Dinner & A Book

Ingredients

• 1 pound (2 to 2 1/4 cups) dry white beans such as Navy beans or Great Northern beans (can also use kidney beans)
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 cups hot water
• 1/2 pound salt pork (can sub bacon), cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, (1 1/2 cups) chopped

Directions

• 1 Soak beans in water:Place beans in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak overnight and drain. Alternatively, bring a pot with the beans covered with 2 inches of water to a boil, remove from heat and let soak for an hour, then drain.
• 2 Mix molasses, brown sugar, and mustard, ground cloves with water:Whisk together the molasses, brown sugar, mustard, and ground cloves with 3 cups of hot water.
• 3 Add ingredients to slow-cooker, layering them, starting with the salt pork:Line the bottom of a slow-cooker (or a Dutch oven if you are cooking in the oven) with half of the salt pork (pick the fattiest pieces). Layer over with half of the drained beans. Add all of the chopped onion in a layer.
• Top with another layer of beans and the remaining salt pork. Pour the molasses water mixture over the beans to just cover the beans.
• 4 Slow cook until beans are tender:Cover and cook in a slow-cooker on the low setting for 8 hours (or in a 250°F oven), until the beans are tender. Check the water level a few hours in, and if the beans need more water, add some. Add additional salt to taste if needed.
• Note that fresher beans will cook faster than older beans. Your beans may be ready in less than 8 hours, or they may take longer. Best the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

CREAMED SPINACH

3 to 4 bunches (2 ½ pounds total) flat-leaf spinach, trimmed and cleaned

½ medium onion, minced

4 ounce bar cream cheese, cut into pieces

Pinch ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup milk

Coarse salt and ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

• 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spinach, and cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain in a colander; rinse with cold water until cool. Squeeze spinach to remove as much liquid as possible; coarsely chop, and set aside.

 

• 2. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, 3 to 5 minutes.

 

• 3. Add cream cheese and milk; cook stirring, until cream cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in spinach. Simmer over medium heat until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes. Add nutmeg; season with salt and pepper.