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hill
o' beans
how to cook dried beans
by Yee-Fan Sun | 1
2 3 4
continued from page 3
get
cooking: basic cooked beans
Bean cooking times can vary wildly, even when within the same variety of
bean. For everything except lentils, I always plan to be cooking for two
to three hours. It may take less time (particularly with smaller and
fresher beans, which can cook up in as little as an hour). Should that
occur, fabulous! But for me at least, it's pretty rare that I've been
able to get my beans cooked to the proper tender consistency in less
than two hours (perhaps because my beans always seem to have been
sitting around for ages before I get around to doing anything with
them). Consequently, I save cooking dried beans for days when I know I
have plenty of time and patience to let them slowly bubble away on the
stove.
When you find yourself with
just such a day, take your drained sorted beans (presoaked or not) and
place them in a big pot with plenty of fresh water. Your beans should be
thoroughly covered in water, and there should be a very generous amount
of room in the pot for beans to expand and bubble away (remember, dried
beans grow to at least double their size once soaked and cooked; even if
you've presoaked, your cooked beans will get bigger during this cooking
process). If cooking without presoaking, you'll need at least an extra
inch of water on top.
| Bring
the water to a boil, skimming off the scummy foam that forms at
the top and discarding it. Lower the heat to a very gentle bubble,
and let the beans do their thing. You'll want to check on the
beans from time to time -- say every fifteen minutes -- to monitor
their progress, give the whole thing a stir, and add more water if
the pot looks like it's drying out before the beans are fully
cooked. Once the beans are beginning to get tender, add salt to
taste; continue cooking until they've reached the desired
consistency. (If you're planning to mash them, you might want them
to be almost falling apart; if they're going in a salad, on the
other hand, you'll probably need them to be firmer). |
| better
than basic beans
You can cook beans in just water and salt if you like, but
for more flavor, you can also gussy them up with some
additional ingredients. Try tossing any of the following
into your big pot o' beans, alone or in judicious
combination:
• An onion,
halved or quartered, fished out after the beans are cooked
• Two bay leaves, fished out after the beans are
cooked
• A teaspoon of dried epazote, a Mexican herb that
supposedly reduces flatulence, and provides a distinctive
flavor as well
• A couple sprigs of fresh rosemary (esp. with
white beans), fished out after the beans are cooked.
• A couple slabs of bacon, removed after the beans
are cooked |
|
save it for
later: storing cooked beans
You can use the beans straight away if you like, pretty much in the same
way you'd use canned beans -- in salads, in soups, sautéed with herbs
and spices, mashed into a dip, cooked up with rice … the possibilities
are almost endless. But unless you're feeding a crowd, chances are good
that your big pot of beans has provided far more bean than you could
possibly eat in a single meal. Store the extra cooked beans by
transferring them to small plastic containers, covering them in bean
cooking liquid, and freezing for later use.
o check
out these related articles:
the clueless cook's handbook
| cooking on the cheap | souper
duper soup
basics
check
out some bean recipes:
lemony lentils | veggie
enchilada | spicy
vegetarian chili | caribbean
beans and rice
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