Huffington Magazine Issue 52 | Page 76

EAT THIS HUFFINGTON 06.09.13 HOW TO COOK DRIED BEANS: 1.T  he quick-soak method is your friend. As Adler puts it: “If you didn’t put two cups of beans in a pot of cold water last night, get on the bandwagon today by putting them in a pot, covering them with five inches of water, bringing it to a boil, turning off the heat, and leaving them sitting in hot water, covered, for an hour. Then drain them and cover them with new water.” (The draining is essential, as that water contains all the parts of beans that make them the musical fruit.) SHUTTERSTOCK / VINICIUS TUPINAMBA (POT OF BEANS); SHUTTERSTOCK/SERHIY SHULLYE (OLIVE OIL) TAP HERE FOR BOOK trial and error, actually make a few pots of really excellent dried beans, 2) the discovery of Rancho Gordo beans (which cook faster and taste better than any other bean I’ve ever tangoed with) and 3) Tamar Adler. More specifically, an excerpt from Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal, tucked away inside Best Food Writing 2012, in which she waxes particularly poetic about how nourishing and satisfying a pot of beans can be. The biggest lie that every disciple of dried beans has ever told you is that you have to soak them overnight. You can soak them overnight. You should, if you have the foresight. Let me confess something to you: I have never had the foresight to soak dried beans overnight. The major argument for using dried beans rather than canned is that you get to dictate what these beans taste like. Canned beans are great in a pinch, and 2.O  kay, so you’ve covered your beans in new water — now what? This part is a bit like making stock. Your beans are going to taste like whatever you flavor this next batch of water with. There should be a bit of salt (you can always adjust later, so use a light hand), pepper, any herbs you have on hand, a chunk of carrot, celery, fennel, onion, a Parmesan rind. Most importantly, as Adler puts it, there needs to be an “immoderate, Tuscan amount of olive oil,” which I’ve taken to mean as much as I think is enough, and then a bit more.