Sweet and Spicy Beans

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Just came up with this tonight. Hubby said his mouth still wanted more even though his stomach was saying no way. He also asked if I'd written it down yet. Well, I have now.


1/2 lb diced pork
3/4 of a green bell pepper (diced)
3/4 each of a sweet red, yellow and orange bell pepper (diced)
1 medium yellow onion (diced)
2 15.5 oz cans great northern beans (drained)
1 15.5 oz can light red kidney beans (drained)
1 15.5 oz can dark red kidney beans (drained)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tblsp molasses
1 1/2 tsp sriracha
1 tblsp chili powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp powdered mustard
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Black pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp)

Sear the diced pork on medium high heat. Reduce to medium and add peppers and onion. Also add the dried spices. Stir and cover with a lid. Cook, stiring occasionally, until pork and veggies are about done. There should be a fair amount of liquid from the veggies in the pan. Add all remaining ingrediants. Stir. Cover and simmer about ten minutes.

It's pretty much a meal all by itself. Maybe just serve some fresh fruit or salad greens along side.

[Luca Lazzari]

Thanks! Gonna try it with borlotti and cannelloni beans, even if I don't think I'll find molasses and sriracha around here... Will use something else. Any suggestion?

Thanks again Purple Alien Giraffe

[Hoot]

PAG,
Thanks for this recipe. I love me some beans and this sounds mighty good!

Luca,
Google tells me that there is something called dark treacle, which might substitute for molasses. I expect you could use most any chile sauce for sriracha, although I doubt it will have the same taste.

[Luca Lazzari]

Originally Posted by Hoot

...
Luca,
Google tells me that there is something called dark treacle, which might substitute for molasses. I expect you could use most any chile sauce for sriracha, although I doubt it will have the same taste.

Thanks Host, I found out that molasses is melassa in Italy (same for treacle, from Wikipedia), but I never saw it anywhere. I'll try to understand how to substitute it with something "italian", maybe some balsamic vinegar (which I hate). I mean, I hate balsamic vinegar, not Traditional balsamic vinegar... For the sriracha, maybe I can find something similar in some exotic deli. We'll see...

[purple.alien.giraffe]

If you can't find molasses try lightly burning just a little bit of brown sugar, then disolve it in water and add a little more sugar and boil to make it into a syrup. Brown sugar is sugar and molasses. Molasses tastes kind of like lightly burnt sugar made into a syrup. You can also just use extra brown sugar. Won't be quite the same but will be close enough.

For the sriracha, I'm not sure. Its a little sweet, a little tart, almost tomato like though it has no tomato in it, and kind of garlicy. I would think just using any lightly sweet chili paste and adding just a tiny bit of vinegar to it would work as a sub. Maybe add a pinch extra garlic to the recipe.

[Luca Lazzari]

Originally Posted by purple.alien.giraffe

If you can't find molasses try lightly burning just a little bit of brown sugar, then disolve it in water and add a little more sugar and boil to make it into a syrup. Brown sugar is sugar and molasses. Molasses tastes kind of like lightly burnt sugar made into a syrup. You can also just use extra brown sugar. Won't be quite the same but will be close enough.

For the sriracha, I'm not sure. Its a little sweet, a little tart, almost tomato like though it has no tomato in it, and kind of garlicy. I would think just using any lightly sweet chili paste and adding just a tiny bit of vinegar to it would work as a sub. Maybe add a pinch extra garlic to the recipe.

Thank you!