Texas baked beans

I like beans. But I don't like normal baked beans, the Boston variety I suppose, because I don't particularly like the sweetness. I discovered that Texas baked beans aren't sweet, so I tried making some the other weekend, and they were awesome. I now plan to make a batch of beans every time I'm home, since Ed has the dutch oven, and slow cooking stuff works best in a dutch oven. Apparently, Texas baked beans recipes vary widely, with all sorts of spices and stuff that can go in the pot - it doesn't really seem to matter. As far as I could tell, based on the internet (which never lies), as long as you have beans, water, salt, pepper, and some sort of meat product, you're good to go. I was a little more elaborate than that, but not much.

Don't tell Ed, but I've been hacking off chunks of a giant rack of baby back ribs that he bought a couple weeks ago and stashed in the freezer. I've just been taking one rib at a time, if it weren't for the cut packaging, I'm sure he wouldn't notice... Back to the point, though, that entire rack of ribs cost $5.88. And if you're cooking one rib each week, well, that is a darn economical piece o' meat, especially as you're using the bone for flavor, too.


Right, recipe:

1lb beans (any kind will do, I used pinto this time)
soaking liquid from beans
more water as necessary
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can diced or chunk tomatoes
1 beef rib, or other hunk of meat that will do well with slow cooking. A bone would work, too.
bacon grease, or oil - best yet, fry up some bacon first, then use the grease!
spices, in seed form (cumin and coriander for me) ** optional
spices, in ground form (more cumin, cayenne, more coriander, black pepper)
salt
1 bay leaf

The only dishes I used for these beans were a cutting board, knife, and dutch oven. Its a nice change from how I usually trash the kitchen, getting the maximal number of pots and pans dirty. If you don't have a dutch oven, you can use a crock pot, or just a regular pot and check it and stir it regularly - its more likely to burn things. The dutch oven has nice thick sides that hold heat well, so you can use a lower heat.

First, soak your beans for 6-8 hours (i.e. overnight), or do a quick soak - bring them to a boil, then let them sit for an hour.

Dice up an onion, and sweat it in some bacon grease. We always have bacon grease stored in a can in the freezer, its basically free, since you don't really feel like eating it with your bacon. And, it tastes delicious.

Once the onions are nice and sweaty, add the diced garlic. Let that toast for a bit, and then add any spice seeds you're planning to use - I find cumin leaves a nice flavor if you add it to the fat in the pan and let it pop open.

Dump everything else into the dutch oven. My beef rib was still frozen at this point.

Stir around the mixture so its all evenly distributed, and add enough water (or stock) so that you have full coverage, but don't make it too deep. This photo is showing liquid that is a bit too deep. Bring this to a boil, and once its there, reduce it to a simmer. Let it simmer for ~3 hours. Add the salt near the end, supposedly salt makes the bean skins tough if you add it too soon. But you don't really need to do anything, you can leave the house and just let it keep simmering away, with the lid on.

After 3 hours, it'll look something like this - most of the liquid will be gone/absorbed, the beans should be tender and delicious, and the meat should be mostly fallen off the rib - you can help it along with a fork. Discard the bay leaf and the rib bone, season with salt and spices the way you like it, and eat your beans. I like them with rice, some chopped cilantro, and a dollop or two of greek yogurt.

If there is still too much liquid after 3 hours, take off the lid and let it simmer away for another half hour or so, until the liquid is at a level you find acceptable. It should be pretty thick, and tasty.

Supposedly, and I have yet to test this, you can mash up the leftovers and it makes very tasty refried beans.