(SERVES 6 – 8)
2 cups black beans (or substitute pinto or any beans you like)
½ Spanish white onion
3 garlic cloves
1–2 sprigs of fresh epazote (optional, adds a bit of “brightness and also helps prevent the gassiness associated with eating beans)
Salt to taste, start with 2 tbsps.
Clean beans, removing debris, rocks, or broken beans. Once cleaned, add beans to a clay pot full of water. (Note: You may, of course, make your beans in a traditional stainless steel pot. The flavor will be subtly but perceptibly different, though.) Be sure your pot is large enough to accommodate the beans as they expand. Your dry beans should not rise to past the 1/3 mark of your pot. Rinse beans and add water so that you have 1/3 beans and 2/3 water in your pot.
Add onion, garlic, and epazote; cook covered for 2 hours and add salt, then continue cooking. Taste for salt and add more if needed. It is important not to under- salt the beans. Cook beans for 1-6 hours, or up to 12 hours on medium-low heat, until tender (note: cooking time will vary depending on the size and condition of your beans; beans that have spent a longer time on the grocery shelf take longer to cook and there is really no way to know. For best results, buy beans in bulk, as they tend to be fresher). Also, for larger quantities of beans, cooking may take significantly longer. Make sure beans are constantly covered with water. No need to stir, but it is important that the beans never lack water or are allowed to become dry. If needed, add hot, never cold, water to bean pot. As you add more water, you may need to add more salt.
Remove onion, garlic cloves, and epazote before serving. Cooked beans spoil very easily. Allow to cool and refrigerate within an hour or so of cooking, for up to 3-4 days. I like to remove my beans after the 2nd or 3rd day and bring them back to a boil on the stovetop. This gives them an additional day or so of shelf life. Beans freeze beautifully, for up to 6 months. I like to separate my beans into one-quart containers before freezing for easy reuse.
