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06-27-2013, 01:16 PM | #1 |
Suck It
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A better Pinto Beans Recipe
My last thread about these beans had a bunch of errors in syntax and sentence structure that would
make this hard to do properly the first time. So I will try again and do a better job. First soak a pound and a half or two pounds of beans in water for a minimum of 18 hours. The beans will triple in volume, so make sure the container is big enough for that, and you use enough water to help them soak and increase in volume, but also enough to keep them covered even after they double in size or better. Once the beans have soaked overnight, take your hand or a large spoon and stir em up good, then dump the water, then replace with fresh water to cover, basically the same amount of extra water as you dumped out...keep this ready near the stove. Before cooking the meat and roux, chop a large onion as fine as you want to and set it aside near the pot. The size of the chop is irrelevant to the recipe, so do what you like best. If you like bell peppers and celery you can also add an equal volume of that, chopped the same way. it will be great with or without. You want to keep these veggies CLOSE to the stove, since they will stop your roux from cooking in runaway fashion nearly instantaneously, which is good. Never add anything to a burnt roux, the dish is ruined and the ingredients wasted. Take your meat, which in my case is almost always the trimmings from a rack of spare ribs that has been cut to 'St. Louis style', and add it to a cooking pot with a 5 tablespoons of oil. Fry the meat on all sides slightly, browning it, and when it is browned a bit, remove it and set it aside. To the hot oil, add about 3-4 tablespoons of flour and stir continuously, and I do mean continuously, until the roux turns a dark, golden brown. Once it hits that shade, IMMEDIATELY dump in the vegetables and cook those til they get soft, about 3-5 minutes. Once that is done, add about a half teaspoon of black pepper, a tablespoon of garlic powder, and if you have white pepper, some of that, too. Be careful with a roux....it can burn in seconds. Not only can it burn in the food prep sense, it can burn in the hazard sense. If it gets on you, not only will it be well over 500 degrees, it will STICK to you, making the burn worse. Even stirring it can be dangerous if it spatters up on you. It won't spatter like bacon, but it can be induced to splash up, so be careful. Many's the time my stirrer stuck and skidded on the bottom, shooting drops up at me. AND DO NOT USE A PLASTIC OR VINYL ANYTHING! Wooden spoon or metal spatula only. Now there is nothing to do but add your beans with the fresh water you added after rinsing, which should ideally fill the pot, with added browned meat from earlier, to about the 3/4 full point. Simmer uncovered for about an hour. At that point, you can mash the beans some with a potato masher and add another quart of water or so, cooking for another 20-40 minutes until the liquid is thick and creamy like a stew. Add salt to taste and enjoy. Some may not like SEEING the white cartilage from the rib meat, so remove it prior to serving. Kids in particular will holler. It will be easy to spot. It is harmless, so if we are all adults here, you can serve it with the cartilage still in it. ENJOY IT! Last edited by OLS; 06-27-2013 at 01:26 PM. |