Charro beans -- a faithful sidekick

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Of course, with the puerco adovada from the previous post, we will need some beans.  I am preparing simple charro (also known as "cowboy") beans.  These beans, like so many other recipes, are subject to individual interpretation in terms of heat and "must have" ingredients.  Dress up or down the recipe as you wish, but the common elements in most versions are onion, garlic, chili pepper, tomato and cilantro.  These beans are simmered and served whole.

I always use a cured pork product to start my beans.  It can be anything, such as a ham hock, fried bacon, ham pieces / bone, salt pork or pork belly.  Why?  Because that's the way Mom did it.  OK, also because it adds a nice smoky flavor.  If you use this tip, go easy on the salt; the salt from these products leaches into the beans as they simmer.  With salt pork or cured pork belly you may even opt to skip any salt until the beans have simmered for an hour or so.

Other than this, do what you like: use mild or hot peppers, add chili powder or other herbs.  I also use these as my recipe for refried beans, reducing or removing most of the liquid.  I then mash the beans leaving 1/4 whole and add LARD, yes LARD (3T heated just to the point of smoking per pound of beans) in small increments.

One can omit the meat for a completely vegetarian preparation.

Sort through the beans to remove any debris and soak in water overnight, covered with a dish towel.  Prior to cooking, drain the soaking water.  As I started a bit late today, I used the quick soak method, soaking for 2 hours and keeping them just below a rolling boil until done.

Charro beans can be garnished with cheese, onion, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, salsa -- go nuts!  Serve them with plenty of warm tortillas beside your favorite entree.

THE RECIPE

1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked
Water, to cover
1 medium onion, diced
4 oz. cured pork or one smoked ham hock
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
2 jalapenos, divided -- one cut 1/2" from stem to tip left whole, and one minced
salt, to taste
1T dried oregano leaves
2 bay leaves
1t baking soda
2T cilantro leaves chopped, heavy stems removed
1 large tomato, diced

Place pinto beans into a 2Qt. saucepan, add water to cover.  Add all other ingredients except cilantro and tomato.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer until beans are tender (1.5 - 2 hours).

Add only as much water as may be needed during cooking to replace evaporated liquid.  After one hour of cook time, remove the meat.  Adjust seasonings as needed.  When beans are tender, add cilantro, diced jalapeno and tomato; simmer 15 minutes more.  Serve in bowls; garnish as desired.