It's been a delicious week. I've been doling out my homemade bratwurst to close friends and making batches of 90 Minute, No-Soak beans just because I can. I know some people had some questions about both of these posts, and this week has given me a few more insights to both processes which hopefully will answer some of them. Also, Michael Ruhlman wanted to see my amateurish spreadsheet I created to find a bratwurst recipe. It's not the prettiest thing, but it is after the jump.
I was so astonished by the success of the 90 minute, no-soak beans that I threw up a post quickly after the first pot came out of the oven. My enthusiasm was genuine, but I probably should have done another batch to make sure all the kinks were worked out. For instance, I didn't know whether other varieties of beans would work, or whether I had just lucked out and that this wouldn't work for other people.
Since I made my first batch with pinto beans I've made two more pots, one with red beans and the other with black beans, and both have turned out extremely well. This last batch of black beans was especially successful.
Instead of just covering the beans with water, I decided to follow a recipe in Rick Bayless's Authentic Mexican for black beans with epazote. I've just recently discovered the wonders of using that herb. In the past I was reluctant to track it down, because I didn't know what it looked like or what it would do to my food.
Well, this is it. This one sprig imbued the pot with a faintly licorice and fennel aroma, which I absolutely adored. It's a great trick to cheaply adding flavor to beans. Along with the one sprig of epazote, I added half a chopped onion, one tablespoon of lard, 1/2 tablespoon of salt, and one pound of beans to a large pot. Enough water was added to cover by an inch and a half. The oven was preheated to 250 degrees. Meanwhile, the pot was brought to a boil on top of the stove. When bubbling, the pot was covered with a tight fitting lid, and tossed in the oven. They were cooked for 75 minutes, or until the beans were tender.
These beans were fragrant from the epazote, but also strangely meaty because of the lard. They are great on their own. But their real purpose in life is as refried beans. Here's a good recipe to get you to refried bean heaven.
As for the brats, I was dissatisfied with poaching them in beer and onions. They split open and took on a slightly bitter taste. I decided to follow the advice that a commenter had given me and grilled them over indirect heat. This solved all of my problems. I just mounded the charcoal on one side of my small grill and spread the sausages across on the other side. I cooked them for about 15 to 20 minutes, flipping occasionally, until they looked cooked. Then I browned them directly over the coals for a minute or two a side. They retained far more of their moisture and soaked up a lot more of the charcoal aroma. It's a great trick.
After the break is the infamous bratwurst ingredient spreadsheet detailing the absurd lengths I went through to settle on a recipe. As you'll tell, I didn't completely follow the advice. Both veal and white pepper showed up often, but I decided not to use them. What it was great at showing were what kind of spices my bratwurst should have. So, without further ado...
- P.M.
- Darrin
- Spicy Sausage Bratwurst 1
- Spicy Sausage Bratwurst 2
- Spicy Sausage Bratwurst 3
- Spicy Sausage Bratwurst 4
- Spicy Sausage Bratwurst 5
- Johnsonville Clone
- Sonoma Bratwurst
- Charcuterie
- Sowbelly
- Macheesmo
If you have any other questions about beans or bratwurst, please let me know.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Where did you find the epazote? I have your 90-minute beans on my must try list.
Kim: I found it at Danny’s (2140 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL), my local Mexican grocery store. It was very cheap.
I’ll have to try the epazote. And the refried beans recipe. I did a second test on the beans too, Monday night with pintos and they were awesome! Bless you Nick.
I encourage everybody to order seeds for all of the herbs and peppers you might use and just grow them. I’m currently growing scotch bonnets, habaneros, basil, jalapenos, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and green peppers. It’s wonderful to pull this stuff, wash it, and cook with it.
I have to say the no soak beans have been a life saver to me ever since you posted. I’ve tried it on black beans, navy beans, and cannelloni beans with great success. I do have to say that I’m not a fan of epazote because I’m not a liquorice-flavor person, but the same recipe with cilantro instead is quite good. For some extra zing, I add a dash of hot sauce to the beans–heaven!
I tried the 90 minutes beans last weekend and I love the technique, beans turned out wonderful. Also, I think that is me that placed high on the brat recipe list. Glad you liked them. I simmer brats on a very low simmer so the casings don’t break for about 30 minutes before going on the grill. I guess I would feel guilty if I accidentally did feed people undercooked pork. Great blog, keep up the good work.
Hi
I’ve cooked countless pots of beans
Salt should go in at the end
Your beans cook quicker due to being baked at 250 instead of boiled at 212 degrees. If I pressure cook my beans they might get up to 245 degrees. One website says pressure cooking at 15psi means the food is cooking at 257 degrees
I have never baked beans but you are definitely spending more money and energy cooking your beans than simply soaking 12 hours then simmering on the stove after. Or soaking then pressure cooking
yet another great post. Also, for those who might like to try doing brats without crafting their own spice blend can go to Penzy’s (which is great in general) and has a number of sausage seasonings.
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysbratwurst.html
I started growing epazote in my backyard because I was curious to learn about it. I had never used it before being from Ireland but heard that it went well with black beans. It works really well with the beans so it’s worth a go for sure. It’s pretty easy to grow as well (so far!).
I grew up in RI, where brats were practically unheard of. I had my first brat in Minnesota not too long ago and fell in love.
ps-epazote grows wild around here in socal
love this spreedsheet, but can you tell me a little bit more about it? For instance, what do the columns mean? Do the “1″ values indicate a certain amount? And the total?
Sorry, I just so curious!
I tried your 90 minute beans and I loved them!
I did a pound of chickpeas with half an onion and six cloves of garlic. I sauteed the garlic and onion in a bit of olive oil with salt and pepper while I picked through the beans.
I ended up cooking them for an additional 20 minutes or so, and they came out just fine! Might have been the salt, who knows? They were wonderful, though!