Frijoles de Olla - Pot Beans

[The Edifying Conscience]

Frijoles de Olla - 'Pot Beans'
The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy

Frijoles de Olla are usually served, both beans and broth, after the comida's main course. It is traditional to serve them in small earthenware bowls and they can be scooped up with a tortilla or eaten(less messily_ iwth a spoon. You can dress them up with small pieces of creams cheese, which will melt most appetizingly, or add a little zest to the taste with a small amount of chile, fresh or en escabeche.

1 pound 450 grams dried beans - Black (about 2 1/4 cups) or Pinto (about 2 1/2 cups)
10-12 cups hot water, approximately
1/3 cup roughly sliced white onion
2 tablespoons pork lard
Salt to taste
2 large sprigs epazote, only if black beans are used. [Cilantro is a good sub for epazote]

TEC Notes: These are so simple, inexpensive ($.79 per pound dried) and far better than the canned variety. I don't keep lard so I just skip over it. I will sometimes add a dried ancho or chipotle chile to the pot while the beans are cooking. The chile gives off little heat, but a nice smokey flavor. These beans freeze quite well.

Rinse the beans in cold water and let them run through your hands to make sure there are no small stones or pieces of earth among them. Put them into a pot and cover with the hot water. Add the onion and lard and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let the beans simmer, covered until they are just soft and the skins are breaking open--about 4 hours for black beans and 2 1/2 for other varieties, although it is very difficult to be precise. (Much will depend on the age of the beans, how long they have been store and if they have dried out too much, and on the efficiency of the pot or pan in which you are cooking them.) Add the salt and continue cooking over low heat for another 1/2 more, until the beans are completely soft.

For black beans, add the epazote just before the end of the cooking times as it tends to lose flavor if cooked too long.

These beans will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 days. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

TEC