Basic Beans
Recipe Type: Entree
Author:
Serves: 2-3 cups
This recipe works for most types of beans, and adapts to any flavorings you choose. Soaking beans for up to 8 hours ahead of time will reduce cooking time, and is recommended unless you have very fresh dried beans such as those from Ayers Creek Farm. This recipe is a starting point: You can use more, less or different aromatic vegetables, including garlic or leeks. You can add herbs, such as fresh thyme or sage; spices, such as dried chiles or peppercorns; or a scrap of prosciutto or bacon if you want. For more character, use a little stock in place of some of the water.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried beans
- 1 small carrot, peeled, split lengthwise and cut into a few chunks
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and trimmed, leaving the root end intact, and halved
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and place in a 2-quart saucepan. Add cold water to cover by about an inch and bring to a simmer. Skim any foam. Stir, then add the carrot, onion and bay leaf. Maintaining a very gentle simmer, cook the beans uncovered until tender but not mushy, anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the variety of the bean and how dry it was. Stir occasionally early on, especially if you are cooking larger quantities, so those on the bottom are not crushed, and add water as necessary so that the beans remain just covered. To test for doneness, place a few beans and a little cooking liquid in a cup and set in the freezer for a minute to cool a bit. Taste one. If it is tender through and shows no trace of raw starchiness, pull the pan from the heat and add salt to taste, gently stirring to make sure it will be evenly absorbed. Taste the bean liquid for salt, not the beans, which will take a while to absorb it. Stir in the olive oil.
- Serve immediately, alone or in salads, brothy soups or pasta dishes. Otherwise, let the beans cool in their liquid, then store, still in their liquid, covered and refrigerated for up to 4 or 5 days.
- — Adapted from “Zuni Cafe Cookbook,” by Judy Rodgers