I've been continuing my dried bean journey by buying as many varieties of Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans at a local small business. I also scoured my two current favorite cookbooks (which are the newest additions to my library) for brothy bean recipes and lo and behold, each had recipes.
In my bean era, I've found that soaking the beans overnight and cooking them low and slow have resulted in a wonderfully creamy texture for the beans. Also the rancho gordo beans yield an intact bean even when cooked for hours (I try to cook them on low heat for at least 3-5 hours).
Brothy (Basil) Beans from Carla Lalli Music's cookbook That Sounds So Good
This recipe utilized my purchase of Rancho Gordo's Snowcap beans, which are of the variety of large beans that Carla suggests using. She tops her beans with a pesto but also in her book, she suggests using a salsa verde. I just got on a salsa verde kick so I topped my beans with her recipe for salsa verde. The tang from the salsa added a brightness to the creamy bean bites.
Brothy Borracho Beans from The Defined Dish's cookbook The Comfortable Kitchen (I couldn't find her recipe online but here is a similar version)
These drunken beans (the name comes from the addition of beer) were the most flavorful of the brothy bean recipes I've tried so far. I thought they had a potential to taste like chili with the addition of spices like chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika. However, somehow the combination of bacon, alliums, spices and beer blended to create a beautifully flavored bean that wasn't at all like chili. My mind is blown.
I didn't use pinto beans, which are suggested for these Borracho beans, but rather Rancho Gordo's King City Pink Bean, which is a small bean and perfect for broths.
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