Portuguese Pork and Beans

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Portuguese Pork and Beans

Marinated Pork and White Beans

Portuguese Pork and BeansThe perfect meal for Dan’s birthday. Two of his favorites baked together, melding the flavors for an amazing taste experience. Add a beer and my brother is going to be a happy guy.

Portuguese Pork and BeansI’ve simply combined two of my Grandmother’s recipes into one. Try this combination or if you prefer bake them separately. In our family these recipes, marinated pork & white beans, were meant to be served together. The beans take a good amount of time and are best baked long hours without a lid. If you are baking these together the meat will cook much faster. It is best to add the meat at the end of baking to assure the meat isn’t overcooked. It is unlikely you will over bake the beans.

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Portuguese White Bean Soup

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Portuguese White Bean Soup

White Bean SoupAdd a little less broth and you’ll have Portuguese White Beans. Love, love, love this soup. Add greens, spinach, kale, swiss chard or turnip greens for a more complete meal. Chop these pretty fine to speed the cooking. This is just the perfect soup for our rainy days.

If you’re looking for a sweeter (and I mean sweet!) Portuguese White Bean Recipe try this.

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Bean Salad

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Bean Salad

Bean SaladYep, this is another old recipe. Mom’s salad recipes are on my mind as Mother’s Day approaches. Of course our eating habits are quite different from the 60’s. I’ve made a few changes to this recipe but it can even be brought closer to date by simply adding blanched green & yellow beans instead of the canned variety … Just as mom’s Layered Salad might better include baby spinach leaves or a spring lettuce combination instead of iceberg to make it more palatable for many. Those are easy fixes. But sometimes it’s just fun to “remember when” and leave the recipe as it was … Especially on Mother’s Day! OK, I have to admit 3/4 cup sugar in the dressing is way too much. Yikes!

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Hamburger Bean Soup

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Hamburger Bean Soup

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Freezing weather and a warm hearty soup go together. I usually have most if not all these ingredients available in my kitchen and you probably do too. This old time recipe is filling and perfect … in 30 minutes. From my mother’s recipe box but influenced by her friend Kay. Wrap up in a cozy blanket and enjoy a cup of this!

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Greens and Beans Soup

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Greens and White Bean Soup

With Croutons

Greens and Beans SoupAny time is a great time for soup! Hot or Cold weather makes no difference. I reach for soup just about anytime. Even more when I’m under the weather … tired, sad or have overdone with rich foods for days. It just perks me up, mood and all! This is one of my go to soups because I have the ingredients at hand & I love greens … And it’s a bit Italian and Portuguese, two of my favorite cuisines.

About the greens, I love escarole (a variety of endive) but kale and spinach are great substitutes and are readily available. I prefer using fresh greens in this soup but frozen will do in a pinch. Let’s get on with the recipe.

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Santa Maria Beans

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Santa Maria Beans

Santa Maria Beans

 

 

It’s pretty obvious beans are a favorite of mine and my family … well, at least most of the family anyway. This is the time of year for barbecue and tri-tip. In the sunny Santa Barbara area of California Santa Maria barbecued tri-tip and poquito beans are on the menu. Add these beans to your barbecue for a tasty side dish. I like to cook these as a main dish too.

 

 

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Baked Beans

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Grandma Rose’s Baked Beans

Baked Beans

The taste of Baked Beans … rich, sweet, tangy and just a hint of smoky bacon. This is so delicious and put together again for someone special. She’s been ill and requested this recipe!

Thank you Grandma Rose for another family favorite.

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Pasta Fagioli

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Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool)

Pasta And Beans

Pasta Fagioli

Dean Martin certainly created a curiosity about pasta fazool with his song “That’s Amore.” But it wasn’t until I heard a friend’s remark, he was driving around in his corvette when the rest of us were eating pasta fazool, that my curiosity was pushed enough … I needed to know. (Thanks Paulie) Simply put, this is a traditional Italian dish made with, you guessed it, pasta and beans … Originally a peasant soup usually made without meat.

Since those days I’ve tasted many versions of this soup and pretty much love them all. I’ve heard the chain, Olive Garden, has their version as well. So, I jumped on the bandwagon and created my own Pasta Fagioli.

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Portuguese Bean Soup Revisited

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Portuguese Bean Soup

Portuguese Bean Soup

My brother is coming to visit and I’m pulling out all the old family cold weather favorites. We’re going to be busy; so, the meals aren’t going to be that planned. (Just a warning, Dan.) This is one of our favorite soups. It’s a stew, vegetable soup and beans all in one. Certainly this can come together in a slow cooker.

Let’s take a look at the recipe and see how this can be done. Portuguese Bean Soup

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Country Beans and Cornbread

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Country Beans and Cornbread

My children never understood just how lean those years were. A single mom making ends meet … And the most economical meal I made (and actually loved) was this one.

These recipes have few ingredients and are simple with little preparation time. I still love this meal not only because of the memories it evokes … It just tastes good!

When I say country I’m speaking about the hills of Arkansas where Granny and Grampa had a farm with just the right amount of livestock to keep the plates full. Granny wasn’t particularly a good cook but she could can and pickle like no one else.

These recipes were hers with this exception … Her cornbread had only five ingredients; cornmeal, buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and salt. The cornbread I taste in restaurants today is more of a cake texture and very sweet. With this in mind I put together a recipe I felt would give the texture of my granny’s without being too gritty and added just a bit of sugar. Bacon was a big thing in those hills … So, there is bacon in all of this. Yikes! But don’t fear … I’ve precooked the bacon and only 2 teaspoons of bacon grease are used in the beans.

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