Jacob's Cattle Bean

Our CSA farmer has recently branched out into dried beans, and we've loved her black beans. Last week, she sent us a new treasure: local, organic Jacob's Cattle Beans.

Searching the internet brings up this information:

"Jacob's Cattle bean is also called a Trout bean or an Appaloosa bean, but Jacob's Cattle bean is the oldest name for the variety. It is a plump, white and red speckled, kidney-shaped bean with vivid maroon splashes. It is full-flavored, holds its shape under long cooking, and stands up well to plenty of seasoning. The bean has a rich aroma. It is a little tannic on the tongue and tastes almost like a green bean with a slightly fruity aftertaste. The aftertaste was also described as rich and nutty."

It looks like I should have used sage as the herb, based on the recipes online. I went with oregano, just from instinct.

Here are the beauties at the beginning of soaking.

Before the boil:

All ready to eat.

We found them to be a mild, pleasant bean - more suited to being sauteed with greens than tossed in tacos.

Fear Not

We haven't forgotten about beans. We just haven't given the latest updates. But here's a preview...

The Long Soak

In August, we shifted our diet to more whole grains, and that involved more beans. At first, it was lots of garbanzos, which were turned into hummus, but as the season turned cold, I branched out to other beans.

I was tipped off by a friend to the long soak. He says that the phytates in beans are unhealthy and, if you're going to eat them, you should soak them for several days then cook them in a pressure cooker. I don't have a pressure cooker, but I'm really good at starting something and forgetting about it for a few days.

So that's what I do with my beans - into a bowl they go covered with water (a few inches extra), then I set them on the counter, or out on our enclosed patio where it's more like refrigerator temperature this winter. I leave it there for two to three days, until it starts to make little bubbles.

I pour out the water, and refill the bowl (again with a few inches extra water). I know some people cook with the soaking water, but it has the phytates in it, so I want to get rid of it. Also I've never noticed it made a big difference to flavor one way or the other.

Then I pull out my trusty cast iron pot, saute some onions and garlic, and pour in the beans and water. I bring it to a boil, let it boil for five minutes, then turn it down to a low simmer. That was the advice we got when we first ordered Rancho Gordo beans a few years ago, and it has worked well for us.

The huge benefit of the soaking comes into play at this point. Because the beans are already totally hydrated, cooking time is much decreased. (You can also do this with pasta!) Beans cook in two hours and are very soft.

It used to be that it would take four, five, even six hours to cook, and even then they still wouldn't be fork tender. It would require adding new, cold water every hour or so, which seemed to me that it would disturb the cooking process. Me being me, I would forget to add more water, and more often than not, the beans would burn. Not so effective really.

This benefit alone convinced me of the superiority of The Long Soak. The fact that there might be health benefits is an added bonus.

Nowadays, at the advice of the internet, I've taken to adding a few teaspoons of an acid (usually apple cider vinegar). Then it bubbles much more quickly - like overnight - and I rinse it out and add more water daily. I've notice no other difference in cooking or eating.