This meal reminds me of eating at my grandmother’s growing up. A classic southern meal. Using your slow cooker makes it super-simple and if you make extra beans, you can drain them and freeze to use later, instead of buying canned beans at the grocery store!
I made corn cakes instead of a full skillet of cornbread, because we didn’t need as much and I figured my kids would be more likely to eat it as cakes. Then I pulled some diced potatoes out of the freezer. I didn’t have any Chow Chow on hand, which I love, but I did have some spicy dill pickles which worked nicely.
This is a perfect summertime meal if you use your slow cooker. It helps keep the house cool since you don’t have to keep the stove top on for a few hours to cook to beans. You can also cook the corn cakes in a cast iron skillet on the grill to keep the heat factor down in the summer!
- 3.5 cups northern beans, dry
- 6-8 cups water
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- ½ large onion, diced
- 2 cups corn meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 – 1½ cups milk
- Soak beans overnight or 5-8 hours. ( I actually soaked mine from 6am-11am, then cooked them in the slow cooker on high.)
- Place into slow cooker, and cover with water, about 2 inches above beans. Add diced onions, salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook on high for 4 hours, reduce and cook on low for 2 more hours. Salt and pepper to taste before serving.
- Mix all ingredients, adding more milk if batter is too thick.
- Heat a cast iron skillet on med-high, then add about 1-2 teaspoons oil. Test heat, batter should sizzle if hot enough.
- Drop batter like pancakes into pan. I was able to get about 3 per batch. Turn when cake starts looking solid and has small air holes in it.
Recipe developed by Kelly Hancock ©2010 Faithful Provisions. For personal use only. May not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed for capital gain without prior permission from Kelly Hancock.
Yum!!!! One of my favorite meals is white beans, corn cakes and pickles!!!!
I come from a family of Texans and Californians, so I grew up on the Southwestern version of this meal: pinto beans and cornbread or cornmeal pancakes. I like to season my cornmeal pancakes with pepper and oregano, pour them out really big, and use them as a substitute for pancakes.
sounds yummy, so you just soak the beans in some water overnight and then cook with onions the next day?
We make meals like this all the time and they are not really that unhealthy. I don’t fry the cornbread for one thing, I bake it so that helps. The white beans are healthy. I can’t tell how you cooked your potatoes…maybe fried? If the potatoes and the bread are both fried, it may not be the healthiest. I am a southern girl and cook meals that are down-home delicious and healthy. Just not so much frying.
WOW! That does remind me of my growing up years. I’ve not made what my mother just called “fried cornbread” for my family, but think I’ll try it. Great Northerns are a standard around my house. I have a grandson who has autism. The “helicopter beans” are one of the very few things he loves. Yep, I said “here comes the helicopter” first time I fooled him into trying them, and they’re still helicopter beans even though he’s now 11 years old.
Should you forget to soak the beans overnight, you can cover with water and bring them to a boil, then let them sit for an hour. Works like an overnight soak.
My family loves the fried corn bread and it is much quicker than baking it. I use low fat margarine to cook mine and it is delicious. Sometimes I add some chopped onion to it.