Pinto beans make sense now!!

[billfish73]

Having grown up on the east coast, when we had barbecue we had the traditional sweet sticky beans that can be very good and a nice counterpoint to the tangy smokiness of some barbecue. I had always seen recipes for pinto beans but could never understand how a recipe with basically beans, water, onion and some kind of meat (bacon, leftover barbecue etc..) could be that good that people would rave about it like they do on here.

Well I decided yesterday to bite the bullet and make a batch. I diced an onion, a jalopano and sauted those in some bacon grease, threw in the beans some extra cut up slab bacon and boiled until tender, about five hours. Toward the end of cooking I added some cumin and salt and pepper along with a can of diced tomatoes. WOW! were these good! I now am a pinto bean believer
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[J-Rod]

Dude I grew up on pinto beans! My gramma used to make them all the time, with just water, beans, bacon, salt and pepper. I make them in that same fashion pretty frequently only I like you add jalapenos and a little beer and cook em in the smoker. I could eat them till I'm sick! Congrats on discovering the Magic of the Pinto Bean!

[cowgirl]

I'm a pinto bean lover and yours look fantastic!!

[IamMadMan]

Welcome to the Pinto Bean Lovers Network... LOL

[treytexag]

I made a batch myself today. Garlic, celery, onion, bacon, can of Rotel medium, tabasco and Tony Chacere's to taste. They are simply phenomenal - delicious on this cool spring day.

[Carbon]

Do they need to be soaked overnight or I can just rinse and put them to cook immediately? I've always used canned beans for convenience.

[dwfisk]

Those look really good! Bludawg shared his recipe a couple months ago; I'm hooked but the family still likes the sweet eastern goo beans so now I make 2 kinds, pintos for me and sweet goo beans for them. The world seems to have stayed in balance.

[Bludawg]

Originally Posted by Carbon

Do they need to be soaked overnight or I can just rinse and put them to cook immediately? I've always used canned beans for convenience.

I use the quick soak method> sort the beans and remove and rocks and foreign material
put the beans in a pot and cover by 3" WITH COLD WATER. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to maintain a low boil for 10 min. Remove from heat cover and let stand 1 hr. drain, rinse, and top with COLD WATER or Low sodium stock by 2" bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer until tender(about 2 hrs) DON'T HARD BOIL; you will piss them off and they will get hard, DON'T ADD SALT until the end or they will get mealy.


Ranch style beans

Ingredients:
16 oz. of dried pinto beans
6 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 15 oz. can of tomatoes (or 2 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 cup of water
6 cups of beef broth
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
Soak the beans covered in water—either overnight or the quick soak method in which you place the beans in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat and let sit for one hour.

Drain the soaked beans.

In a cast-iron skillet heated up to medium high, cook the anchos on each side for a couple of minutes (or until they start to bubble and pop), turn off the heat and fill the skillet with warm water. Let them sit until soft and rehydrated, which should happen after half an hour or so.

In the pot you’ll be cooking your beans, heat up a teaspoon of canola oil and cook the onions for ten minutes on medium. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Throw the cooked onions and garlic in a blender and add the tomatoes, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, paprika, cumin, oregano, water and hydrated ancho chiles. Puree until smooth.

Add the pinto beans and beef broth to the pot and stir in the chile puree. On high, bring the pot to a boil and then cover; turn the heat down to low and simmer for two and a half hours, stirring occasionally. At this point, I check my beans for tenderness as depending on the freshness of the beans I find that the cooking time can be as short as two and a half hours and as long as four hours. When you're satisfied that the beans are done, salt and pepper to taste.

Feeds four to six.

[Wornslick]

Those look great billfish73!!!!

My father always made them using a whole ham shank cut in 3 pieces. Lay em in a pan and cover with water. Boil for around 30 minutes, pull from the pan and let them cool. The water will be a little salty so add some more water and cook the beans down, shred the ham from the bone and add to the pan, along with some onions and green peppers if you want too. Pan of cornbread goes real well along with a bowl of beans and some ribs.

[billfish73]

Originally Posted by Wornslick

Those look great billfish73!!!!

My father always made them using a whole ham shank cut in 3 pieces. Lay em in a pan and cover with water. Boil for around 30 minutes, pull from the pan and let them cool. The water will be a little salty so add some more water and cook the beans down, shred the ham from the bone and add to the pan, along with some onions and green peppers if you want too. Pan of cornbread goes real well along with a bowl of beans and some ribs.

In all honesty I could have made them a meal all by themselves. Paired with stewed turnip greens and muskrat. Three of my favorites!

[tarhog]

Those do look really good. I use the Trinity and Ham Hocks in mine. Never tried the canned tomatoes. I serve mine over a big helping of sticky rice with dry rub ribs and cornbread. This meal generally means the house will be quiet for a while after dinner.

[Terry The Toad]

My wife has made the "Pioneer Woman's" pinto beans a couple of times. The beans are good, but what is fantastic is when you take the leftover beans and mash them and use them like refried beans. They are, quite honestly, the best refried beans I've ever eaten.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Originally Posted by billfish73

In all honesty I could have made them a meal all by themselves. Paired with stewed turnip greens and muskrat. Three of my favorites!

Back in my dad's day, pintos w/ cornbread were the meal. Paired with a glass of buttermilk. We have them often without the buttermilk, but with coleslaw.

[bigabyte]

Pinto's are magically delicious!

Or is it musically delicious?

[1MoreFord]

Originally Posted by bigabyte

Pinto's are magically delicious!

Or is it musically delicious?

How 'bout delightfully musical?