Old beans

[The Heretic]

This is why I don't store beans anymore.

Lentils and split peas are better. Lentils cook faster, are already hard but soften/cook quickly with less energy/water, and have better nutrition. They also store better and in a smaller space.

 

[Rick Shaw]

Love cooking with dried beans! Dried beans, "fresh"or "old"do very well after an overnight soak in tap water with a few pitches of sea salt. This will usually plump beams right up. If not, the braising process of cooking in liquid will do the rest of the job.

What we do after that is drain and rinse, and start up a batch of "Ranch Beans." We prefer using a thrift shop slow cooker, but any big pot on low simmer will do.

We put the soaked beans into the crock pot with two smoked ham hocks, chopped white onions, green and red bell peppers, finely diced carrots and celery...lots of celery. Large can peeled chopped tomatoes, preferable fire roasted. Paprika, a small handful of the cheapest "Italian herb mix" we can find, a bottle of Guinness, a cup or two of strong black coffee, and a couple of cans of chicken stock.

Did I mention salt? Not yet! Here's why...after slow cooking about 12 hours, checking periodically, we add bacon "ends and pieces" and about 2-3 cups of V8 regular recipie. This adds a good bit of salt... another hour of simmering allows you to decide if you want to add salt. Add water to thin your beans, or simmer uncovered and stir in order to reduce the liquid, form it up, and intensify flavor. If cooking on a stovetop, please be sure to stir from the bottom. Beans like to sit down and burn on the bottom of a pot!

We often pour this bean casserole from the croc pot into a deep baking dish, top with "Pillsbury Grand"biscuits and pop it into the oven until the biscuits puff up. Brush melted butter over the top of the biscuits, sprinkle shredded cheese, chopped green onions, and those crispy fried onions in the can over the top and pop back into the oven until the shredded cheese gets gooey.

It's fun to make. Beans are cheap. And this dish is a real crowd pleaser.

Enjoy!

Rick

 

[P7M13]

@Cavedweller , you must have regenerated a bunch of old beans by now. Do they make farts smell worse?

 

[coop44]

Beans beans the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot

 

[Cavedweller]

I've tried this method a couple times now and it really works. So, if you've had beans in storage for several years and they don't want to soften with a normal soaking, don't toss them. Try this: