1 cup dried beans (red, pinto, pink, kidney or lima beans)
water for soaking*
2 1/2 cups water
2 slices bacon
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. ketchcup
1-2 Tbsp. your favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp. prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
optional: dash of liquid smoke
Sort/clean dried beans. Soak overnight (8-10 hours). Drain beans. In a medium saucepan, combine beans and 2 1/2 cups water. Slice bacon in 1" pieces. In a small skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels; crumble. Saute' onion and garlic in bacon drippings until onion is tender. Add sauteed onion mixture, bacon and salt to beans. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are just tender--1-1 1/2 hours. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. In a small bowl, combine ketchup, BBQ sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, salt pepper and liquid smoke (if desired). Stir sauce together well. Add to beans, mix well. Cover and simmer 30 minutes longer, adding more cooking liquid as needed. Makes about 2 cups of prepared beans.
*Soaking beans--soaking is not an essential step in bean preparation. Use room temperature water. The purpose of soaking is to begin rehydration before cooking, thereby reducing cooking time. Unsoaked beans take longer to cook and require more attention so they won't cook dry. DISCARD the soak water to decrease some of the bean's natural side effects.
During soaking, beans take up their lost water, increasing up to twice their dried size. Enough water must be used to keep the beans covered while soaking. Once rehydrated, beans cook in 1-3 hours, depending on the type of bean.
Quick soak: rehydrates beans in a little more than 1 hour. Bring the beans and soaking water to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove the beans from the heat and cover the pot. Let the beans soak in the hot water for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, discard the soak water and cook the beans. Beans soaked in hot water longer than 2-3 hours can spoil.
Cooking without soaking: Use twice the amount of cooking water specified in the recipe. Combine the water and rinsed beans in the pot and bring to a boil. Some cooks like to bring the water to a boil first, then drop in the beans a few at a time so the boiling doesn't stop. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain the simmer. Watch closely and add more water to keep them covered during the cooking process. Most beans will be cooked tender in 2-3 hours.
adapted from Bean Cookery, Sue & Bill Deeming, HP Books, 1980 Fisher Publishing, Inc.