Beans, beans, the musical fruit
The more you eat, the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So let's have beans for every meal!
My father loved this little diddy. If your beans are really making you toot, you haven't done them right. I'm a soaker. It takes a bit of forethought, but I rarely encounter the toot problem. There are totally those of the other school of thought who say that you can just cook them from their dry state. I think the only way this can really work is if you start them in cold water. Ever seen Daily Martinez on the Create channel? She does all that Puerto Rican cooking? She never soaks her beans and they turn out fine. On TV anyway. BUT she does start them in cold water, then brings them to a boil and simmers them for at least two hours. One advantage of soaking them before hand is that you don't have to cook them quite as long. Maybe one hour instead of two. What you will find here is my basic formula for beans. Depending on the bean, I might soak them longer, like with garbanzo beans, or maybe add a bit of bacon like with...well, pretty much any bean can get the bacon treatment.
BASIC BEAN BEGINNINGS
What you'll need:
2 cups of dried beans (this is good for two people with some leftovers)
2 dried Bay leaves
Put your 2 cups of dried beans in a big bowl. Cover them with cold water, enough so that there is about 2 inches of water above the surface of the beans. Put a plate over the top of the bowl and let it sit on the counter for 4 - 8 hours. The longer they soak, the less time they need to cook. Careful about over-soaking though. Since they aren't in the fridge, they can get moldy. Overnight is okay, but you'll want to start cooking them by lunch time the next day.
Once they've had their soak in the pool, rinse them off in a colander. Pick out any bits that aren't beans. Sometimes there are little stones of twigs in there. Place your beans in a big, heavy bottomed pot and cover them with water. This time, I put about an inch above the level of the beans. You can put more in as they are cooking if you need. Drop in your 2 bay leaves and turn on the heat. Bring them to a boil, then take the heat down and simmer. Don't salt them. Salt makes the beans tough. Blech.
Start checking them at one hour. Take a couple beans out of the pot and squish 'em. They should be smooth and creamy on the inside. No "bones" in your beans. Once they have reached this divine state, you are ready for anything. Don't forget to pick out the bay leaves. Here's a couple of my go-to bean variations;
REFRIED BEANS
What you'll need:
2 cups of cooked black or pinto beans
2 pieces of bacon cut into small pieces
Red pepper flakes (this is one of those basics I always have on hand)
Half an onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
Get out your skillet. Toss in the bacon, spreading it out evenly in the pan. Throw in the red pepper flakes once the bacon fat has rendered a little bit. Toast them a couple seconds. Once your bacon has cooked about half way, which to me means that the edges are a little crispy but there is still white fatty bits visible, toss in the garlic and the onions. Cook all these guys together until the bacon is done. Now, when I do this I have my bean pot next to the skillet, still hot, awaiting participation. At this point, I use a slotted spoon to add my beans to the skillet with the bacon. Mix the beans, bacon, onion, and garlic all together in the skillet. As you mix, add some of the beans cooking liquid to keep it moist. Experiment with the amount of liquid that YOU like. More or less, there's no rule. It's all about what you want. If you don't use all the beans, don't stress. Save them in the fridge, we'll use them for something else.
Salt and pepper to taste. Easy on the salt since you have a bunch of bacon in there. At this point you can either eat the beans as is, or you can squish them up with a potato masher. I find that left whole, the beans are great for tacos. Smooshed, they make for good dipping with chips.
LIDIA'S GARBANZO BEANS WITH CHARD.
I don't do this very often, but I'm copying a recipe below. GASP! Well, okay, it's an augmented copy. I changed a couple things, but it's from Lidia Bastianich, the big Italian woman from the Create channel. (I watch a lot of public access, in case that wasn't obvious already.) Garbanzo beans want to be soaked longer, but you can use the basic cooking technique just like the other beans. In fact, there is no shame in using canned garbanzo beans, like this recipe does. I like canned garbanzos over any other canned beans. I also really like that this recipe includes her reserving and using the water that the pasta is cooked in. It's wonderful stuff! It's flavorful and has some starch in it so it thickens sauces. This recipe is also a great example of good fast-food. It takes as much time as the pasta takes to cook. Hoooo-ray.
This is also another one you can tweak. You could add onions, or bell peppers. You could do this with chard instead of spinach. Squash? Why not, zucchini is one of Christine's favorites.
Tuscan Gemelli with Ceci
Cook gemelli according to package directions in salted water until al-dente. Reserve water. Add 1 tsp oil to large saute pan. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Add garlic and cook 1 minute, or until garlic is just before burning. Add some pasta water to pan and deglaze the bottom. Add 1 tsp oil to pan and add spinach. Toss and cook until spinach is wilted down. Add gemelli and mix well. Add just enough pasta water to create a slight sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until flavors are well blended. Salt to taste. Stir in cheese and serve.
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