The orignal recipie was handed to me by a dear friend at church when she and her husband and me and mine worked together to put on "Feliz Navidad" as the theme for our adult Christmas fellowship. I have to say that knowing this friend greatly improved my Mexican cuisine on all fronts and I will forever be indebted to her for that! I altered the original recipie a bit to fit our family's palette and this is the BEST! No more plop out of the can with that mound of can shaped beans when you make tacos or burritos, this is the true, authentic, flavorful stuff! When I make it I make a large pot, serve it as a side with whatever Mexican cuisine is on the menu and then use the leftovers to make bean and cheese burritos which I then wrap individually and freeze for a quick meal when needed.
1 lb dry pinto beans
4-6 FRESH garlic cloves (no powdered or dry herbs here)
4 T olive oil
1/2 white onion, finely diced
2-3 jalapeno peppers, de-veined and seeded
3 chopped tomatoes (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup diced cooked bacon
1 tsp salt
I start early in the morning by doing a fast soak on the beans. I just fill a pot to the top with water, dump in the dried beans, bring it to a boil and then pull it off the burner and sit it off to the side for about an hour. After that process I rinse the beans and dump them into a large crock pot with the olive oil and fill it to just barely cover the beans with water. I turn it on high and walk away for about 6 hours.
When the beans are fork tender that is when the second step comes in. I fry up the bacon and remove the bacon saving the grease to saute the other vegetables (onions, garlic, peppers and tomatoes) I saute those together and then add the crumbled or chopped bacon back in along with the seasonings above. When all the veggies are fork tender I go to my beans, you only want enough liquid in the beans that they are barely covered and not dry but not so much that they are soupy. I use about half of the beans by scooping them out of the crock pot and putting them into a food processor with the sauteed vegetables and bacon. So now I have a flavorful mix of mushed beans and peppers with the tomatoes and seasonings I dump that back in my skillet and "re fry" the pureed mix for about 10=20 minutes until it is good and flavorful. Then I add back to the crock pot so we have a nice mix of whole beans, pureed beans and so much flavor I dare you not to stick a chip in there and try it!
So now you not only have a side dish but also plenty of beans to plop a dallop onto a tortilla shell, sprinkle with cheese and roll up burrito style then wrap in foil to freeze individual bean and cheese burritos...when you are ready to eat them just pop them out one by one and microwave for 1-2 minutes, top with sour cream and enjoy all over again!
1 lb dry pinto beans
4-6 FRESH garlic cloves (no powdered or dry herbs here)
4 T olive oil
1/2 white onion, finely diced
2-3 jalapeno peppers, de-veined and seeded
3 chopped tomatoes (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup diced cooked bacon
1 tsp salt
I start early in the morning by doing a fast soak on the beans. I just fill a pot to the top with water, dump in the dried beans, bring it to a boil and then pull it off the burner and sit it off to the side for about an hour. After that process I rinse the beans and dump them into a large crock pot with the olive oil and fill it to just barely cover the beans with water. I turn it on high and walk away for about 6 hours.
When the beans are fork tender that is when the second step comes in. I fry up the bacon and remove the bacon saving the grease to saute the other vegetables (onions, garlic, peppers and tomatoes) I saute those together and then add the crumbled or chopped bacon back in along with the seasonings above. When all the veggies are fork tender I go to my beans, you only want enough liquid in the beans that they are barely covered and not dry but not so much that they are soupy. I use about half of the beans by scooping them out of the crock pot and putting them into a food processor with the sauteed vegetables and bacon. So now I have a flavorful mix of mushed beans and peppers with the tomatoes and seasonings I dump that back in my skillet and "re fry" the pureed mix for about 10=20 minutes until it is good and flavorful. Then I add back to the crock pot so we have a nice mix of whole beans, pureed beans and so much flavor I dare you not to stick a chip in there and try it!
So now you not only have a side dish but also plenty of beans to plop a dallop onto a tortilla shell, sprinkle with cheese and roll up burrito style then wrap in foil to freeze individual bean and cheese burritos...when you are ready to eat them just pop them out one by one and microwave for 1-2 minutes, top with sour cream and enjoy all over again!
