Brown Beans & Cornbread

My husband made brown beans in the crock pot. Normally he cooks brown beans on top of the stove in a dutch oven or large stock pot. The top of the stove method is to bring the pot to a boil and then turn down on low and let them cook for several hours until they are done. This crock pot cooking is such a good way to put something on in the morning and have ready to eat when you arrive home from work! With his crock pot beans he washed two pounds of pinto beans and picked out the goofy looking ones. He dumped the beans in the crock pot and added fourteen cups of water.  

Normally we add ham hocks or bacon ends or salt pork to the pinto beans, but this time he took a canned ham from the cabinet, cut it into little square pieces and put in with the beans. He also chopped one medium onion and added to the beans.

Next he added garlic powder, salt, pepper and a couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes. He does not measure so the amount is to your individual taste. He is not crazy about the red pepper flakes, but I love them. Stir everything together and put the lid on the crock pot.

He cooked the beans on high for seven hours. And the beans were just perfect. He likes to eat his brown beans in a bowl with lots of bean juice. You can see in the photo he was able to have enough. If you do not want so much juice cut back on the water a little bit. Just make sure you have enough water to cook the beans. They soak up a lot so I would use 12 cups for sure.

2 pounds pinto beans = $2.00

1 pound canned ham = $2.50

1 medium onion = .50

salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes 

Approximately $5.50 for the entire pot of brown beans!

The bean package said 13 servings per pound of beans...now that made me laugh...if those fools think there's 26 servings in this pot they must have a really small bowl! 

YOU HAVE TO HAVE CORNBREAD WITH BROWN BEANS...

Shawnee Best White Corn Meal Mix made according to package directions: 2 cups corn meal mix, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted oil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the oil in a cast iron skillet and place in the oven. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Pour the hot oil out of the skillet into the mix. Stir and pour the mixture into the skillet. Bake at 400 degrees approximately 35 minutes until golden brown. Yield: 16 two inch squares.

Ok we are not going to get 2 inch squares out of a round cast iron skillet! NOTE: The reason for heating the oil in the skillet is to obtain the golden brown crust on the bottom of the cornbread like the example above.

He makes the best cornbread. Sometimes he adds jalapeno peppers or corn or onions or cheese to the cornbread and sometimes he puts them all in at once. You did note that he uses Shawnee Best White Corn Meal Mix because it is MADE IN OKLAHOMA!