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7-5 You're not Home cooking By William Rice Chicago Tribune CHICAGO No, home cooking is not dead. Despite the statistics that show increasing amounts being spent in restaurants, home cooks may feel less isolated when they hear the following: According to NPD, a consulting firm in Northbrook, if you count people instead of dollars spent, those eating meals at home outnumber those eating in restaurants 7 to 1. NPD statistics show more restaurants closing than opening, a drop of 8 percent between 1985 and 1993 "as Americans eat out less." The bread machine is a runaway best seller, with more than 50 models on the market. alone is on the rise A survey by the National Pork Producers Council released in June indicates that 74 percent of American families usually sit down to dinner together. "Cooking dinner for your family whomever your particular family includes Klein of council.
"As a repopular again," said Robin sult, we're seeing a trend ward foods with family appeal like roasts, stews and hearty vegetables with a 1990s twist." Nonetheless, fully 60 percent of the respondents said they were not bothered about going a week or longer without cooking from scratch. Putting salsa and sour cream on a precooked baked potato and heating it is, as far as they concerned, cooking. Say 'cheese' and Mozzarella Co. will have it on your doorstep By JeanMarle Brownson Chicago Tribune First came the fruit of the month, then dessert of the month. Now The Mozzarella a Dallas operation, offers a program featuring their award-winning cheeses.
The cheese-of-the-month club ($240 for 12 months or $150 for six months, shipping included) typically includes ancho chili Guide sorts out small brewers, beer by beer By Steven Pratt Tribune A beer writer and a brewer have written a 336-page guide to more than "350 of the country's specialty breweries. Called "America's Best Beers" (Little, Brown, -the book was assembled by "Christopher Finch, author of "Beer: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best," and W. Scott Griffiths, an owner of Rhino Chasers Beer in Culver, Calif. Pick your There are beans Kidney beans: Named for their shape, these beans can be dark or light red. Large and meaty, they are perfect for chili as well as soups, salads and casseroles.
Great Northern beans: Large white beans that resemble a kidney bean in shape fla- but A have a delicate, distinctive vor. Their mild flavor makes them perfect for baked-bean recipes as well as soups and stews. Pinto The pinto i. 'BEAMS. bout soup A 1,4 caciotta (similar to Monterey Jack), fresh ricotta, fresh mozzarella, smoked scamorza (dense mozzarella), Texas goat cheese, mozzarella roll filled with green olives, montasio and mascarpone torta with basil pesto and pine nuts.
Lambert says any cheese the company makes can be a club selection. An assortment of gift baskets of cheese, recipes and crackers or pasta also is available. Call (800) 798-2954 for a brochure. For The Best Unique Holiday Gifts, Clothing Decorating "Treasures Cranberry Corner: CRAFTS HOME DECOR Hollday Tapes CD's Cards 100's of Yankee Unique Candles Ornaments Boyd's Collection And More off a All Boned with muds Christmas ad Cards 70712 W. Oklahoma Ave.
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5 p.m. Sun. noon 5 p.m. By Cathy Thomas Orange County Register Growing up, my brothers and I relished bean-soup night -a frequent cold-weather event when Dad took over the stove and rustled up a large pot brimming with white beans, chunks of vegetables and a meaty ham bone. We swilled down this hearty concoction with delight while Dad pontificated about the virtues of the noble dried bean.
Dad's familiar stories of the Great Depression glorified beans in no uncertain terms. Prone to exaggeration, he'd try to convince us that his ninemember family could dine like kings for a total of 5 cents. Although more expensive than in my father's recollections, bean soup still can be an enormous bargain. Beans can be the basis for a one-dish meal that combines high nutritional content with delicious taste. Naturally low in fat and high in soluble fiber, beans (and other legumes) are the best plant source of protein.
In Dad's day, bean soup was enriched with a piece of fatty salt pork as well as a ham bone. The salt pork, a salt-cured portion of a pig's or side, provided plenty of calories for his family to burn while performing essential farm chores. In my updated white bean soup recipe, I've eliminated the) salt pork by using a leaner-style ham bone. Shops that specialize in spiral cut hams, such as honeybaked hams, sell flavorful and meaty ham bones that are on the lean side. For a more meaty taste, I often add slices of fully cooked turkey kielbasa (smoked Polish) sausage as well.
is Often, I include carrots, leeks, potatoes, cabbage and green beans, but the vegetables vary to- according to what is in the vegetable bin. Comfort food? You bet. And it's only the beginning. 1 Every supermarket has several varieties of dried beans, each with their distinct textures and flavor. And each variety can be used to create wonderful soups.
re- The earthy flavor of pinto are beans makes them perfect for simple soups. Topped with tortilla strips and jack cheese, the results are delicious. Similar flavors combine well in black bean soup. The beans are cooked with onions, carrots and celery; once completely cooked they are pureed and augmented with a variety of toppings according to your taste. Toppings can include minced cilantro, lime juice, crumbled crisp bacon, grated Parmesan cheese and salsa.
Shopping tips: When purchasing packaged dried beans, look for undamaged bags or boxes with beans of uniform size. As tempting as the packages of assorted beans appear, arranged in their clear cellophane packages showing off a grand mosaic of bean varieties, I steer clear of most dried bean soup mixes. Because of the differences in size and density of the beans, they require different cooking times; sometimes the results are unsatisfactory. Dried beans are available at most supermarkets, although for some varieties, such as cannellini beans or cranberry beans, you may need to visit a health food store or ethnic market. Many varieties of canned beans are available in most supermarkets; if you can't locate them in a canned vegetable aisle, look for them in the Italian or Latin American specialty section.
Storage: Store dried beans in a well-sealed container at cool room temperature. They should keep for up to one year. They flavor a will warm, take longer humid to cook if environment. left in Do not mix older beans with a for all tastes new times of batch, old and because new cooking supplies (Spanish for painted) bean has might vary. Store leftover streaks of reddish-brown on a cooked beans, airtight, in the background of pale pink.
Their --3 refrigerator. They will keep for earthy flavor makes them a fa- or 4 days. vorite in Mexican dishes. Canned vS. dried beans: Black beans: Canned beans can be substisized jet black beans Small, with pea- an tuted for dried in most soup earthy, somewhat sweet flavor.
are fully cooked however, when because canned, they recipes; America, staple they are throughout used in black eliminate the preliminary step Latin beans and rice, bean burritos soaking and cooking the and, of course, black bean soup. beans recipes. in One each cup of of the dried following beans Cathy Thomas will measure cups when Orange County Register cooked. So if a recipe calls for 2 1, 3 i If using dried beans check for mer; simmer, partly covered, any debris. Place in colander for and 1 simmer hour.
Add bell peppers and rinse in cold water. an additional 30 Place black beans in a large mer minutes. Add sausage and simpot or Dutch oven. Add 10 cups an additional 10 minutes. water, onion, carrots, celery Cook's note: Cilantro stores and ham bone.
Bring to boil; re- best when it stays dry, so wash duce to simmer. Simmer partly it, shake it dry and wrap it in a covered for 15 minutes. Add paper towel; place towel in a garlic, white pepper, cumin, plastic bag and refrigerate. oregano and salt; simmer par- Presentation: Ladle hot soup tially covered for 1 hour, into soup bowls. Sprinkle with stirring once or twice.
Remove minced cilantro, if desired. Top and discard ham bone. Puree with tortilla strips and jack mixture in small batches in the cheese. Allow soup to sit 1 or 2 blender, reserving some of the minutes so that the cheese will liquid. Add the reserved liquid melt; serve.
to the soup if necessary; you Timesavers: Place cooked want a thick, smooth consis- and drained sausage in food tency. Return mixture to pot processor fitted with the metal and heat through. Add salt and blade; process using the pulsing pepper to taste. technique until sausage is Presentation: Ladle into soup chopped. bowls and garnish as desired This 'recipe makes 8 to 10 with any or all of the following: servings.
Jim Ohischmick, FREEMAN STAFF Hearty soups. based on beans, such as the author's white bean soup, are an economical, one-dish meal that combines high nutritional content with delicious taste. The version shown above contains Italian cannellini beans and is topped with sprigs of fresh chervil. i cups of dried beans, substitute are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. minced cilantro, grated 5 cups of canned beans, adding Taste soup and add salt and san cheese, crisp-cooked bacon liquid from the can plus enough pepper as needed.
(crumbled), lime wedges and water or broth to make enough Timesavers: Small carrots your favorite bottled salsa. For liquid for the soup. Also, can be purchased peeled and the most dramatic presentation, canned beans tend to be salty, ready to eat; they can be serve soup in colorful bowls, so taste soup before adding any quickly sliced and placed in such as bright red or green. salt. soup.
Cook's notes: Shops that spePresentation: Cut any re- cialize in spiral-cut hams, st such White Bean Soup maining ham off the ham bone as honey-baked hams, sell flaand cut into bite-size pieces; vorful and meaty ham bones on cup dried Great Northern discard bone. Ladle soup into the lean side. The cost is about white beans soup bowls and sprinkle with $2.99 per pound. 10 cups water chopped parsley or a small A meaty ham bone (from a sprig of Italian (flat-leafed) Mexican Pinto Bean Soup fully cooked, cured ham), parsley. about 1 or pounds This recipe makes about 8 cups dried pinto beans 2 large carrots, sliced (see servings.
12 cups water or vegetable Timesavers) broth or chicken broth Optional: 1 turnip, peeled Black Bean Soup I tablespoon salt and chopped With Garnishes I onion, peeled and chopped Optional: 1 large leek, white dried black beans I large clove garlic, minced and washed light and green chopped part only, 10 cups cups water 2 large red bell peppers, cored, seeded 1 large onion, peeled and 1 large onion, peeled and chopped chopped and chopped 1 pound turkey Italian 2 teaspoons salt 2 carrots, peeled sausage, cooked, well4 sprigs fresh thyme or and chopped drained and chopped teaspoon dried thyme 2 stalks celery, sliced Tortilla chips, as needed Optional: pound turkey 1-to meaty ham Optional garnish: minced kielbasa sausage, bone from a fully'cooked, cilantro cut and in sliced half lengthwise (see cured cook's ham notes) 2 or 3 cups grated jack cheese 2 baking potatoes (such as. 3 cloves garlic, peeled russet), peeled and diced and minced If using dried beans check for Optional: about 20 green 2 teaspoons ground white any debris. Place in colander beans, trimmed and cut pepper and rinse in cold water. Place "into 1-inch pieces teaspoon ground cumin beans. in large pot and add 1 to 2 cups shredded teaspoons minced fresh enough water to cover the cabbage oregano or, beans by 3 inches; bring to boil.
Salt and white pepper teaspoon dried Boil for 2 minutes; remove from to taste teaspoons salt heat and allow to rest, covered, Optional garnish: minced Garnishes: minced cilantro, for 1 hour. fresh parsley or grated Parmesan cheese, Drain beans and return to small sprigs of fresh crumbled crisp bacon, pot. Add 12 cups of water (or Italian parsley lime wedges and salsa broth), salt, onion, and garlic. Bring to boil and reduce to sim- If using dried beans, check for any debris. The easiest way to do this is to spread beans out on a white dish towel.
Remove and discard any debris or damaged beans. Place in colander and rinse in cold water. Place beans in large pot, and add 3 cups water; bring to boil. Boil for 2 minutes; remove from heat and allow to rest, covered, for 1 hour. Drain beans and return to pot.
Add 10 cups of water and ham bone. Bring to boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, partially, covered, for 45 minutes. carrots, turnip (if using), leek (if using); onion and salt. Simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes. Add thyme, sausage (if using), potatoes, green beans (if using) and cabbage; simmer, partly covered, until vegetables 1- 1-P.
