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Buying Beans
Avoid soft, broken or wrinkled dried beans. Pick ones that are
uniform in color and shape. Many Varieties of cooked beans are sold
in cans, including chick-peas, lima beans and kidney beans. You just
drain them and rinse before using.
Soaking
Place the beans in a sieve and rinse with cold running water until the
water runs clear. Soaking gives the beans a chance to reabsorb water
lost during drying. Rehydated, they take 1 to 3 hours to cook depending
on the bean. Without soaking, the beans need 1 to 2 hours more cooking
and about twice the liquid called for in most recipes.
Short Soak Method
Place the beans in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring
to a boil and boil, uncovered, for 3 min. Cover the pot, remove from
the heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and throw away the soaking
water. Don't leave the beans in the hot soaking water for more than
an hour as they may sour.
Long Soak Method
Cover the beans with water and leave at room temperature for 8 hours.
Don't soak too long they'll absorb too much water and become mushy.
Always discard the soaking water.
Cooking
Put presoaked beans in a saucepan with enough water or other liquid to
keep them covered during the cooking. (Beans double to triple in size during
cooking; 2 to 3" of liquid over the beans should be sufficient.)
Add about 1 tbsp. oil or fat to help keep the water from boiling over,
add salt for flavor. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer
until the beans are tender - from half and hour to 3 hours. To tell
whether they're done, pinch or bite beans; they should feel soft but not
mushy.
Baking
Beans are usually cooked on top of the stove until almost tender, combined
in a bean pot or casserole dish with liquid and seasonings and baked, covered,
for 1 to 6 hours, depending on the bean. To brown the beans, remove
the cover, sprinkle the beans with brown sugar and bake another half hour. |