Laura Avery chats with Barbara Spencer of Windrose Farm about tepary beans. Barbara has white and brown varieties and is also selling black-eyed peas. All the beans are recently harvested so cooking time is much faster than grocery store-bought beans.
Food editor Russ Parsons of the LA Times loves beans and has a great recipe for cooking beans with pork.
Pinto Bean and Squash Stew
(Courtesy of Russ Parsons' How to Read a French Fry)
- 1 lb dried pinto beans, picked over and rinsed
- 1 1/2 quarts water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 1/4 inch think slice salt pork
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
- 2 green onions, minced
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced for garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
- 3/4 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Combine the beans and water, 1 teaspoon salt, the onion, garlic and salt pork in a large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil on top of the stove, cover and bake until the beans are cooked, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Season to taste with salt, if necessary, and pepper. Check the water level to make sure the beans don't dry out.
About 45 minutes before the beans are cooked, combine the bacon, jalapeño and green onions in a large sautée pan and cook over low heat until the bacon is crisp.
Add the squash and stock, and cover and cook until the squash is just tender, about 30 minutes.
Add the squash mixture to the beans and mix gently but well. Do not smash the beans or squash. Spoon the bean and squash stew into 6 serving bowls, garnish each with the red onion, cilantro and 2 tablespoons of the sour cream and serve.
Music break: The Mexican by The Fentones