Ingredients:
- 1 lb. of dried beans
- 1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes
- 1 small/medium onion
- fresh garlic
- 2 slices bacon
- fresh cilantro
- 1 fresh jalapeño pepper
- salt
- black pepper
- chili powder
- whatever else strikes your fancy (mushrooms, bell pepper, fresh chives, etc.)
It’s going to take almost 24 hours if you do beans the right way, so plan ahead. That’s fair; they’re worth it! And they’re even better the next day, and the next day, and the .....!
This recipe has always been used with dried pinto beans, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with any kind of dried beans. Pour the dried beans out on a flat surface (table or counter top) and pick over them. What you’re looking for are clumps of dirt and any beans that are mildewed looking. You probably won’t find any of either - the quality of modern packaging methods is pretty high. What I do is pick out and discard all the broken beans. That’s probably not entirely necessary but it gives me something to do while I’m looking the beans over.
Place the beans in a 4 1/2 qt. sauce pan and fill the pan with water. Let the beans soak at least 8 hours (overnight is convenient) then pour all the water off the beans and refill the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the beans. Start the heat under the beans and add the other ingredients.
The tomatoes don’t have to be diced - whole peeled tomatoes work just fine, even fresh ones - the cooking process will separate and blend in the tomatoes.
I use a pair of ordinary scissors to cut the 2 strips of bacon into small strips ~ say, make a cut across the grain every 1/4 inch or so.
Don’t be afraid of the one fresh jalapeño. If you cut the stem end off, slice the pepper long-ways into 1/4ths and remove all the seeds and white membrane and then dice the pepper up into small pieces, it won’t add any “heat” to the beans, just flavor. You do want to wash your hands, the knife and the cutting board with soap when you get through handling the jalapeño.
I use two or three medium cloves of fresh garlic, diced up pretty fine. Garlic powder will work if you don’t have any fresh.
I like to cut the onion up into fairly small pieces - maybe 1/4 inch in any dimension. I feel like things blend together better if they are cut up pretty small.
The fresh cilantro may be a problem in some areas. Check in your local grocery store, usually next to the fresh parsley - you might be surprised. I use about 5 or 6 good sprigs. I rinse it off good, cut off the tips of the stems and then chop all the rest into pieces about 1/4 to 3/8 inch long. If you can’t find fresh cilantro, check in the dried spices section. The Brand name “Spice Islands” (and probably others) packages a dried Cilantro (Coriander Leaf) in the 0.5 oz. bottle. I’d use about a teaspoon of the dried leaf to start out with and then adjust up or down to taste as I cooked more beans.
The other spices are sort of up to individual taste. I use about 3 teaspoons of salt, maybe about 1/3 teaspoon of black pepper and about twice that of chili powder. Go a little light on the pepper & chili powder unless you’re used to spicy foods - they kind of boost each other up in heat. There’s some controversy about the salt. Some folks say not to add the salt until the beans are just about done, as salt slows down the cooking process. Maybe so. But these beans should cook for about 6 to 8 hours anyway, so I don’t think you’d notice whether they got done any sooner or not. I’ve tried it both ways and I think it tastes a little better with the salt cooked in the whole time.
Place the beans over medium heat until they start to boil, then reduce the heat until you get a slow simmer in a covered pan. What you’re looking for is about 6 to 8 hours of a very slow simmer - keep checking and reducing the heat. If you cook the beans in an open pan, or at too much of a boil, you’ll lose too much of the liquid (bean juice!) which is the best part of a bowl of beans. You can always add more water if things get too dry, but you’ll need to cook it with the beans for an hour or more to get it thoroughly mixed in.
This recipe is definitely not fast food. It’s a good combination of flavors cooked together long enough to blend into something special. I think most of the ingredients are probably optional but I would think that a very basic pot of bean should have some sort of animal fat (bacon, salt pork or maybe some 'possum, for instance), probably some onion and a little pepper of some sort. It’s hard to imagine beans with no salt but I guess it would be possible if you couldn’t (or shouldn’t) eat salt. Also, this is a good recipe for the crock pot ~ get the beans to a slow simmer and leave them alone for 6 to 8 hours. Something even a man can do.
