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Anasazi Beans¨ Touted as the "Best beans in the World" After I
wrote about brown beans cooked Mountain
style, I tried to find heritage beans similar to the dried "shelly"
beans that pioneers and Indians lived on in the mountains of Virginia. Some
of the surviving heritage varieties have been collected and preserved but
none are commercially available. I then discovered that the beans originally
grown by the mysterious Anasazi Indians were being grown commercially in Colorado.
I ordered some to try and found they were much better than pintos, red beans
or other commonly available varieties. The
Anasazis were cliff-dwelling Pueblo peoples in the "Four Corners"
region, which includes part of New Mexico and Colorado. Anasazi means
"ancient ones" in Navaho. They flourished about 1300 years ago and
then mysteriously disappeared. One story goes that explorers found a pot of
these beans in the long abandoned cliff dwellings and were able to grow them.
Not only do these beans taste better than most varieties, they also cook
quicker and contain less than 25 percent of the problem carbohydrates of
other beans and are therefore "socially acceptable". Cooking
– Mountain Style:
Anasazi beans do not need to be soaked prior to cooking, so you do not
discard the water-soluble nutrients and flavor components. Pick them over for
rocks and other foreign matter, put them in a pot with plenty of plain water
and bring to a boil. I add a scant teaspoonful of kelp powder at the
beginning, but no salt: salt and acid make beans tough and mealy if added too
early. You can also use potato water or un-salted stock for added flavor.
Reduce the heat and simmer at around 190¡ F for two to three hours, or until they get fairly
tender. Next add some salt pork, such as fatback, ham hock, bacon or jowl and
continue to simmer for another couple of hours until they attain the desired
tenderness and flavor. Season to taste with salt and pepper – We use
our KA seasoning blend. Serve with cornbread (we serve our hoecakes) and a
dollop of freshly minced raw onion. (c) Dan Gill Anasazi Beans(r) is
trademarked to Adobe Milling Co. Brown Beans – Read the full article |
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