I'm cooking a pot of beans today. Pintos. It was almost an epiphany to think about writing about cooking them. They are ordinary. Basic. And yet, wonderful. I especially love them, because they are comfort food. They can take me back to when I was a kid. One of my favorite meals was Mom's meatloaf, fried potatoes, pinto beans and cornbread. You just couldn't have meatloaf with anything else. There were also the weekend fish fries at the lake which meant snatching pieces of cornflake-battered catfish or hush puppies Dad was deep-frying outside while savoring the smell of simmering beans wafting through the air.
Pintos are versatile. Throw some salt in the pot, and they're good to go. Or spice it up, which is how I usually cook them, with chopped onion, jalapeno peppers, cumin, chili powder and garlic salt. Try adding some meat. A special pot of pinto beans would have a ham bone in it during cooking. Dad used to have a crock pot of beans cooking at his gas station, with smoked sausage thrown in. I even knew someone who used a chili mix in her beans and added macaroni. Or try them cooked with some chopped onion and green bell pepper, salt, and garlic powder. If you're not serving them with cornbread, try cooked rice (I like to season mine with onion, cooked in chicken broth), or simply spoon them over a slice of white bread. Mmmm...ordinary wonderful!
What do you cook now, that you enjoyed as a kid, and what special memories does that food evoke?
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