Jam Making Workshop Over Coffee and Scones

Do you want to learn how to make no commercial pectin jam and all about canning safety? Have you collected canning recipes hoping one day you will feel less intimidated and confident about the process?  On May 6th I am teaching a jam making workshop in my friends kitchen that will teach you to make jam and how to safely water bath can.  As you learn the process of making no commercial pectin jam there will be plenty of time to ask questions, learn about other canning recipes, drink coffee and enjoy some jam on home baked scones.  All participants will receive a copy of all the recipes including the jam made there, any jams available to sample and the scones.

Tickets for the workshop are available at the Integrated Arts Academy Auction on Sunday February 19th from 2 to 4 PM.  IAA is located in the Old North End at 6 Archibald Street, the entrance is through the cafeteria on the Manhattan Drive side.  In addition to this workshop opportunity there are amazing items to bid on including pieces of artwork by Bonnie Acker, Judy Klima, James Kochalka, Katherine Monstream, and Holly Hauser as well as a pizza making party at Bite Me pizza, vacation rentals, Burton equipment, jewelry and gift certificates from local businesses and art camps for your children.  Baked goods available to nibble on, and live music and entertainment.  If you come, please promise not to outbid me on anything I plan on getting.  If you cannot come to the event some of the larger items are available to for online bidding at Bidding for Good.

Bosnian Lamb Meatballs with Caraway Yogurt

 

 
Think of the above photo as a serving suggestion, sort of a "Do as I say not as I did."  If you serve them appropriately your results will be much better then mine. I made these meatballs for dinner the other night and while they were cooking Sebastian came into the kitchen to ask the inevitable, "What's for dinner?"  When I told him we were having Bosnian lamb meatballs with a caraway yogurt sauce he was happy.  I had never served them before but at almost 10 years old he is starting to be a little foodie, excited by many of the things he has the opportunity to eat.

After the initial questioning he came back in several times and happily sniffed the air.  The scent of the lamb roasting with fresh rosemary, thyme and mace was delicious on its own even before I added the caraway and yogurt sauce.  If only I had taken a moment to plate it attractively, before bringing it to the table, allowing it to look as good as it smelled.  Instead I plunked it on the table straight from the oven surrounded by the extra yogurt sauce.  Julian took one look and refused to have any, choosing to have a vegetarian dinner.  I could tell Sebastian's initial reaction was not to have any either, but the smell and his anticipation was too much for him.  He carefully selected the balls with the least amount of yogurt showing and ate them somewhat tentatively.  Next time I will be more careful with presentation, they were good enough to make again.

When preparing this dish in your own kitchen, instead of serving this...

I suggest you bring this to the table

Bosnian Lamb Meatballs with Caraway Yogurt Sauce

Adapted from Half a Can of Tomato Paste and Other Culinary Dilemmas

Meatballs:

1 lb ground lamb (you can sub beef)

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

2 Tbsp minced dried onions

3 eggs

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 tsp minced fresh rosemary or pinch of dried

1/4 tsp minced fresh thyme or pinch of dried

1/4 tsp ground mace

Yogurt sauce:

1 Tbsp caraway seeds

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup milk, buttermilk or sour cream

2 Tbsp minced fresh mint or parsley (optional because I did not have any)

Preheat the oven to 375°

Mix together the lamb meatball ingredients.  Butter and flour a square baking pan, 9 x 9 x 2 inch and place the balls in the pan in one layer.  I found the mixture was very wet and hard to form into neat balls, I just used a small measured ice cream scoop and let them be a bit more free form.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the balls are cooked though.

Grind the caraway seeds in a spice grinder or pulverize in a mortar and pestle before combining with the other sauce ingredients.  Let stand at room temperature while the meat balls finish cooking.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 325°.  Allow the meatballs to rest for 10 minutes while the oven temperature goes down.  After 10 minutes pour the sauce over the meatballs and stir to coat them in sauce and mix in the pan drippings.  Return the pan to the oven and cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes to allow the sauce to warm and reduce.  To serve remove the cooked meatballs from the baking dish and place on a bed of kale or other green.

The Posts I Cook From: 2011

About 20 years ago I had a friend in England who I wrote letters to.  Every time one of us wrote a letter we began with a paragraph apologizing for taking so long to write.  Until one day we decided that was a colossal waste of our time.  We knew that both of us were busy, or just lazy, and there would be lapses in our correspondence, so we could just assume the apology was not necessary, and implied.  I have been busy in the kitchen since I last wrote.  I am also happily writing as I have a new freelance food writing assignment.  I will tell you more about it later, for now I am a little afraid of jinxing it.  So just know I have news to come in the next few months, and I promise some blog posts.

Last year I did an end of year round up of The Posts I Cook From: 2010, in order to declare this a blog tradition here is the one for 2011.  These are the recipes that I pull out my computer to make, where I actually follow my recipe.  The times that I do not wing it in the kitchen.

Red Cabbage Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

This dressing served with shredded red cabbage has become a staple in my house since I first made it last winter.  Not just a recipe I prepare because my CSA gifts me with cabbage and carrots, as I find myself intentionally buying red cabbage to make this salad on a regular basis.  Even Sebastian, my 9 year old, will eat it on occasion.  When he does he never fails to point out that really, he does not like raw cabbage.  I think the more of it he eats, the less he should be making that claim.

Par Boiled Brown Rice

I have referred to this post and the steps for par boiling brown rice on numerous occasions since posting it here.  However for complete truth in posting I found Saveur's perfectly cooked brown rice instructions and my loyalty has now shifted.  However I am including it here because I did cook from this post in 2011, and this was a great way for me to show you this other method.

Sour Cream Spelt Waffles

These are my favorite waffles, they are the easiest to make because the egg whites are not whipped, and  they are rich and delicious.  Ever time I make them Julian gets mad that once again I have not made Sugar Waffles, and then he sits down and eats a whole pile of them.  Many nights when I cannot think of something to make for dinner these waffles end up being served, and nobody complains.  (All right Julian complains, but there is no way I am making a yeast waffle that has to rise for over an hour and is studded with sugar for dinner.

Baked Apple Puff

I don't really cook from this post, Lewis does.  However this is still a family favorite.  Although everyone but Lewis prefers it without the apples, just plain with fresh lemon juice squeezed over the top.  Mornings where Lewis is particularly hungry he makes one plain and one with apples, then he is guaranteed more then his fair share of the apple one.

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are now my go to blueberry muffin recipe.  The ones I make when I pick far to many berries at the U-pick farm, or I just have a craving.  They are balanced and sweet enough with a rich nutty flavor from the browned butter.

Armenian Lamb Sausage Pasta

This will always be my favorite pasta sauce, better then any I have had in a restaurant.  Now I finally have the recipe written down so maybe someone else in my family could make it some time, it is easy enough.

Whole Grain Popovers with Strawberry Butter

Popovers are one of the breakfasts that my children cheer about every time I serve it.  Having the post to cook from means I have all my notes and adjustments easily available.  The amazing thing is how little butter is in them, just enough to grease the tins.

Eggs Benedict With Whole Egg Hollandaise

For the times I really crave eggs benedict this is my go to recipe.  The whole egg hollandaise is just as rich and creamy as the egg yolk only version, but this way I don't have to worry about using up the egg whites (or should I say wasting).

Sour Cherry Raspberry Lime Jam

This is one of my children's top jam flavors of 2011.  One I will be putting up multiple batches of every summer to make them happy.  This recipe also ensures their happy cooperation in mom's sour cherry picking insanity.

Sour Cherry Petit Petit Jam

One person I gave a jar of this jam to said she and her parter almost came to blows over the last spoonful.  Deep, rich, cherry flavor to spread on toast or warm up and drizzle over ice cream or cheesecake.

Baked Tomatoes with Cheese

I love this recipe enough that in the last month I tried to recreate it with frozen tomatoes.  I would not recommend trying them that way.  Instead you should bookmark the recipe for the height of tomato season.

Green Tomato Beef Stew with Jamaican Spices

I cannot wait for green tomatoes to appear on my plants so I can make this again!  A use for green tomatoes that is not just because I am desperate to use them up, but instead one I am looking forward to eating.

Steakhouse Style Sear Roasted Strip Steak

Ever since trying this technique for making steak I have not bothered with any others.  In my house we share one small steak for dinner, so this makes the most of it.  Evert time I have made it, no matter how distracted I am, the result is perfect.

Tuscan Cannellini Beans with Sage and Onion

I made this dish again at Thanksgiving and everyone agreed they were a welcome addition.  Okay, my nieces may not have agreed.  But then again my brother made them pasta with nothing on it to eat for dinner that night while everyone else feasted.  So that may be a sign that this dish is full of flavor and satisfying.

Chocolate Marmalade Sandwich Cookies

I made these cookies again as soon as the first batch was eaten.  The second time I used David Lebovitz's chocolate tempering instructions and I was successful.  I also made the cookies by rolling out the dough and cutting them out with a square cutter.  I found this much easier and the cookies were just as good.  I would have taken new photos of them, if they weren't eaten so fast.

Chocolate Marmalade Sandwich Cookies

I think as I was making these cookies I began to wish they would just taste average when they were done.  It's not that any of the steps are overly complicated, but they did require more then the usual mix, scoop, and bake.  So as a result I was not looking for a cookie that would make people stop after one taste and slow down, so they could savor every bite.  If I was only hoping for okay, these cookies landed about as far from that as they could.  These cookies combine a crumbly, tender, lemon scented cookie, with complex, tart, sweet, marmalade filling and then a dip in rich dark chocolate.  Trust me, this is a cookie that is worth the extra time.  They are even worth tempering the chocolate to dip them in.  Although as you may notice, I need to work on my chocolate tempering, and I know just the cookie I will practice on.  If it tastes this good with a failed tempering job...

Julian knew right away how special the cookies were, and so he counted how many there were before he ever got to taste one.  It often amazes me that my children can do division so quickly when cookies are involved.  "Eighteen cookies mama.  That means we each get four and a half cookies.  Four and a half cookies if mama had not decided to give a few away.  Every person who tried one had the same eye rolling, slow savoring response.  I can see why Sarabeth's Kitchen sells them for $25 a dozen. 

I have been sitting here trying to think of a transition between these cookies and a story of my boys during the holidays.  I finally decided the link is I wanted to share both the cookies and the story because both are helping me to enjoy the season.

Yesterday my boys each received $50 from relatives in England. In previous years I have bought a membership to a local science center with the money and told them the membership was a gift from Grandpa Stuart and Grandma Phyl.   But this year I thought the boys were old enough to choose this themselves (plus, the cards the money came in mentioned the checks enclosed).  So I told the boys our membership would expire at the end of this month and suggested they use their money to buy a new membership to The Echo Center.  When both boys hesitated and made a face I feared it was greed so I quickly mentioned they still would have the $20 a piece from their Gruncle and Graunty to spend on whatever they wanted.

Sebastian replied, "But I wanted to use the money to buy you a Christmas gift.  Is twenty dollars enough money for me to buy you something?  Something for you to cook with."

"Me too," said Julian, my 6 year old, "I want to buy you another thing to go on your KitchenAid mixer."

In most years Lewis and I do not receive gifts at Christmas, only the kids do.  I never seems like there is  enough money and so we have made it a kids holiday.  I guess the boys have noticed and decided they need to be my Santa.  The best gift I could ever receive is signs of my children's generosity.  (Don't worry, there are also stories of their seasonal greed for my to share on another post!)

Chocolate Marmalade Sandwich Cookies

From Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours (This book is rapidly becoming a favorite)

I used Tomato Orange Marmalade as the filling in these and it was perfect.  You can substitute any favorite marmalade or even a jam that would pair well with the bittersweet chocolate, such as raspberry or apricot.  If you have a quart of home canned tomatoes that were acidified with citric acid or lemon juice you can use that to make Tomato Orange Marmalade.

The cookies need to be baked and filled a day before dipping in the chocolate to allow the cookie to soften and marmalade to set the sandwich.  If you try to dip them on the first day they are filled they will slide apart when you dip them.

The recipe calls for tempering 12 ounces of chocolate because tempering less is difficult.  When you have finished dipping the cookies spread the remaining chocolate on a sheet of parchment paper to set it can be retempered and reused another time.

Made 20 sandwich cookies for me (2 were eaten before being dipped in chocolate)

10 Tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch cubes  (I cut mine into tablespoons and just beat it for a tiny bit longer)
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or kosher salt
3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat
1/2 cup of your favorite marmalade, I used Tomato Orange Marmalade
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, divided

Put the butter in the bowl of a stander mixer and beat it on high speed with the flat beater blade until smooth (about 1 minute).  If you have a self scraping beater blade for your mixer use that instead of the plain one.  Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat the butter on high speed.  Scrape the sides of the bowl down occasionally until the sugar is fully incorporated and the mixture s light in both color and texture.  It should take about 3 minutes.  Add the egg yolks, lemon zest and salt and mix until it is well mixed.  Reduce the speed to low before adding the flours a third at a time.  Mix on low speed just until the dough comes together and the sides of the bowl are almost clean.  If there is unmixed dry, crumbly dough at the bottom of the bowl turn the mixer off and stir well from the bottom before continuing to mix.

(Sarabeth has you carefully form the dough into a log before chilling and then slicing into rounds.  My dough was not a perfectly round log and so my cookies were flat on one side.  Next time I am going to experiment with rolling the dough out and then cutting square shaped cookies.  Even slightly misshapen they are still the most amazing cookie.)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Make the dough into a smooth ball before rolling it out into a 14 inch log that is about 1 1/2 inch in diameter.  Place the dough log on an 18 by 13 inch piece of parchment paper (here may be the first problem with my log rolling technique.  I only have Half Sheet Pan Precut Parchment Paper Sheets - 12 × 16½), with the long side of the paper and the log facing you.  Fold the parchment paper over the dough log.

Hold the edge of a yardstick securely along the long side of the log, pull the top layer of the parchment paper under the yardstick to tighten the paper and lightly compress the log. The log should now be 16 inches long. Unwrap the log. (Technique number 2, I did not have a yardstick so instead of wrapping the log up with a yardstick I carefully rolled my log until it was 16 inches long).  The dough will have a seam on it,  roll the log lightly on the paper to smooth out the seam out.  Reroll the paper around the log. Do not twist the ends closed, as this dough is soft. Refrigerate until the dough is chilled and firm, at least 1 hour.

Position the racks in the center and top third of the oven before preheating to 350°F.  Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper (which is much easier with my Half Sheet Pan Precut Parchment Paper Sheets - 12 × 16½).

Unwrap the dough log and use a thin sharp knife to cut 3/8 inch thick circles of dough.  (I marked 3/8 of an inch on a small piece of paper to use as a guide for cutting).  Keep the circles of dough in order when placing on the parchment paper.  It is easier to form sandwiches later with the circles that were next to each other on the log.  Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the sheets while making it clear which circles are pairs.

Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on the baking pans.

Once cooled turn all the cookies over so the undersides face up. Spoon a rounded 1/2 teaspoon of marmalade onto one of each pair of cookies, and sandwich the flat sides together. Let the cookies stand overnight at room temperature to set the marmalade and soften the cookie.

(I followed all of Sarabeth's tempering instructions perfectly but my chocolate still bloomed.  I realized later that part of the problem might have been the frigid temperature of my house.  Chocolate tempering expects a room temerature of 68° to 72°.  Next time I am going to try David Lebovitz's instructions for tempering chocolate.)

To temper the chocolate, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to very low. Place 8 ounces of the chocolate in a wide, heatproof bowl. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan, being careful not to touch the bottom of the bowl to the water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate reaches 110° to 112°F on a thermometer. Remove the bowl from the heat and place on a kitchen towel. Add the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate and stir until melted. Let stand, stirring every minute or so, until the chocolate reaches 88°F.

Line a half-sheet pan with fresh parchment paper. One at a time, dip a cookie in the chocolate, letting the chocolate come about one-third up the sides of the cookie (I dipped half of the cookies in the chocolate and see no reason to change next time.  Who doesn't want more chocolate?)  Shake the cookie gently to remove excess chocolate before carefully placing on the pan. Push each cookie with your finger to move just 1/8 inch from its original position.  This dislodges and removes the “foot” the chocolate has formed. Let the cookies stand until the chocolate sets. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container, with the layers separated by parchment paper, for up to 5 days.  (I stored mine on a covered cookie sheet for a week with no loss of quality)

Canning Jar Lid Ornaments

In the past few months I have been engrossed with The Intervale Farmers' Recovery Fund Cookbook.  I am not sure I realized how much work was involved when I started this project, contacting folks and to ask them to participate,  standardizing the format on the recipes, creating new recipes for the vegetables that were overlooked by everyone else, testing many recipes, following up with contributors with questions, etc.  Even with the amount of work involved I am excited and amazed at the wealth of recipes I have received.  There are new approaches to produce I already loved as well as delicious recipes for produce I had previously avoided.  I find myself craving these new recipes again and again.

 Last night I prepared a turnip dish to accompany a dinner of dumplings, in the end the turnips were so good I ate a dinner of mostly turnips and only a few dumplings.  All of this cooking for the cookbook means I don't have any recipes to share on my blog right now, however in the spring you can buy a cookbook that can answer the question, "What the %*&* do I do with all this produce?"

So instead of a new recipe, today I am going to share another thing I have been obsessed with this season.  It began when I was cleaning my house for Thanksgiving and emptied out my utensil drawer.  In the drawer was my collection of used canning jar lids.  I was saving them to use for jars I wanted to store things in without sealing, but really I was saving them because I hate the waste of throwing them away, (even though I am really recycling them).

So I started to spend any time away from the cookbook trying to come up with a legitimate use for them. I did not want to make something that was just fancy trash, something that would still be thrown away in the next year, just now with other things glued on.  I think these ornaments are cool enough that I will not be throwing them out any time soon, plus they take advantage of the concave well in the center of the lid.

Supplies you will need:

Glitter

Used small mouth canning jar lids

Card Stock

2 inch circle cutter

Craft Glue Stick

Non Toxic Metal and Paper Glue





Canning Jar Lid Ornament Instructions:

Put glue on the rim of the lid

Spread the glue so it is even layer

Sprinkle glitter on the glued edge before
tapping off the excess

Use the circle cutter to cut three
2 inch circles from card stock

Carefully fold each circle of card stock in half

Apply glue to the sides of the card stock

Glue card stock circles together

Apply metal and paper glue to the
center of the lid and glue down the card stock

Finished Ornament
(Attach a hanger with a hot glue gun)

Cranberry Port Sauce

My aunt has always made the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.  Ever since I was three she has made a reduced sugar version because my brother had recently been diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes.  Her cranberry sauce is still sweet but it retains some of the tartness of the cranberries.  When you eat it paired with turkey you understand why cranberry sauce traditionally accompanies turkey, the bright tartness really balances the flavor of the meat.

I have tried on several occasions to recreate her recipe.  The first time she gave me a very general list of what was in it.  The sauce I made that time was not sweet or tart enough.  Last year I made the cranberry sauce with her, watching carefully as she pulled out her old newspaper clipping and adjusted the recipe to our tastes.  I tried again to recreate her version, although I did not have the original recipe as a guide.  In the end I think I did not have the right type of citrus, or I was just too heavy handed with it.  Whatever the reason, my latest attempt was too orangey and not balanced.

So I went a different route, finally trying a recipe a friend had mentioned years ago.  I lowered the sugar, replacing it with golden raisins, a trick I picked up from making cranberry sauce with my aunt.  The finished sauce is complex, tart enough to balance the turkey, but after a day or so sweet enough that I loved it spread on a crepe.  If you make it now you can freeze it until Thanksgiving.  Just pull it out to defrost one to two days before the big day.

Cranberry Port Sauce

adapted from Gourmet

This sauce can be made weeks or months ahead of time and frozen until 1 to 2 days before serving.   When it is first cooked it will still be very tart, as it sits the flavors blend and the raisins impart more sweetness to the sauce.  Do not add more sugar until it has rested for several days.  I have made it with lemon and also with tangerines, clementines and tangelos would also be good.

12 ounces cranberries, rinsed and picked over

3/4 cups brown sugar

3/4 cups golden raisins

1 cup Port (Choose Tawny or Ruby, either is fine)

1 tsp freshly grated lemon or tangerine zest (don't worry if you have slightly less)

2 Tbsp fresh lemon or tangerine juice (don't worry if you have slightly less)

1 cup water

Combine all the ingredients in a medium pan and simmer until the berries have all burst and the mixture has gelled.  Allow to cool before placing in a container in the refrigerator, or freezer for longer term storage.  Alternatively you can can it.  Follow the canning directions here.

Tuscan Cannellini Beans with Sage and Onions

With the end of Halloween I can begin obsessively planning Thanksgiving dinner.  Although I must confess, I started planning the menu for Thanksgiving long before October 31st.  Even before I became excited about costumes by realizing Lewis and I could join our chimney sweep and chimney as Mary Poppins and her umbrella, I was testing recipes for the end of Novemebr.  This is the first year Thanksgiving will be in Vermont, moving north from New York City.  With this change of state I decided it is time to change the menu as well to one that is local and seasonal with a protein for my vegetarian sister-in-law.  So this year there will be no ratatouille or string beans on the table.  Instead I will be serving Savoy Cabbage Gratin made with St Andre cheese, a vegetable dish I have not yet settled on, and these savory, sensuous, cannellini beans.

I make cannellini beans with escarole and my boys always love it, however they only tolerate the escarole, eating just a token amount. The part they love and happily devour is the beans.  This dish is more layered with flavor then the beans alone from beans and escarole, rich and full of flavor.  Cooking the sage in the oil before adding the beans makes the sage richer and softer and its flavor more nuanced in the finished dish.  This will be served here often, not just for Thanksgiving.

From Scratch Cannellini Beans (Think of this as a blank canvas for many meals)

I always soak my beans because I prefer to spend less time waiting for them to cook with the burner on.  If you forget to soak them or just prefer not to it will take longer to cook your beans but they will still cook.  If not soaking your beans start the cooking with 2 minutes of a hard boil before turning down to a simmer.

3 cups dried cannellini beans, rinsed and picked over
Water for pre soaking plus 6 cups water for cooking
1 fresh bay laurel leaf (if unavailable use dried)
2 tsp kosher salt (If you do not cook the beans with salt they can be salted later but they will never be seasoned all the way through)

Put the rinsed beans in a large pot and cover with 9 cups water.  Bring the pot to the boil and boil hard for 2 minutes.  Turn the heat off under the beans and cover the pot.  Leave out at room temperature for 2 or more hours.  I often soak my beans after boiling for longer with no ill effects.  Alternatively you can soak the beans at room temperature in cold water for 6 to 8 hours before cooking.

 After soaking drain and rinse the beans and place back in the stock pot.  Cover with 6 cups of water (You will need more water if you never soaked them) and add the bay laurel leaf and salt.  Bring to the boil over high heat, lower to a simmer and cooked partially covered until tender.  My beans cooked in around 45 minutes to an hour.  If you did not soak your beans first expect them to take longer to cook, also if your beans are not fresh they will take longer to cook.

Tuscan Beans with Garlic and Sage
Adapted from Rose Elliot's New Complete Vegetarian

3 small to medium onions chopped (or 1 large and 1 small)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp fresh sage chopped fine
1 recipe From Scratch Cannellini beans with liquid or 6 14 oz cans cannellini beans
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
lemon for serving

Saute the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent, add the garlic and chopped sage and cook until both the sage and garlic are fragrant, a few minutes.  Add the beans and their liquid and stir well before covering and cooking over a very slow simmer for with the lid on for about an hour.  f you are pressed for time you can cook the beans for less time but the flavor will not be as complex.

Season the dish with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste before serving.  Delicious when first made but even better after the flavors have mellowed in the fridge overnight in the fridge.  We enjoyed it hot, warm and cold (well, Sebastian did not like it cold).  My plan is to make it a day or two ahead of time and serve it at room temperature for Thanksgiving.