Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 4 cups dry pinto beans
12 cups water
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
1 medium or large onion, very roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon good quality chicken bouillon
1 or 2 jalapenos, left whole, but with a slit cut on two sides
1 ham bone or ham hock*
Salt and pepper to taste
fresh lime wedges, to garnish
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Directions: |
Directions:Rinse the dry beans in a colander. Put them in a large stock pot and add 12 cups water.
Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a medium-low simmer.
Add the garlic, onion, sugar, chicken bouillon, jalapeno/s, and ham bone. Bring to a boil again and then reduce the heat to medium low.
Simmer on medium low with the lid on but vented. (Tilted so that it's not sealed) Stir occasionally.
Cook for 2-3 hours. After about an hour and a half, add salt so that it can absorb into the beans as they finish cooking. I added somewhere between 2-3 teaspoons, but taste as you go. The beans will continue to absorb the salt as they finish cooking, so be cautious.
Continue cooking until the beans are tender.
Taste them ; if the beans are still hard or chalky, keep simmering. Don't wait until the liquid has cooked off so much that they look like refried beans--you want plenty of bean gravy.
Remove the ham bone and discard (if there is any meat on it, chop it and add it to the pot).
Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh limes.
Slow cooker instructions:
Rinse the dry beans in a colander. Add all the ingredients except the salt to a very large crock pot.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Add the salt for the last hour of cooking.
Remove the ham bone and discard (if there is any meat on it, chop it and add it to the pot).
Garnish with limes.
Quick Slow Cooker Instructions:
Put the rinsed beans in a large stock pot and add water 2 inches above the beans.
Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the beans and water to a very large crock pot with an additional 10 cups of water.
Add the rest of the ingredients, excluding the salt.
Cook on high for 4-5 hours, adding the salt for the last hour or so.
Remove the ham bone and discard (if there is any meat on it, chop it and add it to the pot).
Season with pepper to taste, garnish with limes.
Notes
If you are in a pinch you can use 6-8 slices of bacon (not chopped) instead of the ham bone/hock. Discard when the beans are done.
This makes a HUGE pot of beans, so 1 jalapeno does not make them very spicy, even left whole with the ribs and seeds. It just lends great flavor with enough spice to keep it interesting. 2 would definitely make it spicy. |
This recipe for TEJANO PINTO BEANS is from