Csulkos Bableves - Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup from Saveur Magazine

Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup from Saveur Magazine

I have a talent for breaking appliances. While most people have the same vacuum, washer, garbage disposal for years, I don't. This week reminded me of my ability to have appliances wither and die when around me. I have gone through two washers and dryers in the last 10 years. This week my washer stopped working. When I break my appliances they break, break. The last time I called to have my dryer fixed the repairman tried fixing it and told me that it was beyond repair. This happens all the time to me. I use my appliances a lot. While most people use their vacuums a couple of times a week, I use mine 2-3 times a day. The same goes for my washer and dryer. They seem to always be in use. So this week my washer, dryer and vacuum all decided to break. It has been one of those weeks. Since events in my house have been busy I haven't been cooking as much as normal. I'm also playing a bit of blog post catch up. Last week I tried a new recipe for Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup from Saveur Magazine.

Downtown Huntington, WV from Harris Riverfront Park

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 3 hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 8 to 10 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. I used canola oil and an extra parsnip. My kids love parsnips, so I try to add extra in recipes that use them. I found that I had to also add extra water to the beans. They ended up a little drier than I prefer so I added an additional cup and a half of water. When I served the beans I added additional paprika to the individual servings.

Rotary Park Lookout Huntington, WV

My boys really loved this recipe. It was a nice blend of beans and soup, with lots of flavor. I was surprised that it only lasted a little over a day due to my two boys going back and eating more and more bowls. It was a nice way to use pinto beans, which are a favorite in my household.

For the recipe go to Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup (Saveur does not have the recipe online, so this is a link to a site with a very similar recipe).

Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup

Recipe Type: Soup

Summary:

A recipe for Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup. A filling dish for fall and winter.

Preparation Time: 0h, 30m

Total Time: 3h, 0m

Yield: Serves 8 to 10

Summer Vegetable Chili

Summer Vegetable Chili

My son is enamored with a pet rat. The first thing I heard as he got off the bus his first day of school was that his classroom had a new pet, a hairless rat. Apparently they are also getting two hamsters next week. He is obsessed now. At the library he wanted all books on rats and he talks about it constantly. I think it's pretty cute. We have three dogs and three cats, but we haven't had any small pets since before he was born. Before kids my husband and I had dwarf hamsters and I grew up with gerbils. I haven't allowed my boys to have any small pets yet, since they are a little small to be able to understand being gentle. Having a classroom pet is the perfect compromise. My oldest son feels an attachment and responsibility for a small animal and I don't have to do the daily care etc. I love it. With last week being the first week of school I didn't do a lot of cooking, but this weekend it's back to the kitchen. Today I tried a new recipe for Summer Vegetable Chili from the June 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Owingsville, Kentucky

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few modifications to the original recipe. First I always use canola oil instead of vegetable oil, I prefer it for heart health. I bought regular frozen corn since I have never seen fire-roasted at the stores near me. Additionally I purchased regular beans and tomatoes not low sodium since the store I went to only had one variety. I cooked the beans on high for the 20 minutes of cooking time, watching it closely to ensure that it did not burn. Using a dutch oven is a great way to make chili, it heats evenly and is big enough to make big batches. I found that I had to add more salt at the table, but that is more of a personal preference, if you like food with less salt it would be fine as written.

Country Roads Kentucky

The mushrooms in this recipe really made the dish. They allowed for the chili to have a lot of flavor. Plus my husband who isn't a big fan of vegetarian chili really liked this recipe. With the mushrooms it was definitely more male friendly. My two boys were skeptical, but after tasting it they ate their whole bowls. The recipe states that it only makes 4 servings, but after my family of 4 had a dinner sized portions there was more than enough for at least another meal.

For the recipe go to Summer Vegetable Chili.

Summer Vegetable Chili

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

An easy vegetarian chili recipe that has great flavor from the addition of portobello mushrooms. Makes enough servings for multiple meals.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 4

Crock Pot Pinto Bean Stew with Jalapeno Corn Dumplings

Crock Pot Pinto Bean Stew with Gluten Free Jalapeno Corn Dumplings

Beans weren't something my mother prepared very often when I was growing up. She made terrific pasta and meat dishes, but beans were only a sometimes food. When I decided to become a vegetarian in high-school my stomach went into shock due to the sudden increase in bean consumption. Luckily I got used to it and to this day I eat a substantial amount of beans every week. My husband was born and raised in West Virginia and pinto beans were always a stable in his house. When we got married I had to learn to cook with pinto beans since I had only eaten black, white and navy beans previously. Now days we eat pinto beans regularly and my kids love them. This week I tried a new recipe for Pinto Bean Stew with Jalapeno Corn Dumplings from the April 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 20 ingredients. It takes 9 hours in the slow cooker, 30 minutes of prep and makes 8 servings. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I allowed my beans to soak overnight. The overnight soaking method is the way that I prefer since it takes less active time than quick soaking on the stove. Since I eat gluten free I used brown rice four instead of the all purpose flour called for in the dumpling recipe. For the topping I let off the sliced radishes. My kids do not like them and my local grocery store didn't have them in stock. I let my beans cook on high for 8 hours and then another hour with the dumplings. I always allow my pinto beans to cook for at least this long. Beans in the crock-pot take a will in order to come out soft and flavorful.

The dumplings in this stew are the stars of this dish. The stew tasted like any other vegetarian chili and didn't leave a lasting impression. I thought that the pinto beans would be better cooked with a ham hock with the dumplings served on top. Pinto beans cooked in the slow cooker are delicious and the dumplings would work well with them as a topping. My two boys liked the chili (I seeded the jalapeno and used mild chili powder so it wasn't too spicy). They ate their servings and most of the leftovers.

For the recipe go to Pinto Bean Stew.

Sweet Chili Rolls with Homemade Hamburger Buns

Sweet Chili Rolls with Homemade Hamburger Buns

I am finally feeling back to normal after having strep throat. Luckily I got antibiotics this weekend and after being sick for almost two weeks, I am feeling somewhat back to normal. I don't think that winter and me get along, I never seem to get a little sick, I get very sick. Last winter it was pneumonia and this winter it was strep. I promise that my posting schedule will be back to normal this week, things have been a little crazy while I was sick. When I get sick I rely heavily on my crock-pot to cook, I love it. There is nothing easier than taking out the ingredients in the morning, putting them in the slow cooker and by dinner it smells and tastes delicious. Last week I tried a new recipe for Sweet Chili Rolls from the October 2012 issue of Family Circle magazine.

Sweet Chili Rolls with Homemade Gluten Free Hamburger Buns

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 8 hours 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 8 serving. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First instead of using store bought buns I made my own. For my family I made regular hamburger buns and for me a gluten free version. For the ketchup I used the kind that uses real sugar. I try to limit the amount of high fructose corn syrup that my family consumes and a lot of brands of ketchup are full of it. I am a big proponent of label reading. Instead of canned pinto beans I made them from scratch. It is much cheaper to buy beans dried and prepare them. I make big batches at a time and then freeze them in small containers that are equal to the amount in 15 ounce cans. Finally, since it isn't Vidalia season I used a regular sweet onion.

My two boys really loved these sandwiches. They left off the cheddar cheese for their servings and my husband used pepper jack on his. The recipe claims that it makes 8 servings, but it made more than enough for my family of 4 with a large number of leftovers. The sandwiches are a little sweet, which could be adjusted by adding a spicier chili powder.

For the recipe go to Sweet Chili Rolls. (registration required)

Healthy and Low-Fat Southwestern Vegetable and Chicken Soup

I have a horrible habit of trying to eat healthy and then falling off the wagon. Don't get me wrong the majority of the time I eat very healthy, but making big changes in my diet always seem to take a number of failures before they are successful. In college I ate a ton of restaurant food. There were always cheap places to eat and I rarely made food at home. Eventually it caught up with me when I realized that I never seemed to have any energy and I generally felt run down. I vowed to change my habits and I did until I started graduate school and then I was back to my old habits. After getting married I vowed again to start eating healthier, then I got pregnant and the smell of meat made me sick. To compensate I ate a ton of ice cream and peanut butter. After my first son was born I reformed and gave up pretty much any bad food while I breastfed. Then I became pregnant again and my bad food habits quickly came back. So over the years I have started and stopped a lot of healthy eating plans. Luckily since having my youngest and starting this blog my eating habits have leveled off. 99 percent of the time I eat healthy and the other 1 percent I remind myself that I'm human. Since my husband's dad had heart surgery last year I have been determined to make my husband healthier. He has lost 30 pounds in the last year and a lot of it has had to do with dietary changes. This week I made a new healthy recipe for Southwestern Vegetable and Chicken Soup from the February 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It takes 1 1/2 hours of total time, 1 hour of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a few changes to the recipe. First I made my own chicken stock from scratch. It really does taste better and is a great way to save money. Second, instead of diced canned tomatoes I used one fresh tomato. I am trying to use more fresh ingredients and rely less on canned goods. Plus the price of fresh tomatoes is lower than canned currently. Finally, I also used fresh spinach and I cooked my own beans.

I love that this recipe is high in vitamin C and only has 5 grams of fat and 199 calories. It has great flavor and the lime juice makes the soup delicious. I tasted the soup before adding the lime and the lime makes a tremendous difference. Make sure to salt at the end, especially if you are making your own stock or using low sodium store bought. This recipe could easily be modified to being vegetarian by omitting the chicken and using vegetable stock instead of chickens stock.

For the recipe go to Southwestern Vegetable and Chicken Soup.

West Virginia Pinto Beans Revisted

Pinto beans are a staple in my household. They are quick and easy to prepare and cost literally dollars to make. They also freeze well for later use and are popular with my two boys. While a lot of people make their pinto beans on the stove or in a pressure cooker I make mine a little differently. When my husband and I first got married I had no idea how to make any type of beans other than kidney and garbanzo. I had moved to a state where pinto beans were everywhere and I felt like a fish out of water. I tried making them a few times on the stove and they never turned out as well as my mother-in-laws. Hers were always slightly smokey from the ham she cooked them with and delicious. So I decided that I needed to figure out a way of cooking pinto beans that worked better for me. I took my mother-in-laws idea of using a ham hock and turned to the crock-pot. It turned out perfectly and I haven't looked back. A while back I posted my crock-pot pinto bean recipe, but I decided that it needed to be re-visited and updated. So here is my recipe for pinto beans one more time.

• 1 pound dried pinto beans
• 1 ham hock, meaty ham bone or ham pieces
• crock-pot
• salt to taste
• chow-chow for topping

Rinse dried pinto beans and cover with 8 cups of water in a pot. Let sit overnight for approximately 12 hours. Rinse beans and add to slow-cooker. Nestle ham hock (or whatever form of ham you are using) into the center of the beans. Cover with water. I normally use 6-8 cups of water. Cook on low for 8-12 hours or high for 6-8. Do not salt the pinto beans until they are finished cooking. If you salt the beans before they are finished they will take longer to cook and not turn out as soft. After the beans are done I top the servings with chow-chow.

The last time I printed this recipe I had a lot of questions about what chow-chow was. It's basically a sweet pickled cabbage relish. So here is a pic:



It is great on pinto beans and creates a nice sweet vinegar taste.

That's it, very easy and delicious. It is a very inexpensive meal and cornbread makes a great side since it can be used to soak up the pinto bean liquid. 

Stewed Beans

As I have talked about before we eat a lot of beans in our house. I love that beans can be used in so many different ways and that they are a great source of protein. It doesn't hurt that they are also inexpensive and make for numerous leftovers. When I first met my husband he had really only eaten pinto and black beans. Pinto beans are very popular in West Virginia and almost any home cook has a recipe. Having grown-up in Seattle I had never really made anything other than chickpeas and kidney beans in vegetarian chili. Luckily after we got married I learned that there are a vast array of beans that can be used in so many different recipes. One of my favorite ways to prepare beans is stewed, it is easy and delicious. Last week I tried a new recipe for Stewed Beans from issue Number 152 of Saveur magazine, which looked like a great vegetarian meal option.

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes 2 hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 10-12 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I did adjust some of the cooking times on the recipe. I cooked the onion mixture for a full twenty minutes to ensure that the onions fully caramelized before adding the spices. Additionally, my total cooking time was 1/2 hour longer than suggested. I tasted the beans as the recipe was written and I felt that the chickpeas needed a longer cooking time so I put them back on the stove for an additional 30 minutes. Finally, this recipe will need a lot of salt added once it is completed. The flavor is delicious, but it definitely needs salt to bring out the flavors fully. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

While this recipe takes a bit of planning and cooking time the results were worth the time spent. The beans were very flavorful and my whole family, including my two boys enjoyed them. My husband added hot sauce to his serving and it really did make the beans taste even better. I would suggest this addition if you like spicier foods as it really did bring out the taste of the beans. Overall a great vegan recipe full of protein and makes enough for multiple meals. 

For the recipe go to Stewed Beans.

Butternut Squash and Tomato Posole

My blog readers are probably getting tired of me expressing my love of butternut squash, but I am going to do it again. I love butternut squash and fall cooking in general. As I have stated before the flavors of fall are comforting and delicious when the weather gets cold. Butternut squash to me is one of the staples of fall cooking. It is extremely versatile and can be used in pastas, soups, stews, chili and baked goods. It is also a great way to hide vegetables for kids in muffins and breads. Stew is a staple in my house during the fall and winter. I am always cold once the weather gets cooler so I make a lot of hot stews and soups in order to stay warm. When I first started cooking stews for my family we all fell in love with posole. It is a satisfying and delicious dinner and I make it frequently. Last week I tried a new recipe for Butternut Squash and Tomato Posole from Eating Well magazine, which looked like a great new vegetarian posole recipe.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes a total of 45 minutes, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 5 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I normally buy whole butternut squash, but my store was out so I bought already cut butternut squash. The recipe suggests breaking up the tomatoes by hand, I find this messy. The method I always use is to place the tomatoes in a Ziploc bag, squeeze out the air and then crush the tomatoes by hand in the bag. Much less messy and an easy clean-up. I let my posole cook slightly longer than the recipe suggested. At 30 minutes the squash was more firm than I like. Make sure to fully rinse your canned beans. If the beans are under rinsed they will have a metallic taste, which is unappetizing. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With 10 grams of fat and 9 grams of protein this is a satisfying meal without being high in fat. The fresh avocado and cilantro on top gives the posole a nice well-rounded flavor. I will say that this recipe isn't overly spicy so if you like spicier posole I would suggest adding a small amount of cayenne. This recipe in addition to being healthy is also inexpensive, costing less than two dollars a serving.

For the recipe go to Butternut Squash and Tomato Posole.

Appalachian Cider Baked Beans

I'm back! I have been without a computer for over a week, thanks to a number of unfortunate events. In a single week our car needed fixed, my dryer broke (and couldn't be repaired), my glasses broke and my netbook completely broke. Needless to say it was an expensive week. Instead of buying a new netbook I decided to treat myself to a nicer computer and bought a MacBook Pro. So far I love it, so hopefully my streak of bad computers has come to an end. I hope everyone has been enjoying delicious food, I have and have a number of great recipes to share in the next week. A few weeks back I tried a new recipe for Appalachian Cider Baked Beans from the October issue of Southern Living Magazine, which looked delicious and great for a West Virginia food blogger.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes a total of 5 and a half hours of cooking and prep and makes 6 cups of beans. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Pinto beans are a stable in the West Virginian diet and you can literally find them even at convenience stores. Instead of salt pork I used sliced pork jowl. I special order my sorghum syrup, but I also have bought it at craft fairs all over my area. I had to add additional water as the beans cooked in order for the beans to not burn. I would estimate that I added an additional two cups over the course of the 5 hour cooking time. Make sure to use a Dutch oven with this recipe. It really does make a large difference in the way that the beans cook (I promise :). I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These beans were delicious. My husband thought these were the best baked beans that he has ever had and my two boys absolutely loved them. The only thing that I would modify is the use of whole onions. I understand the idea of keeping them whole for flavor, but the end texture wasn't something my husband and I liked. Instead I would slice the onions, which would keep the flavor and improve the texture. Definitely a recipe to add to my recipe book!

For the recipe go to Appalachian Cider Baked Beans.

Favorite Crockpot Recipes

If you've read my blog for any given amount of time you know that I absolutely love my slow-cooker. While most people use their crock-pot in the fall and winter I use mine year round. It's great to pull-out in the summer when the temps reach over 100 degrees like they have around here this week. Since I make crock-pot meals so frequently I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly recipe wise. Some recipes look deceptively delicious in the magazine and fail to live up to expectations once they are prepared. Here is my list of my favorite crock-pot recipes from my previous posts:

Country-Style Barbecue Ribs

Curried Chicken Stew

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili

Moroccan Ribs

Mustard Greens

Pinto Beans

There are so many crock-pot recipes that I love that this is only a small fraction of them. The last two recipes are my own. I make a lot of pinto beans and mustard greens, they are both delicious! Check back tomorrow for my favorite dessert recipes!

Pinto and Rice Burgers

When I turned 14 I decided I was a vegetarian. Having grown up in Seattle I was surrounded by vegetarians and vegans and I thought it was natural for me to become a vegetarian myself. My dad was a huge meat eater, but my mom was great about buying me ingredients to make my own meals. It was during these years that I learned to read and create cookbook recipes and modify ingredients to make dishes vegetarian. I stayed a vegetarian until I was in my mid-twenties. When I moved to West Virginia to attend graduate school I added meat back into my diet. Then I met my husband, who is obsessed with pork. My two boys have followed suit and definitely enjoy meat in their diets. While I do love meat, I also try to have at least 1-2 dinners a week that are vegetarian or vegan and our lunches 99 percent of the time contain no meat. With one of the highest levels of childhood obesity in my state I am determined to keep my kids from following this statistic. Veggie burgers are a household favorite so I was excited when the June issue of Everyday Food had a recipe for Pinto and Rice Burgers, which looked very easy and delicious.

This recipe has 10 ingredients, plus toppings. It takes 15 minutes of prep and cook time and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. For the toppings I used cucumbers, avocado, mayo and mustard. I found that the burgers took much longer than the 3 minutes per side suggested by the recipe. I prefer that my veggies burgers have a nice brown crunchy exterior so I let my burgers cook approximately five minutes per side. The bunches of scallion available in my area are huge so instead of an entire bunch I used five large scallions in total. Finally I ended up with 6 burgers in total, my family prefers larger burgers so I made mine slightly larger than the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Everyone in my family loved this recipe! The burger was not dry as many other veggie burger recipes can be and the avocado topping was absolutely perfect. The cilantro added great flavor, without the burger tasting too much like cilantro. The beans, cilantro, scallions and beans blended together perfectly and the burgers browned very nicely in the olive oil. I was very impressed by this recipe and will definitely make it again in the future.

This recipe is currently not available online, but can be found in the June issue of Everyday Food Magazine. Here is a link to another Rice and Pinto Bean Burger recipe.

Pinto Beans

We eat a lot of pinto beans in our house. In West Virginia there are a few foods that everyone seems to make including pinto beans, pepperoni rolls, and ramps. My five-year-old already has preferences as to the the proper chow chow to put on his pinto beans. There are various ways to prepare a great bowl of pinto beans. My mother-in-law makes great beans with her pressure cooker. I really only use my pressure cooker for canning and haven't branched out to anything more. My favorite way to make pinto beans is in my slow-cooker. The beans come out tasting great and take very little effort to make. Here's my recipe:

• 1 smoked ham hock
• 1 lb of dried of pinto beans
• water to cover
• chow chow or sweet onion for garnish

Rinse and then cover dried pinto beans with water and soak overnight. Dump water and then add beans to slow-cooker. Place ham hock in the center of the beans and cover with water (at least six cups, normally I add a little more). Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Salt to taste (it may take a large amount of salt to adequately season the beans). Don't add salt to the beans while they are cooking or the beans will not fully cook. After serving the beans top with chow chow and enjoy!

Pinto beans are very easy to make and are great with a big slice of cornbread slathered in butter. Even my two boys love these beans and will eat bowls full. Using the slow-cooker makes for an easy dinner that takes only minutes to prep.

Parents Magazine Chili Con Carne

As I've stated numerous times before my family loves meat. If given the choice my husband would eat only bacon and pork with every meal. Since this wouldn't be the healthiest option I try to incorporate as many beans and other non-meat proteins as I can. I still serve meat I just make it an ingredient as opposed to the center of a meal. Recently, the November issue of Parents Magazine had a recipe for Chili Con Carne with 25 grams of protein and only 9 grams of fat, which looked like perfect combination of beans and meat for my family.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes approximately 20 minutes and makes 4 to 6 servings. All the ingredients I either already had in my pantry or were easy to find at my local grocery store. I ground my own beef since I believe it tastes better and I can control the amount of fat. Make sure to adequately rinse the canned beans or the taste will effect the taste of the chili. I chose to leave off the optional corn chips or brown rice and chopped cilantro. I followed the remainder of the recipe as stated.

With 25 grams of protein this is a very filling dish. Both of my boys ate their whole servings and it made more than enough for a meal for my family of four plus leftovers. I liked that the chili had both beans and meat for protein and was full of flavor. Overall, a very family friendly recipe.

For the recipe go to Chili Con Carne.