Big Pot of Beans
Published March 20, 2020
- Total Time
- 1 to 4 hours, plus optional soaking
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound any dried beans
- Salt
- Olive oil, as needed
- Aromatics, such as peeled garlic cloves, a halved onion or shallots, a celery stalk or a carrot
- Dried or fresh herbs, such as thyme, sage, oregano or rosemary sprigs, or a bay leaf or two
- A hunk of cured sausage, bacon, ham, smoked duck or pork or a Parmesan rind (optional)
- Chopped fresh herbs or celery leaves, red-pepper flakes, sliced scallion or red onion, flaky sea salt, for serving (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
210 calories; 2 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 15 grams protein; 143 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Rinse the beans, then soak them in salted water (it should taste like the sea) for anywhere from 4 hours to 12 hours. If you don’t have time, you can skip this step.
- Step 2
Drain beans and put them in a pot or electric pressure cooker. If cooking in a regular pot, add enough water to cover the beans by 2 to 3 inches. If using a pressure cooker, use less water, more like 1½ to 2 inches. Add a drizzle of oil and whatever aromatics and herbs you like. Add enough salt to the cooking water to make it taste like the sea.
- Step 3
If using a regular pot, simmer the beans for anywhere to 30 minutes to 2 to 3 hours, depending on what variety you used, how old they were and whether or not you soaked them. Check on them periodically, adding more water if the level gets too low (as in, lower than the beans). For the pressure cooker, the timing is anywhere from 5 minutes at high pressure to 50 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Step 4
Garnish with fresh herbs or celery leaves, sliced onion, if you like, a drizzle of oil, and a sprinkle of red-pepper flakes and sea salt.
Private Notes
Comments
Recipe does not indicate at what point you would add the meat or parmesan. I assume not early on if doing slow cooking as it would cook to death, so, when? And if pressure cooking, when?
re salting the soaking water... this surprised me as well ... this is what I found : When you soak dried beans in salted water, they cook up with softer skins. Why? It has to do with how the sodium ions in salt interact with the cells of the bean skins. As the beans soak, the sodium ions replace some of the calcium and magnesium ions in the skins. Because sodium ions are more weakly charged than calcium and magnesium ions, they allow more water to penetrate into the skins (thus softer skins)
I learned long ago that beer was a delicious liquid in which to cook beans, thanks to Julie Jordan's wonderful vegetarian cookbook, Wings of Life. Cheap beer is just fine. Adds flavor and the alcohol cooks off.
I have read that you should boil your beans for 10 to 20 minutes to destroy some bad element in the beans. Then you can slow cook them. Is this true?
Seasoned with Penzeys 33rd and Galena and herbes de Provence and parsley
I soak beans overnight or soak 1 hour after boiling for 3 minutes, generally in a pressure cooker, but sometimes in a crockpot. No salt, as that is said to toughen them. No oil unless I plan to eat the beans as is. I always make at least double what I plan to use and freeze the rest for a quicker meal next time. Pressure pots vary as to how much time beans will need, as do beans based on their age. I almost always use a bay leaf in the cooking water, no matter the type of bean.
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