The Best Ever Crock Pot Boston Baked Beans

If you have followed me on Twitter you know I have been away in Boston the past week. What an amazing city! Coming from Maryland, I thought we had the edge on seafood. But Bostons seafood was amazing, On a limited budget I ate very well and worked off all the good food walking and touring this most important of American cities . One thing I saw were these cute little bean crocks to make authentic Boston Baked Beans. I love a good baked bean. I have been to many a picnic where cooks try to perpetrate by doctoring up canned beans. One of my favorite cooking memories were my mother and I attempting to make out our own baked beans from scratch. I remembered it took hours to cook. Craving baked beans, but not wanting to run the oven in this summer heat , I opted for my crock pot/slow cooker.Many of my foodie friends associate slow baking beans with winter and fall. But isn't a good baked bean dish quintessential to summer time and BB Q's? While I cooked this via crock pot, I finished them of in the authentic crock for 45 min or so sprinkled with brown sugar in the oven. Let me say the house smelled fantastic turning the key and entering to find the beans cooked perfectly.Enjoy.

Crock Pot Boston Baked Beans

1 lb dry Navy Beans or Great Northern Beans

12 oz-1 lb salt pork with rind

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 onion chopped

1 onion studded with cloves( about 1 tsp worth)

4 cups water

ground black pepper

Soak your beans over night covered in cold water. The next day drain water. In a small pot of boiling water, boil the cubed or cut up salt pork for a few minutes to remove excess salt. Remove salt pork from water and place on the bottom of crock pot. Place the clove studded onion in crock pot. Cover with soaked dried beans. Add mustard,ground black pepper, chopped onion,brown sugar,molasses. Pour 4 - 5 cups of cold water over the beans and spices. Beans should be covered but not excessively so. The slow cooking adds moisture.Turn on your crock pot/slow cooker to the setting of 10 hours.

After 10 hours you can finish of individual servings on mini crocks sprinkled with brown sugar in a an oven at 350 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Printable Recipe Here

I think this perfect for this months My Legume Love Affair #14 hosted by the founder Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook.

Green Hummus From Fresh Garbanzo Beans...MLLA11

While looking on at clearance fruit and vegetable racks at Pete's the other day, I came across a huge bag of fresh Garbanzo beans.

I had to ask the clerk what they were exactly. See, I'm used to the dried yellow variety or the ones in cans. The lovely Caron Golden, an expert on the many uses of fava and Garbanzos sent me her link to some great recipes. She advised to savor the garbanzos alone as snack to 'taste the green', and boy was she right!Be warned the shelling and popping takes a while, but the result is worth the effort. I decided to do a simple 'hummus' variation, served with quartered baked tortillas. I'm submitting this to Lori Lynn for My Legume Love Affair Eleventh Helping, created by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Fresh Green Hummus

2 cups shelled Garbanzo Beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Spike salt free( I am restricting my salt intake)

or sea salt to taste

1 teaspoon garlic powder

chili oil to drizzle

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Tortillas baked and cut into quarters.

Shell Garbanzo beans. Lightly steam until just tender. Remove from heat. In a glass bowl with an immersion blender, puree beans, spices, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Place in serving dish. Drizzle hot chili oil on top. Serve with baked tortillas that have been quartered.

Please vote for me in Ile De France Recipe Contest.

My Legume Love Affair 10 Roundup

This was my first time hosting a large event and I was so impressed and happy with the entries I received for My Legume Love Affair created by the brilliant Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. Keeping this month to Starters and Desserts was somewhat limiting ,but we received a jewel box collection of recipes from around the world. Check out these healthy treasures and consider them next time you are looking for something a little different and makes everyone say Wow.

So lets break it down into 2 sections:
Starters

Christine of Kits Chow created these exquisite Korean mung bean pancakes,Bindae Duk.

Jeanne,my African sista from CookSister, made these elegant chickpea & paprika crostini.

Susan, My Legume Love Affairs creator made just in the nick of time Steamed Red Bean Buns.

Bea and Jai from Jugalbandi make for us Horse Gram Cocktail Fritters.

indosungod from Daily Musings gave us Swiss chard and Black Bean Empanadas

Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf is a person after my own heart with these black eye pea patties with a hot chili sauce.

Uma of Vegan Orbit gave us this tasty carrot and lentil soup.

Kalaivani of Little Taste Buds created Chickpea and green pea soup. Double whammy of legumes!

Lori, next months host from Taste With The Eyes, always served up inspiration with Cilantro scented navy bean hash with smoked salmon rosettes.

365 Days of Pure Vegetarian makes for us the perfect snack food Homemade Falafel

Sumy of Make the Impossible ...Possible,made Payaru thoran . A small serving of this would kick off any meal.

Indrani of Appyayan made Masoor Dal Vada ( red lentil fritters). Legumes make the best fritters.

My fellow Chicagoan Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté rose to the occasion with this wonderful starter that captures the season of spring. Sauteed Morel Mushrooms and Fava Beans .

Ashwini from Nanna Adige gives us two starters for a Ugadi feast,Thondekayi Palya and Black Eyed Peas Vada.

I also received another entry from Ashwini for Sprouted Pulses Roti.

Divya of Dil Se made a comforting dish of Khichdi

Asha at Foodies Hope made Chana Dal-Dill Fritters with spicy Dal dip.

LK at Food For Tots made a delicious Black Beans Soup

Funny how different cultures have variations on the same theme. I went back to my roots and made Akara( West African Black Eye Pea Fritters), a childhood favorite.

Desserts


Priyasuresh, of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes created Channadal N Coconut Kheer. A lovely treat.

Elizabeth from Our Kitchen made a healthy new take on a familiar treat, Black Bean Brownies.

Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen makes Besan-Coconut Burfi (Chickpea Flour-Coconut Indian Style Fudge)


Uma from Vegan Orbit makes another version of Kheer for us with Moon Dhal Kheer

Kevin from Closet Cooking made these yummy Japanese Dorayaki. I could eat these as both a starter or dessert.

Michelle from Big Black Dogs created these Chocolate Peanut Roll cookies which look to die for.

I don't know why she calls herself Msmeanie when she creates treats that are so sweet and nice.Chana Dal Burfi from Chocolate Chip Trips.Try saying that a few times.

A&N from Delectably Yours made a Hayagreeva,a Bengal Gram dessert and recollects family memories.

Soma from eCurry makes a Sweet Peanut Brittle Bar .

Being the hostess I felt obliged to make both savory and sweet entries. Here is my Adzuki and Sesame Seed Cookies.

And the winner of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is (names drawn from mixing bowl)

Jeanne from Cook Sister! Email me for details on how to get your prize.



So there we have it. Quite a collection. Be sure to visit Mays host Lori for deatils on MLL11.

Akara ( Black Eye Pea Fritters)...My Legume Love Affair 10

Akara is a typical West African snack made of Black Eye peas.Its confusing because I have seen many names and spelling for this dish. The Congo Cookbook cites 11 names for this dish. I remember eating these when my father made them as a child. I actually posted these once before on the blog as a New Years appetizer since they had the requisite black eye peas. that would bring in good luck for the year. What made my fathers so yummy was the addition of chopped shrimp . What I love about this recipe is that you can play around with your spices and additions. Along with the traditional ingredients I choose to add ground shrimp powder, minced sun dried tomatoes for extra flavor. I also purchased a small bottle of palm oil in the African shop. Palm Oil is favored in West African cuisine and highly coveted. You can debate on the health aspect of it, but one thing is certain, its aromatic and imparts a wonderful flavor and research is backtracking and taking a second look at it.I say all in moderation. Palm Oil gets its rich red color from beta carotene. If you don't have or want to fry in palm oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil work just as fine.


Akara
1 1/2 lbs of Black Eye Peas soaked overnight in water
2 tbsp rice flour
1 small onion chopped fine
1 green bell pepper chopped fine
2- 3 eggs to bind
water
1 tbsp ground shrimp powder
4 sun dried tomato's minced
1 tsp curry
1-2 chilies chopped( depends on your spice heat threshold)
salt and pepper to taste
palm, vegetable. or peanut oil for frying

Rinse the black eye peas which have been soaking overnight.In a food mill grind the beans . Take a blender or food processor and add the ground beans , eggs,and some water . Mix until you you have a light paste( not to runny, but enough to hold shape while frying). Add your dry seasonings and chopped onions, peppers, chilies and sun dried tomatoes.
Add a few tablespoons of oil in your fry pan. Heat the oil. Carefully drop spoonfuls of the bean mixtures and fry until golden and done in the center. Be sure to turn the bean cakes as you fry to make sure its fries evenly.

Akara is my second entry( a savory one as compared to sweet one before) this month in MLLA 10... Starters and Desserts created by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. You still have time to submit your entries this month. Starters, desserts, light snack, etc. Get creative with legumes!

Adzuki and Sesame Cookies ...My Legume Love Affair 10

Anybody that knows me well enough knows that I love to stray from the normal. I probably could have been way more popular or understood if I didn't try to be so different . I guess that's the artist in me always trying to recreate and interpret. This month I have the fortune to host the fabulous Susan's of the Well Seasoned Cook, My Legume Love Affair 10. I chose to place a theme on this popular event for Starters and Desserts. I know that may stump some regular participants, but that's what I view what events are for, challenges.

This year I have been fascinated with the Adzuki bean. I used in a Daring Bakers Challenge as an ice cream flavor. In most of Asia, particularly Japan you will find Adzuki beans boiled to a a paste, sweetened with sugar, and used in all types of desserts and sweets. I decided to use the starchy and moist Adzuki paste I made from scratch,

you can but it ready made, with rice flour and rolled in Sesame seeds, This is a grown folks cookie. Not overly sweet , and a nice shortbread like texture with the nuttiness of toasted sesame . Enjoy with a cup of tea and relax.

Adzuki and Sesame Cookies

makes about 40 cookies

recipe can be divided in half

3 cups Rice Flour

1 cup sweetened red bean paste * can be purchased ready made in Asian food stores.

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

12 tablespoons butter or 1 1/2 sticks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

sesame seeds to roll

In a mixing bowl cream brown sugar,butter, vanilla, and egg. Add red bean paste to creamed mixture. Gradually add in increments the dry ingredients( rice flour, baking powder, baking soda). Mix until well incorporated but not do over beat as you don't want to much air in the dough. Take mixture and roll into two logs. Take a sheet of wax paper and sprinkle sesame seeds. Roll the cookie dough logs on the wax paper until well covered with the Sesame seeds. Wrap securely in wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F . Line cookie sheets with parchment or a Silpat. Slice cookies about 1/2 inch thick. Place on cookie sheet. These don't spread so much in baking but still leave space between cookies. Bake fr 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cookies sit on pan for about 2 minutes. Carefully remove and let them cool on wire rack.

* Red Bean Paste

I made my own Adzuki Paste.

Soak a small bag of small red beans ( Adzuki) in water overnight. Drain and rinse. Boil beans for about 1 hour or more if needed until soft enough to mash. About the last half hour of boiling add brown sugar to taste ( about 1 cup) and more water if necessary. If water goes down add more as needed . Cook down until beans are soft and water is low. Take an immersion blender and puree. Add about 1/2 cup vegetable oil to keep mixture moist. Store in airtight container.

You still have time to submit you enteries for My Legume Love Affair 10... Starters and Desserts. My Legume Love Affairs Deadline is April 30.Enter to win the great book !

My Legume Love Affair 10...Starters and Desserts

My Legume Love Affair 10…Starters and Desserts

I am so happy to host this months My Legume Love Affair 10 this month. As I always love a challenge, I decided to put a theme on the event. This month’s entry must be either a Starter or Dessert. I can think of several dishes already. In Asian cuisine, it is not unusual to find desserts made of Adzuki or Mung beans. Moreover, I was just reading the Rooibos teas is in the legume family. Is this helping you? Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook is the brainchild behind this phenomenal event which draws a large volume of entries each month.

Here are a few facts about MLLA 10:

*All recipes must have a legume as the star ingredient. A legume is
A pod, such as that of a pea or bean, that splits into two valves with the seeds attached to one edge of the valves.
Such a pod or seed used as food.
Legumes are not to be confused with the French term for vegetable. Think beans, lentils, pulses, and/or the sometimes edible pods that contain these seeds, and derivative products like tofu that are made from soy.
*Multiple recipes are permitted, but only the first submission is counted towards the random drawing.
*Recipes to other events are permitted.
*You don’t have to a blog to enter.
*Photos are preferred but optional. Please be sure send your photo in a reasonable size not to exceed 400 pixels.
*Recipes from your older archives are permissible, but must be updated with the event info and links. Archived posts need to be re posted as current.Or you may link to your older recipe in your most current post as an FYI with all the pertinent info and requirements for the current MLLA10.
*Feel free to use the badges on your post.
*You must link your entries to both my post and the MLLA Host Line Up
*All geographic locations are eligible for drawing.
*Last day for submissions is April 30. Email cococooks[AT]hotmail[DOT]com.
*Roundup will be posted the first week of May.

The prize for the Random Drawing will be The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Preserving and canning is such a lost art. With the economy being what it is what better way to reduce waste and preserve the flavors of your favorite fruits and vegetables?