Prepare Dried Citrus Peeled Beans
Cooking dried beans is not as convenient as opening a tin can, but it gives you the opportunity to season them exactly the way you like them. One of my favorite additions is a strip of citrus zest. Swimming in a huge pot of beans may seem like a shame, but don’t be fooled – even the tiniest bite gives the beans and their broth a citrusy flavor through and through.
To make your own batch, all you need is dried beans, a slice of citrus, and a vegetable peeler, not a microplane or grater. Using a peeler is important because it produces whole strips of rind that are simply better suited for a dish that takes as long to cook as dried beans. Citrus oils are highly aromatic but extremely volatile, and the zest and grate spray most of them into the air, where they evaporate immediately. Whole strips of peel hold the oils securely, so all of their flavors are removed gradually as the beans cook. Plus, when the beans are cooked, they are easy to pull out.
A little tip: don’t overuse the zest. Since whole rind releases so much citrus oil during cooking, you can definitely overdo it. One or two strips half an inch wide is all you need for a pound of dried beans, so if you are cooking less, use even narrower strips. You can always add more to the next batch.
The only tricky part is choosing a flavor combination because the options are endless. Lemon and orange peel are the most versatile foods, so you can start with them. Most people have a strong preference for one or the other, so pick your favorite and use it to flavor any light to medium-flavored beans. At the top of my head, chickpeas, cannellini or navy beans, limas, mayocobas, pinto, red lentils, black-eyed peas, cranberry beans, and pink beans are all perfect pairs. (If you can manage to pack a bag of Rancho Gordo Royal Coronas , I literally beg you to cook them with a couple of strips of lemon zest. Please!)
Lime and grapefruit are less reliable, but they sing when used correctly. Boiled lime peel has a specific flavor – more earthy and noticeably more bitter than lemon or orange. For this reason, I think it works best with black beans, red buds, or any other variety with thick, dark skin and intense flavors. The ultra-thin grapefruit zest, which is underutilized in savory cotins, pairs very well with pinto and pink beans. This inspiration comes from Matty Matheson’s fried beans , flavored with grapefruit juice and queso oaxaca – a combination that sounds disgusting but is actually so good .
I’m not exaggerating when I say that roasted pinto beans cooked with a strip of grapefruit zest will ruin your other roasted bean recipes. The subtle acidity is subtle to citrus, let alone grapefruit – just more interesting than regular roasted beans. I don’t know how it works, but it’s pure culinary magic.