Beans a la Charra

I'm submerged in Hispanic culture a lot of the time

<3

And let me tell you, it's improved my accent 

on my poorly spoken Spanish

and definitely increased my awareness of and

 cravings for delicious Hispanic foods!

Fajitas

Enchiladas

Botanas 

(only in the Valley- can someone in Austin PLEASE make these?!)

Tamales

Tacos 

Carne Guisada

and the list goes on and on...

But a staple to go with any dish

is a good pot of beans

I used to be satisfied with canned refried beans

but as part of my goal to not used as many processed foods

and because these are just SO much better

I attempted this recipe. 

Besides the bacon/salt pork, the ingredients are super cheap

and the final product is very filling!

What You'll Need:
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 (near the bacon at the grocery store)
Salt to taste

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 

What To Do:
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. (I did the quick soak and they still turned out fine!)
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, remove the salt pork and begin prepping the other ingredients.
7. Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp.
8. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, chipotles and cilantro to the skillet, and cook on medium for 10 minutes.
9. Let tomato-bacon mixture cool, add one cup of bean juice (or water) and then puree.
10. Stir puree into beans and let simmer together for 20 minutes.
11. Alternatively, if you prefer a chunkier texture, you could skip the puree step and add the tomato-bacon mixture straight to the bean pot. (I definitely prefer the chunkier version 

And that's it! 

Really, the longer you simmer these, the better they are. 

And they make excellent leftovers!

From Homesick Texan