OK, have I got an exciting new way to cook dried beans for you to try! And BTW, this chili ain’t bad either. (But more about the chili later!) But the beans. OMG! No soaking overnight or boiling for 10 minutes and letting them sit for 2 hours, then draining, starting with fresh water, and boiling them until they’re done. While of course checking them constantly. None of that. Just plop the suckers in a covered pan and add water and salt. Bake (you read that right) BAKE for 2 hours. Voila. Perfectly cooked, creamy delicious beans. No instant pot (although an instant pot does a good job too) required. But Instant Pots cost money. This doesn’t. Assuming of course that you have a pot with a cover and an oven.
Anyway, this is the easiest way I have ever cooked dry beans. And because I am lazy (I admit it and have no problems doing so), this is such a wonderful new addition to my list of easy preparations that I am experiencing heart palpitations just keeping my excitement under control as I share this information with all of you. But for the life of me, what I can’t quite get a handle on, is why I didn’t think of this first?!?! Heck, I’ve been making baked beans for decades. And I never soak the beans overnight. I just add all kinds of wonderful ingredients (bacon, ketchup, brown sugar, onion, molasses, mustard, herbs, various liquids, etc. etc.) and plop the whole mess in the oven for several hours. So why did it never occur to me that I could do the same thing with any dry beans and get the same amazing results? (Some would say it’s because I’m obviously not very bright. And of course, they would be making a good point. But frankly, it just never entered my mind.) But now that I have been made aware of this secret to perfectly cooked beans, I plan to use this method for preparing all kinds of different dried bean varieties using a wide array of flavoring additives. Which got me to thinking, maybe some of you never thought of cooking beans this way either.
So that’s what got me so excited about sharing this revelation with all of you. But enough about beans. On to the real subject of this post. Chili. And how it all came about.
Our freezer is dying. It’s a slow demise, but never-the-less, our 17-18 year old upright freezer is on its last legs. But I still have several cuts of beef from our last two organic beef purchases. The meat is wonderful. It’s not too fatty and the flavor is marvelous. But we are not eating as much meat as we did when we were younger. And, like I said, our freezer is in a slow decline. So, in order to use up the beef ASAP, I made pot roast out of a hunkin’ big boneless chuck roast a few nights ago. It was wonderful. Full of flavor and we enjoyed it two nights in a row. But there comes a point when left-overs become a redundancy. So the leftover meat and gravy sat in our refrigerator for a day or two before I said that’s it. This has to be eaten or thrown away. But I was just not up for throwing perfectly good meat and gravy away. And I didn’t want to put it in our dying freezer either. So what to do with leftover lean meat and about a cup of fabulous pot roast gravy.
So yesterday morning, as if hit by a bolt of lightning (we do live on Lightning Way after all), I thought about using the cooked meat and gravy in one of our favorite dishes – chili. So that’s just what I did.
Now this is not a new and exciting recipe for an old standard. It’s basically just the way I usually prepare chili. Except of course for substituting already cooked beef for hamburger and gravy for beef stock. And of course including perfectly cooked kidney beans using my new cooking method.
So I hope you enjoy the recipe. And do try cooking dried beans using your oven rather than your cook top. You will absolutely love how easy it is to produce perfectly cooked beans.
As always, stay safe, stay sane, and keep looking forward. It’s a brave new world we are heading into. Might as well just lay back and not get too stressed by the ride. Nothing any of us can do about most of it anyway. Oh wait, there is one thing we can all do that might help towards a better future. We can all VOTE. Peace and love to all.
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
½ c. diced onion, plus more to serve with the chili
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 (28-oz. can) diced/chopped tomatoes (preferably Italian tomatoes)
2 T. tomato paste, or more to taste
1 c. leftover pot roast gravy (or as much as you have) or 1 cup of beef stock
½ c. water, or more as needed
1-2 c. cooked kidney, pinto, or black beans (or beans of choice) (see recipe below for No Soak 2 hour “Baked” Dried Beans)
¼ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2-3 T. chili powder
1 T. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1-2 c. cubed leftover pot roast
Mexican sour cream, garnish, opt.
grated sharp cheddar cheese, opt.
Heat the olive oil in a large covered Dutch oven. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and bell pepper and cook for about a minute or until you can smell the garlic. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, leftover gravy, water, cooked beans, salt, pepper, chili powder, parsley, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook for about 30 minutes to blend flavors. Add the cubed leftover pot roast and cook for another 15 minutes or so. Stir often during the cooking time. Adjust seasoning along the way. Serve dolloped with sour cream and a sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese.
No Soak – 2 Hour “Baked” Dried Beans
1 c. dried beans, sorted and rinsed
½ tsp. kosher salt
water
Place beans in a heavy covered pot. Add salt and whatever other vegetative matter, herbs, or spices you might wish to add. Add enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Place cover on pot.
Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 2 hours. After an hour, check beans to make sure they have enough liquid. Add a bit more liquid if necessary.
If the beans aren’t fully softened to your liking after two hours, add enough water to cover the bean surface, put the lid back on, and return pot to the oven. Bake in 15-30 minute increments until desired tenderness is reached.
Additions I added to the pot when I cooked the kidney beans for this chili:
1 T. dehydrated onion flakes
1 tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. granulated garlic
freshly ground black pepper
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Please note: When I cooked my old (I have no idea how many years they have been in my pantry) large dark maroon kidney beans, they were perfectly cooked after 2 hours. There was very little liquid left in the pot, so I threw the whole mess in with the other chili ingredients, and called it good. In fact I called it absolutely wonderful.
I plan to use this recipe from now on every single time I need to cook dried beans. Why the heck not? It’s easy and the result is perfect. Frankly, I will be cooking a lot more beans now that I have this way to ensure perfect beans every time. Thank you to thekitchengirl.com site for this incredible new method.