Recipe #1 - Belle's Beans

Before we left town, my friend Belle was kind enough to spend some time teaching me her recipe for beans, Texas-style. I don't think it's a carefully -guarded family secret, so here it is -

1 lb black beans or pinto beans
1 healthy splash of olive oil (you can use butter, but who needs those extra saturated fats?)
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
1/2 jar salsa (Belle uses a Frog Ranch variety, I tried the Whole Foods House Brand Medium)

First, think ahead that you want to make this recipe and soak the beans over night. This is a very important step - don't believe those people who say beans don't have to be soaked. It's a lie.

The next day, peel both the garlic and onion. The former needs to be minced, but the latter can just be cut into quarters (one of the things I love about this recipe because I hate to chop onions.) Splash olive oil into a big heavy pot and heat it up. Put in the garlic and onion, breaking apart the onion with your spatula as you brown them.

Drain the soaked beans and add to the pot with the onions and galic after they've cooked some. Cover with about one inch water (this is where I screwed up, putting in too much water. This required extensively boiling down to remedy but I won't hold you in suspense - everything came out okay in the end). Stir in the salsa. Turn up the heat, bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat so the beans are simmering but not at a rolling boil (which makes them break apart). Simmer two hours (or in my case, about 5). Serve over rice.

Thanks Belle! Mine turned out very good but a little more tomato-flavored than yours (probably because I put in more salsa to compensate for the extra water! (-:).