NOT Old Fashioned Pinto Beans

 NOT Old Fashioned Pinto Beans

Many of us in the south grew up in house holds that often had a big pot of Pinto Beans on the stove.  One day they were served as a side dish and then another with rice and cheese.  Once in a while they were mashed and refried for burritos or have link sausage added to them to be a one bowl meal.

Today I decided to try to take the pot of beans to the next level and make them special.  I started by soaking the beans for 24 hours.  (FYI if you rinse your beans with fresh water several times during the soaking period you will eliminate most of the gas before it can visit you.)

I filled my stock pot 3/4 full of fresh water then added the beans.  I brought them to a medium boil and cooked them with my favorite seasonings until they were broken up and had created a nice thick gravy.  At this point the beans are way over cooked to enjoy although they taste great. 

I then added the rest of my soaking pinto beans to the stock pot of soupy beans along with a few more spices.  One hour later the beans are ready and tasted great.

Making them extra special was now the task at hand.  Pull out the big bowls. cook up some rice and brown some good peppery link sausage and drain.  Nows all thats left is the assembly.  Making food look good makes all the difference in the world when it comes to freshening up a traditional tried and true food staple.  Enjoy.

The wedges of bread are from the loaf of easy crusty bread I posted about earlier in the day.