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A dinner disaster - Chinese to the rescue?

Posted at 10:47 AM on March 11, 2008 by Sareen Dunleavy Keenan (5 Comments)

Ok, so disaster might be overstating it a bit. I was trying to use up what we had in the freezer in anticipation of this years crop of veggies. I know I am getting a bit a head of myself, but I am sure that there are other people that are better planners than me and the farmers market will pick up soon!

In anticipation, I decided to go with a dinner of venison chili. We get venison donations from various sources, people who enjoy the sport, but not the meat. In this case, I used two pounds of loin meat and a pound of ground as the base of my chili. All would have gone according to plan if my beans would EVER cooperate with me.

I didn't soak over night, I admit, but various sources, including the "Joy of Cooking" and "Gourmet" informed me that an hour stint soaking with boiling water poured over them would do the trick. Not in my world. So I thought, no problem, I will boil them and cook them in the chili. Again, no go. The beans are still hard.

At this point, it was 7pm and something had to be done, I had hungry people looking for a meal that was already 1 hour late. That is when, in a panic, I dialed for Chinese food. It fits into the local business category of local eating, but that is it's only redeeming quality. Well, aside from being tasty that is. I cannot complain though, by 7:20 and only a short bike ride through the snow, dinner was on the table. That is much faster than I could have turned something out and with guests, baby, and feeding my pregnant self, there is a time for thinking creatively and there is a time for solving the issue.

I am still plagued by this struggle for how to make local food fast. Monday's I have off (in exchange for working Saturday's) and I am in charge of the food. This Monday I was not only in charge of dinner, but for the lunches for the remainder of the week. I should have the time, the meal should have been done and it wasn't. The huge pot was still cooking away when I went to bed. My partner swears that several hours later, two of the three beans have finally softened and the third... well, we might have to struggle through a bit of extra texture to this weeks meal.

How local was the chili?
-venneson (local/frozen)
-tomatoes (local/frozen)
-jarred salsa (local, from cellar Keenan)
-beans (not local but shipped in bulk)
-peppers (on their way to trash for looking a little wrinkly, not local, but sustainable)
-onions (local/frozen)
-stock (local/frozen)
-jalapeños/serranos (not local)
-stale crushed tortilla chips (local company, El Burrito Mercado) Try these!!

Looks pretty good. And we didn't really shop for this meal, everything but the peppers were at home.

Comments (5)

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Hi Sareen,

Boy, Chinese sounds good right about now! I certainly can relate to the dinner that doesn't quite come together on time!

I have a question regarding your list - you mentioned that you had frozen onions - are these like whole onions? I froze a bunch of veggies last year, but I didn't think about trying it with onions so am curious to hear how you did this and what kind of results you have when you pull them out of the freezer - do you use them just for cooking? And any specific type of cooking or pretty much anything (ie grilled onions with venison steak?)?

Thanks!

Posted by Scott | March 11, 2008 10:12 PM

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All of my frozen onions are diced. I put them in baggies (that I reuse) in about 3/4 cup portions. They are not perfect because the freezing causes the water in the cells to expand and often burst the walls of the onion. So, in my experience, the onions aren't as sweet, but they do the job. I wouldn't use them as onions on top of a steak or anything where they are expected to be the main or major flavor component. As the base of the chili, it does well for me. Good luck! -sdk

Posted by Sareen | March 12, 2008 8:56 AM

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Beans will not cook in the presence of salt or acid - like tomatoes.

Get a pressure cooker - they can be done in 20 minutes and tossed into chili.

Well, next time!

Posted by Elizabeth | March 12, 2008 9:10 PM

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Yes, pressure cooking is the way to go for beans, and also adding no acidic foods until they are totally done. We do a quick soak by bringing them up to the pressure point, then turning off the heat and letting them soak for 30-60 minutes. Then, we bring the pressure back up. We cook pinto beans for 35 minutes ---- they are soft and creamy when mashed for burritos or bean tacos. No need for those salty, canned refried beans. It's SO easy to make them yourself.

Posted by Bonnie | March 12, 2008 11:56 PM

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That whole acid and beans thing makes a whole lot of sense. There have been quite a few meals that we have just scratched our heads and said...huh?

We just inherited a pressure cooker and have only used it for canning to date. I know what first non-canning job it will get - beans!

One of the "quick" foods I have on hand is some beans and cheese wrapped in a home made tortilla and put in the freezer. Instant, boring 2 minute meal when I need a snack at 2 am!

Posted by Saree n | March 15, 2008 8:56 AM