Cooked dried soybeans were used to extend the protein in recipes that contained just a little meat for flavor. They seemed to disappear from the retail market in the 1950s and 1960s and return as if newly discovered in the 1980s and 1990s.
¾ cup dried soybeans
¼ cup diced salt pork or slab bacon
½ pound ground chuck
1 medium onion, chopped (½ cup)
1 pint home-canned or 1 (15-ounce) can tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ to ¾ teaspoon salt
Day before serving, pick through soybeans, discarding any discolored ones or any foreign material. Rinse soybeans and place in a medium bowl with cold water to cover. Cover and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours. Drain, add water to cover, and cook until tender—1½ to 2 hours, depending upon dryness of soybeans. Drain thoroughly.
To prepare chili, sauté salt pork in large heavy saucepan until browned. Add ground chuck and onion; sauté, stirring occasionally, until well browned.
Stir in drained, cooked soybeans, tomatoes, water, chili powder, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes. Serve.
4 Servings
“We have heard of sweet potato candy for quite a while, now other foods are entering the confectionery field. Candy high in vitamins and nutritive values will be made in the future from wheat germ, soy and peanut products, our old friend cottonseed, and corn products.”—American Cookery, February 1944