Boiling Beans....With Epazote..

Epazote (pronounced ep-a-zotay) is a new herb to me, but has been around for thousands of years, used by Aztecs as a medicinal herb in the form of tea. It is now being studied for its antifungal properties as well as its anticancer and antitumor properties. Epazote has long been used by Mexican cooks, from those who cook in a 1 room shack to five star restaurant chefs. Epazote is very potent and should be used sparingly, in high doses it is toxic. For more information on this wonderful herb go to this link http://www.rain-tree.com/epazote.htm The purpose of this herb in this simple recipe is to act as not only a flavoring but also for its antiflatulence properties. You can find this herb in Mexican groceries. Fresh or dried.

Ingredients

2lbs dried beans -white, pinto, or black

water for rinsing

2 tsp salt

2-3 leaves of epazote
1/2 small white or yellow onion cut in chunks
3 cloves of garlic

5qt pot

water to cover beans

additional water for boiling

Put your beans in a colander and fill a bowl with hot water, let the beans rinse and pick off any

thing that floats to the top or looks bad, you can let the beans soak for no more than 6 hours. I only soaked mine for about 30 minutes. Once beans are soaked and cleaned pour them into a 5 qt. stockpot and add water, make sure water is about 2 knuckles high over beans. Add epazote and salt, onion and garlic and boil on medium heat for 1 and a half to 2 hours, I added water as needed. The texture of the beans should be creamy. I made a large batch because I used  them in several meals. You can use these to be refried, actually I do not add an oil or fat to my refried beans. I just put the amount of beans I want in a pan and mash them and reheat. The epazote gives it a very traditional Mexican flavor....one that is hard to imitate.