navy beans are made up of tiny white pieces with slightly flat oval form. They form a type of the common bean, that comes from the Americas, where people first grew them. The small and humble navy beans come from Peru before some thousands of years.
One knows them under many names for instance haricot bean, pearl bean, Boston bean, white pea bean and pea bean. In Spanish one calls them alubias chica.
Navy Beans: What They Are and How to Cook Them
They show tinier than the most many types of white beans. Between the used white beans, navy beans rank between the most small, and they cook the most simply. The big north beans follow by size, and they keep their form quite well.
In shape and look navy beans are like those big north, but they are clearly smaller.
navy beans have firm texture, whitish colour and gentle taste. Even after full cook until soft they stay oval. That quality makes them good for soups, tasty cookings, pots and bean stews from a boiler.
One uses them also in cakes and chili.
The most known use of navy beans probably are the baked bean. In Boston one prepares them usually with some fat, like salt pork or bacon, plus molasses or honey, later one cooks them slowly in a boiler until soft. Well use them with sharp Worcestershire sauce and sweet brown sugar in south mode or for Boston baked bean.
Rich brands, like Bush’s Baked Beans, use slowly cooked navy beans for their famous Brown Sugar Hickory variety. B&M Baked Beans and Campbell’s also depend on navy beans.
Another famous mode is the soup from navy beans. The senate bean soup is prepared form navy beans, ham hocks and onion. It is served daily in the dining hall of the American Senate.
For fond navy bean soup one can boil tomatoes, vegetables, beans and ham until soft and full flavor. Usually one cooks a bit of meat to pull out the fat, later one adds the beans to absorb that meaty smell.
Already in 1957 there was a old recipe called 7 Up Baked Beans. It mixes navy beans with 7 Up beer, tomatoes and bacon, cooked together. There is also a bread recipe, that ties navy beans with various items to create sweet taste and crusty loaf good for sandwiches.
navy beans do not need to soak for a long time. The fast soak method means to boil the dry beans during some minutes, later leave them rest in the warm water. They truly thirst after water, much more than split peas.
Prior soaking helps against gas. They are rich in potassium, folate, iron and zinc, and they have lots of carbohydrates, fiber andproteins.
