Beans Are Good for the Heart — and Soul

When I was a kid there were times when I took my lunch to school and other periods when I bought my lunch at the cafeteria. Thinking back, I don’t recall a particular rhyme or reason to it nor do I particularly remember caring except in one case, when the cafeteria was serving beans I wanted to take my lunch.

In the South at that time beans were often a main dish — and they were horrible. Pinto beans would be cooked for six or seven hours, with perhaps a ham hock as the only flavoring, until they were a lumpy grayish-brown paste. Horrible things that turned me against dried beans.

Beans beans, they’re good for the heart
The more you eat the more your fart
The more you fart, the better you feel
So eat your beans at every meal.
~ traditional

There were exceptions, I’ve always liked cassoulet and my mother made a mean pot of Senate Bean Soup, but even in those cases, a single helping was enough to last me for a year. But for the most part I’ve had problems getting past the memory of those nasty beans served in the school cafeteria.

But a couple of years ago something prompted me to make a quick cassoulet-like dish that completely blew me away and prompted me to further beanish experiments — among them a stab at making real (smoked) barbequed beans. As you can see from the article, that didn’t work out, but this past Memorial Day I tried again and this time I succeeded.

Barbequed Beans
Serves 8.

1 lb dried, dark pinto beans
1 tbsp salt
1 smoked ham hock
1 onion — peeled and cut into eighths
6 oz thick cut bacon — cooked until slightly crisp and cut into lardons
1/2 onion — diced and sautéed in bacon fat
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c molasses
1/2 c barbeque sauce
1 1/2 c canned, plain tomato sauce
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp ground mace
2 tbsp chili powder
salt and black pepper to taste

Put the beans, ham hock, onion quarters and 6 cups of water in a soup pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 2 1/2 hours. Drain beans, keeping about 1 cup of cooking liquid. Pick the meat off the ham hock and add back to the beans.

In the meantime, cook the bacon in a skillet and drain most of the fat, keeping about 2 tablespoons. Sauté the diced onion in the bacon fat until the onion begins to brown. Set aside.

In an aluminum-foil roasting pan, combine the beans and all other ingredients. (Everything to this point can be done a day in advance.)

If you don’t have a smoker or don’t want to use it, the beans should be cooked for about 3 more hours, uncovered, in 225F oven. But if, like me, you have a barrel smoker, then once your fire is going place a rack in the middle of the smoker (this is directly over the water pan in my smoker — and do fill the water pan). Set the beans, uncovered, on this rack, then add the top rack and set whatever meat you’re planning on smoking on it. I did ribs, but even turkey or chickens would be all right. The idea is that as the meat cooks any juices drip into the beans adding still more flavor. Smoke for at least 3 hours and 5 to 6 is better.

The beans came out tender, but mostly whole (no lumpy mush) with a distinct smoke flavor. Absolutely delicious, a complete success.

Technorati: Food | recipe | beans | side dish | barbeque | bbq

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