Whatever kind of dried bean you are preparing, from relatively quick-cooking types like black beans or navy beans to garbanzos, which can take a few hours to cook, Daisy Martinez, author of Daisy’s Holiday Cooking, has simple tips for evenly cooked beans with a creamy texture and no “bones” (hard white centers).
I know it’s common kitchen wisdom that beans have to be soaked — overnight in cold water or a “quick soak” in hot water for an hour or so — but I never soak them. Well, almost never: Sometimes I will soak garbanzos (chickpeas) to shave half an hour or so off the cooking time and I soak lupini beans for the same reason as well as to remove some of their bitterness.
When I tell people that I don’t soak beans, they usually respond that beans have to be soaked, or else they take forever to cook and will cook unevenly. It is true that soaked beans will cook a little faster than unsoaked beans, but we’re talking minutes, not hours, and it doesn’t seem worth it to me. As for cooking unevenly, follow these basic instructions and you’ll end up with evenly cooked beans with a creamy texture and no “bones” (hard white centers):
Rinse the beans in a colander under cold running water. While you’re at it, pick over the beans and remove the occasional pebble or funky-looking bean. Pour the beans into a heavy pot large enough to hold them and plenty of water. My favorite bean pot to cook 1 to 2 pounds of beans is a 6-quart enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. Pour in enough cold water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Don’t add salt at this point. Add a couple of bay leaves and a ham hock or large smoked turkey wings if you aren’t vegetarian and like a little smoke with your beans, like I do.
Bring the water to a boil, then adjust the heat so there is a happy bubble, not a full boil, and start skimming off the foam that rises to the top. Most beans will take about 2 hours to cook, give or take 15 minutes. During the first hour and a half, check the beans every once in a while to make sure they are covered by at least 1 inch of water. Add more water to keep them covered if necessary. When the beans are almost tender (somewhere around that 1 1/2-hour mark), lower the heat to a simmer. Add at least 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of beans and continue cooking them until they are tender. Don’t add any more liquid, but do keep an eye on the beans so they don’t stick and scorch. The end result should be a pot of creamy-tender (not mushy!) beans and just enough liquid to generously coat them like a thick, silky sauce. Once they’re done, you can leave the beans on the stove (but off the heat) for a couple of hours and reheat them gently when it’s time to serve them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daisy Martinez, author of Daisy’s Holiday Cooking: Delicious Latin Recipes for Effortless Entertaining (Copyright © 2010 Daisy Martinez), is also the author of Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night. She is the star of Viva Daisy!, which debuted on the Food Network in January 2009. She launched her career with the PBS series Daisy Cooks! and a cookbook based on the show. She has appeared on the Today show and The Early Show, and has been featured in The Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, and AARP VIVA, among other publications. A dedicated mother of four fantastic children, Daisy and her family reside in Brooklyn, New York.
LEARN MORE
- Read the Introduction to Daisy’s Holiday Cooking: Delicious Latin Recipes for Effortless Entertaining
- See the book’s Table of Contents
- Browse more books by the author
WATCH THE VIDEO
- Daisy shows you how to prepare a delicious holiday cocktail
