Beans are cheap and nourishing. All they need to be good is some hog meat and a little trouble. Soak your beans, red or white, in cold water overnight, or longer. When you are ready to cook them: get you some ham hocks of which you take 1 1/2 pounds more or less, and put them into your pressure cooker with 2 or 3 minced cloves of garlic, a chopped onion, green pepper if you like, and about 4 cups of water. Close the cooker, and put the weight on it. Cook for 25 minutes at 15 pounds pressure. Reduce the pressure under cold running water as per instructions.

Add your beans to the pot (you can fish out the ham hocks at this point if they are tender) and add hot water to the stock in the pot so that the liquid covers the beans to a depth of 1". Simmer the beans loosely covered until they are tender (about 1 1/2 hours). Check occasionally to see if they need more water, otherwise they will stick.

Chop up the meat, and add it to your beans. I like to take a bit of the skin and whiz it in the blender for extra seasoning. Also I like to mash a certain amount of the beans against the side of the pot to thicken the juice. I have even been known to thicken with a bit of brown roux. This is particularly good with red beans, and a little chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon is nice.

To make bean soup, you just use more water and keep on cooking until the beans fall apart. The Great Northern type makes the best soup.

Nothing has been said about salt, because the ham hocks vary in salt content. You will have to taste and see. I like red pepper in red beans. Red beans and rice is a famous Creole dish. Usually a couple of little pork sausages are served with this.

Dried big lima beans are a treat, especially if you increase the amount of ham to go with them. Cornbread with these.