Just East of Eden : 2020 COOKATHON #5

Monday, October 26, 2020

2020 COOKATHON #5

Every once in a while I get a craving for an “off-limits” junk food dish: the pork and turkey baked bean pie, accompanied by crisp relishes such as carrot sticks, celery sticks, or radish roses fits the bill this month 😉 If you used store bought beans, it’s super easy to make: if, like me, you make your own baked beans – it’s a 2 day happening in the kitchen; I got the recipe for the Baked Bean Pie from my ‘Better Homes & Gardens Jiffy Cooking’ cookbook – and I made my own homemade baked beans to use in the recipe; I used my ‘Jewish Cooking in America’ cookbook for the baked bean recipe: SO GOOD! I froze the remaining baked beans for future meals.

For the Chicken Bouillabaisse … a fancy name for chicken stew … I dug out my ‘Mediterranean Light’ cookbook. This savory meal has many of the similar flavorings of a fish bouillabaisse – lots of garlic, onions, tomatoes, a hint of orange peel, saffron, and cayenne. The beans add an interesting texture and flavor to the dish. This bouillabaisse is very easy to make; and can be made ahead of time and reheated. You can omit the potatoes, and serve the dish with rice, if you choose.

And the Baked Fish Fillets Spencer recipe comes from my ‘Joy of Cooking’ cookbook. The method used to cook the fish produces a tender crust outside and a tender and moist interior. I rounded out my meal with *Spaghetti Squash w-Parmesan. YUMMY :-D

Every Election year I make a delicious bean soup, appropriately named Soup of the Inner Sanctum. I am making it this year. It will go a lot easier than the torturous omaba-pelosi-clinton-biden-harris charade painfully playing out. I always add a few eggs to my soups, to hard-boil for hiking snacks 😉

==BAKED BEAN PIE ~Serves 3 or 4

8 Turkey Dogs * ½ Tablespoon Dijon Mustard * 1 1-pound/5 oz. can Pork & Beans in tomato sauce or 20-ounces homemade Boston Baked Beans (*recipe follows), partially drained * 2 teaspoons Hot Dog Relish * 1 teaspoon instant Minced Onion * ¼ cup shredded sharp process American cheese

In saucepan, combine beans, relish, and onion; bring to boiling. Pour bean mixture into pie plate.

Baked Bean Pie ingredients.

Slice each hot dog down center (not through, just enough to open); brush each slit with mustard. Arrange on bean mixture; sprinkle with cheese.

Bean Pie topped with turkey dogs.

Baked Bean Pie – oven ready.

Bake in moderate oven – 350-degrees, for 20 minutes or until meat is lightly browned.

**What I did: I lined foil freezer pans with foil; portioned the bean pie into serving sizes in foil freezer pans – adding a buttered-foil-wrapped-cob of corn to each pan – covered the pan with plastic wrap/labeled/covered with pan lid, crimped the edges … and placed in a large baggie for the freezer: keeping 1 serving aside to eat for Supper, Wednesday 😉

Corn on cob to go with bean pie.

Baked Bean Pie; freezer ready

*Boston Baked Beans ~ Yield 6 to 8 servings

This baked bean recipe can also be cooked with a 3-pound Beef brisket instead of ham ends. These beans are a winter favorite with me.

1 pound Navy or Kidney Beans * Ham ends for flavoring * 1 sliced Onion * 1 Tablespoon Mustard * 1 Tablespoon Salt * ¼ cup Brown Sugar * ¼ cup Molasses * 2 cups boiling Water (or to cover)

Wash, pick beans over – discard any stones; cover with cold water and soak overnight.

In the morning, drain the beans, put them in a saucepan, and cover with fresh water. Heat slowly and cook just below the boiling point until the skins burst – about half an hour (this is best determined by taking a few beans on the tip of a spoon and blowing over them; if done, the skins will burst).

When done, drain the beans and put them in a large 6-quart casserole with a lid. Add the meat and onion.

Mix the mustard, salt, sugar, molasses, and water … and pour over beans. Cover and bake slowly in a preheated 225-degree oven for 8 hours, uncovering the casserole the last hour so that the meat and beans will brown.

NOTE: I cooked my beans in a crockpot for 6 hours on LOW. If you use a crockpot, watch it to make sure it does not get too dry. If too dry, slowly add BOILING HOT WATER enough to moisten: do not use cold water or the crock will crack.

Homemade Baked Beans – ingredients.

Homemade Baked Beans: finished.

==CHICKEN BOUILLABAISSE ~makes 4 servings

This recipe calls for a whole chicken … but I used 4 chicken breasts: the servings are smaller, but that is what I wanted 😉 And I cooked this meal in my crockpot, set to LOW for 6 hours (cooked beans and steamed potatoes made separately and added later).

1 Chicken, about 2 pounds – cut into 6 to 8 pieces * 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil * 1 medium Onion, thinly sliced * 1 Leek, white part only, cleaned and sliced * 2 large cloves Garlic, minced * 1 pound Tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and put through a food processor or 1 14-ounce canned Italian Plum Tomatoes * 2 additional cloves Garlic, minced * 1½ cups dry White Wine * 2 cups defatted Chicken stock * 1 Bay leaf * ½ teaspoon dried Thyme * ¼ teaspoon Fennel seed * 2 pinches Saffron threads * 2-inch piece Orange Peel * 1 pound fresh Fava beans, shelled or 2 cups dry Lima beans (*instructions for cooking follows) * pinch Cayenne pepper * ¾ pound new Potatoes, scrubbed and sliced (optional) * freshly ground Black Pepper * Lemon Juice and Parsley for garnish

Chicken Bouillabaisse ingredients; I used bouillon in this recipe instead of stock – I’m trying to lose weight. It tasted fine.

Remove the skin form the chicken pieces.

Chicken breast meat; skinned.

Heat the oil in a heavy 3-quart (or larger) skillet and sauté the onion, leek, 2 garlic cloves, over low heat for about 10 minutes – stirring often to prevent browning.

Add tomatoes and additional garlic, and continue to sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. Raise heat and cook over high heat for a few more minutes, stirring.

Add chicken, salt lightly, and stir together with the tomato mixture. Cover and cook 10 minutes over medium heat, turning the pieces once.

Add the wine, chicken stock, bay leaf, thyme, fennel seed, saffron, orange peel, and more salt to taste. Bring to a simmer; cover, and simmer slowly for 20 to 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, blanch the fava beans in salted water for 30 seconds; drain, and transfer to a bowl of cold water. Pop them out of their thick shells. Steam for 5 to 8 minutes, until tender but still bright green. Set aside.

*IF USING LIMA BEANS: soak beans in ‘fridge overnight; drain and cover with fresh water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer for 1 hour, then use beans however you desire.

Lima beans cooking.

If you are using potatoes, steam or boil them until tender; drain, and set aside.

When the chicken is done, stir in the beans and the sliced potatoes. If desired. Remove the bay leaf, and the orange peel, and add just a hint of cayenne. Add pepper to taste and lemon juice if desired. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve in wide soup bowls.

This meal will hold for a day or two, in the ‘fridge.

IF USING A CROCKPOT, just dump all the ingredients (except potatoes and beans) and cook as directed above:

Chicken Bouillabaisse ingredients in crock.

Cooking in crockpot.

**What I did: I lined the foil pan with foil; portioned the potatoes and beans into serving sizes in foil freezer pans, and ladled the bouillabaisse into the pan – covered the pan with plastic wrap/labeled/covered with pan lid, crimped the edges … and placed in a large baggie for the freezer.

Chicken Bouillabaisse; prep for freezer.

Freezer ready.

==BAKED FISH FILLETS SPENCER ~4 servings

Preheat oven to 550-degrees.

Have ready: 4 skinned fillets of Fish

And a plate of: dry Bread Crumbs

Fill a shallow pan with: ½ cup warm Milk * ½ teaspoon Salt

Dip the fillets into the milk, then into the crumbs – in that order; making sur they are well coated. Place them into a well-greased oven-proof pan and gently pour over them:

Baked Fish ingredients.

Baked Fish; prep for oven.

3 Tablespoons melted Butter or Bacon fat

Place pan on top oven rack and bake 10 to 12 minutes – transferring at once to a hot platter garnished with parsley and lemon wedges.

Baked Fish: I put 3 fillets aside for freezer meals; and ate 1 fillet w-Sweet Potato Fries for Supper 😉

You may serve with: Tartar sauce

*Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan: https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/spaghetti-squash-with-parmesan/0010ee79-c57e-409f-a290-a456e3e0e524

**What I did: I lined the foil pan with foil; portioned the cooked squash into serving sizes in foil freezer pans – added a fish fillet; covered the pan with plastic wrap/labeled/covered with pan lid, crimped the edges … and placed in a large baggie for the freezer.

Baked Fish w-Spaghetti Squash; prepped for freezer.

Freezer ready.

==SOUP OF THE INNER SANCTUM ~ serves 8

1½ pounds dried peas, navy, or lima Beans; washed * 2 Tablespoons Butter * 4 large Yellow Onions, chopped * 1 large Garlic clove, minced * 6 sprigs Parsley * ¾ teaspoon Thyme * 1½ large Bay leaves * 1 Carrot, chopped * ½ Lemon, sliced * 1 pound smoked Ham Hock, or shank end of smoked ham * freshly ground Black Pepper * 1 Tablespoon Salt

Place all ingredients in a crockpot. Set temperature to High and bring to boil.

Inner Sanctum Bean Soup ingredients; I used 1 Tablespoon of Bacon Bits in my soup – I’m trying to lose weight.

Reduce temperature to Low and cook for 6 hours – or until beans are tender.

Cooking.

Remove ham; let cool. Remove 2 cups of soup with a little liquid – puree that, and return to soup.

Blending of a portion.

Cut ham in small pieces; add to soup.

Stirred together.

Reheat carefully, and serve.

**What I did: I carefully portioned the soup into x3 quart-sized freezer baggies; keeping 1 serving aside in a small casserole bowl for a Supper meal.