Believe it or not, I get asked about this a ton. “Doc, I just can’t make my beans tender”, or “They have no flavor”. Beans are something that should be in everyone’s secret little cooking arsenal. Even though I’ll admit I do have a couple of can’s around for a pinch, I do prefer to cook them my self and leave them in the fridge or freeze them cooked in freezer-proof zip-bag. Beans are a super-food and a nutritional powerhouse. They’re high in fiber, not very high on the glycemic index, and provide protein and complex carbohydrates not to mention they’re PACKED with vitamins and minerals. this is my own basic recipe i use to keep beans on hand. Every restaurant or banquet kitchen I’ve run has done beans this way because it’s simple, cheap, and convenient. This makes about 4 cups of cooked beans.
2 cups dry beans (white, kidney, black, whatever)
1 clove garlic
1/4 onion, just peeled
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig sage
1 tbsp. salt
2 oz. salt pork (you an use prosciutto, county ham, pancetta, bacon, or whatever salty pork you have. Beans don’t hate, I promise), this is optional, you can omit it if you’re a veg head.
1. Cover the beans in water and just let them site over night. You’ll see they double in size, like this:
2. The next day, drain your beans and combine all of your ingredients in a pot. Add some water. Not too much but make sure the beans are covered by about an inch. This amount will vary but it’s usually between 2 and 21/2 cups. Bring everything to a boil then pull it down to a lazy simmer. this is when the magic happens. The beans will cook slowly and evenly so they’re not unevenly cooked, and all of those beautiful flavors from the pork, herbs, garlic and onions will permeate the beans. Now we’ve solved your “Not cooked right” and “No flavor” problems.
3. When the beans are done, just drain them and let them cool. They’ll stay good for about 5 days. You can eat them just like this or add them to soups, or make some really cool side dishes and dips with them. We’ll do a couple things with white beans next week, but remember beans are pretty much interchangeable.
Easy right? They can be time consuming, but they really don’t need you’re attention when they’re cooking,. Just let them go. As if I haven’t sung their praises enough, beans are also very versatile, so now you have another reason to do them form scratch. Got questions? Leave below, I’ll get to you.
-Happy Eating
The Doctor