Personal Recipes III

Seeing that I've blogged my protein shake and tortilla recipes, I might as well blog my bean recipe. They're really simple and probably don't need posting but what the hell, I havn't posted anything this month any way.
The secret to great beans is all in the pot or jarro, as I learned it. These are traditional Mexican clay cooking pots found, all through out Mexico I'm sure. I found mine at Juan's Fruit Stand in Raymondville, Texas on Hwy 77. This is the one fruit stand I usually stop at on the way home after my annual run for the border to San Juan, Texas, my mother was with me and she spotted the pot immediately. She's had hers since before I was born and bought it in Tijuana, Mexico when she was a navy wife in San Diego where I was born. Something about that jarro just gives the beans flavor and substance and I don't know what that makes them great.
Beans can be boiled in any container that will hold water- aluminum, steel, cast iron, microwavable plastic, whatever holds boiling water and beans together. But they just won't taste as good if not made up in a jarro. Until I bought one, I used an aluminum pot and it worked out OK but the flavor was just missing something.
It's really simple-first take dried pinto beans, about a third of the bag, depends on how many people you're feeding, and pick out any stones or rocks that may have escaped the factory packing process, then rinse the beans in cold water in a collander. Now soak the rinsed beans for an hour in boiling hot water or overnight in cold water, until they are soft. This isn't absolutely necessary, but soft soaked beans cook faster than dry, straight out of the bag, unsoaked beans.
Boil up water in the pot, how much water depends upon how many beans are in the pot, just enough to cover over the beans a little, about an inch or so over the beans. I boil up water in my tea kettle separately then add it to the beans in the pot, this speeds up the process a bit. Add salt and pepper to taste, except for my tortillas, rice, and beans, I hardly ever use salt in my cooking and don't add salt to my food - healthier living and all that good shit.
Now here is the simple secret and magic which goes into really great beans - add in whatever you want. I usually through in garlic powder or fresh garlic but not both together. I also like basil. There really is no limit to what one can do here. As the water begins to boil, turn down the heat until they just simmer. Cover them up and let them slowly simmer, turning them with a spoon frequently. This is the point one can add onion or sausage or tomatoes, or whatever. DON'T STORE BEANS COOKED WITH ONION BECAUSE THEY DON'T KEEP AS LONG. BEANS COOKED WITH OINION HAVE TO BE EATEN IMMEDIATELY! They are done when they are soft and pink and the house is filled with the aroma of fresh cooked beans. CHECK AND TASTE TEST FREQUENTLY.
As I wrote earlier, there is no limit as to what one can add, just use your imagination and personal taste. I prefer just salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and tomatoe; maybe even basil and sometimes sausage or bacon. Onion I usually add later on because something about onion makes them spoil faster. I like jalapenos also, but my wife and children don't, I'll add them separately.
Now about cooking with a jarro, every new jarro has to be thoroughly cleaned and cured before cooking with. Cleaning is simple, just hot soap and water. Curing involves rubbing cooking oil inside the jarro then filling it with water and boiling the water. This completes the curing process and the jarro is now ready for use.
All jarros vary in size and may or may not sit well atop a gas burner, to remedy this, place a small skillet or griddle or grill or pan or whatever over the burner to hold the jarro. Mine just barely sits on the burner so I have a cast iron sauce pan I seat the jarro in and place it upon the burner. My mother uses a cast iron comal. It doesn't make a difference so long as the jarro doesn't spill when cooking the beans.
Jarros just aren't for beans, one can cook rice, meat, soups, stews, almost anything one would use a pot for cooking of boiling in. It's just traditional earthen cookware, a bit more fragile than cast iron or aluminum or stainless steel or copper or pyrex or plastic, but it does the same and has been around for thousands of years longer. Food cooked and stored in traditional earthware has a unique flavor and taste. I'm certain all cultures have traditional cookware which gives that culture's food and cooking it's unique flavor.
Besides a jarro, I refuse to do without a cast iron comal, skillets, or a wok. Whoever invented the wok was just a pure genius, you can do almost anything with a wok, cooks on electric and gas stoves, light, easy to care for, can be used as a skillet or a pot, just pure and simple genius. They come in aluminum, stainless steel and cast iron. My wife threw mine out after the cover was lost and now I have to get another one. What I really love about the wok is oil and grease gravitates to the center of the wok as one cooks meat, just scoot the meat up to the edges and spoon out the artery-clogging, life-taking, fat-adding, cholesterol-raising, soon to make my wife a widow if her driving doesn't do it first, drippings out as the meat cooks.
There you have it, my beans recipe. It's not a lot and it's real simple, but that's the beauty of it. The secret and magic ingredient is your imagination. Well, maybe the jarro is the secret ingredient, who really knows? I just know my beans are great.