A Smorgasbord of Beans and Peas

Tricia and I were having an afternoon cup of coffee on Saturday, sitting out on the swing in the backyard.  It was pretty hot and we were discussing how the month of June is a very busy one in the garden.  July - not so much.  By the time July rolls around, the tomatoes are done, the cucumbers have all but quit producing and the yellow squash and zucchini squash are waving white flags at the heat.

In July the crops still producing include okra.  My goodness, okra is such a hardy crop.  The hotter it gets, okra doubles down and grows taller, adds more blooms and produces pods in open defiance of the sun.  Peppers are also really hopping.  Jalapeno, sweet bell, and banana peppers load up.  Last but not least are the numerous varieties of southern peas, lima beans and and pole beans.  It is at this time that those peas and beans spread like wildfire across the garden.

While they were planted in an orderly fashion in neat rows with the intention of keeping things separated, something happened along the way.  It is as if they had a mind of their own and decided that there are no barriers and they resolved to intertwine themselves into a jungle-like mass of vegetation.  That's okay, I thought.  I'll just harvest them all, even though they are mixed up, and enjoy the different colors and shapes and sizes of peas and beans.  I brought them in and shelled them.

A non-exhaustive list of peas and beans include: purple hull peas, Ozark razorback peas, blackeyed peas, dixie speckled butterbeans, baby limas, whippoorwill peas, Reverend Taylor beans, Cades Cove peas...  I think I'm forgetting a few, but who's counting.

I remember growing up, from time to time, my mom would buy a package of dried beans and peas that represented a mixture of different types.  It was called 13 Bean Soup.  We always enjoyed it.  We like to re-create that dish when we have a plethora of peas like we currently do.  We soak the beans overnight and then add tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers.  For a smoky flavor, Tricia adds cut up smoked sausage to the pot. 

This dish is a hearty one that sure can warm you up on a cold winter's day.  However, I'm not going to push this away on a hot summer's day.

The peas and beans are continuing to produce in the heat and we continue to harvest and shell them.  We have another bowl of our version of 13 bean soup ready to be worked into the rotation for supper one night this week.  We'll need to make some cornbread, too.  Nothing like crumbling some cornbread on top to take this dish to the next level.

Outdoor Cookin' - Dutch Oven Jambalaya

Last weekend we made a homemade pizza in the dutch oven and Benjamin and I decided that we would try to cook outside as often as we could.  On Sunday afternoon Tricia went to Baton Rouge and left us at home.  We figured we would break out the Dutch Oven and get busy on a Shrimp, Sausage, and Chicken Jambalaya.  

The ingredients are:

• A splash of oil in the bottom of the pot
• 1 lb. Cormier's smoked sausage that we cut up
• 1 medium onion chopped up
• 1 cup bell pepper chopped up
• 1 cup celery chopped
• Emeril's Essence Cajun Seasoning
• 1 cup rice
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 4 bay leaves
• a sprinkle of thyme
• 12 oz. medium shrimp
• 1/2 cup cooked chicken

We got 36 charcoal briquettes burning (15 for the bottom and 21 for the top) and coated the bottom of the pot with oil.  When the pot was sizzling, we threw the sausage in the pot for 2 minutes.

We then added the onion, bell pepper and celery, along with the cajun seasoning and stirred.

After about 10 minutes the vegetables were starting to get translucent.  We stirred the dish up with a big wooden spoon.  

We then added all the other ingredients like rice, broth, garlic, bay leaves and thyme.  After it simmers, cook for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add in the shrimp and cooked chicken.

With the lid off of the pot, cook for an additional 10 minutes and then it is time to eat!

A quick review of the meal: The flavor was phenomenal! I mean the seasoning was perfect.  The aroma coming out of the pot had me salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs.  It was delicious, but it could have been better.  Here's two areas where I messed up.  First, after adding the broth I cooked it for 20 minutes.  What I should've done was wait for it to simmer AND THEN start the timer for 20 minutes. Secondly, there was a strong wind blowing Sunday afternoon.  This accelerated the briquettes burning and by the last 10 minutes of the cook time, the briquettes were cooling off.  I had to light up some more charcoal in the chimney starter and place under the pot.  By this time, however, the briquettes were far too hot and the jambalaya began to stick a little bit to the bottom of the pot.  I kept stirring constantly to keep it from sticking, but in the end, I had to remove the pot from the fire to keep it from burning the meal.  Pulling it off the fire prematurely made the jambalaya a tad bit 'too liquidy.'  That's okay, though.  We ate a bunch of it.

While cooking outside, Benjamin saw something up in the tree and went and got his rifle.  One shot and he had a big fat squirrel on the ground.

He cleaned the squirrel and put it in a ziploc bag in the freezer alongside some previously killed squirrels.  I think Benjamin wants to cook a dessert like bread pudding with rum sauce next time we pull the dutch oven out, but maybe the time after that we can cook a pot of squirrel stew!