Janet Bostwick > wrote:
>On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:42:29 +0000 (UTC),
>(Steve Pope) wrote:
>
>>Julie Bove > wrote:
>>
>>>"Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
>>
>>>> sure. use a different base or none at all. or use an additional meat
>>>> in the preparation. one recipe I saw used chorizo plus the bacon. A
>>>> recipe like this is cook's choice. On the other hand, I'm not sure
>>>> how much chicken is in chicken base.
>>>> Janet US
>>
>>>Thanks! I have some kind of vegetable broth thing in the cupboard. Not
>>>sure how old it is or the form it takes. I have never used it. That might
>>>work. I will for sure be making this next week!
>>
>>Vegetable stock made from scratch is best, however "Imagine" brand
>>vegetable broth is acceptable. Some off-the-shelf vegetable
>>broths are not very good at all, and/or incredibly high sodium,
>>so be cautious.
>This recipe is using a paste base because the beans already have
>enough liquid. I suppose you could start out using a liquid instead
>of water, but there is the school of thought that says that adding
>salt at the beginning of cooking beans toughens them and they never
>get tender.
Right.
I normally cook beans to tenderness without adding other
ingredients, except for a little salt close to the end.
And I almost always discard the bean liquid once they are cooked.
Charro beans may be one situation where you want to keep
some of it, but you certainly don't need to keep all the
bean liquid.
Steve