Every season is bean season for me. There will never not be a few deli containers of beans ready to go in the fridge for whatever meal. In the past couple of years, we switched to Primary Beans and I highly recommend them!
(Candidly, I'm friends with one of the founders of the company but I wouldn't recommend the beans if I didn't rate them and what they're trying to do with the company.)
Their beans are sourced directly from the farmers. Have fallen in love with the ojo de cabra and southwest gold beans they offer. But there's not a single type of bean I've got from Primary Beans that haven't been anything but delicious.
I know Hidden Track's Bodega both downtown and uptown stock primary beans if you're unsure about getting them online.
And yes, they are more expensive than the dried beans you can pick up at the grocery store. So these beans probably won't appeal to you if you're more of a value over quality and have an interest on sourcing practices.
What are your go-to beans?
Beans!
Re: Beans!
Probably not the answer you're looking for, but it's always canned for me. I have as much success cooking dried beans to my desired level of tenderness as I do growing my own vegetables. In other words, none at all. I like the Trader Joe's organics for chickpeas, kidney beans, great northern beans, and black beans.
Re: Beans!
Primary Beans' beans have helped me skip the need to soak and just patiently cook beans away for a few hours.
Nothing wrong with canned. Canned beans come through in a pinch!
Nothing wrong with canned. Canned beans come through in a pinch!
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Skillet Doux
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Re: Beans!
Ha! Funny timing. I just posted a beany thing over on Instagram today 
It's the trendy foodie answer, but I mail-order most of my beans from Rancho Gordo. The Marcella beans and the chickpeas are my staples, but they have so many freaking cool-looking heirloom varieties that I really need to explore. (Oh, and great pinquitos for when I do tri tip.) This was a little improv dinner last week. Some Marcella beans cooked with a simple battuto, topped with roasted butternut and grilled chorizo verde from Arcadia Meat Market (which is awesome, BTW).
No shame in canned. That's what I use anytime I don't get dinner started in time to do dry. Which is pretty much always.
I'd love to expand the repertoire, though. I'll definitely check out Primary. Without fail, every time I make beans, I ask myself why I don't make them more often. And one of the dishes I desperately want to learn to make a drop-dead killer version of is a good bowl of charro beans.
- Cooking - Chorizo Verde.jpg (637.03 KiB) Viewed 5867 times
It's the trendy foodie answer, but I mail-order most of my beans from Rancho Gordo. The Marcella beans and the chickpeas are my staples, but they have so many freaking cool-looking heirloom varieties that I really need to explore. (Oh, and great pinquitos for when I do tri tip.) This was a little improv dinner last week. Some Marcella beans cooked with a simple battuto, topped with roasted butternut and grilled chorizo verde from Arcadia Meat Market (which is awesome, BTW).
No shame in canned. That's what I use anytime I don't get dinner started in time to do dry. Which is pretty much always.
I'd love to expand the repertoire, though. I'll definitely check out Primary. Without fail, every time I make beans, I ask myself why I don't make them more often. And one of the dishes I desperately want to learn to make a drop-dead killer version of is a good bowl of charro beans.
-Dom
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BillBuitenhuys
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- Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:45 am
Re: Beans!
Thank you! Just ordered the Not-a-Pinto set, which led me to order the Hayden Flour Mills x Masienda Tortilla Flour to make those ridiculously good looking bean tostadas.
Re: Beans!
Going beyond beans to include other pulses here...
My usuals are canned garbanzos and Great Northern beans from TJ's, dried pinto beans and black beans from the bulk bins at El Super or Food City, dried garbanzos from wherever (usually bought at Baiz), and the occasional bag of dried cranberry beans (borlotti) from Bob's Red Mill or Rancho Gordo.
I'm a sucker for all of the itty bitty lentils (de Puy, beluga, Umbrian), so I'll grab a box or bag of them whenever the mood strikes me. I don't have any particular brand loyalty when it comes to these, but for Umbrian, I'd guess that all or almost all I've ever bought have been sold under the Bartolini brand.
A couple of my true faves are borlotti and black eyed peas (and other cowpeas) cooked at the shelling stage, but other than the black eyed peas we've grown ourselves and rare farmer's market finds, I've not seen a lot of good examples of these around here. Baiz sells fresh cowpeas from time to time, but the last couple of batches we bought tasted like generic vegetable matter. :-/ Other faves are fresh fava beans and green/shelling stage garbanzos, which we generally *have* had good luck with at Baiz.
So, yeah, with the possible exception of the itty bitty lentils, my bean selections tend not to be at the thoughtfully curated/artisanal end of the spectrum.
My usuals are canned garbanzos and Great Northern beans from TJ's, dried pinto beans and black beans from the bulk bins at El Super or Food City, dried garbanzos from wherever (usually bought at Baiz), and the occasional bag of dried cranberry beans (borlotti) from Bob's Red Mill or Rancho Gordo.
I'm a sucker for all of the itty bitty lentils (de Puy, beluga, Umbrian), so I'll grab a box or bag of them whenever the mood strikes me. I don't have any particular brand loyalty when it comes to these, but for Umbrian, I'd guess that all or almost all I've ever bought have been sold under the Bartolini brand.
A couple of my true faves are borlotti and black eyed peas (and other cowpeas) cooked at the shelling stage, but other than the black eyed peas we've grown ourselves and rare farmer's market finds, I've not seen a lot of good examples of these around here. Baiz sells fresh cowpeas from time to time, but the last couple of batches we bought tasted like generic vegetable matter. :-/ Other faves are fresh fava beans and green/shelling stage garbanzos, which we generally *have* had good luck with at Baiz.
So, yeah, with the possible exception of the itty bitty lentils, my bean selections tend not to be at the thoughtfully curated/artisanal end of the spectrum.
Re: Beans!
ME TOO. They're basically a cheat code for quick dinners.Skillet Doux wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 12:31 am Without fail, every time I make beans, I ask myself why I don't make them more often.
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BillBuitenhuys
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Re: Beans!
Annual new batch of Primary Beans is available. Our box just arrived. Yay!