Not feeling much into tools, glue, and paint today, I offer yet another food craft, this one very ancient. Let us us speak of beans. Wonderful, delicious, amazingly nutritious and astonishingly cheap beans!
You can buy beans, as you no doubt have noticed, mighty cheap in bulk at places like Sprouts and at various ethnic stores. Canned beans also are cheap, but IMHO they’re soggy and never as good as dried beans made from scratch.
So you have a bag of these dried beans. What do do with them?
Dried beans can be cooked in a pressure cooker, but I don’t do so because the prospect of clogging the safety valve gives me the whim-whams. Instead, I cook them in a regular Dutch oven on the stove.
Just about any kind of dried beans can be treated this way. I happen to favor great northerns. Also much enjoyed: pinto beans, navy beans, black beans…oh what the heck. Try them all!
Stovetop, you have a choice of (relatively) fast-cooking them or of preparing them the traditional way. Either way, you need the following:
- 1. A cup or two of beans
- 2. Five or six cups of water (the proportions are very forgiving: just add plenty of water, enough to cover the beans two or three times as deep as they are in the pan)
- 3. A colander or big strainer
- 4. A big pot
The Quick Way (and “quick” is a relative term here)
Put the beans in a colander or large strainer. Run your fingers through the dry beans, picking them over to remove shriveled-up or discolored beans and any little field stones that might have made it all the way to the market.
Rinse well under cold running tap water.
Pour the cleaned dry beans into a big pot. Cover generously with water-I use about five cups water for a cup or so of beans. The beans will swell up and make lots more food than first appears to be the case.
Turn the heat to high and bring the pot to a boil. If you’re using an electric stove, turn one of the other burners to low, so it will be ready when you need it. As soon as the water comes to a rolling boil, count off 60 seconds.
When one minute at a fast boil is over, turn the flame to low (or turn off the hot electric burner and move the pot to the burner set to low). Allow the beans to simmer gently until they reach the stage of softness you like. Simmer; don’t cook at a full boil. I personally prefer mine on the soft side of al dente; others may like them soggier. The longer you allow them to simmer, the softer they will get.
This process may take from 40 to 90 minutes, depending on your preference and on how old the beans are. The older the beans, the longer it takes them to soften up.
You can tell when beans are done by blowing on a few in a spoon. If the skin peels off when you blow on them, they’re ready to eat. Taste them, though, to check for your desired degree of doneness.
You now have a pot of cooked beans, which you can use in a vast array of recipes. See below for a couple of easy ones.
The Classic Way
I believe an old-fashioned overnight soak yields a much better cooked bean. The fast-cook method gives you a fairly mushy product. With this approach, the beans stay firmer and they seem to taste better. Also, the extra change of water diminishes the “toot” effect we all know and love.
Start the evening before you intend to cook. Pick over and wash the beans, as described above. Place them in a pot and cover well with water, cover the pot, set the pot aside, and go away. Allow the beans to soak in the water at least 12 hours.
Next morning, drain the water off through a colander or large strainer. Rinse the beans under running water. Place the beans back in the pot and cover generously with water again. (Five or six cups to about a cup or so of beans.)
If you would like to add a bit of flavor at this stage, you can put in a coarsely cut up onion and a piece of salt pork or a smoked ham hock. But it’s also good to cook the beans in just plain water and gussy them up later.
Turn the heat to medium and allow the water to come to a simmer. Turn the heat down and regulate it to keep the water simmering gently. Cover and allow to cook slowly for an hour or so. Check now and again for doneness by blowing on a few beans held up in a spoon; if the skin peels off when you blow on it, the beans are about ready.
Recipes
Beans á la Mode of My Great-Grandmother
Having learned this as a child in the kitchen of a grand old lady who was born in the 1860s, grew up in New England, and spent her adult life in California (when California was California), I love beans in their simplest form.
Using a slotted spoon, lift cooked beans out of the hot liquid and place in a bowl. Add a pat of butter, if desired. Sprinkle with white vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. If desired, add a dash of Tabasco sauce.
Fastest Comfort Food in the West
Once you have a pot of cooked beans, you can whip up a very fast and very delicious dish.
Drain the water off the beans. Cover the bottom of a small frying pan with olive oil. Mince some garlic and, if you have them, cut up some fresh herbs. If you don’t have any fresh, use dried herbs of any variety that pleases you. I generally use marjoram or thyme, oregano, chives, parsley, and sometimes tarragon-any or all of those. In the dried herb department, a teaspoon or two of fines herbes will do nicely.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic. Stir the garlic around for a minute or two, till it softens. Add the beans, stir around a bit, add the herbs, and stir until the whole mess is heated through. Sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon. Or a whole lemon, if you like. Season with salt and pepper. Eat. Enjoy.
This makes a great side dish, an awesome bean sandwich, or a fine lunch with a little salad.
If you use canned beans, drain the beans in a colander and rinse well before proceeding with the recipe.
Bean Salad
Cook a pound of white beans, in the fashion described above; hold the onion and pork. When done, drain the beans well.
Combine the following to make a dressing:
- 1. 2 Tbsp white vinegar
- 2. 1 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard
- 3. 4 drops Tabasco sauce (optional-I never have this around)
- 4. Whisk in 1/3 cup olive oil or other vegetable oil
Place the warm beans in a bowl. Add these to the beans:
- 1. 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil
- 2. 1 ½ tsp chopped mint leaves, or 1 tsp. or so dried mint
- 3. 3 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 4. 2 chopped green onion
- 5. ½ tsp finely minced garlic.
Stir together with the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill at least 6 hours. Before serving, add cherry tomatoes and garnish with sprigs of mint.
As you can imagine, this gets better overnight. With a loaf of French bread, it’s a perfect summer meal.
Boston Baked Beans
These are meant to be sweet and porky.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Drain the cooked beans well. Place them in a baking pot. Bury a quarter-pound piece of salt pork or a smoked ham hock in them. Mix in about ½ tsp dry mustard plus a half-cup of maple syrup, or a quarter-cup molasses plus 2 Tbsp sugar. Then cover with boiling water. Cover the bean pot, place it in the oven, and let the beans bake all day: 8 to 10 hours. Check now and again and add more hot water if necessary.
This also is a dish that gets better after spending a night in the fridge. And IMHO cold Boston baked beans are right up there with leftover meatloaf as the Perfect Sandwich Filling.
