Comments on Homesick Texan: Pinto bean pie: sweet, not savory!

An elderly man gave me a recipe from his wife as a...

2010-01-04T18:31:10.180-05:00

An elderly man gave me a recipe from his wife as a thank you for taking care of her. That was 25 years ago and I made the pie shortly after that. As I recall, the recipe called for a few pecans,and maybe some fresh coconut.At any rate, it tasted nothing like pumpkin pie, but more like a pecan pie.
Now I'll have to hunt up the recipe!

thanks for posting this! we tried it as part of ou...

2009-03-23T21:48:00.000-04:00

thanks for posting this! we tried it as part of our pi(e) day (3.14) activities and posted about it on our pie blog here: www.nothinginthehouse.blogspot.com

homesick texan is a true inspiration!

I make amazing brownies with black beans in place ...

2009-03-21T19:10:00.000-04:00

I make amazing brownies with black beans in place of flour so this pie sounds amazing to me! Yum! I'm still working on a good gluten free pie crust but this sounds like a good recipe to practice on.

my grandma still makes raisin pie, especially frie...

2009-03-10T17:07:00.000-04:00

my grandma still makes raisin pie, especially fried pies..they are pretty good as is anything deep fried in dough :)

Now you are talking when you mention raisin pie. ...

2009-03-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

Now you are talking when you mention raisin pie. Not the creamy kind..just raisins in a sweet filling...oh so good. And I don't care for raisins in cookies or cake...but give me a raisin pie and I am one happy Okie gal.

Amelia

I have enjoyed all of the sweet bean desserts I ha...

2009-03-07T04:41:00.000-05:00

I have enjoyed all of the sweet bean desserts I have tried so far, which include Bean Pie (African/Soul Food), red bean ice cream, jellied red bean, and other red bean sweet treats from Japan, Chinese sweet bean dumplings, and many soy-based desserts.

This pie looks delish, Lisa. And, your idea for the black bean and chocolate pie sounds even better. I hope you will make that one and post about it as well. Yum!!!

Cheers,

~ Paula

I've never heard of pinto bean pie before but the ...

2009-03-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

I've never heard of pinto bean pie before but the concept reminded me of a soybean pie I made like 30 years ago. Same type of flavorings but I presume that the more starchy pintos would bring more density to the party. This is now on my 'will have to try' list. I do make my own red bean paste for steamed buns and chickpea fudge (Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking) so sweet beans are a familiar concept.

I have used azuki beans in sweet dishes before and...

2009-03-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

I have used azuki beans in sweet dishes before and I like the sound of using pinto beans in a sweet pie.

As a lifelong Austinite, I love pinto beans. I ma...

2009-03-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

As a lifelong Austinite, I love pinto beans. I make a big pot every weekend, so I think I'll just set some aside to try out this pie. I used to love my grandma's chess pie!

Beeeeener!!!!

2009-03-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

Beeeeener!!!!

I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but for some re...

2009-03-06T07:43:00.000-05:00

I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but for some reason, this just sounds more appealing. I think I'd like the texture. Pumpkin pie can jut be too squishy. I'm not sure this is something I would make for myself... How does it go with cocktails? If you ever make it again, can we meet up in a bar and negotiate some sort of swap? ;-)

This looks really good. Sweet beans are not all t...

2009-03-05T16:49:00.000-05:00

This looks really good. Sweet beans are not all that surprising, but I have never seen them in a cake. It looks like a great texture and consistency. I studied abroad in the DR and around Easter time they make sweet beans with coconut milk and sugar. They were one of my favorite dishes. This looks like it could turn into a cool fusion dish.

I posted a link to this column on a knitting site,...

2009-03-05T12:48:00.000-05:00

I posted a link to this column on a knitting site, cast-on, where an expat American lives in Wales and is making pumpkin pie, with sometimes limited resources.
By the way, black bean chocolate will never take the place of your grandmother's chocolate pie.

Robin, that's called soda cracker pie (that tastes...

2009-03-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

Robin, that's called soda cracker pie (that tastes like apple), I make it at least once every month or so!

There is a reasonable recipe or two in the Bluebell cookbook, of all places.

Man, do I miss Texas! Thank you for this blog!

I've made a grape pie as well, and it's made with ...

2009-03-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

I've made a grape pie as well, and it's made with Concord grapes. You need a food mill for it. It tastes like blackberry pie. I don't know if that's the same pie mentioned above.

There's a restaurant in Southern Utah that serves ...

2009-03-04T22:46:00.000-05:00

There's a restaurant in Southern Utah that serves Pinto Bean Pie, Buttermilk Pie, and Dill Pickle Pie, all delicious. I can't remember the name but we always used to stop there on the way home from Lake Powell, sunburned as could be. The pies were all good!

I'll echo what others have said: Asians (and proba...

2009-03-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

I'll echo what others have said: Asians (and probably other cultures) eat beans for dessert all the time. The sweet bean buns or sweet bean rice cakes are my favorites when we got the Korean bakery in town - each variety made from different kinds of legumes: white beans, green beans (peas, I imagine?), and red beans.

Personally, I think this pie sounds delicious. :-)

What a deliciously historical and nostalgic post t...

2009-03-04T22:02:00.000-05:00

What a deliciously historical and nostalgic post this is, Lisa. And if you're taking votes, I'm for the chocolate bean pie next time.

The downside to using something such as black bean...

2009-03-04T21:56:00.000-05:00

The downside to using something such as black beans would be flavor... Pintos are rather bland. Black beans are more distinctive. Might not be a good combination with chocolate!

Here's another chow post about it:http://chowhound...

2009-03-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

Here's another chow post about it:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/574622

Rum sounds like a wonderful addition. I can imagine that rum and chocolate would compliment earthy beans well.

I was also thinking black beans may not be as starchy as pintos, which might be why most are made with pinto or navy.

Hmm, now I want to play with this too.

That's interesting, I never heard about this depre...

2009-03-04T20:57:00.000-05:00

That's interesting, I never heard about this depression era pie either, BUT recently my boyfriend told me about what must be the same thing! Bean Pie is apparently a specialty of African American neighborhoods in Los Angeles. He remembers Nation of Islam selling them (he was born in LA). I was intrigued, he talked about it so nonchalantly and I'd never heard of a bean pie! He looked it up on wikipedia to show me. Now that I see this recipe, I get a clearer picture of what it is.

To sate my curiosity and yours I've rounded up these links:

Los Angeles people asking about them:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/75838
http://www.chow.com/blog/tag/navy-bean-pie

A blog explaining them:
http://www.cakespy.com/2008/10/sweetie-pie-learning-to-love-navy-bean.html

wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean_pie

Beans make it into dessert in a few different cult...

2009-03-04T19:06:00.000-05:00

Beans make it into dessert in a few different cultures. From the Chinese buns, to the Japanese adzuki bean paste, and in the Caribbean we make habichuelas con dulce, which is like a dessert bean soup. It's beans, coconut milk, sweet spices, boniato (sweet potato), and raisins. It's made mostly around Lent and tends to be served cold.
So, it's not so strange to some of us.

How bizarre! But it sounds really interesting...mi...

2009-03-04T18:01:00.000-05:00

How bizarre! But it sounds really interesting...might have to try this.

I'm a huge pinto bean fan, but, honestly have neve...

2009-03-04T16:32:00.000-05:00

I'm a huge pinto bean fan, but, honestly have never heard of them being used in a pie. I'm a born and raised Texan, so it must not be a Texan thing or my grandmothers would have made them. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'd like to make for my family and not tell them the ingredients just to see the reaction.

Adrienne--All right then--sounds like I need to ma...

2009-03-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

Adrienne--All right then--sounds like I need to make that black bean chocolate pie soon!

Lisa is Cooking--Hmmmm, I guess I should find a recipe for raisin pie and try it for myself.

Lynda--I'm a big fan of pinto beans in flour tortillas, so I reckon a sandwich isn't too far off from that.

Debra--Yes, you often find sweet bean dishes in Asian cuisines, so I reckon this pie isn't too strange.

Bee--If you love pumpkin, you'd probably enjoy this.

Scribbit--Yep, this is what I was baking. Try it!

TBSamsel--Oh, yes, I'd forgotten about that. There was a character on "Weeds" who always brought another character one of his bean pies.

Jennifer--Thanks for stopping by! It's nice to have you around!

Dustym--That's what I said!

Rosa--Thanks! You should try it, I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised!

KTCat929--So does raisin pie taste like raisins or is it more like a shoo fly pie?

Kelly--Oh! I'll have to try the azuki beans with five spice powder and ginger--sounds wonderful!

Karen--Ha! Yes, I love pie to pieces as well!

MarcieF--I've never heard of either one, but avocado ice cream is something I've been wanting to make. And since green tomatoes are so hard and tart, it makes sense that a pie with them would turn out to be like an apple pie.

Tommy--Oh, come on--I know how much you enjoyed the sweet potato pie and this isn't too much different. And it seems like raisin pie is definitely a generational thing.

Celeste--Do you know what kind of grapes were used?