The Great American Slow Cooker Book (108 page)

1
Pour the beans into a large saucepan, cover with water to a depth of several inches, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain the beans in a colander set in the sink and rinse with cool water until room temperature.

2
Stir the beans with the broth, sausage, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, thyme, sage, salt, celery seeds, and cayenne in the slow cooker until the spices are evenly distributed throughout. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

3
Stir in the rice. Cover and continue cooking on low for 4 more hours, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
A meal on its own, this Louisiana favorite would be even better with some bottled hot sauce on the side.

•
The consistency here shouldn’t be stewlike, nor should it be like fluffy, white rice. Rather, the rice should be moist but firm to the bite. If you find there’s too much liquid in the cooker, let it go another 30 minutes on low—or if there’s only a little, set it aside, unplugged but covered, for 15 or 20 minutes before serving.

•
For a more authentic kick, substitute Cajun andouille for the turkey sausage or kielbasa.

SHORTCUTS
Omit the thyme, sage, celery seeds, and cayenne; substitute ½ tablespoon Creole seasoning for a small slow cooker, 2 teaspoons for a medium cooker, or 1 tablespoon for a large one. If the seasoning blend includes salt, omit the salt as well.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Red kidney beans have a high quantity of phytohemagglutinin, a sugar-binding protein that can yield toxic side effects in humans, particularly dire digestive distress. boiling the beans will take care of the problem, unless you live at high altitudes where the boiling point of water is below 212°F. In that case, soak the dried beans in water for at least 5 hours, then boil them as directed and continue with the recipe.

Serve It Up!
Boil some shell-on, deveined shrimp until pink and firm, drain well, and serve warm right on top.

1
Mix the water, beans, salt, and red pepper flakes in the slow cooker.

2
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, or until the beans are brilliant tender, almost mushy.

3
Melt the bacon fat or lard in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring often, until softened and aromatic, 3 to 4 minutes.

4
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beans from the cooker to the pot, about 2 cups at a time. Stir, mashing the beans against the walls of the pot with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to form a paste, adding a little cooking liquid if the paste becomes dry.

5
Continue ladling beans into the pot with a slotted spoon, mashing them as before and also stirring in judicious amounts of cooking water to create a soft, fairly smooth paste, about like mashed potatoes, stirring all the while to prevent scorching.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Refried beans are not fried twice! Rather, the original name (
frijoles refritos
) means something like “beans fried very well.” In lard or bacon fat, they are! Bacon fat will give the beans a smoky flavor; lard will allow them to have a cleaner and more velvety finish.

•
Pinto beans are the usual culprits for refried beans, but we find that pink beans mush up better after being cooked in the slow cooker. If you can’t find pink beans, substitute pinto beans for a somewhat grainier finish.

•
We don’t first soak the beans. Soaking them to improve their texture would actually be wasted energy since we’re just going to mush them up.

•
After turning the beans into a thick puree, you can scrape them back into the slow cooker and set it on
keep warm
for another 3 hours.

•
If you want to make refried beans for a mob, triple the stated amounts for the medium cooker but cook this behemoth batch in a large cooker.

1
Mix the tomatoes with chiles, beans, bell peppers, carrots, onion, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and salt in the slow cooker.

2
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the flavors have blended.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This bean chili is ridiculously easy, thanks to the canned beans and the flavorings already in those canned tomatoes. Since it keeps well on warm for so long, it’s perfect to have ready for when you get home from work.

•
If you’re concerned that this chili is too hot, use canned tomatoes without any chiles. You can always spike servings with hot sauce at the table.

•
Standard chili powder is used almost like a thickener in some Southwestern dishes, so we don’t advocate buying it in small jars. Purchase the larger, more economical containers, because you’ll go through it faster than, say, the more esoteric ancho chile powder.

•
Shred the carrots through the large holes of a box grater. You can also use pre-chopped carrot matchsticks, available in the produce section or even on the salad bar. Dice these into small bits for even cooking.

1
Stir the beans, broth, quinoa, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, celery, jalapeño, chili powder, molasses, cumin, coriander, oregano, and salt in the slow cooker.

2
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the flavors have melded and the quinoa is tender.

3
Stir in the cilantro before serving.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Quinoa adds a musky heft to this veggie-heavy chili. Although any quinoa will work, black quinoa would be the best choice, partly because of the aesthetics of black quinoa and black beans, and partly because black quinoa has a slightly more bitter bite that works better against the sweet beans.

•
Some quinoa needs to be rinsed before using to get rid of a bitter chemical left on the grains. Read the package carefully for instructions.

•
For an even larger batch, double the quantities for the medium slow cooker but cook them in a large model.

1
Stir the tomatoes, beans, broth, pasta, bell pepper, onion, cheese, oregano, rosemary, and garlic powder in the slow cooker. Make sure the pasta is submerged in the liquid.

2
Cover and cook on low for 1 hour 15 minutes. Stir well, then continue cooking on low for an additional 1 hour 15 minutes, until the pasta is tender.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This recipe is a slow cooker, main-course adaptation of
pasta e fagioli
, or pasta and beans, a popular comfort food among Italian immigrants in North America, but here with more vegetables. For the more traditional soup, see
this page
.