Part One:
2 lb dried pinto beans
Water
The night before you want to have beans for dinner, you have to soak. Here’s our method to soak the beans:
Rinse and strain beans two or three times. Put in a big soup pot, and add water until beans are very well-covered, two inches or more.
Bring water to a boil. Boil beans for about 10 minutes. Turn off the stovetop, and let the beans sit overnight.
Part Two:
The next morning, you can do one of two things: crockpot or soup pot, or Dutch oven on the stove. Both is the same concept. We are cooking low and slow all day, at least 6 hours, up to 8 hours. (Also, this translates easily to an open fire. Follow all these steps except hang pot over a fire all day!)
To the soup pot that has been sitting overnight, add the following:
Bacon! I brown my chopped-up bacon on an iron skillet right before I add to the pot. Add grease and crispy bacon pieces to the beans. This makes them extra yummy. If you don’t have delicious bacon on hand, fatback thrown into the pot is the more traditional way to do beans.
1 ½ tbsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp salt, sometimes more
1 tsp pepper
If you’re using the Crockpot, the best invention ever, just turn on low for 8 hours.
If you’re using the soup pot on the stove eye, just keep a check on it to make sure it’s simmering all day. I suppose if you boiled them quite rapidly it may be ready in 4 or 6 hours.
Open fire—just keep an eye on them. Cook all day.
Whatever method you choose, just make sure the water doesn’t cook out. You want to keep the liquid above the beans.
Once they are nice and soft, it’s time to eat.
To keep with the theme, you may want to serve with cornbread and a big ol’ onion.
Comments