I have lots of crazy notions that I love to explore. As much as I enjoy learning new skills, I’m not big on watching videos as a first line of knowledge. I prefer to read about it, try it, and only if it goes so terribly wrong that I couldn’t figure it out on my own do I resort to videos. That was definitely the case for learning to wrap dolmas.
Because that isn’t my preferred learning method, I seldom watch YouTube “how to” videos. On one of my whims, however, I watched one on making beans in a pressure cooker. I was more interested in how the video was composed as opposed to what was being said … up until I learned something new about cooking beans from dry.
Up until that point moment, I thought I was pretty well versed on making beans. Strangely enough, I was initially upset that I didn’t already know what I was hearing. Where on earth did that emotion come from?!?!?
Fortunately it was short lived. It was such an aha moment. I was all excited about my new knowledge that I gave DH2U all the cool news with elaborate hand gestures.
So I don’t leave you hanging on the bean news, the trick is to add salt to the soaking water. Yup, I got really excited about that nugget of information.
I tested it out, and the results are excellent. The texture of the beans is so much better since the salt in the water means that the skins don’t split. It is a myth that salt keeps the beans from soaking up the water – when that happens it just means that the beans were old.
I’m blaming my momentary bad attitude on full brain syndrome. Work has me at the bottom of a new learning curve, and I wanted this to be something I already knew. That seems so strange because I was on to see how to cook beans in a pressure cooker – a skill I do not have!
What was the latest new that you learned in an area you feel knowledgeable about? or When was the last time you cooked beans from their dry state?
Grown Up, Now What? 