Pinto beans, three ways

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It doesn't take much to please me. Give me a big, steaming bowl of charra beans, borracho beans or even plain, porky pinto beans and I will be delighted.

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  • 6

Ingredients

  • Big pot of porky pinto beans:
  • Ingredients
  • 1 pound of pinto beans (2 cups)
  • 1/4 tablespoons of minced garlic (3 large cloves)
  • 1 cup diced onion (1/2 of a medium-sized onion)
  • 1/4 cup of jalapeno juice (from canned jalapenos)
  • 1/4 pound of salt pork (I find this near the bacon at my grocery store)
  • Salt to taste
  • Frijoles a la charra:
  • 6 cups of cooked pinto beans still in its juice. (see above)
  • 4 slices of bacon, chopped into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes or one 14 oz. canned, diced tomatoes with sauce
  • 3 jalapenos, chopped
  • 2 chipotles in adobo, chopped
  • 1 cup of chopped cilantro
  • Borracho beans:
  • 1 big pot (6 cups) of frijoles a la charra (see above)
  • 1 12 oz. bottle of dark beer, such as Modelo Negro.

Preparation

Step 1

Big pot of porky pinto beans

1. Rinse and sort your beans

2. First soak the beans. You can either cover the beans with one inch of water and soak overnight or bring water to a boil, remove from heat and cover for one hour.

3. Drain the beans and cover with seven cups of fresh water.

4. Add to the pot the garlic, onion, jalapeno juice and salt pork.

5. Bring pot to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer, stir occasionally.

6. After about an hour, beans should be tender enough to eat (depending on the freshness of the beans). If not tender enough, continue cooking, checking on the beans every 15 minutes until desired texture.

7. Remove salt pork and serve.


Frijoles a la charra

1. Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp.

2. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, chipotles and cilantro to the skillet, and cook on medium for 10 minutes.

3. Let tomato-bacon mixture cool, add one cup of bean juice (or water) and then puree.

4. Stir puree into beans and let simmer together for 20 minutes.

5. Alternatively, if you prefer a chunkier texture, you could skip the puree step and add the tomato-bacon mixture straight to the bean pot.


Borracho beans:
Add bottle of beer to pot, stir and cook for ten minutes.


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