GOOBER LOVE

BEANS! I love those interesting goobers! God just didn't make a better carbohydrate! Boiled, baked, refried, cold, hot, lukewarm, they fill the gullet and hang around for awhile! Nothing at the grocer will be less expensive or feed more faces!
COOKING: Best way, with the least after blast, is to do the over-night-soak method. Clean your dried beans in warmish water while rubbing them between your hands. Then place in a huge pot or bowl and fill the bowl up to the rim with nice cold water. Let that sit over night. In the morning, dump the water out, rinse the beans, then get ready to rumble! A nice rule of thumb is 3 cups of water per one cup of beans. Throw this in a crock pot or a nice big soup pot. Simmer for about 3,000 hours. lol no just kidding, in the crock pot it will take ALL day, in the soup pot it will take about 4 hours. Now, if you want to add fat-back (bacon), or some special seasoning now is the time, but DO NOT ADD SALT. This will make your beans tough and take longer, like forever, to get soft. When your pintos, etc. are done, then add salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic, onions, you name it!
USES: A well seasoned pot of beans goes great with rice or over mashed potatoes. Navy beans scream to be eaten with crunchy cornbread. Black beans sit mighty well on top of nacho chips! Pinto's or black beans are super duper smashed up and made into refried beans. You just need to drain them, then whirl them around with your mixer adding the reserved bean juice as needed. Want to go traditional? Use your potato masher instead of the mixer. NOW, comes the fun part, after you add salt to taste and a few dashes of garlic, you get to sort of fry them in a skillet. Traditionally they are 'refried' with lard. I'm not sure it is legal to buy lard anymore, but any shortening will do. This step gives the beans that authentic Mexican flavor. Throw these on tortillas, tacos, quesadillas, and other fine Latino flat thingys. You can also add well drained beans to salads for a bit of color that is cheaper than winter tomatoes and taste 91.2% better!
RECIPES: My numbero uno favorite is black beans seasoned with garlic served over just cooked steamed rice, and served with lime slices and a side of pico de gallo. I would be doing you dirty if I did not include my SECRET-NO-LONGER-A-SECRET-RECIPE for Pico de gallo which mean rooster's beak (go figure) Method: Chop two tomatoes (roma works great) and then add double or triple the amount of onions. Don't fret if they are hot, they will calm down once they sit in the fresh lime juice. Add chopped jalapenos to your taste. Honestly you can leave this out if you want, I have! Add some fresh cilantro, I love cutting it with my new red kitchen scissors, and then squeeze some lime juice (one or two limes) over the whole thing. Salt to taste, it will need a bit. Mix and stick in the fridge for a few hours. This keeps amazingly and is better than salsa. You can use bottled lime juice if you want. This is a super condiment on anything you whip up!
Go to allrecipe.com today and gather some great goober useres. Your budget, and ranch hands, will thank you!