Stove Top Smoker Black Bean Paté Food

BLACK BEAN PâTé

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil a 5-cup pâté tureen or baking dish, or a bread pan.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add 2 cloves of the garlic, the cumin and the chili powder. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about one minute. Stir in the cilantro. Remove from the heat.
• Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and drop in the remaining clove of garlic. When the garlic is chopped and adhering to the sides of the bowl, stop the food processor and scrape down the bowl. Place the beans and eggs in the food processor, and turn on the machine. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and process until smooth. Add the onion mixture, and pulse to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Scrape into the prepared baking dish, and cover tightly.
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the pâté is set and the top is just beginning to color. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool. For best results, refrigerate overnight. Serve at room temperature or cold.

PRESSURE-COOKER BLACK BEANS

Steps:

• Place beans, oil, 3 quarts water, and 1 teaspoon salt in a 6-to-8-quart pressure cooker.
• Stovetop:Secure lid. Bring to high pressure over medium-high heat; reduce heat to maintain pressure and cook 20 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly release pressure (loosely cover vent with a clean kitchen towel), then remove lid. Electric: Secure lid. Manually set cooker to 25 minutes and let it come to pressure. Once time is complete, turn off and quickly release pressure (loosely cover vent with a clean kitchen towel), then remove lid.
• Let beans stand in cooking liquid 30 minutes; drain.

HOW TO USE A STOVE-TOP SMOKER

Steps:

• Read through the recipe carefully before you start. Some recipes require seasoning or marinating the food in advance; other recipes suggest you brine the food or take them to room temperature before smoking.
• Make sure the smoker parts are clean and dry before you start.
• Sprinkle the amount and type of wood chip you have chosen over the center of the bottom of the smoker, covering an area roughly the size of your burner.
• Put the drip pan in place. Always line the drip pan with a single layer of aluminum foil. This cuts cleanup time in half.
• Arrange whatever item(s) you are smoking on the rack. Newer smoker models have nonstick racks; older racks should be sprayed with vegetable cooking spray to prevent sticking and make for easier clean up.
• Be sure to leave space between items on the rack and between the food and the sides of the smoker.
• Close the lid about two-thirds of the way and center the smoker over a burner. Turn the heat to medium.
• When you see the first signs of smoking rising from under the drip pan, close the lid securely and start timing.
• Check the food for doneness at the time suggested in the recipe. Wear oven mitts or protect your hands with sturdy pot holders, grasp the handles firmly with one hand and slide the lid off with the other. Test the food as quickly as possible (with an instant-read thermometer or other methods suggested in the recipe) and slide the lid closed quickly if it needs more cooking time.
• When the food is ready, turn off the heat and remove the lid of the smoker, unless a recipe directs you to leave it on for a specified amount of time.

EASY SPICY BLACK BEAN PâTé

Steps:

• Drain and rinse the black beans.
• Juice the lemon.
• Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and whizz until you have a fairly smooth pate.
• Serve and enjoy!

HOME CANNED OR STOVE TOP BLACK BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• For the Stove Top version, Combine all the ingredients and simmer for about 1 hour. Garnish with sour cream and red onions.
• HOME CANNED DIRECTIONS: Place 1 cup of dried black beans into each clean quart jar and cover with water--either overnight or for at least 8 hours. The jars end up looking like there are about three cups of beans in each.
• Chop enough of the red onions and jalapeno peppers to accommodate the number of jars you will be canning. I used 'pre-chopped garlic in a jar' for the home canned version.
• Drained the water from the soaking beans and add to each jar the amounts from the recipe above, assembly line style. Remember that the store bought canned beans are being replaced with the freshly soaked beans. NOTE: Since fresh beans contain no salt, I only added the salt that I would normally add to plain home canned beans (approximately 3/4 to 1 teaspoon per jar).
• Following general preparations for canning your jars.
• Pour boiling water into each jar leaving at least 1" (probably a little more) of head space. I released any air bubbles by giving each jar a little stir to incorporate the soup ingredients better.
• Wipe the rim of each jar and place on the simmer lid. Screw on the ring until resistance is felt.
• Place in a canner that has simmering water in it and pressure can for 90 minutes at 10lbs pressure.
• The soup appears to have a little more liquid or is more runny than the stove top version. But I like it this way, I always thought the stove top version with store bought beans ended up too thick and I added more water anyways. The beans end up whole and tender.
• The resulting soup was a tiny bit more spicy-hot than I would have made on the stove top. This could be because I included the seeds in the home canned version. The sour cream garnish tames any hotness and our wimpy family could handle the increased heat.

STOVE TOP SMOKER BLACK BEAN PATé

Steps:

• Soak beans for 2-4 hours in 3 cups of water. Drain and place in 2-quart saucepan with lid. Add kombu and 2 cups water, then pressure cook for 1 hour or boil for 1-1/2 hours (with 3 cups of water.) Stir in salt and let beans sit for 20 minutes, then drain. Soak hickory chips in water for 10 minutes. Transfer drained beans to a metal pan and smoke them on high heat for 5 minutes on an electric a stove and 8 minutes on a gas stove. Remove from heat and let them smoke covered for an additional 30 minutes. In a 10" frying pan, heat oil and sauté onions, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt and cumin on medium heat for 5 minutes. In a food processor, add smoked beans, sautéed vegetables, tahini, bean juice, and tamari, then process until smooth.
• Transfer Paté to a container or mold, then refrigerate until chilled. Serve with bread or crackers.