Wednesday, August 26, 2009

...a productive Sunday

on Saturday, I slow cooked some pork [Boston butt]...
[on sale for $1.97 per lb!!]
at 250˚ F for 8 hours, encased in foil...
I had "forked" the cooled meat into strings...
mixed it with all it's juices & stored it in the 'fridge...



my last trip to the grocery had netted me a big bag o'green beans...
[since mine were a bust this year, I waited for a good price...]
I stemmed them, broke them & added them to olive oil, onion & garlic...
just covering them with chix broth, fresh ground s & p...
and bringing them to a simmer in my covered La Creuset 2.7 qt French oven...



meanwhile, I rinsed the pink beans I'd left soaking overnight...
added them to my 5 qt L.C.French oven...
added 2 chopped onions, chopped garlic, a smoked pork hock...
s & p &covered it with chix broth [2 qts total for both kinds of beans...]
I covered them & when they were simmering, turned down the heat...
leaving them to simmer, like the green beans...
at the lowest heat for a couple of hours...

at this point, I unburied my bread machine...
found my notes & instruction book...
dug out a mix and the other ingredients I'd need...
which was not easy, since I hadn't gotten around to labeling my storage tubs...



finally, the ingredients were placed in the "Zo" in the correct order...
the "add" light went on, so I could add in my seeds...
and the Zo was mixing away...



fortunately, I remembered the caveat to watch the mixing...
as I had to scrape down the sides of the pan...

after the ingredients were all properly mixed in...
the cycles of kneading & rising began...



at this point, I whipped up a pan of corn bread to go with my beans...



keeping an eye on my "sous chef"...



I got my label maker...



and labeled all my baking storage containers...
so it's possible to find the dry milk or seed topping...
without opening & digging through each container...



I had set my timer so that I could add seeds to the top of the loaf...
just before it would start to bake...



then I set the lid ajar & turned up the heat on the green beans...
eventually, the liquid would cook down and be a deep tasting sauce...



the pinks also got the same treatment, allowing the liquid to cook down...
and the now completely dismembered hock was removed...
[the skin & bones, anyway...]leaving only the bits of meat...
and ALL the flavor...yum...

the skin & bones are Molly's favorite treat...
and are added to her dry food...
[after the kitties lick off the gravy...]
truly a shared windfall...



here's my finished loaf...
[a bit misshapen... I'm not sure what happened, but it is tasty...]
and the corn bread... ready to be stored...

the pinks & corn bread were great...
and the green beans, very sweet & tender...

5 comments:

Mousie and Christy's Mommy said...

Gosh, and to think that I can barely boil water! I am in awe!!!

catsinger said...

...M&CM, none of this was harder than boiling water... "slow food" is the best...

Mousie and Christy's Mommy said...

Yea, right!! I've heard that one before! And having believed it before I have had my share of "horror stories"...all of which have ended up in the garbage can truly uneatable! Some of us can and some of us can't...those who can, do and those who can't have someone else do the cooking!!

The Calico Quilter said...

This all looks sooooo good! I'm a country girl - bring on the beans and cornbread.

catsinger said...

...Calico, it is good, though "beans" can have a few "drawbacks"...even when washed, soaked, rinsed, etc...
but buttermilk cornbread makes up for it...