Brielle's Avalon

Once upon a time, when we were younger, our families used to drive down to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) and camp out on the dunes. We’d swim, build sand castles, explore, buy fire crackers and such with our saved allowances and have bottle rocket wars on the beach. Whitey would make a BIG pot o’ beans that we’d all eat all weekend. Grand memories! Every once in a while Dad would make a pot of beans and we’d have them for brunch or lunch over buttered bread. Sometimes the simple, quiet memories are the best.

Soak

Rinse a pound of beans well and soak overnight (or at least 4 hours) in enough water to cover them by an inch or two, giving them enough room to expand. What kind of beans? Whatever you have. Kidney beans, navy beans, black beans, great northern beans…I generally use pinto beans because that’s what I grew up with.

Rinse

In the morning rinse them well again,

Season

add a chopped onion, pepper and some bacon or leftover ham (or the whole ham bone) and simmer (don’t boil) them for 2 or 3 hours until they’re tender. Add a bit of epazote if you can get some to help prevent gassienss. OK, you can leave the pork out if you’re vegetarian. Don’t add salt until they’re done. Adding salt during the initial cooking makes them tough. If you’re working with only one hand and can’t chop an onion, either use pre-chopped from the store (if you happen to have any) or just toss in some onion powder or flakes.

Don’t forget to occasionally skim off (with a spoon) the bubbly scum that forms on the top. It isn’t bad, it won’t hurt you, it’s just not wonderful.

Done

Fresh beans may cook faster and be more tender. When they’re done butter a biscuit or piece of bread (fresh out of the oven is best) and cover with several spoonfuls of beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy a fantastic peasant lunch, beer optional. What to do with the rest of the beans? Stay tuned for more posts!

Once again, this is about making your kitchen life easier with leftovers. From one big pot o’ beans you can have a nice lunch (or breakfast or dinner) of beans on toast, then use some to make baked beans to accompany a Bar B Que diner (or lunch or picnic), use another portion to make chili (OK, some argue that it’s not proper to make it with beans, others insist that it must have beans. I’ll leave y’all to argue that in your spare time), then use another portion to make refried beans for another fabulous dinner. Yes, there are many more things you can do with leftover beans. Rice and beans, bean salad, bean dip (if you have any left over from the Mexican dinner), soups, stews (refried helps thickening the broth but whole beans are good, too), over ‘loaded’ baked potatoes or anything else you happen to think they might make a yummy addition to. Yes, I know, don’t end a sentence with a preposition…hey, if you read this far you get a silver star for sticking with me (and if that sentence bugged you you get a gold star for being teacher’s pet in English class). what, the run-on sentence with parentheses didn’t make you twitch to begin with?

OK, preview for other posts on what to do with leftover beans: Chili, baked beans, cassoulet or other casserole, refried beans, soup (like minestrone), rice and beans, bean dip, bean salad (3, 5, whatever number of beans you have) and I’m sure you can Google leftover beans and come up with all sorts of lovely things to make.

Yum!