Barbecued Beans with Kielbasa

Barbecued Beans and Kielbasa

What's Polish for "beanie weenie"? How about "Fasolka z grilla i kielbasa." No matter the language, barbecued beans with kielbasa makes an excellent one-pot weekend meal that fills you up and is spicy enough to warm you from the inside out.

The trick to this recipe is the use of a pressure cooker. Where the traditional baked bean recipes call for slow cooking over several hours, our beans require a mere 30 minutes to fully cook. We then cook the kielbasa in the barbecue sauce, using the simmer setting on the pressure cooker. There is very little handson preparation time required.

Barbecued Beans and Kielbasa
2 c. dried navy, pinto or red beans, prepared for cooking
1 lb kielbasa, cut into 1" lengths
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 quarts plus 2 c. water
1 onion, chopped fine
1 tsp. garlic paste, or 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. ketchup
1/2. c. honey
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
3 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. dry mustard powder

Prepare the beans the day before by covering the dried beans with 4 quarts of water to which 2 tbsp. of kosher salt are added. Allow to soak for at least 8 hours. Discard any "floaters". Drain the beans in a colander.

Combine beans and 1 tbsp. oil in a pressure cooker. Coat beans with the oil by stirring with a wooden spoon. Add 4 quarts water and 1 tsp. salt. Lock on pressure cooker lid, bring pressure to high and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from heat, allow pressure to reduce slowly for 15 minutes. Remove lid, drain cooked beans in colander and set aside.

Add 1 tbsp. oil to pressure cooker. Heat on medium heat, and add chopped onion, garlic paste and kielbasa pieces. Brown meat on all sides, and allow onion to sauté until slightly soft. Stir in water, ketchup, honey, dark brown sugar, vinegar and mustard powder. Gently stir in beans. Allow all to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 10 to 15 minutes.

NOTE:  This can be used as a side dish or main meal. Any leftovers can be frozen and reheated using a microwave oven. The beans stay nice and firm.

Pecan Maple Bars

Pecan Maple Bars

Now that we've passed Groundhog Day and the weather is slowly turning from snow to "stuff" and then to rain, it's time to start thinking of spring. In parts of Michigan and Indiana, it's also sugar time for maple and birch tree farmers.

Sugaring is the practice of tapping maple and birch trees for sap. The sap is gathered, the excess water cooked out of it by slowly simmering it over low heat, and the thick, sticky substance left over is maple or birch syrup. If the syrup is jarred and refrigerated, it crystallizes into sugar. It takes 40 gallons of maple sap to produce one gallon of syrup, which accounts for the high price of the genuine stuff. But that price is well worth it when you add this flavorful sweetener to dishes such as baked beans, smoked bacon or pecan maple bar cookies.

These cookies are a fusion of pecan pie filling and a shortbread crust. Using maple syrup instead of dark corn syrup to sweeten the filling adds a different dimension to the traditional pecan pie flavor. You still get the gooey crunch of a traditional pecan pie, supported nicely by a very rich shortbread. Use your food processor to make the crust - it's much easier to "pulse" the shortening into the flour base than it is to use a pastry cutter, and the results are a lot more uniform.

Use the parchment to lift the entire cookie out of the pan before cutting.

Cut these into bite sized bars. There is enough sugar in each one to fuel a sugar high for an entire cub scout pack, so a little piece goes a long way.

Pecan Maple Bars
Crust
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. sifted confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. vegetable shortening

Filling
3 whole eggs
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 c. pure maple syrup
2 tbsp. melted unsalted butter (no substitutes)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 baking pan with a large sheet of parchment paper; there should be enough overhang to create a "handle" for lifting the baked product out of the pan in one piece.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. Place into bowl of food processor. Add vegetable shortening by tablespoons, pulsing after each addition. When all the shortening has been added, pulse an additional 10 times to fully coat the dry ingredients with shortening.

Pour the crust into the prepared pan, and use a spatula or back of a wooden spoon to spread evenly over the parchment paper. The texture of this mixture will resemble fine sand. Gently press the crust into place. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

While the crust cools, prepare the filling. Crack eggs into a large bowl. Whisk gently, then add sugars. Whisk together until sugar is dissolved and evenly distributed. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla, then fold in pecans.

Pour filling mixture onto cooled crust. Return to the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan and cutting. Makes 52.

NOTE: Walnuts can be substituted for pecans, if desired.

Royal Banana Bread

As pretty to serve as it is delicious to eat,
Royal Banana bread is fit for a king!

Royal Banana Bread

Bananas are in season during December and January, and sad to say, overripe bananas are all too common. We keep our homes warm, which hastens ripening. Luckily, banana bread is one way to make good use of the overripe fruit.

Bananas can be hard to pair with a spice; there are too many spices that overpower the banana flavor. One product that is tried, true and found to enhance bananas is dark rum. Think Bananas Foster and you have the right idea.

This recipe for banana bread uses red and green candied cherries and your choice of either candied citron or pineapple soaked in dark rum as inclusions. The alcohol bakes out of the bread, but the rum flavor remains. The use of light brown sugar also creates some caramel notes in throughout the bread.

Serve slices plain, with cream cheese or with butter. This bread also freezes very well, so if you have a lot of bananas or loaded up on candied fruit after Christmas, bake several loaves, freeze them and enjoy this delightful bread throughout the year.

Royal Banana Bread
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. banana pulp (approx. 3 very ripe bananas)
1/3 c. melted butter (no substitutes)
1/3 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 c. mixed red and green candied cherries, citron and pineapple
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. good quality dark rum

Place candied fruit in a small bowl. Pour rum over fruit and cover. Allow to soak at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 bread pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Place melted butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl, beat together until sugar is well dissolved. Add eggs, and beat on medium speed for one minute.

Add flour mixture slowly, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.

Sprinkle and toss candied fruit with 1/4 c. flour. Gently fold fruit and any remaining rum into the batter. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean and the bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pan on a baking rack, then remove and allow to cool completely for an hour before slicing.

Holiday Favorites: Anise Slices Cookies

Holiday Favorites: Anise Slices

The herb anise is a traditional flavor for Christmas cookies in both Italy and Germany. Anise tastes like black licorice, so if you love black jelly beans then these butter cookies are for you. They are flavored with both essential oil and anise seed; the seed gives them a little crunch as well as taste.

The secret to having these cookies be light and have that melt in your mouth texture is to work the dough just until it comes together. Overbeating the dough will toughen the gluten in the flour, which makes the cookies dense. A good dough will begin to form large clumps, which can be shaped into a log by hand.

Dough shaped into a log and ready to chill

Anise Slices
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. anise oil
2 tbsp. anise seed

In medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and anise seed. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add egg and anise oil, and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add dry ingredients, beating slowly to incorporate and then until dough begins to form clumps and comes together.

Separate dough into two halves. Place each half on a separate sheet of waxed paper. Roll into a log 2" in diameter. Twist ends of paper shut and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice each dough log into 1/4" slices, and place slices on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly golden. Immediately slide parchment off hot baking sheet and allow cookies to cool. Makes 3 dozen.

Fresh cranberries and wine vinegar give this
a distinctively tangy taste

Sweet and Sour Cranberries

Thanksgiving is over, and many refrigerators across the US are filled with leftover turkey, duck, venison or ham. Yes, that means there will be sandwiches and casseroles galore for the next few weeks - until the Christmas feast takes place.

Turkey sandwiches can be dry and a little lackluster, but this cranberry condiment will liven up even the tamest turkey. It also tastes terrific with ham, duck, chicken, venison or pork tenderloin. And it's versatile enough to use as a glaze for the next poultry roast.

This starts with fresh cranberries, which are readily available at this time of year in the produce aisle of most grocery stores. The final product is a very thick jel, which stays nicely put on a sandwich.

The original recipe called for pureeing and then straining the cooked cranberry mixture. The texture was to resemble that of tomato catsup. I personally like the texture of the whole berries, and choose not to go through the additional steps of pureeing and straining.

Sweet and Sour Cranberries
1 lb (2 cups) fresh cranberries
3/4 c. red wine vinegar
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
4 cinnamon sticks
2 whole nutmegs
1 tbsp. allspice berries

In a large saucepan, gently warm the wine vinegar to a simmer. Place cinnamon sticks, nutmegs and allspice into a small cheesecloth bag tied off at the top. Steep the spice bag in the warm vinegar for at least an hour.

Remove spice bag from vinegar, add brown sugar and cranberries, and return mixture to medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and cranberries begin to pop. Continue cooking until mixture begins to thicken, about 10-15 minutes.

Pour into a heat-safe container and allow to cool at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate.