-=> Quoting Tara Deen to All <=- TD> A traditional method for cooking black chickpeas is to soak for eight TD> hours, then to hang in damp cheesecloth for eight hours, to germinate TD> the seed, to have it at it's most nutritious. That sounds like it would work just as well. TD> if I ever get organised enough to plan what I'm cooking more then TD> a day ahead ;-) Yeah. Beanz are a three day job. Just in case people are wondering why we are talking about beanz on a chile group..... MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05 Title: Eva's Beans Categories: Mexican, Beans, Bacon, Chilies, Tnt Yield: 1 Batch 2 c Pinto beans, washed and -picked over 8 Roma tomatoes, seeded -and chopped 1/2 lb Sliced bacon, cut -into squares 1 lg White onion, diced 1 cl Garlic, crushed 8 Jalapeno peppers, seeded -cut into strips 4 c Water 2 c Beer 1 tb Mexican oregano 2 ts Ground cumin 1 c Chopped cilantro Salt to taste (Eva's beans were HOT, if you don't tolerate hot stuff well, feel free to reduce the amount of peppers) Place all ingredients except salt and cilantro in a large pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and remove from the heat. Allow mixture to stand for 1 hour. Return the pot to the heat, and simmer until the beans are tender. Add cilantro and salt to taste. Remove about 1 cup of the cooked beans from the pot, along with some of the cooking liquid. Mash the beans into the cooking liquid, and return the bean puree to the pot. Stir to combine. These may be served as an accompaniment to a meal, or as a meal in themselves, accompanied by a stack of flour tortillas. Eva insisted that these beans did not reheat well, and should be made fresh daily. I disagree -- the leftovers are great. Kathy in Bryan, TX MMMMM Jim in Yellowknife