Soup Beans

Soup Beans

1 pound dried pinto beans

water
1/2 pound white bacon (or salt pork)
1 small onion
1 clove garlics

salt and pepper to taste

The night before you want to serve them, rinse the beans and pick out any stones or clumps of dirt. Put them in a big bowl and cover with water to about an inch above the beans. Let them soak overnight.
When you're ready to cook, drain the soaking water off and rinse lightly again. Put the beans in a big pot with a lid. Cover with water again to about an inch above the beans.
Add the chunk of white bacon (if you're using salt pork, rinse it first), along with the peeled whole onion and garlic.Bring to a boil and boil uncovered for five minutes, then turn heat down so the beans just simmer.
Cover the pot and simmer for about two hours until the beans are very soft and a few are breaking open. (Taste one to make sure they are done to your liking.)When they are soft enough, remove the meat and onion from the pan.
(You can let the meat cool, separate the lean from the fat and chop the lean meat back up and add it to the beans if you like.)
Take about a cup of the beans from the pot and mash them lightly with a fork until they are a paste. Stir this back into the beans to make a thicker broth.Now add the salt.
If you put the salt in earlier, the beans will never soften quite enough. I don't know why. I just know it's so. Add ground black pepper, if you like. http://www.recipelink.com/mf/33/61