Crunchy Beans

Anyone who has ever entertained ideas of frugality, food storage, a back-to-basics diet, or farmstead cooking has tried cooking dry beans.  I have a good supply of beans in my downstairs pantry, maybe a few too many, maybe a few years old, and they appear to get drier all the time.

Earlier this week I brought some black beans to a boil, soaked them overnight, and put them in the fridge for use soon.  My husband likes to cook up pots of tasty beans, so I said he could have some of them. He cooked them for hours and they were still quite hard.  He cooked them a few more hours the next day and they yet retained some firmness.  I knew I faced a challenge when I decided to use some of the beans for a soup today, but needed it midday.  I began my project around 9 AM.

I had stored the beans in 3-4 containers, and with the ones Greg had cooked, was having trouble identifying which were mine and which were his.  I never eat anything he has cooked without verifying its hot chili content.  I asked Beth to email him, since we couldn’t reach him by phone.  She wrote:

“Dear sir,

We would like to respectfully inquire whether or not the beans in the square white container in the refrigerator are to be considered your personal property or if they can be added directly to the communal ham and soup pot.

Sincerely,
The Bean Inquiry Committee (BIC) “

We didn’t hear back, but I proceeded as best I could.  After the soup was well under way he responded with the longest email I can recall ever receiving from him.  Maybe the most words ever used in one instance:

“Dear BIC,

We ate at 12:30 and the kids assured me the  soup and beans were yummy and not breaking any teeth.  I had to agree with them, however, the beans were still moderately crunchy.   I have an abundance more of them downstairs to experiment more on.