What she cooks it with
Lynn buys pinto beans in a five to six pound pack and keeps the ones she reaches for in a big jar to keep them fresh, with more put back in vacuum sealed jars (how she stores her dried beans). They cook in what she calls her cast iron Dutch oven (the pot she uses).
Everything else is what she has on hand. She dices onion, takes out around two cloves of roasted garlic, and adds a little diced leftover ham from the freezer, saying bacon, bacon grease, or a bit of sausage would do the same job (garlic, ham, and the other options). A few red pepper flakes go in with the onion (the red pepper flakes). For liquid she sticks to plain water because she is cooking on a budget, and says chicken broth or beef broth is there if you want it (water instead of broth).
How Lynn cooks the beans
The first job is picking through them. She pours the beans into a strainer and looks them over for bad ones before anything else happens (looking the beans), and while they are heating she finds a black-eyed pea that got mixed in with the pintos, warning that you might could even find a grub worm or two (what turns up in a bag of beans). They go into a big bowl with a little water, then into the Dutch oven on medium high to come to a boil (bringing them to a boil).
If nobody soaked them overnight, this is her shortcut. Once the beans reach a boil she cuts the heat off and lets them sit for around 30 minutes, and she says cooking them straight through without doing it just takes about another 30 minutes, maybe close to 45 minutes longer (the quick-soak method). After the sit she carries them to the sink and rinses them with cold water (rinsing after the sit).
Once the onion has a little color she adds the beans back to the pot (the beans go back in). No salt and no black pepper yet: the beans cook on a medium high for around an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and while they go she picks out anything floating on top, including loose skins that have come off the beans (the long cook, and skimming the top). The salt and more black pepper go in at the very end, right before she cuts them off (seasoning at the finish).
The red rice on the side
She measures out one cup of rice (one cup of rice), rinses it in a strainer, and lets it drain while she gets the skillet ready with bacon grease, not much, probably a teaspoon (bacon grease for the rice). The rice toasts on a medium high that is not all the way up, just until it takes a light color (toasting the rice), and she says to keep the heat from running too high so it does not scorch (keeping the heat down).
When the rice has some color she adds a little chopped onion and bell pepper with a tiny bit more bacon grease (onion and bell pepper). Then comes one tablespoon of tomato paste with salt and black pepper (the tomato paste), two roasted garlic cloves chopped up, with minced garlic as the stand-in if there is no fresh (the garlic), two cups of chicken broth to start, which she says can be water if you are on a real tight budget (broth, or water), and about a half teaspoon of tomato powder or tomato bouillon (the tomato powder).
She brings it to a boil, puts the top on, cuts the heat to low, and lets it simmer around 30 minutes, and she is firm that you do not open it (lid on, heat low, leave it alone). At 30 minutes she takes the lid off and fluffs it (checking the rice).
How she serves it
Beans over rice, with a little chow chow on top (how she plates it). She says her grandparents would have had beans with some rice and maybe a piece of bread, and that would have been supper (what supper used to be).
Rice and beans are two of the staples she likes to keep in the pantry, she says, for hard times or just for any time you want a side (the two staples she keeps). She also points out that a pot of these beans is a side dish on its own for some people (beans as a side).