How about a simple pot of Pinto Beans for this week's Recipe Carnival

With all of the Mexican food recipes I've done so far, I thought I should add this as a side dish. Cooking a good pot of beans is not as simple as you may expect, there are some important things to consider such as sorting out the discolored or broken beans, the freshness of the beans, when to add salt, and soaking the beans before cooking. Here's how I do it...

• pinto beans
• 5 cloves garlic
• water
• salt

1. sort out broken and discolored beans and any rocks that may be packaged with them
2. rinse in a colander under cold running water
3. in a pressure cooker, cover beans with at least an inch and a half to two inches of water and bring up to pressure
4. turn off the heat, let the pressure subside, and re-rinse the beans in the colander (optionally, you could soak the beans over night in cold water)
5. add the beans back to the pressure cooker and cover with at least an inch and a half to two inches of water
6. add garlic cloves
7. bring up to pressure and cook for 40 to 50 minutes at pressure
8. turn off the heat, let the pressure subside
9. salt to taste after beans are done cooking(Salt will harden the beans during cooking)

Traditionally, lard would be added while cooking, but I think they come out great with just the garlic. For a little variation try adding salsa or green or red chili when serving. Additionally, you can mash them and re-fry them (to reduce the liquid present) for burritos. Enjoy!

Previous entries:
Welsh Pancakes
Pan Fried Steak with Red Wine Reduction
Hot Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Uncle Dave's Green Chili Stew
Corned Beef from Scratch
Canton Beef and vegetable soup
Enchilada Pie
Meatloaf
Taco Tangle's