for ideas for indian preps for beans–traditional and some not-so traditional–see here.
most recently, i posted a recipe this week for pork and beans, indian style with large white limas.
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Great because I want to get my Indian on! So to speak.
That is a lovely photo. It makes me want to dig right into that dish!
Correct! Some people cook the pork with the beans… but I find pork kinda musty tasting… so this way I can control the ‘porkiness’ of it, even skim some of the fat if needed (That is why I use Country Ribs, they tend to be ‘meatier’ than just a regular old pork butt)
The Le Crueset Sale is still on! Just postponed until September… which is actually better for me since it’s closer to the holidays! 
And the last I checked… Monsieur Marcels had the Ayocote beans.
–Dommy!
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I cooked 1/2# of RG Marcella Beans today. They are a thin skinned white kidney/cannelini beans.
No soak + salted water. Aromatics included onion, carrot, 4 cloves of garlic split, parsley, 2 bay leaves, thyme and some celery leaves.
Hard boil for 10 mintues and then low heat for and hour, which was probably 5 minutes too long as some of them split a litle
This will probably be enough beans to last until Monday, maybe Tuesday.
But first, dinner!
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Thanks @Dommy!
Nice article about beans and Royal Coronas in particular
And this bean article from the New York Times. Not sure is this is behind their paywall or not.
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My ayocote morado beans from yesterday. I think these might by my favorite so far. Creamy without being too soft and soaked up more flavor from the liquid than other varieties.
Reheated with an egg, olive oil, dash of hot pepper spread and mint. Wish I had some feta and good nuts. Anybody have suggestions for something crunchy to put on top of the beans?
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That looks sooo delicious. I’m looking forward to trying the Ayocote Morados!
Crumbled Pork Rinds. Just absolutely amazing…
If Pork isn’t your Jam… Then a crispy Gremolata. Great Bean Liqour goes great with greeny flavors. I love to mix my beans with sauteed spinach, chard or even kale…
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Perfect, I just cleaned & chopped a bunch of greens last night and made some Domingo Rojo Beans. I can use some of the liquor.
Make sure to add some shallots when you sautee those greens… YOM.
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Pork is always my jam. But so are some good greens with shallots. I like both of these ideas. Thanks.
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NYT article today on how to cook beans. Nothing revelatory but a nice article.
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Yep, it was a good synopsis of what we’ve been discussing.
Caballero Beans (Peruvian)
Caballeros, Aromatics, Chicken Stock, Water, Olive Oil, Salt Pork, Chicken, Greens (collard, dandelion, mustard), Potatoes, Bay Leaves, Vinegar, S&P
Hard boiled in fresh water 10 minutes, soaked an hour, added low-sodium homemade stock, sautéed aromatics, olive oil, covered & simmered for EVER (lost count of hours), later added rendered salt pork, leftover greens, chicken & potatoes, seasoning, skosh of vinegar at the end.
Man-o-man these are long cooking beans! There was even a warning in the instructions on Rancho Gordo’s website - this season’s crop of Caballeros take longer than their already long cooking time. But! the description also says it doesn’t diminish the very creamy flavor & texture. True! I think the description quoted Steve Sando saying it’s a great bean for vegans because they taste like dairy. His proof was a dinner guest who asked how much butter was in the beans, when only aromatics, olive oil, salt & pepper were added.
Results & Thoughts: This bean would probably benefit from a salt brine, longer soak, longer hard boil, pressure cooking or even baking in the oven for longer, more even temperature. Cooking them in my stainless steel pot was definitely not beneficial to long cooking at an even temperature.
Domingo Rojo (USA)
Domingo Rojo, Water, Onions, Garlic, Olive Oil & Bay Leaves then Stock, Chili Powder, Butter, Salt & Pepper
This is a great bean! It doesn’t have the dense, rich flavor of the Moro or the distinct flavor of the Yellow Indian Woman, but it’s a great everyday bean (chili con carne, red beans & rice, creamy bean soup). It takes a lot of punishment, still hold its shape and after 3 preparations the skins stayed intact.
And ohhh the bean gravy these make. 
I went back to my basics with these, soaked for a few hours, hard boil then simmer w/aromatics in plain water, no salt, not even stock or spices until later. The skins were perfect. For some reason on this bean RG recommends only onion & a bay leaf, S&P later. I can’t be that minimal, but did start them w/only onion, garlic, olive oil & bay leaves, adding stock, spices and more flavor towards the end. I don’t know what kind of magic pot RG uses that only cooks these an hour, but mine took over 2hrs. My Le Creuset is still in storage but thankfully my Lodge Dutch Oven is finally seasoned enough for beans and that helped a lot. Note: these suck up a lot of water so the full amount and then some is needed if you want a lot of bean liquor.
Look what I made @js76wisco
I added avocado, am out of mint and the egg got a little too done, but it was still satisfying. Served with…
Buttered Pita from Brothers at Wellington Farmers Mkt
Lazy Woman Red Chicken Chili + Domingo Rojo Beans
I hacked the Red Chili recipe @aaqjr! I didn’t know I was making chili so didn’t buy the fresh peppers, but had the powder form of almost all the recipe’s dried peppers. It’s amazing how a few tips from a master recipe can improve your own. Tip #1: make a Paste of Sautéed Onion, Garlic, Tomato Paste, Chili Powder Blend, Spices, Herbs, Mole (my addition) then cook in Olive Oil & Leftover Bacon Fat before adding Water, Broth, Beer & Chicken Soup Granules (my addition) - cooking the paste caramelizes it, mellows the acidity and makes a deeper sauce. Tip #2: add a Skosh of Hot Sauce & Vinegar at the end - instead of making chili too acidic it actually brightens the other ingredients like the recipe states. Tip #3: cook with the top off, I imagine to reduce and make it thicker.
Sheltering at home sometimes requires beer with lunch.
Soup - Greens, Carrot, Onion, Garlic, Sautéed Ground Pork, Domingo Rojo, Tomato Puree, Broth, Seasoning
Topped with Grated Robusto Cheese
Third dish w/Domingo Rojas and they’re still firm & intact.
Tartine Whole Grain Porridge Bread
*Note for your bean research @WireMonkey - For my current box of RG Beans I’m sticking to my usual method of no salt brine or salt until beans are soft. I wanted to use a similar method on each varietal to see how each one cooks, then make the learned adjustments on future batches. A bean research project. 
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This probably doesn’t account for the long cook time but it’s good to keep in mind that acidity during cooking can account for the beans needing longer to cook. I can’t find the source on this but I think it’s how acidity prevents pectin breakdown (like in pickles). However, even something as simple as keeping the beans and tomatoes separate (eg, one on the bottom, one on the top) in a tomato based dish can be enough to solve this problem so it likely is the beans in this case.
That wold be amazing, please report back! I’ve never fact checked the salt brine thing myself, I just trusted ATK and Serious Eats for their story but no technique is one-size-fits-all especially with more arcane ingredients so your trying this out would be enormously valuable.
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Oh yes @WireMonkey , I’ll edit to make it clearer that vinegar was added at the end. I think I’m being so careful not to let the beans boil that I’m keeping the flame so low they’re not even really simmering, adding longer cooking time. Plus, I know RG beans are fresher than most store-bought but I’m going back to a longer soak than the 10 minute boil and 1hr of sitting.
It will take some time to do follow up reports on these beans because Rancho Gordo is out of everything, right now.
Damn that Chile looks good! Nice your post is making me hungry 
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Thanks @aaqjr!