Year of the Bean

With summer comes heat, and with heat comes a shift to lighter and less kitchen-heavy meals. I got some of the wonderful Alubia Blanca beans in my last Bean Club shipment, and when firing up the smoker to make babaganoush the other day (also a huge success), I decided “why not?” and threw in some beans to smoke before cooking. I’m glad I did, and will definitely be doing this more in the future, to add a nice smoky character to pinto pot beans or baked kidney beans without needing to lean on bacon or ham hock.

Ingredients

• 200g Alubia Blanca or other white beans, smoked for an hour at ~200F, soaked overnight
• bay leaf
• olive oil
• salt
• reserved smoker water, if there is any

Procedure

1. Smoke beans in a thin pan or pie plate for an hour, and then let cool; soak overnight, adding any reserved smoker water if there is any, to the soaking liquid
2. Put beans and water into a 3-quart saucepan or other heavy-bottomed pan with soaking water, cover with additional water up to 2″ covered
3. Add olive oil and bay leaf, and bring to a boil for five minutes, then lower to a simmer
4. When beans begin to thicken and soften, add salt and then run immersion blender (or take out and put half into a blender for 20 seconds);
5. Add a bit more olive oil if needed, and cook until it starts to clump; enjoy on fresh bread!