Pinto beans, three ways
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.
Beans were a big part of my diet growing up. At least once a week, we’d have beans for supper, either in the guise of bean salad or in big bowls served with a side of cornbread or tortillas. Sometimes it would be black beans and sometimes it would be navy beans but our core staple was pinto beans. As my mom says, “Pinto beans are close to a perfect food.”
Mom would soak them overnight and slow cook them all day with garlic, onions, spices and her secret ingredient—jalapeño juice from jalapeño pickles. She’d add pork if it was available, but it was the jalapeno juice that gave her beans their fantastic flavor.
When I was little, I figured that we ate beans all the time because we were poor. But when our economic situation turned for the better we continued to eat beans. Why? Because we just enjoyed eating them so much.
I wasn’t alone in loving these beans; I had a friend who claimed them as her favorite food as well and she was known for being a picky eater, especially when it came to eating at our house. See, my mom was a health-food nut who had a reputation of being quite liberal with the wheat germ. And (it seemed) that not a dish was prepared without the addition of the cardboard-flavored sawdust stuff. (I have to admit, however, I actually enjoy wheat germ now that I’m more sophisticated, but that will just be our secret.)
I hated it—but since she was my mom, unless I wanted to starve I had to eat everything she gave me. My particular friend, however, had the luxury of not eating one of mom’s wheat-germ concoctions. Without fail, she refused to touch just about everything my mom offered.
Except for mom’s pinto beans.
We couldn’t’ figure out why that was the only thing my friend would eat until she revealed her reason: it was just about the only thing my mom made that was wheat-germ free!
Beans are still one of my favorite meals. I make them a bit different from my mom but I don’t know if my method, which entails more work, is superior to hers or not.
Being a fan of a the addition of meat for flavor, I cook my beans with a slab of salt pork. I also add a puree of cooked bacon, tomatoes and cilantro at the end, and a bottle of beer if I’m feeling particularly decadent. But to be honest, a simple pot of pintos made in her method is equally delicious; especially with a thick wedge of cornbread that will not only soak up the juice but will also pair with the beans to make a complete protein.
I enjoy making a pot on Sunday afternoons, which makes for a satisfying Sunday supper. Leftovers are also welcome for easy lunches or quick mid-week dinners, especially since these beans are even better the next day.
But the best thing about eating beans is the joy they bring with both little effort and little price. And they fill up both my belly and my heart, with good, warm feelings of health, love and home. They are my comfort food.
—————
Would you like more Homesick Texan? Well, I’ve started offering additional recipes for paid subscribers to help with the costs of running the site. While I’m not taking anything away, if you’d like to support Homesick Texan and have access to exclusive, never-seen-before subscriber-only posts, please consider becoming a member; annual subscriptions are as low as $25. Thank you for reading, your consideration, and your support!
—————
Big pot of pinto beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry pinto beans
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/4 pound salt pork
- 1/4 cup jalapeno pickle juice
- Salt taste
Instructions
- Rinse and sort your beans, then soak. You can either cover the beans with 1 inch of water and soak overnight or bring water to a boil, remove from heat and cover for 1 hour.
- Drain the beans and cover with 2 inches fresh water. Add to the pot the salt, the garlic, onion, and salt pork. Bring pot to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. After about an hour, stir in the jalapeño pickle juice, then continue cooking, until desired texture.Remove salt pork and serve.
Notes
Ingredients:
1 pot of beans
4 slices cooked bacon
1 (14-ounce) canned diced tomatoes with juices
3 jalapenos, seeded, stemmed, and chopped
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro Place in a blender the bacon, tomatoes, jalapeños chipotle and cilantro. Stir into the pot of beans let simmer together for 20 minutes. Variation: Borracho beans
Add 12-ounces of dark beer, such as Modelo Negro, to the a la charra pot of beans, stir, and cook for 10 minutes.
When I was in high school my Texan family had the misfortune of moving to Indiana. One of the first times my now husband (native-born Yankee, poor thing) ate dinner at our house, my mother served pinto beans, fluffy white rice and cornbread – a staple in our home. Years later my husband admitted that he was waiting for “the rest of dinner” to come out. He had never heard of “just beans” for dinner! Now we’re all happily living back in Texas, including my poor Yankee husband.
Your blog is super. So are your photographies. They make me hungry. I have spent a nice moment when seeing them. Thanks a lot.
When are you going to publish a cookbook so I can just pull ya off my shelf!
Howdy, HSTex,
I’ve never tried a dark beer in mis frijoles borrachos. Rather, I always use a watery American Lager. Pero, as I write, I sit beneath my favorite neon sign (Negra Modelo) and contemplate whether the pot of borrachos I made today would be better with a darker beer…
Still, considering my neon decor, I can’t complain about your ingedient choice. Buenas dias!
-Marcos Flores 🙂
O-Dub–I like to use ham hocks, too. And you’re right as that way you get some ham meat in the beans as well.
JayBob–Thanks for the tip–I’ll have to check out that book. And I’m not familiar with Hayes Carl but will definitely check him out. I don’t use barbecue sauce but my uncle does–I’ll ask him for his recipe–it’s spicy!
Kenneth–I put it in my black beans but I haven’t put it into my pintos. I’ll have to try that sometime. And I’d forgotten that it was supposed to prevent digestive issues. Thanks for the reminder!
Cynthia–You’re very welcome!
Greg–Oh, so that’s the secret!
Christina–Nope, there sure isn’t!
She Sure is strange–Isn’t that sauce awesome? I can eat it by the bucket!
Mike Bierschenk–Thank you so much! I’m glad y’all enjoyed them!
Shannon–Ah, yes. That famous poem!
Kolbi–Campfire beans sound delicious! I’ll have to make some of those soon!
Sheila–I never heard of that before but it sounds like a pretty neat trick!
Glutenfreeforgood–I agree, I love how tasty and inexpensive beans are. One pot can last several days!
Melissa–I leave it in one big chunk so I can remove it. Some people cube it and leave it in the pot. It’s up to you!
Anon–What a funny story!
Eleonora–Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog.
Suzer–Ha! We’ll just have to see about that!
Marcos–I’ve always used dark beer, so I don’t know if it’s better or not! Buenas dias to you, senor!