Cooking Cheap

This is a viable method of cooking beans with way less hassle and saves some time. I was skeptical so I tried it. It’s only beans, right?

I brought one quart of water to a boil. Added 1/2 pound of dried black beans, sorted, and 1/2 tsp salt When it came to a boil, I covered the pot and I put it in a 250F oven. I checked every 30 minutes to make sure they still had water.

90 minutes later, they were almost done and perfectly seasoned which is a great thing for me to get correct. 15 minutes more was enough for tenderness.

I have a theory that the covered pot and heat from all sides acts like a poor mans pressure cooker.

I’ll use these to make some black bean soup, the recipe follows but I won’t claim its the ultimate, but it’ll be decent.

Two strips of thick bacon, chopped
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped.
1 rib of celery, split and chopped.
1/3 of medium size bell pepper, chopped.
1 clove garlic, chopped

Seasonings:
1 tsp of hot sauce
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Big squirt of catsup

On med low, cook the bacon until you get enough fat, then add the veggies and garlic to the skillet and sweat them for a few minutes (5? 10?). Pour all that and the seasonings of choice into the beans are return to the oven or cook over a low burner. The oven’s already at the right temp for a low simmer, why not use it?

About the seasonings: I’d have used cumin powder if I had it or had the foresight to grind some cumin seeds with peppercorns and garlic in the molcajete. One could use a portion of a can of whole tomatos or paste or sauce. I went for the squirt of catsup. 1/8 Cup? I thought about some thyme, oregano and cayenne. The hot sauce amount was what was left in a bottle of Tabasco Brand Chipotle sauce. It’s only beans. They’ll be fine.

Turns out you can do a lot worse than this. Very Good beans.