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Using what I purchased for my last blog entry, I decided to cook the dried pinto beans. Prior to cooking I reflected on how I wanted to prepare them and more importantly, how to discuss the cooking process. I think most of us have read and followed many recipes in our lives from various sources - cookbooks, internet sites, magazines, friends and family, etc. The structure of a recipe is pretty standard listing ingredients at the beginning then the steps required to prepare the dish. Sometimes, there are side or sub-steps that instruct the cook to prepare secondary products such as a sauce, a dip, a pie crust, or a garnish. A recipe is an instruction manual that takes the ingredients from A to Z.
As I was reflecting I thought rather than laying out a standard recipe perhaps it's more interesting to lay out a manual that requires more creative thinking on the part of the cook. So here's my attempt to describe and articulate steps for turning my dried pinto beans into a yummy stew:
Making stewed Pinto Beans is a fun process. The star of the dish is the beans and at a minimum water and heat must be applied to transform the dried beans into something edible. That is the fundamental process by which flavors and textures are considered.
Start by soaking the beans in water at a 1:2 ratio. Allow half a day to elapse. The beans will absorb the water and increase in size. Before applying heat there are a few things to consider:
- Texture: What is the desired texture of the bean? Should the bean be firm, which would require a bite to split the beans? Or perhaps soft enough so that the tongue can mush the bean by pushing it against the roof of the mouth? The desired texture will determine the length of the cooking process.
- Proportion of primary flavors: There are several primary flavors to consider - sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory (umami). Should the stewed beans be savory and salty, or sweet and sour, or perhaps a different combination?
- Taste and aroma: What other flavoring ingredients should the beans take on? How simple or complex should the flavors be?
For this particular dish, I wanted to make the beans savory and salty. For flavoring, I decided to add part of an onion and two ingredients I found at the dollar store - onion bouillon cubes and canned sweet corn kernels. Each of these adds a layer of taste to the dish: Onions will impart flavor and fragrance, the bouillon cube will make the dish savory, and the canned corn will add a burst of sweetness. Salt and pepper will also be used to enhance the overall dish.
After soaking the beans, I chopped half the onion into small pieces and sauteed them in a pot until soft and golden. The beans were then drained, rinsed and added to the pot. Add about twice the amount of the water then increase the heat until the water boils. Once the beans are boiling lower the heat and let it cook slowly. There should be a slow, gentle boil.
The next and final phase of the cooking process is what I like to call incremental cooking. The reason I call it incremental cooking is because once you add too much of something, you can't take it out! As the beans cook, they will continue to absorb water and the liquid will slowly evaporate. The following should be done in increments over time:
- Check the water level: Add more water as the water evaporates but don't add too much. How soupy, thick, or dry should the final product be? Think and adjust in increments as needed.
- Texture of the bean: Test the texture of the bean every 5-10 mins to see if it has softened to the desired texture. Simply put one bean in your mouth and chew.
- Seasoning: When the beans are close to the desired texture, add seasoning in small increments. For my particular dish this includes salt, pepper and bouillon cubes - add, taste, add, taste, add, taste, etc.
Finally, the canned corn was drained and added towards the end of the cooking process. I only added about half the can to not over-power the beans. Because the corn is already cooked and it's not something that needs to "meld" into the other flavors of the dish, I added the corn to the stew a few minutes before turning off the heat. I wanted the corn to provide a burst of sweetness while eating. (Of course fresh corn would be better but that is not available at the dollar store.)
I would say the cooking/boiling part took about an hour to an hour an a half. I ate this over a bed of rice and it was delicious!