Pinto Beans with Red Wine and Smoky Bacon

I’m a reductionist. I like to cook liquids down to an almost syrupy consistency, which concentrates their flavor and sometimes improves their mouth feel. For example, when I’m dousing pasta with cream, I’ll boil the cream to about one-quarter or one-third of its original volume. Instant sauce. Or, as I did in the fall, I’ll boil apple cider to a syrup and use it to glaze root vegetables or meat. Transformative. So when Melissa Clark of the Dining Section (so she starts every video) of the New York Times offered the addition of reduced red wine to a pot of beans cooked with aromatics, I was in. 

Around here, we are always full of beans. Ha. Colloquially for sure but also literally, since we eat a lot of them for their nutritional wallop. I’m speaking of dried beans with exotic names and myriad colors. The kingmaker in the world of beans is Rancho Gordo, from northern California. We’re lucky to be able to buy them locally now. Before that, I would beg them from people who frequent the San Francisco farmer’s market or order them online. However, a couple of years ago, during my research on local organic food, I came across Cayuga Organics from the Finger Lakes district of New York.  We’ve grown some ourselves but aren’t at production capacity yet (still saving seeds), so I was pleased to find great regional organic beans.

This past weekend, instead of cooking my usual pot of beans or chickpeas to use throughout the week, I made Melissa’s bean stew. Bingo! The pinto beans held their shape beautifully when cooked and had a very creamy interior.  I attribute this to both the freshness of the beans and the cooking method, which involved an overnight soak and a very slow simmer in salted water with rendered smoky bacon, onion, garlic, celery and carrots, plus a sprig of rosemary. The beans absorbed every drop of flavor and were so delicious that I hesitated adding the reduced wine. But after I did and let the beans simmer for a bit, the wine turned the whole dish magical. I wish I hadn’t halved the recipe. It’s a winner.  Make it.

For me, other than the celery, this was a completely local meal, and all organic. Not bad for the waning dark days.  I have written the recipe the way I made it, which included halving it (to serve 4) and also reducing the amount of bacon.

Pinto Beans with Red Wine and Smoky Bacon adapted from Melissa Clark, NYT

½ lb dried pinto beans, preferably organic

Water

2-3 oz thick cut smoky bacon, diced

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large sprig rosemary

1½ tsp salt

3½-4 c water

1 c dry red wine

Soak the beans overnight in water to cover. Drain when you’re ready to make the soup.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it renders it fat and turns golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, celery, carrot, garlic and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 5-7 minutes.

Add the drained beans and salt to the pot and add enough water just to cover the beans (I used 3½ cups). Bring the liquid just to the boiling point, reduce heat and simmer the beans until tender, 45-60 minutes. Use a metal disk (flame tamer) under the pot to keep the liquid at a very low simmer.

Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium heat, simmer the wine until it reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 20-30 minutes.

When the beans are fully cooked, remove the rosemary branches (the leaves will have fallen into the beans) and add the wine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook at least 10 minutes to meld the flavors. If you make this in advance and let it sit for an hour or so, the flavors will fully develop.

Serves 4.

Read Full Post »

Fresh Shelling Beans, a Seasonal Treat

You know that summer is coming to an end when shelling beans start ripening in the garden and appearing in the farm markets. These are beans that are often encountered as dried but that are at a certain peak to be eaten fresh. In my own garden, I have a miniscule amount of pink lima beans, planted as a cover crop to nourish the soil with nitrogen but harvested as a bonus.

 From a local organic farm, I have cranberry beans, white beans mottled in pink and magenta shades. These are so picturesque that it’s worth remembering them in their raw state: they turn beige when cooked, but transfer the mental image to a recollection of amazing taste and texture.

 The cooked beans, gently simmered with a few aromatics (onions, celery, carrots), turn creamy and wonderfully flavorful in 10 minutes or so; they are reminiscent of their dried counterparts but fresher in texture and taste. I toss them, still warm, with salt and olive oil, and when cooled, with crushed garlic and finely minced parsley.

 Since we are at the end of a great harvest of green beans, some of the pods are full of fat beans.  In a variation of the simple shelled beans, I added the fat seeds from green bean pods that I cooked until well done, along with sliced green beans with less developed seeds. This was a great combination of creamy and crunchy, a tribute to a season that is making the transition from summer to fall.

Fresh Shelling Beans: cooking and serving simply

About 1 lb shelling beans such as cranberry beans or lima beans

1 small carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces

½ stalk celery, with leaves if possible

1 slice onion

Water

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp finely minced parsley

Shell the beans and clean them to remove little bits of shell and any dirt that clings to the pods. Place them into a deep saucepan with the carrot, celery and onion. Cover with water (double the depth of the beans) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, around 10 minutes (but depending on your beans, it could vary from 5-20 minutes so check them periodically).

Drain the beans, reserving the liquid for vegetable stock (waste not want not). Sprinkle the beans with salt and olive oil and set aside to cool.

When cool, toss the beans with crushed garlic and minced parsley, adjusting the salt and oil to taste.

Variation: Shelling Beans and Green Beans

Cook the fresh shelling beans as above, and toss in olive oil and salt. Separately cook overripe beans in their pods in boiling water until tender. Remove the light green beans and add to the shelling beans. Use the pods to make a vegetable stock. Blanch young green beans in boiling water until tender. Cool and toss with olive oil and salt. Cut into 3/8-inch lengths and add to the shelling beans and toss the entire mix with crushed garlic and minced parsley, adjusting the olive oil and salt as needed.

Read Full Post »