Romano, Pinto or Cranberry Beans ( Barbunya Pilaki)

 We call these red beans "Barbunya" in Turkish, I have heard people calling them different names,

the dictionary says Romano beans, some people called them Pinto beans some call them Cran Berry beans, what ever you call them I am sure you will love this recipe. It has been the favorite of my cooking classes here in Bodrum. It is easy to make and I have never seen anyone who doesn't like it . It is a Turkish Mothers way to make her kids eat something healthy, kids love this recipe !

And thank you Dana for making me write this, she has asked me to write it since she is cooking it tonight at a Turkish Dinner :)

Ingredients ;

1 Bell pepper in chunks

4 -5 Cloves of garlic crushed

4 - 5 Onions chopped

1 Cup Olive Oil

1/5 cup granulated sugar

salt and pepper to taste

2 Cups of Chopped Tomatoes

4 Cups of beans ( This usually is about 2 Kg beans before pealing, if you are using dried beans they should be 4 cups after they are soaked in water for an overnight )

Water to cover the beans

Directions ;

Heat the olive oil in a pan, put the pepper chunks and cook them until you can smell the peppers than add the garlic stir for a few minutes and add the onions stirfry them until the onions become transparent than add the chopped and peeled tomatoes in and when it starts boiling add the beans, salt and sugar and black pepper and add luke warm water. Beans may differ in absorbing water so you should start with adding water to cover the beans in the pan but make sure that you check while it is cooking to see how much water is absorbed and if you think the juice is less you can add warm water as you go along. The heat should be high until it starts boiling once boiling starts than reduce the heat and let the dish simmer for about 45 min to 1 hour.

Notes : This is the most classical way of cooking these beans, if desired you can add chopped carrots and / or patatoes, if I was in U:S I would definately try them with sweet patatoes and not add the sugar :)