Friday, October 19, 2012

Finally...amazing beans made by ME!

This is the original recipe but I had to adjust a little bit as I was not cooking for 24 people.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Beans/

So here we go:

I start with about 1/2 pound of beans. That would have been good for us for dinner and maybe some leftovers.
I don't soak my beans but I do rinse them off before I throw them in the pot.

 Put your 1/2 pound of beans in a medium sized pot with about 1 quart of water.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2-3 hours. (The original recipe simmers for 3 hours but it's four times as many beans as I'm using here so check after 2 hours or so and see if the beans are tender.)
After about 2 hours your beans will be fairly tender and the water will start getting a little "soupy."

I keep my beans simmering while I put on the bacon.

Cook 4 slices of bacon. When it's done take the slices out and chop them up.
I used about half an onion, half a jalapeno (I'd probably use more if it was only for me), and a small tomato. Dice these pretty small and toss it all in the bacon grease and cook for just a few minutes until your onions are tender.
You can toss the bacon back in and simmer a little longer if you need to.
Add a little bit of salt and garlic powder and anything else you might fancy.

(There's no tomato in this picture cause we didn't have any today. Add more or less of things depending on your taste.)

Dump this fabulous greasy bacon mixture in your pot of beans and cook for another 30 minutes to an hour. Check them after about 30 minutes and see if they are as tender as you like.
I then use the potato smasher to smoosh them up a bit but not to the point of being totally pureed. I like a little bit of chunky bean bits left.

Ideally I'd get some queso fresco from el mercado but I forgot so I just toss my tortilla on the skillet for a minute to warm it up and chow down.