So yesterday found me in the restaurant kitchen (which was rather like entering a shrine to me) watching her prepare several varieties of heirloom beans: Good Mother Stallard, Dutch Bullets, and Yellow Indian Woman (Lena Cisco's Bird Egg beans are some of her favorites but she was out of those. She gets her beans from Rancho Gordo, from which I have ordered beans that I really like, or Iowa Seed Savers, which I'll try too!). And they were all outstanding, either straight up or refried. Some tips I learned from the class:
- She puts salt in the soaking liquid, which breaks a cardinal rule not to salt beans until they are almost done. But she read about it in Cook's Illustrated and believes it not only doesn't affect the texture of the bean but gives them a lot more flavor. So, I'll be trying that next time.
- Also, she only makes a bit at a time, instead of a whole pound like me. I figure if you're going to make beans, do them all and freeze them. She thinks that messes up the texture (which I've never noticed). But it might solve my lack of freezer space problem if I do, say, a half pound of beans at a time, especially because I'm usually the only one eating them.
- I noticed that she uses a ton more olive oil (a Greek kalamata oil) when she sautes the onions/carrot/celery than I ever would, which she says makes the beans more creamy. Well, I believe her but I can't eat the calories of that much oil, even if it is good for me, but I will try using a bit more than I do. And she sautes it longer on a lower heat than I usually do.
- She cooks the beans in the soaking liquid, which I always had poured off. She says that when using heirloom beans that the soaking liquid doesn't get as funky as it might with less-fresh or bulk beans. Hmmmm. I'd also heard that pouring off the soaking liquid also reduces gas problems, but since I eat beans everyday, I don't have that problem much anymore. And it does give them more flavor.
- Another bean tip: only add the acids--tomatoes, lime, lemon--at the end.
- Also, watch to see if you need more water and never add cold water to cooking beans as it shocks them. Use warm or even boiling water.
- Of course, being a restaurateur and cook, she uses more salt than I would at the end. But it was tasty!
- It seemed to me, though it might not be true, that the beans cooked more quickly, maybe because of the olla, maybe because they were heirlooms.
- She said you can add epazote or 1-2 avocado leaves to the beans for a different Mexican flavor, or try bay leaves for a Greek taste or even sage. I asked about Chinese or Asian bean recipes and she enlightened me by saying that most beans are new world food so you won't find them in Asian cooking so much, beyond mung or maybe fava.
- She also recommends the Rancho Gordo cookbook Heirloom Beans, both for general information and recipes. I have it but only just got the heirloom beans and haven't tried any recipes beyond the basic. She also has Paula Wolfert's book on clay pot cooking (though there are only a few vegetarian recipes).
- She rounded out the meal with guacamole (with broiled tomatillos) and pico de gallo, from recipes from the Mexican Grocer, and altogether it was a scrumptious meal. Plus tortillas warmed on the griddle and tortilla chips made from triangles of tortilla baked until crisp in an oven with grapeseed oil and kosher salt drizzled on top.
I can't tell if the olla produced better beans because a). it's a great pot or b). they were great beans to begin with or even c). someone else made them, but of course I bought one, along with two packets of Good Mother Stallards. I need to season it with some advance soaking but imagine I'll be eating beans tomorrow night!
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Basic Beans in a Clay Pot
Soak 1-3 cups of beans overnight.
Chop 1 carrot, 1 onion, and 1 stalk of celery fine. Add a seeded jalapeno, if you like. Saute in the olla in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Stir occasionally until vegetables are soft and beginning to brown. Add beans and their soaking water. Raise heat so that the beans are bubbling, then lower heat, cover and let cook for 1-3 hours. Taste beans for doneness. Add salt to taste.
Bloodroot
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Refried Beans
Use a small frying pan to dry toast 1 teaspoon whole cumin seed and 1/2 teaspoon whole anise seed over low heat until fragrant. Immediately add 3 tablespoons olive oil, half of a chopped onion, 2 sliced garlic cloves and half a minced jalapeno. Saute until softened. Add a ladle or two of cooked beans and their liquid. Use a potato masher to mash coarsely. Taste for salt. Tuck into a warmed tortilla for breakfast!
Bloodroot
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