Pick over carefully and wash one quart of beans, soak in water over
night. In the morning drain, add fresh cold water and bring to a boil,
drain again, and turn them into a four-quart stone jar, put in a
generous cup of butter, two large tablespoonfuls of Porto Rico molasses,
two tablespoonfuls of salt, less than a teaspoonful of pepper, and fill
the jar with boiling water. Put in the oven, covering the jar with a tin
cover. It must be cooked in a slow oven eight or nine hours--the water
ought to last until the beans are perfectly cooked, and when done a
good gravy left, about a third of the depth of the beans in the jar.
Beans cooked in this way are very nutritious and easily digested. Keep
them covered for two or three hours while cooking. Serve with Chili
sauce.
BAYO OR MEXICAN BEANS.--No. 1.
Put one cup of Bayo or Mexican red beans to soak over night, in the
morning drain off the water and put them in a saucepan with plenty of
fresh water, let them cook for two hours, drain again, and add to them
three fresh tomatoes, skinned and cut small, or a cup of canned
tomatoes, and half an onion cut as small as the beans, then cover with
boiling water and cook for one hour. Then stir in a very generous
tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
MEXICAN BEANS.--No. 2.
Soak over night a pint of beans and boil as in recipe No. 1 until soft.
Then melt a tablespoonful of butter in a spider; when it bubbles put in
a small onion chopped very fine, and fry a delicate brown. Drain the
beans and turn them into the spider, add a cup of boiling water and stir
until the water becomes thick like cream.
EMPARADAS (a Mexican Recipe).
Take some beans cooked as in Mexican Beans No. 1 and mash them to a
paste. Then roll out some puff paste very thin--about the sixth of an
inch--cut this into rounds with a large patty cutter, put a spoonful of
the bean puree on the half of each round, wet the edges of the pastry,
cover, press the edges together, making a half moon, brush them over
with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven, or they may be fried in boiling
oil or fat until a delicate brown.