Oh. My. Fucking. God. I bought a bag of Gourmet Valley Red Calypso Beans during our Whole Foods shopping binge. I nearly didn’t buy them because they were $4.99 for a 12 oz bag, but since I was already spending a fortune on organic spices, I said “What the hell?” and threw them in the cart. Let me tell you, they were well-worth the money. Soooo good.
As some of you know, I am the Queen of the Bean. It must be a southern girl thing, because in the winter I make beans almost every Monday night. Red Beans and Rice. Black Beans and Rice. White Beans and Ham. Lentils. Split Peas. Pinto Beans. Nigella’s Red Bean Dip (like hummus, but with kidney beans). I’ve even been known to make spiced broiled garbanzo beans (but I have not written poetry about them).
I decided that I’d cook these fancy, dancy heirloom beans for Tuesday night’s dinner. I soaked the beans overnight in salted water to prepare them for cooking. On Monday morning, I assembled the bean soup in my slow cooker (i.e., Crockpot). First, I spritzed the bottom of the ceramic bowl with a little EVOO (if you’re not a Rachel Ray fan, that’s short for Extra Virgin Olive Oil). I rinsed the beans, added them to the Crockpot and covered them with about an 1″ of water. I chopped up and onion and dumped it in. I added cumin, parsley, a little black pepper, and red pepper flakes. I didn’t add salt since I soaked the beans all night. I did, however, add chopped up smoked sausage to the pot. Usually, I would add some garlic, but I didn’t feel like chopping it up, so … no garlic. Cranked the Crockpot up to high and let ‘er rip until about 6 p.m. (so, about 8 hours).
These turned out so good. They held their shape even though I cooked them all day. They had really good texture. Plus, after I scooped some of the beans into my bowl, I added some small chunks of panquehue cheese that I picked up at Whole Foods. The cheese had pepper flakes mixed into it and melted down nicely.
So. Damned. Good. I just wish I had bought a second bag of the pricey little fuckers. 
Update, 7:18 a.m. : Apparently I wasn’t the only one who liked the beans. The Coach emailed me to say, “Just wanted to let you know that the beans were great!!! I would ask what was in them, but it is probably better that I don’t know.”
diggy dang girl…you really need to come here and make me some beans! i WUBS beans. being a vegetarian it’s a good source of protein. i should email you to see how you prepare your ricenbeans. i’ve not tried to make them cause i messed it up once and it tasted like crapola.
hopefully only your crockpot let em rip…cause i know they can rip other things….like butt air. *pew* damned gassy foods!
LOL – The crockpot thing was a completely inadvertent pun! I think the trick for the beans is to soak them in salt water overnight and cook them slowly. I then make my rice seperately and mix it in about 10 minutes before serving. I tried making the rice in the crockpot with the beans (adding it an hour or two before serving), but it always comes out crappy that way.
This is one of those only-on-the-Internet thing, but I was Googling Red Calypso Beans and found your blog/recipe. I made them in the crockpot yesterday, following your general advice, but also modifying a good red-beans-and-rice recipe, which involves sauteing onion, green pepper and celery, then adding some garlic. I also threw in a ham hock and a pound of andouille sausage. For complicated reasons, we didn’t eat these for dinner last night, but I’ve read that red beans taste even better the second night, so I’m heating them up right now. Not exactly red beans and rice. At the risk of sacrilege, I’ll suggest that these beans might be a little better.
Anyway, thanks. This is one of those days when I love the Internet.
I’m glad you could still find these beans. Our Whole Foods has stopped carrying them! We also checked in Santa Fe and that store didn’t have the beans either.
As for the advice … we sometimes add extra stuff, depending on what is in the ‘fridge. usually we keep the beans plain, simply because The Coach is not a fan of the other veggies you mentioned. Oh, and we can’t find really good andouille up here in the midwest (I’m a bit of a snob about that, simply because I used to live in Louisiana — seafood is another thing that we don’t but around here).
The Internet, however, is a wonderful thing. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for all this. I’m growing these bad boys and don’t know much of them since they came in a set package along with other veggies. So I wasn’t sure how to cook them or what they were like. I’m growing the expensive boys!!!! Nice!!
Would you do it the same on the stove by the way?
I would probably do them the same way on the stove, but I’d be sure to soak them at least eight hours … otherwise, they’d take forever to cook. Of course, I was using dried beans; if they’re fresh, I suspect that you wouldn’t need the soak.
Hmmm. Now you have me thinking. Maybe I should try to grow these since our regional (as in 2 hours away) Whole Foods stopped carrying them.
I share your enthusiasm for beans, so I feel I must offer this feedback: Do not put salt water in your soaking water. In fact, try to refrain from adding any salt or anything acidic until the beans have started to soften. Both salt and acid will slow the cooking/softening process.
Try the cannellini beans – they are large, like out of scale food and they are delicious cooked with finely chopped, garlic, onion, celery, vegetable broth, fresh thyme and rosemary and a couple od swigs of cooking sherry.
As a gardener, I fully support growing your food, but if time , space or patience are an issue these types of bean can also be purchased over the web.
Enjoy!
FYI — I just deleted a complete and utter troll. Dude, just because I cuss in my blog doesn’t mean I cuss in the classroom. Go be a troll somewhere else.