tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3167341474802080449.post6358645918823964434..comments2021-03-24T23:17:07.521-04:00Comments on Ben Cooks Everything: Staple: Cooked BeansBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16297715790571225588noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3167341474802080449.post-31668513862597220762021-03-24T23:17:07.521-04:002021-03-24T23:17:07.521-04:00Interesting. I learned to cook from my GMa startin...Interesting. I learned to cook from my GMa starting at age 4, standing on a chair at the stove while she cooked a Cuban staple, black beans. She always cleaned by rinsing and removing 'bad beans'x 3. The 4th water covered the beans to soak overnight. I was taught that long soak made the beans tender, which helped make the bean's own 'gravy' that soaked into the white rice it would go atop. We cooked white, pink, navy beans the same. As a woman, I moved from Miami, FL to Charlotte, NC. There I was introduced to pinto beans made by my ex husband and his family whom were from the Lumbee Indian tribe. They do the quicker soak method and in doing the process in 8+ hours less would start on high heat then simmer x 2 hours. To make the same type of thickened 'gravy' they added lots of salty fatback and took either a ricer tool or a heavy wooden spoon and smash some of the beans in the pot (about a quarter cup worth, nevered measured, but eyeballed). Those few soupy beans wiuld make the rest of the beans into the gravy. If smashing + the salted fatback caused any chemical reaction, I don't know. The beans do taste good! It was a new learning experience for me. I always put some of the beans into Tupperware type containers for freezing and I do believe ALL beans taste even better after they 'sit' frozen or just cold refridgerated, similar to spaghetti sauce & chili.hkj*324https://www.blogger.com/profile/02998733907721065158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3167341474802080449.post-72774391329450412252009-09-29T18:36:01.146-04:002009-09-29T18:36:01.146-04:00Make chili of course!!Make chili of course!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05300805089758750744noreply@blogger.com