(Pinto) Beans

i had that conversation with our texas lady friend that came here for lunch thursday..She was telling me that real beans are only pinto beans and not the sweet chit everyone makes...

the beans i make, i use 4 types of beans pinto, cannolini(sp), kidney and pink, alot of ground beef, a rack of boneless babybacks and then some sugars, ketchup, etc... and slow cook in a dutch oven... but she said that aint the way its done where she comes from.. and pinots are just pintos done a few differnt ways, but the beans are the stars...

so.... i never did it, never saw it, never tried it... that being said.. share some recipes/techniques. !!

I'll throw one out on the table:




These beans were inspired by my friend Tom, who is quite the hand at cooking both inside and outside.


3 cups washed Pinto beans
3 or 4 twice smoked ham hocks (or shanks) (or few strips bacon) (or 1/3 lb salt pork)
1 onion, chopped and sweated.
2 green onions with tops, chopped and sweated
2 split and seeded jalapenos (or serrano peppers), chopped
2 or 3 mild green chilis like Anaheim or Big Jim, roasted, skinned then chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, roasted and mashed into paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 T. dry mustard
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. chili powder “Top Hat” is my favorite
1 can extra Hot Rotel Tomatoes (optional)
1 or 2 t Summer Savory
1 t Epazote
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Sriracha “hot” chili sauce served at the table.

Cover beans with water and soak overnight. For this years crop, soak about 3 or 4 hours only.

Drain the water off of the beans, put in large pot and cover with fresh water by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Add the ham hocks, onions, garlic, peppers, bay leaf, mustard, Summer Savory, epazote, black pepper and chili powder. The beans can cook on the stovetop or be moved to the cooker, with the lid on but ajar. Add more water anytime during the cook as needed. Lastly, add the Worcestershire and tomatoes and cook for about 30 minutes more. Remove the hocks and pick the meat off of the bone, return to beans. Salt to taste at the end to avoid making the skin on the beans tough.

To reduce heat, use regular canned tomatoes and/or omit the serranos.

For smoky beans, move the Dutch oven into your cooker and remove the cover for the final hour or two, keeping your eye on the liquid level, adding water as needed. (The twice smoked hocks will give the beans a small amount of smoke flavor without extra smoke from the cooker.)

I'm telling you guys now. If you ever happen to be around me and beans are being served I ain't touchin' em. It took me 40 years to find out I like garbanzo beans. They have somewhat of a nutty flaver with a texture I like versus some cooked to death mushy somethin or other that is just yuck, blah, ugh!!!!

Charro beans

My take on Pinto beans, TX style.

2Lbs dry pinto beans.
12 pack shiner bock or your favorite beer
2-3 serrano peppers (seeded and deveined if u like)
5-6 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 can diced tomatos
1 large yellow onion (diced)
3tbs pinto bean seasoning
1 batch fresh cilantro
1lb porksalt (or fatty of your choosing)

Soak beans in 2-3 shinerbocks over night, fill pot with water and another beer or 2 till the beans are covered about an inch, boil hard for 2 hours, turn to med heat and add in porksalt,onion, tomato,garlic, peppers, and pinto bean seasoning. continue to cook stirring often until tender. before u serve add in chopped cilantro.

For less heat in the beans cook the peppers whole.

PS , drink the remaining shiner bocks to help pass the time.

I make baked beans with Pinto as I cannot find 'Yellow eyed' beans over here!

Mix 'em up pop 'em under a brisket or shoulder.......yum

FatDaddy, I have got to try that recipe, lookin good!!

Anywho, at supper tonight we were all talking about how baked beans are OK, but just don't cut it for us country boy Okies. Rather, for BBQ and fried catfish, pinto beans must always be served.

I know I know, it's a local cultural thing. I'm not saying better, just sharing the idea to our Northern Q'ers.

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You're right Leebo, it is a cultural thing. Here in the midwest, a pot of beans as you describe (any variety is acceptable, not just pintos) isn't a sidedish, its dinner, served with cornbread.
Baked beans are a sidedish.

I agree that there's nothing like a good pot of beans, I prefer great northerns or big ol' butter beans, but pintos are pretty good to.
I have made Q beans from scratch, but 99% of the time I'm a can opening kind of guy. I like my beans with Q to have lots of brown sugar, some chili powder, onion, bacon and liquid smoke. Just what I grew up on and continues to tickle my tastebuds.

My beans contain more meat than beans...... A pot wil lhave 3-4 lbs of ground beef and a rack of babybacks(no bones). Then 2-3 lbs of beans, with the sugars and spices.

come out more like a sweet chile... but definately can be a meal.

Here is a thread on egullet that chaged the way I cook beans (salt).

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36312

My favorite bean recipe is Alton Brown's "The Once and Future Beans" altered with pintos and cooked in a slow cooker. Add some cornbread and it's a fantastic meal.

I love most kinds of beans, but I think true baked beans are a southern tradition. Comparing pintos to baked is like comparing red beans and rice to chile. Two different things. Now that said, I want to try both Phil's and the pinto trio recipes!

On a different note, my wife hates beans. I don't know if it was before she met me, or after she smelled one of my bean incidents?

nmayeux said:

I love most kinds of beans, but I think true baked beans are a southern tradition. Comparing pintos to baked is like comparing red beans and rice to chile. Two different things. Now that said, I want to try both Phil's and the pinto trio recipes!

On a different note, my wife hates beans. I don't know if it was before she met me, or after she smelled one of my bean incidents?

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Have you ever tried the Mexican herb "epazote"? Epazote is also known as the bean herb, because it makes beans more digestable and reduces gas. It is in most Mexican pinto bean recipes. Some folks claim it has an off flavor, but I like both the fresh and the dried. The fresh should be treated like a bay leaf and removed from the pot before serving.

How about some Great Northern beans cooked with some onion, brisket, and topped off with a pat of butter?

Joe....Love those Great Northerns too. I usually do shanks but brisket does sound good. Gotta have cornbread or hoe cakes on the side.

nmayeux said:

I love most kinds of beans, but I think true baked beans are a southern tradition. Comparing pintos to baked is like comparing red beans and rice to chile. Two different things. Now that said, I want to try both Phil's and the pinto trio recipes!

On a different note, my wife hates beans. I don't know if it was before she met me, or after she smelled one of my bean incidents?

Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat as you are. My wife absolutely WILL NOT eat a bean.

My OL will only eat beans on Friday or Saturday. She refuses to go to work with gas!!
Funny she doesn't mind crawling into bed and levitating the covers, but she won't fart around the women she works with.

My Ol does not Fart she Toots.

All those beans look great! Phil, your's sounds like some folks Chili. I think as long as a person adds stock to cook the beans in instead of just water they will be exceptional in flavor. Pintos are my favorite and I've tried lots of different kinds of dry beans, but they do need to be cooked with flair to be really good.