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Black bean recipe @ Recipes From A Pantry
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How to Cook Black Beans

A quick easy guide on how to cook black beans.

Ingredients

  • Black beans turtle beans
  • Water or stock
  • Seasoning of your choice
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Pick through the beans and discard all stones and broken beans.
  • Soak the beans in water over night - making sure that there is enough water to cover all which are going to swell. The longer you soak them the shorter the cooking time.
  • Then drain and wash them and transfer them into a pot.
  • Add enough water or stock so that the liquid is about 5cm above the beans and add in the seasoning (not salt). I generally add in garlic, bay leaves and sliced onions.
  • Bring to the boil, then simmer partially uncovered for between 1hr - 3hr depending on how firm or soft you want your beans.
  • Add in the salt after about 1h of simmering.
  • If the cooking liquid dries out before the beans finish cooking then add some more.
  • When cooked, drain the beans. You can reserve the cooking liquid and use it to cook rice or flavour soups and stews.

Notes

Adding salt to the beans at the start slows down the softening process so it is worth adding it in after about an hr of cooking.