Cooking Exceptionally With Gin Lee

Old Dried Beans? Use Baking Soda to Help Soften Them You’ve soaked dried beans, simmered them for hours, and they’re still firm. Before tossing the pot, check the beans: old dried beans may still be usable, and baking soda can help soften them. But the result depends on how the beans were stored, what kind you’re cooking, and how hard your water is. A small amount of baking soda may speed softening, but it can also affect flavor and texture. Use it with care, inspect the beans first, and cook them thoroughly. Age alone doesn’t mean a bag belongs in the trash. Why Old Dried Beans Can Stay Hard Age can affect how beans cook Dried beans can become harder to cook as they sit in storage. Researchers call this the “hard-to-cook” phenomenon: under some conditions, beans take much longer to soften, even after soaking. It can happen with older beans, but age alone doesn’t guarantee a problem. Heat and humidity can speed quality loss. A bag stored for years in a warm, damp cupboard may cook less...

Country-style great northern beans and ham soup This bean and ham soup is very satisfying when served on a cold day. It's quite delicious and will make eight to ten servings of soup. Leftovers can be placed into an airtight container and stored conveniently inside your freezer. Ingredients:  1-16-ounce package of great northern dried beans About 2-3 cups of ham, depending on what you prefer (I used end pieces from ham leftovers.) 1-½ teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt 1 teaspoon of onion flakes 2 cubes of chicken bouillon 6 quarts of cold water 1 can of cream of celery soup, or cream of mushroom soup Instructions: First, wash and rinse the great northern beans. (Pick out any debris.) Chop the ham if you prefer smaller bite-sized pieces of meat in your soup. (I left mine in bigger chunks. I also leave the fat on the meat to add extra flavor. You can trim it off if you prefer.) Add the cold water, onion flakes, freshly ground black pepper, seasoning...