Cooking During Stolen Moments» Tips & Other Stuff

Tips For Cooking Dried Beans

Kate — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:56:05 +0000

I asked and you responded! I received some comments and quite a few emails with tips for cooking dried beans that turn out with a smoother consistency like canned beans. If you’ve been in need of some tips too, the following ideas should be a great start! I’m looking forward to trying out several of these ideas as well.

Annie said…

Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s what I do. I usually don’t soak my beans overnight. I’ve never really found that it makes a noticeable difference, but other readers might disagree. For all beans, I add 1 Tablespoon of salt per pound of beans (most times, that equates to a teaspoon per cup of dry beans) and plenty of water. Unless I’m making a vegetarian/vegan dish, I usually add about 2 teaspoons of bacon fat. Otherwise I add that much vegetable oil. I place the beans on top of the stove, turn the heat on high and bring all of it to a rolling boil. At that point, depending on what I have going on that day, I either turn the beans off, cover them and let them sit/soak for about an hour or so, or I just cover them and turn them down to a simmer. If I soak them, after about an hour, I turn them back on to simmer. I let the beans simmer for several hours, stirring every 10-15 minutes and checking to see if they need more liquid, until they are tender. The cooking time will vary, depending on the type of bean and how old they are. Some will cook in just over an hour, while others may take 3 or more hours. (Really, really old beans may never get tender.)

Once they are tender you can add more liquid if needed to make soup, or if you want less liquid, you can either uncover them and simmer then a little longer until the liquid evaporates a bit, or you can drain off some of the liquid. They can be used immediately in the same way you’d use canned beans, or they can be packaged and frozen. I prefer to freeze them with some of their liquid rather than draining them first.

Carla said…

Pressure cooking. We have cooked w/dried beans for eons. Black-eyed peas, pintos, white, whatever. Yes, soak overnight (cover w/water, bring to boil, then turn off & cover, let soak at least 2 hrs., pour off water). Fresh water is added when you are ready to cook, add the salt now. For a firmer texture bean, pressure cook at 10lbs for 5 mins; for a softer, squishier bean, about 8 mins.

Kristi said…

I always follow the Crockpot Lady’s advice for dry beans. I put them in the crockpot overnight soak (after rinsing) … get up, dump water. Cover beans with new, non-beany water (about 2-3 inches) and cook on low for about 8 hours. It takes a long time, but it’s hands-off and simple. The results are great.

Amanda said…

I fill a big pot of water and start it boiling. While that is working, I wash and sort the beans. Place a liner in the crockpot, add the beans, then the pot of boiling water. At this point I add a chunk of ham or a bit of oil. Cook on high for at least 8 hours then check to see if more time is needed.

Jennifer said…

I feel the same way about my dry beans, the texture was just never as smooth as I wanted it. So America’s Test Kitchen was making something with beans and had the same issue. They added salt to the soaking water to brine the beans. I tried it and they turn out fantastic!! The most important step of the brining is make sure you RINSE, RINSE RINSE. Rinse the beans throughly before you add the cooking water or you will have very grainy beans. The cooking method is whatever works best for you after that, I’ve done both stove top and crockpot with brining and there is no difference. I hope it helps!

Gayathri said…

I usually soak the beans (any kind) in regular tap water overnight. The next day, I pop it in the pressure cooker and cook under pressure for 6-10 mins depending on the kind of beans. For black beans, it usually takes 10 mins to get soft and mashable consistency. Hope it helps.

Becky said…

I make my own “canned” beans. I use the crockpot method with the overnight soak in the liner, drain and refill in the morning. Cook on low most of the day (exact times vary by crockpot and amount of beans). I season with a few spoonfuls of the frontier brand chicken flavored broth powder which is actually vegan but tastes really good. I then measure out roughly 1.5-2 cup portions of the beans- mostly drained but with just enough liquid to cover and put in cleaned glass peanut butter jars or clean canning jars and pop them in my freezer. You wind up with the time to cook to the consistency you want, control the salt, and skip the BPA can liners while still have the ease of canned beans. Although, I do sometimes slightly undercook the beans if I know I intend to use them in something that will cook them slightly more and don’t want to wind up with them too mushy.

Lora said…

I cook often with dried beans and have been branching out lately from our usual pinto bean to include more northern beans, lentils and red beans. They have all turned out wonderfully! My usual method for the larger beans is to put them in the crockpot the night before (after a thorough rinsing) on low and simply let them cook all night and day~I usually need to add some water in the morning. I add in a little bacon fat and I don’t add the salt until the last hour of cooking b/c I have read many times that it makes the beans tough if the salt is cooked in too long. If it’s a smaller bean that requires less cooking, I usually use the *quick soak* method outlined on the package~works great! As for storing, I have always stored my beans in their bags in the freezer. I’ve never had a problem with them seeming *old* even when I have used some that had been in there for a while.

Julie said…

I make up big batches of beans using the jars/canner. I soak my beans overnight and then fill Ball pint or quart jars about 3/4 full with the beans. You can add in spices if you like. I add in some water to slightly cover the beans, but not up to the top. You need to leave enough room for the beans to expand. I pressure can a whole batch at a time. It saves me time to have them ready as a “go to” off the pantry shelf and I have controlled the amount of salt that I have in them. I make up batches of pinto and black beans this way. I also can up some beans ready for chili. You can use small red or kidney beans and I add in spices and tomato juice. These I use for making chili. There are some good recipes in “Country Beans” cookbook.

Bree said…

I also mostly cook black beans/pinto beans and garbanzo beans. I have heard that salting can at the beginning can make the beans tougher and add to the cooking time. I have tried several ways and have found the best way for me is to just rinse and sort the beans put in a crock pot on LOW and never let them get to a boil. It make the skins of the beans break and they don’t look as appetizing. It takes most of the day and when they are done I turn off the heat and put a little salt in the crockpot with the beans still in the water. Let them sit and absorb the salt for about 15-20 min and taste and then add more if needed. It seems to really absorb seasoning best when I do it this way at the end. Then I freeze the beans in batches in quart size freezer baggies.

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

Holiday Baking Preparation

Kate — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Tomorrow marks one of my favorite days of the holiday season – the start of Christmas baking season. I’m getting a head start this year because our holiday celebrations are happening in two waves. We’ll be visiting my family in Chicago for Thanksgiving (and the exchange of Christmas presents) and then we’ll celebrate Christmas with my husband’s family here in Michigan.

My grandma requests a package of homemade cookies as her gift each year. She freezes the cookies and then enjoys one or two a day until they are gone. It’s always one of my favorite gifts to give because I know how much she enjoys them. To me, it’s an honor to pour lots of love into my baking and then share with my family. I bet everyone that bakes for the holidays feels the same way too. Am I right?

But I’ll admit that as much as it’s an honor for me, I sometimes get a little stressed out by the process. Granted, that stress is entirely my fault since I choose to make so many cookies and so many different kinds. I guess that’s just part of the enjoyment for me though. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas baking without at least a little stress.

Instead of worrying about reducing the stress completely, I focus on minimizing the stress I don’t enjoy. For me, that means making sure I always have all the needed ingredients on hand and that I don’t spend a fortune stocking up on them. Fortunately, this is definitely the time of year I can bake to my heart’s content without breaking the bank.

The best way I’ve found to stay organized and on budget with my baking ingredients is a little labor-intensive, but it works year after year.

A few weeks before I start the actual baking, I write out a list of all the cookies and other goodies that I want to make. Then I go through all the recipes and write out an ingredient list that reflects how much of each ingredient I’ll need to make all of those things. That means I can start watching the ads and coupons and stock up on everything when I find it at the lowest price. I save money this way and guarantee that I don’t run out ingredients before I run out of recipes. It works every time!

How are your holiday baking plans shaping up? What is your best tip for making it as smooth a process as possible?

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

Pot Scrubbing 101

Kate — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:22:56 +0000

I absolutely love spending time in the kitchen. It’s definitely my most favorite thing right after spending time with my family. But my enjoyment focuses around cooking and baking and not the inevitable clean up that comes afterwards. In fact, I can’t get out of the kitchen fast enough when there is a sink full of dirty dishes staring me in the face. I honestly fantasize about having someone whose sole purpose in life is to clean all of my dirty pots and pans.

So when I come across any tip that makes that drudgery even a little bit easier, I’m all over it! This is one of those tips that seemed like a no-brainer after I first heard. Yet, obviously it wasn’t since it was new information to me. (Either that or I’m just not too smart…take your pick.)

Anyhow, I’ll spare you from my pithiness and just get on to the tip sharing.

When washing a starchy pot or pan after boiling potatoes, pasta or rice, wipe out first with cold water. Then wash as normal. Hot water breaks down the starch even more and makes it sticky and hard to wash off. This tip also works when washing a dish that was used to make eggs or something very cheesy.

Other than soaking hard to clean dishes in hot, soapy water, this has to be my favorite dishwashing tip. Do you have any others you’d like to share with us?

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

How To Make Fluffy, Flaky Biscuits

Kate — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:37:33 +0000

I’ve been very happy with my go-to biscuit recipe over the past few years. The only drawback is that they don’t rise very high or get very fluffy. But what they’ve lacked in texture and appearance they’ve more than made up for in taste. So I’ve always figured they were good enough.

But then a few weeks ago I was watching Food Network and I gleaned a few tips for making those mile-high, flaky, fluffy and light biscuits. I couldn’t wait to try out what I’d learned by tweaking my usual recipe. Since the show involved a diner that was making a HUGE batch of biscuits and there was no actual recipe given, I had to go through a little trial and error before hitting on just the right combination. But I think I finally got it just right.

Here’s my usual recipe with the new and improved tweaks incorporated. All of the new additions are bolded.

Fluffy & Flaky Biscuits

2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, frozen
1/2 – 1 c. milk

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

2. Quickly grate the frozen butter on a cheese grater.

3. Cut the frozen butter into the flour mixture. You can use two knives to cut in the flour, but I always find my hands are the best tools for this job. It gets done quickly and effectively with little effort.

4. Pour in the milk, starting with just a half cup and adding more as needed until the dough comes together. You want the dough to be soft, but not too soft to handle.

5. Pour the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for just a minute.

6. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Fold it on top of itself to make 3 or 4 layers. Roll out again and fold into thirds or fourths. Repeat at least one or two more times.

7. For the final rolling of the dough, leave it about an inch thick. Cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter or glass.

8. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top. Fold remaining dough back together and roll out again. Repeat process until done.

You should get about 8 – 10 biscuits out of this recipe, depending on how big you make them. They rise nice and high and be full of fluffy, flaky layers. It just doesn’t get any better!

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

Reader Questions Answered: Freezing Cookie Dough

Kate — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:52:22 +0000

When I wrote about one of my baking days several weeks ago, I had quite a few people ask about freezing cookies and cookie dough. I meant to answer that question much sooner, but it slipped my mind for some reason. (I’ll blame it on pregnancy brain for now, at least while I still can!)

I successfully freeze both cookie dough and baked cookies. However, my preference would definitely be for freezing the cookie dough. This has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with personality. Frozen cookies can be thawed in about 10 seconds. In fact, they can even be eaten frozen. So needless to say, they don’t last very long in our house.

Here are the two methods I use for freezing cookie dough.

The log (aka slice-and-bake) method. I form the cookie dough into a log, wrap in waxed paper (if available) and then place in a plastic freezer bag. To bake the cookies, I slice the desired size off the frozen log, if the dough is workable when frozen. If it is too hard to cut through the frozen dough, I let it thaw for about an hour in refrigerator first. Then I slice and bake.
The ball method. I roll the cookies into a ball by hand or with a cookie scoop. Then I place on a foil-lined baking sheet or large plate and flash freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. I then transfer the frozen balls of dough to a plastic freezer bag. To bake the cookies, I remove as many as needed, place on a cookie sheet and bake from frozen. I find that frozen cookie dough usually only needs an extra minute or two of bake time.

To freeze baked cookies, I start with completely cooled cookies. Then I follow the same flash freeze method as above and freeze in a plastic freezer bag or container. I thaw the cookies on the counter in about 15-30 minutes (certain cookies will thaw faster than others) or in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Cookies that are supposed to be very soft and chewy, like sugar or molasses cookies, will have the best texture if they are wrapped in cheese cloth or paper towel before thawing.

One last tip – hide that frozen dough or those frozen cookies, especially if you are saving them for a certain occasion!

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

Bulk Processing Potatoes for the Freezer

Kate — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:28:34 +0000

Potatoes are one of those things that have always been hit or miss for me when it comes to freezing them. I’ve had success with freezing mashed potatoes, twice baked potatoes (and twice baked potato casserole), cheesy potato bites and taco potato skins. Beyond that though, I’m usually not too successful with freezing potatoes. Yet potatoes are a favorite side dish around here, so I’m always looking for ways to incorporate potato sides into my bulk cooking plans.

When Nikki emailed the following tip to me, I was beyond excited. Honestly, it’s pure genius. I can’t wait to implement this idea in my kitchen! Just like I could not wait to share the brilliance with all of you. Thanks for the permission to copy and paste your idea Nikki.

I hit the produce market or outlet once a month for longer shelf life items like potatoes and carrots. When I do, I bake off 10 lbs (or however many I can cram in my oven. I have 3 shelves) of potatoes in one shot.

Don’t look at me like that. I am not crazy, just hear me out.

I let the taters cool enough to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the middles.

I prep the middles for mashed potatoes (riced) , baked potato soup (some riced some in chunks) and smashed potato salad (same as the soup). If I plan on making home fries, I let refrigerate them overnight and dice them with the jackets on.

I then spray/drizzle oil on my jackets and season them and broil/roast them until they start to brown.

I place each of these on trays in my freezer over the course of the day until they are just frozen enough that they won’t freeze into a solid mess. I do this with the now empty jackets too.

Then, when we want potato skins: I take out my jackets and crisp them a bit in a hot oven/broiler. Then I dump (yes dump, we have cheese issues) some shredded cheddar and bacon bits (which I also cook up ahead and freeze in bulk) and pop them in to bake.

In a matter of about 2 hrs, I can easily have enough potatoes prepped for two weeks worth of menus AND have tater skins on hand for a snack or an “I don’t feel like cooking, let’s have crap for dinner” night.

Genius, right? I love it!

Make sure you check out Nikki’s blog, Frugal Green Living for more tips and information.

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

Cupcake Tips from Hoosier Homemade

Kate — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:26:59 +0000

Shortly before the school ended for the year, I took birthday treats in for our son’s summer birthday celebration. I really wanted to make cupcakes. But I didn’t want just any cupcakes. I wanted something special like Liz makes. I debated doing it on my own, wishing the whole time that I had Liz there to guide me every step of the way. In the end, I chickened out and opted for dirt cups instead.

Thankfully, Liz agreed to share some of her top cupcake making tips with all of us. These just might give me the courage I need to go for it next time!

Hello, Cooking During Stolen Moments fans! I’m Liz, the Hoosier Momma from Hoosier Homemade. I’m a SAHM of 3 teenage boys, that keep me running with their sports and school activities. I’ve been blogging a little over a year, I share lots of baked goods, Budget Friendly Meals, and decorating tips and tricks, all to help you “Make Your House a Home.” You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Kate has asked me to share with you some of my tips for baking and decorating cupcakes. While I have been baking for a very, VERY long time, it’s just been the last year or so that I’ve been baking and decorating lots and lots of cupcakes.

First…Baking:

When I use a box mix, I simply change the ingredients a little to make it taste more like homemade.

Box Cake Mix

1 cup of Buttermilk (you can use 1 tablespoon vinegar in a 1 cup measuring cup and fill the rest of the way with milk, set aside for a few minutes)

1/3 cup Oil (or amount shown on box)

4 large eggs

Mix and bake as usual
I also bake from scratch quite often and have several recipes on my Cupcake Heaven page. In fact, I have Kate’s White Cake on it, along with over 70 cupcake creations.
Now for the decorating:
I think using the right tools makes all the difference in the world. You can easily just use a ziploc baggie with the corner snipped off, but if you want your cupcakes to look really nice, spend a little (it’s not really very much, less than $10) and buy the right tools.

90% of the time I use Buttercream Frosting and this Cupcake Decorating set that was a Christmas gift

Tips from the Decorating tip make these designs

Using a Wilton Disposable bag, I insert the plastic coupler and make a mark on the bag at the first thread, and cut the tip off to that mark

Add the Decorating tip and the ring, fill the bag with frosting and you are ready to decorate

Now, if you want to get a little fancier and decorate your cupcakes with designs or a theme. I have lots to choose from. I have several videos on Hoosier Homemade as well, that show you step by step how to decorate cupcakes. I also host Cupcake Tuesday every week, where you can link up your cupcake creations and get inspired by others too.
The most popular cupcakes during the month of May were my Memorial Day Cupcakes…they were so much fun to make! I think they would even be great for Fourth of July or any summertime picnic.

And in June, the favorite seems to be my Snow Cone Cupcakes…

I also bake a lot for the Holidays, my most recent holiday favorite, are the Easter Chicks. Very easy, with just a little added frosting.

One of my readers favorites, were the Nuggets and Fries that I created for my son’s birthday…he’s a HUGE McDonald’s fan!

I also enjoy creating many different cupcakes with special flavors and toppings, the Black Forest, are my favorite.

Come join in our cupcake conversation in my Hoosier Homemade BlogFrog Community!

Thanks so much Kate for having me!

Do you have any tip or tricks for cupcake decorating you would like to share? I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and

Frizzled Lunch Meat

Kate — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:02:27 +0000

Although lunch meat is not daily fare in our house, it does make an appearance on our lunch plates at regular intervals. I gotta admit, every so often there is nothing better to me than a ham sandwich made with toasted bread and mayonnaise. And the rest of the family would never turn down a lunch meat sandwich when it’s offered.

So even though that ham sandwich isn’t a daily thing for me, I do miss my sandwiches when I’m pregnant. Lunch meat is taboo during pregnancy. The only safe way to eat it is to heat it until steaming. Personally, that’s not the taste I’m going for when craving a sandwich.

Fortunately, I’ve got this great trick up my sleeve that I learned from my dad. It allows me to enjoy my favorite lunch meats safely while still getting that taste I crave. It’s called frizzling, and man, is it fantastic! In fact, this is so good that we frizzle leftover lunch meat on a regular basis.

What exactly is frizzled lunch meat? Allow me to explain.

To frizzle lunch meat, cut slices into thin, long strips.

Then melt about a tablespoon of butter in a small skillet. Add the meat and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until ends are curled and meat is lightly crisped. I tend to cook mine a little longer because I like it really crispy.

This works great on a sandwich (think BLT), stirred into or served alongside scrambled eggs, or just eaten as is.

The frizzled method is typically reserved for ham lunch meat, but we’ve found it works just as well with turkey, bologna or even roast beef.

Thanks for reading! You can also follow me on twitter and