Let's cook up a Pot of Beans

Cafe Society
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I’m cooking a pot of Great Northern White Beans today. I’m doing it on the top of the stove in my heavy dutch oven.

I’ve added onion and big pieces of a smoked beef sausage and salt and pepper. That’s it. Oh water, of course. I can’t remember if I added celery salt and or cumin the last time I made these, so I’ll taste the broth in a bit and decide if I want to add those.

I grew up on Cuban style black beans, but I haven’t made them in ages. Hm, I may try those for my next pot.

So, let’s talk beans!

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I use Butter Beans, Great Northern Beans and Garbanzo Beans.
Ham steak
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Cabbage
Oh, and a can of Rotel Tomatoes for some zing.

Very hearty.

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That does sound good. I totally should have used carrots. Dang.

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You posted a recipe for these years ago and it’s become a part of my regular rotation.

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I’m happy to hear that. I don’t know why I have stopped making them.

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There’s a market near here which has its own smokehouse, and it sells bacon, ham, smoked pork chops, etc. They sell a marvelously smokey and meaty pork shank, and I always buy one when I go there. A shank is superior to a hamhock because it has plenty of meat and a minimum of fat and skin.

Then it gets braised in the dutch oven with a lot of beans. Red beans are a good choice, as are great northerns. But my favorite is pink beans, which are becoming rare. They were a thing in the 80s, as they accompanied the tri-tip barbecue meal made popular by Reagan.

Pink beans taste similar to pintos, but in my opinion, even better. They’re a little smaller than pintos but a little firmer and creamier. I made a smoked pork shank with pink beans a few days ago, and there are leftovers in the fridge. I serve it mixed with rice, as an homage to the red beans and rice recipe from my Alabama grandmother, though my current version would not be recognizable to anyone from the south.

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Great northerns and smoked hamhocks. Add some diced onions and that’s about it. Also, black bean chili.

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My go-to is a 15-bean soup mix I get in the grocery store (don’t remember the brand name). Brown some ham hocks, throw in a goodly amount of onion, then the beans, diced ham, Better than Bouillon chicken and roasted garlic concentrates. Can’t pair them with rice anymore, because diabetes, but I can get by with Jiffy Muffin Mix cornbread, as long as I watch my portions closely.

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I love making a mess of beans from packages of dried. I have a massive ham bone in the freezer and I take a hacksaw and cut off a chunk of it for primary seasoning. Pintos, black beans, fava beans, great northern, navy beans, red kidney beans, they’re all good.

I do them in the pressure cooker: one run with just water at 15 psi, then dump and replace the water and add the ham bone and other seasoning. Don’t have to soak overnight that way.

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My Basic Beans lately have been black beans with a mirepoix (celery, carrot, onion) and a jalepeno or two. A bit of sausage if I have it.

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Could we get a repost?

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I make Great Northern or sometimes smaller white beans with any type of ham or smoked meat. Sometimes making Bean with Bacon soup using loads of crispy bacon and some brown sugar to get something similar to the Campbells canned version I liked as a kid. The beans are mostly mashed up to thicken the soup.

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I’ve always really liked this cannellini beans and pork tenderloin recipe, although it’s not quite the same as cooking up a pot of beans, as you kind of have two things going at once:

That said, just the beans part of the recipe is really delicious.

Otherwise, I’m a sucker also for a simple Senate bean soup or, if I’m feeling spicier and more porky, Jokai bableves (Jokai bean soup):

https://www.offbeatbudapest.com/hungarian-food-recipes/jokai-bean-soup-jokai-bableves/

(Or here is my recipe on another site I belong to, where I go under the handle Binko. This one is more a general history, philosophy, and technique style of recipe.)

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I often make the rice and beans recipe below and it is delicious and easy. Here is my latest pot of it from a few days ago:

RECIPE, MAKES 10-12 PORTIONS

For the beans:

1 lb dried black beans
1 onion
1 bell pepper
2 jalapeño peppers
2-3 tablespoons ground cumin
2-3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
salt
pepper
olive oil
water
lime wedges for garnish

For the brown rice:

1 lb dried brown rice
5 cups water
1.5 teaspoons salt
juice of two limes
cilantro to taste
olive oil

For the pickled onions:

1 red onion
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

The night before you want to eat, put the beans in a large bowl and cover them with at least a few inches of water to soak.

Start the pickles by thinly slicing the red onion. Dissolve the sugar into the vinegar in a bowl that isn’t made out of aluminum. Toss the onions in the pickling liquid. Cover and refrigerate. Stir them when you wake up in the morning.

The next day, start the beans by chopping up the onion and peppers and cooking them in olive oil in a big pot until they start to soften. Drain the beans and discard the soaking water. Add them to the pot along with enough fresh water to cover by an inch. Put in the oregano, cumin, pepper, garlic powder, vinegar and sugar. Don’t put in the salt yet. Simmer the pot for two hours, or until the beans are soft, stirring occasionally. Put in additional water if the beans ever stop being submerged.

As soon as you’ve got the beans simmering, start the rice by toasting the grains in a little olive oil in a hot pot for a minute or until the rice smells nutty. Add the water and salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about an hour, or until the water is absorbed. Juice in the limes, add as much chopped cilantro as you want, and stir it in. Leave the rice to rest on a warm setting for an hour or until the beans are ready.

When the beans are soft, add salt to taste, and maybe some more vinegar or sugar. Turn off the heat and let them cool at least 15 minutes to allow the liquid to thicken.

Put some rice on a plate, some beans on the rice, some onions and additional cilantro on the side with a lime wedge.

The recipe came from this YouTube video by Adam Ragusea.

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I think this is the one.

1 14 oz bag of dry black beans
2 quarts water
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons of cumin
1 green bell pepper cleaned and cut into quarters
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 tablespoons of minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup pure Spanish olive oil
3 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1/4 cup dry white sherry wine
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Rinse beans, discard any stones and soak overnight in large pot with the baking soda, oregano, cumin and green pepper.
The next day, cook beans in the same water for about three hours until the beans are tender and the liquid is reduced and somewhat thickened. Don’t let the liquid totally boil away though so add water when necessary.

In a small pan, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add about three large tablespoons of the beans to this mixture and stir, simmering several minutes before adding all of this back to the beans. Mix well and then add the vinegar, wine, salt and remaining cumin. Cook about 20 more minutes and serve over rice.

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Substitute garlic for the onions and add some vinegar at the end and that’s my Granny’s ham and beans. Which I’m now craving.

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Hey, I’ve got that same enameled Lodge dutch oven! Nice & roomy, and heavy as a freaking boat anchor.

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One of the better purchases I have ever made (kinda cheap when I got it years ago). I use it a lot. Very versatile and durable. But yeah…it is freaking heavy. Fill it with liquid and it is a monster to handle (add the lid to take it to 11).

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There you go!! Gotta put in a little vinegar.

Beans are my best friend. I can usually eat as much as I want.

We do beans at least once a week around here.

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nods Yeah, I went out intending to acquire a Le Creuset dutch oven. Saw the Lodge for something like 1/6th the price. It gets a lot of use in our kitchen too.