We recently visited Nashville Tennessee for the first time and stopped in to their wonderful downtown Farmers Market where we met a gentlemen selling all kinds of beans. We had a conversation about Butter Beans and picked up a pound to give them a try. Of course like all our recipes we put our own spin on it using our Bacon Pepper and low and behold we have a new household favorite!

Making your own beans can be a little intimidating at first but I can assure you it is easypeasy!  We used fresh from the farm butter beans but you can use frozen ones as well and you don’t need to thaw them but I would reduce your water just a tad. You can always add more water if need be. If you are using dried butter beans then you will need to pre-soak them by placing them in a bowl and add cold water and let them set for about 6 hours or you can leave them overnight.  You can speed that up by rinsing the beans and adding them to a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes then remove the pot from the heat and let them soak for an hour. To soak or not is a personal choice. It does reduce the phytic acid that makes us gassy!

You can also make this recipe ahead of time which will allow all those ingredients to talk to each other for awhile which allows enhances the flavor. In addition you can store then up to four days and make a whole new meal out of them by adding potatoes and sausage and therefore making a stew perfect for a cool fall day with a pan of cornbread. Here is one of my favorite cornbread recipes but don’t forget to add a tbsp of Bacon Pepper!