Savory Black Beans
Author: Dominique Cook
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried black beans, soaked overnight then rinsed and drained*
- 1 serrano pepper, sliced lengthwise*
- ½ onion, (try to leave some of the root so it does not separate when cooking)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 2 tbsp bacon fat (optional)
- 32 ounces chicken broth
- kosher salt
Instructions
- In a large saucepan (3 to 4 quarts) add beans, Serrano, onion, bay leaves, garlic, thyme, bacon fat, broth and 1 cup water. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until beans are tender. Remove what you can find of the Serrano, onion, bay leaves, garlic and thyme sprigs. Season with salt, about 1 tbsp. Add more to taste, if needed.
Notes
*If you forget to soak your beans, cover the beans with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for at least 1 hour. Drain and rinse. Proceed with the recipe.
*If you don't want the spicy note that Serrano pepper brings to the party, use ½ of a green pepper instead. This will give good pepper flavor without being spicy.
*In our house we are old school (and southern) so we save our bacon fat (grease) from the morning. If you don't have bacon fat on hand or the thought of bacon fat weirds you out, add a couple strips of raw bacon. If you prefer, you can totally leave out the bacon/fat. Adding pork to beans gives the beans an umami depth of flavor that you can't get from anything else. The beans will taste good without the bacon... just not as good.
*If you don't want the spicy note that Serrano pepper brings to the party, use ½ of a green pepper instead. This will give good pepper flavor without being spicy.
*In our house we are old school (and southern) so we save our bacon fat (grease) from the morning. If you don't have bacon fat on hand or the thought of bacon fat weirds you out, add a couple strips of raw bacon. If you prefer, you can totally leave out the bacon/fat. Adding pork to beans gives the beans an umami depth of flavor that you can't get from anything else. The beans will taste good without the bacon... just not as good.
Recipe by Cooks and Kid at https://cooksandkid.com/savory-black-beans/