The white kidney bean is a staple in Tuscany cooking. I admit to being utterly amateurish with it, as I currently only use it in a one-pot chicken dish. However, I wanted to experiment with cooking them up rather than going from the can. Here was what working with dried beans yielded the first time out.
I soaked the beans for 13 hours. A late night wake-up and wander allowed me to add water, as the beans easily double in size while soaked. I brought a pot of water to a boil, added the beans with a slotted spoon, returned to a boil and let them boil for ten minutes. This step is apparently necessary to remove toxins, and is a necessity no matter what kind of kidney bean you are using. I then reduced the heat to a simmer and cooked for nearly two hours.
The beans came out a bit mushy. I think I boiled a bit long (probably closer to 15 or 20 minutes) and then let them simmer too long. Reminder that next time I should check at 1 hour.
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