Cherokee Bean Dip with Masa Flatbread

Mid-July. The heat this year is something to survive. I have been on pipeline work in a stretch of open field in Lincoln County with no tree cover and the temperature has been above a hundred every day since the 10th. Twelve-hour days. I drink a gallon and a half of water and still come home with a headache. The pipeline pays well in July in Lincoln County. That is all I can say for it.

At home the kitchen adjusts: cold food, grilled things, nothing that heats the house more than necessary. Hannah has been making agua fresca and cold soups and a version of bean dip that she serves with warm flatbread and it is actually one of the best things she makes, which I tell her regularly and she accepts without false modesty because false modesty is not one of Hannah's qualities. The beans she uses are Cherokee-variety dried beans from the seed library, cooked with wild garlic and dried wild onion and blended smooth. The flatbread is made from a masa dough that is not quite corn tortilla and not quite conventional flatbread — it is her invention, her combination of traditions, and it is correct in a way that inventions are not always correct.

Caleb has been having a harder stretch. He told me Sunday — not that he was using, he is not using, he was clear about that — but that the program calls it a craving period and that cravings had been louder than usual this week. He sounded okay. He sounded like a person who knows what is happening to him and has the vocabulary to describe it and the support network to bring it to, which is everything the treatment program is supposed to give him. He said he was going to call his sponsor. I said good. He said he would let me know how it went. He did. His sponsor came through. The week ended okay.

Noting it here because this is a journal and the hard stretches belong in it alongside the good ones. The craving came and he called his sponsor. That is the whole story. That is the correct story.

Hannah does not need a hard week to justify making this — she makes it because it is good and because she figured out something that works — but there is something right about it showing up in July, when the house needs to stay cool and something warm and steady is still wanted at the table. The flatbread comes off the griddle fast, the dip is made ahead and chilled, and sitting down to it after a twelve-hour day in open sun is its own kind of relief. I asked her to write down what she actually does, and she did, with the caveat that the beans from the seed library are what make it, and she is not wrong about that.

Prep Time: 20 min (plus overnight soak) | Cook Time: 2 hr | Total Time: 2 hr 20 min (plus soak) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

For the bean dip:
1 1/2 cups Cherokee Trail of Tears or Cherokee White Eagle dried beans (or any heirloom pole bean), soaked overnight
4 cloves wild garlic (or 3 cloves regular garlic), smashed
1 tablespoon dried wild onion (or 1 teaspoon onion powder plus 1 teaspoon dried chives)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2–4 tablespoons reserved bean cooking liquid, for blending
For the masa flatbread:
1 cup masa harina
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons olive oil or lard
3/4 cup warm water, plus more as needed

Instructions

Soak the beans. Cover dried beans with cold water by at least 2 inches and soak overnight, or for a minimum of 8 hours. Drain and rinse.
Cook the beans. Place drained beans in a medium pot with the smashed garlic and dried wild onion. Cover with fresh water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until beans are completely tender and skins are just beginning to split. Add salt in the last 20 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid before draining.
Blend the dip. Transfer cooked beans and garlic to a blender or food processor. Add olive oil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Blend on high, adding reserved bean liquid one tablespoon at a time, until the dip is very smooth — this takes 2 to 3 minutes in a standard blender. Taste and adjust salt. Transfer to a bowl, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and refrigerate until cool, at least 1 hour.
Make the masa flatbread dough. Whisk together masa harina, flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add olive oil and work it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add warm water and mix until a soft, pliable dough forms — it should not crack at the edges when pressed. If dry, add water one teaspoon at a time. Rest the dough 10 minutes, covered.
Roll and cook the flatbreads. Divide dough into 6 equal balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a roughly 7-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Heat a dry cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Cook each flatbread 60 to 90 seconds per side, until lightly charred in spots and cooked through. Stack under a clean towel to keep pliable.
Serve. Bring the bean dip to the table cold or at room temperature. Drizzle with a little olive oil and a pinch of smoked paprika if desired. Serve with warm flatbreads for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cherokee Bean Dip with Masa Flatbread — What Hannah Makes When July Gets Hard