Mexican-Style Great Northern Beans

What is this obsession I have with forgoing the simplicity of canned beans for the long version using dried beans? It's simple, the layering of flavors that happens when you start with dried beans.  Yes, canned beans canned be flavored and spiced up, but inside the bean, it's still plain. The only way to get that complex, slow-cooked flavor is to put it there beginning with the dried bean.

The recipe that fueled this latest obsession is the one I am posting here today. I have been making these beans for years.  Well sort of, when I first started making them many, many years ago, I always took them one step further to make re-fried beans.  Somewhere along the way I stopped making re-fried beans and this recipe was forgotten, as was cooking with dried beans.

I brought it back to life about a year ago.  A friend was having a taco party and I offered to bring beans.  Since it was the only thing I was making, I felt that canned beans were a cop out. That's when I remembered this recipe, the only problem was it had been Years since I made it and I had to remember where the recipe was.  I don't know about you but I have tons of cookbooks, recipe cards in different shapes and sizes, and even worse hundreds of print outs and ripped out magazine pages, etc.  What format was this recipe in?  After a while I found it in an unlikely place, this 30 year old Betty Crocker Mexican cookbook. I mean really, a fab Mexican bean recipe from Betty Crocker?  Whatever, it's a good recipe and even though I don't think I ever made anything else from this book, I may have to give it another look.

As usual this recipe has evolved to fit my tastes and cooking style. I included a pic of my stained and marked up version below, plus if you want re-fried beans my old recipe is there too.  Although the recipe calls for pinto or black beans, I have always used great northern.  Don't let the dried beans hinder you, the hands on time of this dish is less than 10 minutes. Okay, you'll see that Betty says you can substitute canned beans, but it won't be as good.

By the way, these freeze nicely so make a big batch and freeze half.

Mexican-Style Great Northern Beans
Adapted from Pinto Beans, published in Betty Crocker's Mexican Cookbook, 1981

6 cups water
1 lb dried great northern beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
small splash of liquid smoke (or 1 slice bacon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
chopped cilantro

Rinse and sort beans to remove any rocks or deformed beans.  In a dutch oven, mix the beans, onion and 6 cups water.  Cover and bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes then remove from heat.  let stand at least 1 hour.

Drain the water from the beans.  Add the remaining ingredients and enough water to cover teh beans plus about 1/2 inch.  heat to boiling and then cover and simmer for about 2 hours or until the beans are very tender. Add water during cooking time if needed. Garnish with cilantro.

The original marked up version from my cookbook