Well I started tasting at 25 minutes, and 40 minutes later I caught the taste of cedar. Pulled the branch and gave the beans their own personal hell in the kitchen bomb.
I ended up with this
OK hint #1. If cooking beans with cedar twigs, it is best to use 1 type of bean. Different beans soak up the flavor at different rates. I have run the gambit of nothing to eating a mothball depending on the type of bean.
Hint #2. Do not skimp on the salt.
Hint #3. The ground juniper berries are not needed. Save them for your gin.
I actually will make this again, now that I know how to control the flavor. Not a failure
Serving it with some very good pork products and the uncooked left overs from the liquid salad fiasco (Broke out the good balsamic for that) helps make you forget you are eating essence of tree.
I have cooked with cedar before. Usually sticking a slab of fish on a plank and burning the wood to a crisp.
Today is the first recipe I have from the South Dakota Sioux Chef cookbook (this one actually gives me hope of some good food.) but it has me scrounging the road ditches for a 5-6 inch branch of cedar.
Done.
Basically the recipe is throw the branch in with the beans for 25 minutes or so and then remove and continue cooking. Well I started tasting at 25 minutes, and 40 minutes later I caught the taste of cedar. Pulled the branch and gave the beans their own personal hell in the kitchen bomb.
I ended up with this
OK hint #1. If cooking beans with cedar twigs, it is best to use 1 type of bean. Different beans soak up the flavor at different rates. I have run the gambit of nothing to eating a mothball depending on the type of bean.
Hint #2. Do not skimp on the salt.
Hint #3. The ground juniper berries are not needed. Save them for your gin.
I actually will make this again, now that I know how to control the flavor. Not a failure
Serving it with some very good pork products and the uncooked left overs from the liquid salad fiasco (Broke out the good balsamic for that) helps make you forget you are eating essence of tree.
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