Ready beans: cooking advice

Press, 25 May 1985, Page 14

Ready beans: cooking advice

FOOD ALERT

JANICE BREMER DIETITIAN

“Instant” beans of the dried pulses variety are only possible if you bring your garden into the kitchen, and have beans freshly sprouting. Bulk cooking of pulses, and storage in the refrigerator or deep freeze, is the other alternative to opening a can for a ready supply of beans. The latest in culinary technology has not improved on the old, pressure cooker method of cooking beans. By request, the method of how to cook beans is repeated here from a previous article. Cooking dry beans To ensure the digestibility of the proteins, and the destruction of naturally-oc-curing substances that may reduce their nutritional value, home-prepared dried beans must be adequately cooked. This is the procedure: • Pick out any discoloured beans, wash, and remove any that float when put into water. • Soaking add three times as much water as there are beans (one cup beans for three cups water). Slow method - soak overnight in a cool place (the cool temperature inhibits partial fermentation that may otherwise occur and cause flatulence). Quick method — bring to the boil, uncovered, and cook two minutes; remove from the heat; cover with a tight lid and leave to stand for two hours. • Boiling — some suggest repeated changing of the soaking water (up to three times) to reduce the chances of having flatulence. But most nutritionists will recommend cooking in the soaking water, except for soybeans. This will retain any valuable nutrients that may have leached into the water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the beans are cooked. Add more water if required during the cooking process (usually one cup more required). A dessertspoon of oil in the cooking water prevents foaming. • Check for doneness: the cooking times in the table are only a guide for the length of cooking time. The beans are cooked when they are easily squashed between the fingers, and the starchy part is translucent with no very white, floury spots which are uncooked starch. . • Caution: do not add salt because it legnthens the cooking time. When using recipes, add the acidy foods like tomatoes and vinegar at the end of cooking. Cooking too fast can split the skins.

• Pressure cooking — wash and soak the beans as for boiling and add 3 to 4 cups water for 1 cup beans (more for longer cooking times);

consult the table for cooking time at maximum pressure (less than one third of the boiling time). Liquid and beans should not fill the pressure cooker more than one-third. • Even quicker cooking:— Beans can be pressurecooked without soaking but add an extra cup of water and increase the cooking time 5 to 10 minutes. Yield:—One cup dried legumes yields 2-2% cups of cooked. Mixed beans: When cooking varieties of beans mixed together choose only those of the same size or cooking times (consult table) otherwise some will be over-cooked. Used cooked beans for casserole recipes or ensure that the casserole is cooked for as long as the times in the table at a moderate temperature (must be boiling). Slow cookers may not ensure this. Beans can replace, or partly replace meat in your favourite casserole dishes. Cook enough for several meals:—cooked beans keep well in the refrigerator or freezer. For convenience: Use canned beans (heating-only required, but they cost more). When cooked with many flavouring ingredients, long and slow cooking is best so that the beans absorb the flavours. Sprouting beans Beansprouts are as nutritious or more so for some nutrients, than the bean itself. When ' they sprout, beans significantly increase their vitamin C content. They become a low-calorie vegetable by volume, and some of the B vitamins are doubled when the bean has sprouted (in proportion to their protein content). A cup of mung beansprouts has 2.66 grams of protein, 13.3 milligrams vitamin C and only 22 calories (92 kilojoules), whereas a cup of cooked mung beans has 12.8 grams of protein,

only a trace of vitamin C and 212 calories (890 kilojoules).

Procedure

(1) Wash the beans, remove any that are split or broken.

(2) Put two tablespoons into a screwtop jar with sufficient water to allow expansion. (3) Cover the top of the jar with nylon sprouting mesh, or muslin and screw on the lid. Leave to soak 8 to 12 hours.

(4) Drain the beans, cover again, and leave to sprout in a warm, dark place. Turn the jar on its side and shake the beans around so they line the sides of the jar. (5) Every morning and night rinse the sprouts in warm water. Drain well each time. When the sprouts are ready, rinse and drain thoroughly. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

(6) Most beans are ready when they are 2 to 4 cm long; lentils when they are 1 to 2 cm long; and in 3 to 5 days. Cereals, and sesame and sunflower seeds sprout only about 0.6 cm. Some of the easiest beans to sprout are lentils, mung, garbanzo, and aduki beans. Other suitable sprouters are mustard, watercress, alfalfa or sunflower seeds, fenugreek, buckwheat, whole wheat or rye. FOOD ALERT

• A pressure cooker is a very worthwhile buy for bean cooking.

• A “beansprouter” is not essential for home sprouting.

TABLE OF COOKING TIMES FOR DRIED LEGUMES - prior soaking is required (see above) but * types do not require soaking. TYPE OF BEANS OR LEGUME METHOD Boiling Pressure Cooker hours minutes Split lentils* 30 10 Mung* 45-60 10 Black-eyed (cowpeas), small lima 1 10 Continental lentils*, lima, red kidney*, split peas, fava 1-1 % 15 Barlotti (speckled), cannellini (white kidney), haricot (navy), saluggia, sanilac l¥z 15 Adzuki (small red), pink 1%-2 15 Black (Mexican), Dutch Brown, butter, pimento 2 20 Pinto 2-2% 20 Broad (dried), chick peas (garbanzo) —1% hours if skinned after soaking 2% 20 Egyptian brown (ful or faba), maro peas 2%-3 30 Soy — check liquid during cooking and change soaking water 2%-4 30