Scraping the Skillet

I don’t know about you, but around here we’re starting to sweat the grocery bills just a little. Actually, as far back as I can remember I’ve been trying to get a handle on our grocery bill. I think my shock started when D and I moved in together. Suddenly the bill went from my single-girl amount to the single-girl-plus-a-boy-who-eats-a-lot amount. In my mind it doesn’t matter that we have two incomes. It still feels painful to spend so much on food.

This is not because I don’t value food or have an understanding of all the costs associated with producing it. I do. In fact, we’re pretty picky about which foods we do buy – a large part of why our bill is higher than other people that we know. Most of my problem is my own squeamishness about spending money. I feel the same kind of pain when I need new running shoes…

We all know, though, that our grocery bills have gone up in recent months. Literally everything we buy has gone up in price. There are a number of reasons: crop shortages, higher gas prices, increased cost of fertilizer, pushes for ethanol production, and, of course, speculation. I suspect that most folks don’t consider that there are people out there – human beings – who actually buy commodities at a low price and hold on to their stock until they can sell it at a much higher price – thus garnering a profit. It seems so selfish and cruel, right? But, you’ve heard of the Chicago Board of Trade, right? Click on through and check out the right side of the page – the daily closing prices for food and food products. Though I’m sure you’ve heard it a hundred times: All the more reason to shop your local Farmer’s Market or join a CSA.

Enough doom and gloom though. You’ve come here for good food, so let’s get on with the good food business…

For me, when I think of cutting my grocery budget, one of the very first foods that comes to mind is beans. They are amazingly good for you, filling, go in a variety of dishes and are CHEAP. Well, they are cheapest if you buy dried beans. Plus you get to skip the part where they sit in cans lined with BPA, which is nice.

For a long time I’ve been in the same boat as Ali over at Cleaner Plate Club: I love the idea of dried beans, but didn’t prepare them all that often because they are such a hassle. I can never seem to soak them or cook them long enough to make them taste delicious.

Enter the pressure cooker.

I first got my pressure cooker for canning purposes. I tried cooking a few things, but nothing really worked out, so I went back to my normal cooking routines and keep using my cooker for canning. Then, almost randomly, I decided to look in my little pressure cooker recipe book to see if there were tips for cooking dried beans. HOLY WHOA! The booklet told me that all I needed to do was soak the beans for 4 hours and then cook them for 7-10 minutes. Could this be true? I had to find out.

It’s true. It really is. I soaked the beans for 4 hours and then cooked them for 10 minutes (just to be safe). Of course, that’s 10 minutes of cooking time at pressure. There’s additional time to build pressure in the cooker and then release the pressure, but 45 minutes to cook dried beans is practically a miracle considering how long it has taken me in the past. (AND, depending on the size of your cooker, it could take significantly less time).

With my beans cooked and ready to go I decided to make a spread to go on slices of the bread I made yesterday. As everyone knows, Spreads + Breads = YUM.

In addition to my cooked beans I had some leftover Kabocha Squash hanging out in the fridge. The beans provide a rich, velvety backdrop to the sweet squash. At first, I actually wasn’t sure what kind of squash I had, but I identified it using this useful site. If you don’t have Kabocha, just use a similar squash.

Kabocha Squash & Cannellini Bean Spread

The White:

• 8 oz Cannellini beans
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t thyme, chopped
• 1/8 t rosemary, chopped
• 1/8 t white pepper
• 1 T fresh lemon juice

The Orange:

• 8 oz Kabocha (or similar) squash, cooked & mashed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 T olive oil

The Drizzle:

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 1 T rosemary
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Start by adding all of the “White” ingredients to your food processor. Blend to create a thick paste, like hummus. Transfer your bean spread to a separate bowl, clean the processor and add the ingredients for the “Orange.” Again, blend to create a thick paste (this will be slightly thinner than the bean spread).

To prepare the drizzle, heat the olive oil, garlic and rosemary in a small sauce pan until the garlic turns a golden brown color. Remove the garlic and rosemary and set the olive oil aside.

I served the spread in small bowls. To swirl the Bean and Squash spreads as shown in the picture, tilt your serving dish at a 45 degree angle and fill 1/2 way with bean spread. Keeping the dish at an angle, add the squash spread on top. Swirl with a knife

Drizzle the infused olive oil you made over the top and finish with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Take a deep breath, forget about the grocery bill and enjoy a tasty and healthy treat!

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UPDATE: I’m submitting this to the monthly Culinarty Orignial Recipies Round-up.  Click the button below to see what other folks are whipping up!