Cooking Dried Beans

Perfectly cooked beans are creamy inside yet still hold their shape, never chalky and never collapsed to mush. Soak dried beans overnight, then simmer them gently in unsalted water with a bay leaf until tender; a hard boil splits the skins, so keep it to a lazy bubble. Start tasting early, because the window between done and over is short. Salt the cooking water lightly only towards the end, and reserve a little of the starchy liquid to loosen and enrich whatever you fold the beans into.