Pinto Beans and Fried Potatos

1 lb pinto beans
piece of smoked meat: ham bone, ham, neckbone etc

Sort and rinse beans. Rocks and sticks are bad. Put in pot, cover with water. Bring to boil. Let sit 1 hr. Drain, add new water salt, and pork. (Vegetarian: don't use pork. Try some liquid smoke flavor and garlic instead) Bring to boil and simmer covered 2 hrs or until done.

Fried Potatoes
2-3 med potatos cubed
1/2 med onion chopped
2 - 3 tbsp oil or bacon grease

Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add potatos. Stir til they are starting to brown, lower heat to med then add onions. Flip in skillet until onions are translucent. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover put on lowest heat until the potatos are done. It you want them crunchier, take the lid off and raise the heat and fry a little more.


Why cant I cook?
There are many reasons why fried potatos fail:
1) not enough oil - make sure covers pan about 1/8 inch
2) wrong pan - you need a heavy pan. Stainless steel or well-seasoned iron. Thin cheap pans are the main reason people can't cook. Non-stick isn't and tears up easy and has bad chemicals (no foolin' it kills birds)
3) wrong heat - the pan and oil should be hot when you put the food in so that it is sealed quickly. Then the temperature can be lowered to allow the food to cook well on the inside. This is what happens when the stuff is burned on the outside and raw inside. On the other hand - heat that is too low at the start of frying can give soggy oily potatos.
4)wrong potatos - waxy potatos fry better than mealy ones. If your potatos stick even in a good skillet - they may have too much water in them. You may be able to compensate some by leaving them uncovered more during cooking - if not, here is nothing you can do about this except make oven fries.
5)impatience - let the potatos form a crust that will release before turning.

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