The Instant Pot will transform how you cook beans
Some of you may have seen the featured recipe here and thought, “Pinto beans? Really Fred?”
Yep, there’s not anything much better on a cold day. My friend Doug cooks a pot every week during the winter. Belinda, an East Tennessee native and my companion for 20 years, grew up relishing a bowl of pintos, topped with diced onion and a side of cornbread as a gourmet supper. The Southern Foodways Alliance showed me the importance of dried beans to the Southern diaspora.
Two things made me decide to write about the dish that adorns my meatless Monday on many weeks: The Instant Pot, and an incredible podcast called “Dolly Parton’s America.” It’s a peek into a woman who has never run from her roots.
Dried beans of all stripes have been an important cultural foodstuff. Beans are steadfast in their place on our tables, from the red beans and rice of Louisiana to white beans of Italian-American tables, to the famous Senate Bean Soup, black beans and Cuban cuisine, and the pinto bean of the mountain regions of the South.
The point? Dried beans are nothing to sneeze at. They are nutritious and are simple to cook.
I would love to know how many households have added an electric pressure cooker or multi-cooker the last two years. My Mama had one of those old kinds that sat on the stovetop, and my sister and I always thought it was going to blow up. Those were exciting times when she used it.
With my Instant Pot, those fears don’t exist. I love mine for many reasons, and many recipes, but it really is a champion for beans, which I now do with no soaking and in a short amount of time.
While the beans are perfect as is, there’s a lot you can do with them. Mash some of them up for refried beans for taco night. Use them as a side to Texas-style chili. At the Bean Barn, in Greenville Tenn., now sadly closed as the owners retired, they made “Beans All the Way,” a concoction of pinto beans with their beef stew ladled over. Those folks were serious about their beans, so serious that folks would drive for an hour or more to eat them.
Beans cooked from scratch really elevate anything that calls for beans. If you are wondering about the drizzle of olive oil, that keeps the foam down inside the cooker and makes for a better tasting bean.
Got to run. Beef stew today, then beans tomorrow.
Fred Thompson can be reached at fxchef1@gmail.com.
Not Quite the Bean Barn’s Pinto Beans
3 slices applewood smoked bacon, chopped
1 cup diced onions (about 1 medium)
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed and picked over
4 cups or more low-sodium chicken stock
1 smoked pork neck bone
A drizzle of olive oil
Chopped onions for serving
Chow Chow for serving
Chopped parsley for serving
Cornbread for serving
Place the bacon in a large sauté pan. Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the bacon is crispy, and the fat is rendered, about 5-7 minutes. Throw in the onions and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture into you pressure cooker vessel. Add the drained beans, stock and pork neck. Drizzle some olive oil over the mixture. Lock in the lid, close the steam release. Set the cooker for high pressure, and the time for 35 minutes.
When the time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally, for about 15 minutes, then manually release the pressure. Open the lid and check for doneness. I like them soft but not mushy.
Serve hot or warm with the onions, chow chow and parsley for garnish. Cornbread is a great accompaniment.
Serving suggestion: Definitely cornbread. Onions and chow chow are a must for me, too. The beans make a nice side dish for any pork recipe, and they are awesome with Mexican foods.
Yield: 6-8 servings