Beans n’ Cornbread

"Beans, beans, the musical fruit!..."

The other night, we had friends over to the house.  For dinner, we ate baked ham, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. -- I heard that! Yes, I know I served two starches. Half the crowd consisted of children that I knew would not touch the sweet potatoes. So technically, I served one starch to each age group.

Anyhoo. I naturally planned to cook a big pot of pinto beans using the leftover ham bone. We eat pinto beans every other week or so. Sometimes, I only make enough to cover one dinner and one lunch. Other times, like this one, I wanted to take full advantage of the flavor of that ham. Unfortunately, my pressure cooker wasn't big enough. I had to cook these bad boys the long, slow way and it was worth the 3 hour wait.

HERE'S HOW TO COOK GREAT BEANS

Serves 8

• 4 cups dried pinto beans, washed clean
• 1 leftover ham bone
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder

In a large pot, fill with pinto beans and enough water to cover one inch higher/deeper than the beans. Bring water to boil, boil for 2 minutes: remove from heat. Cover and let stand, 1 hour.

Come back and drain off any water remaining. Toss in ham bone, onion, and seasonings. Add enough water to beans to cover the bone. For good measure, I make the water about 2 1/2 -3 inches higher/deeper than beans. Heat to boiling: reduce heat. Cover and simmer until tender. 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Check the water at the first hour mark and give it a good stir while you're there.

Serve with your favorite rice and cornbread pancakes.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT COOKING BEANS

• Having enough water is key to getting those beans tender. Always have at least 2 1/2 inches of water above the beans.
• Salt! It makes the world go round. Get it in in the beginning and at the end.
• Fat adds depth to the beans. I always have bacon drippings stored tightly in the refrigerator. So normally, I use 1/4 cup to season 3 cups of beans.
• Cooking beans in a pressure cooker is awesome! I still do the first boil for 2 minutes, drain off, then start fresh. Pinto beans will cook tender in 50 minutes!

SUBSTITUTIONS

Instead of the ham bone, 4 ounces of salt pork (with rind), diced, or 6 slices of bacon, cut up, will do the job.

GOT LEFTOVER BEANS?

Turn them into refried beans and make burritos! Try using them in the Chipotle Burrito recipe. They also make a great topping for nachos and chalupas.