Saturday, June 29, 2013

Beans, no rice, please!

As I mentioned before, my Mamaw made delicious beans.  A humble food, beans are often overlooked as being a satisfying and sustaining main dish.  As a society, I think we've turned away from our more traditional beans to patronize the more "interesting" and exotic beans from other cultures.  I am personally guilty of this, but have recently come back home to good ole beans like my Mamaw used to make.

Mamaw always cooked pinto beans.  They were her favorite and I can't blame her.  When cooked using her method, the beans are soft and creamy and the pot liquor is rich, silky, and flavorful.  With or without a few fixin's, this is really a treat in a bowl.

The key to this recipe is time.  Don't get all discouraged.  I don't mean attention hogging obsessive stirry and labor intensive time.  I mean letting time do the work for you.  In our culture of instant gratification and heat and eat foods, we are losing the concept of letting time do the work for you.  This type of cooking was a godsend before the advent of near instant microwave cooking and the prepared food boom.  My grandmother and people before her used this type of cooking to free them up to do their other chores or take that seldom but hard earned break.  So, you will need to remind yourself to get this recipe started on the day BEFORE you want to eat it.  You'll also need to leave a few hours to cook the beans on the day you want to eat them.  Don't be daunted.  Good things come to those who wait.  I promise.

The Ingredients List Is:
  • Dried Pinto Beans (a small bag or at LEAST 1 cup of beans)
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Cayenne Pepper
  • Ham hock or jowls
Your kitchen tools are:
  • Heavy pot with a lid for cooking the beans in.  I like my enameled iron pot.  You probably have a favorite.  Just be sure it's heavy.  Long cooking is a heavy subject.
  • A colander in which to wash and drain your beans
  • Electric kettle or a pan of boiling water (use this during the cooking phase)
Ingredients, simple
Yep, that's it.  Mamaw was never a fancy cook.  She prepared simple, homely food that nourished and satisfied.  That's what food is really for.  Although I am a food fan and love examining and experiencing other cultures through cuisine, the fact of the matter is that food, at it's most basic level is there to give your body fuel to burn and make you feel satisfied.  Anything beyond that is gravy.  (har har har).  All the culinary contortions of haute cuisine are there to make people feel other things such as superiority or excitement in the exotic.  They elevate food beyond the most basic level and that's nice.  However, when you look at a humble food, like Mamaw's pot of beans, you see the roots of cooking and of your home life, if you were lucky enough to have a mother or father, sibling, or grandparent who could cook.  The simple flavors of this homely style of cooking allow you to taste the ingredients.  They rely on good quality ingredients to make the meal something enjoyable.  This "taste the ingredients" approach is something that the culinary world is coming back to.  Some say it's an Asian influence, but I say it's a return to home and real home style cooking.

Getting off the soapbox now.  Back to the regularly scheduled program, the Prep Phase.  De-clutter an area on your counter.  It needs to be big enough to spill your beans onto.  (ha!)  Clean it up and then spill your beans.  Pat them out so that they are a one bean thick layer.  Look for any beans that look bug eaten, off color, or just yucky.  You have plenty, so pick out the ones you don't like.  Don't get obsessive, though.  You don't want to be here all day.  Also look for any stray pebbles or clumps of dirt that may have slipped in disguised as a bean.  It still happens, despite our modern processes.  Now, put your beans into a colander and put them under cold running water.  Swish them around a good bit to wash them thoroughly.  The last thing you want in your beans is gritty dirt.  3 minutes of washing is more than sufficient, if you are semi-vigorous.  You can put the beans in pot you're going to cook them in.
In their bath, ready to soak overnight
Cover the beans in the pot with cold water.  I generally use a whole lot of water with 2-3" over the top of the beans.  The beans are going to suck up a lot of this water.  You want them to have more than they can drink.  Now, sit the pot in a quiet spot on the counter or your stove top; walk away, and stay away.  Here we come to the first instance of letting time do the work for you.  These beans need to take a good long drink of water.  They need at least 8 hours of drinking, in my humble opinion.  That's why I like to get the beans ready and in their bath the night before I cook them.  I put them in and wish them a good night.  When I get up in the morning, I can make my tea and get them wound up for the Cooking Phase.

So, after your beans have enjoyed their bath, they're ready to experience the jacuzzi.  Drain off 2/3 of the bath water that your beans were in.  There should be clear water on the top and a brown color on the bottom.  I leave that brownish bit in as I feel there is flavor in there.  Some people don't ascribe to that and drain off all the water.  There is even a school of thought that this helps decrease gas production in the gut.  I'm not sure about that, speaking from personal experience.  Add back enough cold water to cover your beans by 1".  Add in your ham hock or jowl.  Now, put the beans on the burner and crank it up.  You want the beans to boil and there is no need to be shy here.  Once the beans are boiling, reduce the heat to low and put on the lid.  Go ahead and get ready with a pot or pan of hot water.  Keep it hot and ready. You only want to add hot water to your beans as they cook.  I do think that adding cold water to the pot is detrimental to the cooking process.  Let your beans simmer slowly (blurp, burp, blurp) for a while.  Check your beans every once in a while to see if they need some water added.  When you add water, remember to only add the HOT water.  You are going to cook those beans low and slow for about 3 hours, maybe 4.  The longer the better.  You're going to make those beans start unwinding themselves into that pot.  Their proteins are going to come out and the starches cook apart.  Your broth is going to get thick and, well, bean colored.  After about 2 to 3 hours, add salt and your cayenne pepper.  Salt to taste, so add a little, taste and then add a little more.  You will put in more than you expect, but like potatoes and other starchy foods, beans can take a lot of salt before some think they're tasty.  As for the cayenne, add at least 1/8 teaspoon to a full bag of beans.  I use more, but we like things spicy.
These beans cooked low and slow for 8 hours today with home made bacon
The Eating Phase: The beans are ready when they very easily smoosh between your fingers.  Yes, that is a technical term.  I serve them plain in a bowl with some chopped white onion on top.  Eat them hot with some cornbread for a heart warming treat.  Plus corn and beans give you all the amino acids you need, so it's a complete meal.  Another great thing about  beans is that they're better the next day.  When you get them out of the fridge, you know you've gotten it right when the beans are thick and almost gelled. Flap those bad boys in a bowl, nuke and eat some more.  NOM!
Notice the thick, rich "broth", so silky

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