Beans and the Winter Kitchen

The year-end holidays are done, and so is most of the holiday food. It's time to dust off recipes suitable for winters marked by short days, cold temperatures, and stubbornly unmelted snow. The season's mood is just right for hearty dishes and long cooking times that keep home and heart warm. Winter calls for flavorful stews, rich homemade soups, succulent braised meats, or complex dishes such as Paula Wolfert's version of Toulouse-style cassoulet.

I particularly like making beans at this time of year. Cooking them fills my home with earthy aromas that chase away winter's chill. I adore a bean's simplicity, clean flavor notes, and menu versatility. They pair wonderfully with assertively flavored sausage as well as slab-style fish such as salmon. Beans store easily in their dried state, making them a welcome part of any winter pantry. They also remain an economical choice for home cooks, which in our financially inflationary environment (despite the fiction communicated by manipulated government statistics) is a useful benefit.

Americans who learn about food from restaurant menus might miss beans altogether. It is striking how few dining establishments offer beans in any way, shape, or form. Of course, beans aren't splashy and typically don't add points to presentation. For restaurants hoping to excuse a mid-thirties price point for a six-dollar item, beans don't help the sell. The tweezer food crowd can't handle beans (in more ways than one).

It's left to home cooks to prepare and serve them. In that way, you'll be following in the footsteps of home cooks from Latin cultures, who readily accept beans, cook them well, and enjoy them without inhibition or pretense. And there's something all-American about beans, such as baked beans, that is satisfying beyond their taste. When you return to the winter kitchen now and in the coming weeks, celebrate the season with a return to the simple, savory flavor of beans.