Mexican Charro Beans
This is the closest I could come to what my father-in-law likes when he goes out to eat Mexican food. It's a combination of many recipes I've looked at and a lot of taste testing and experimenting.
This is the closest I could come to what my father-in-law likes when he goes out to eat Mexican food. It's a combination of many recipes I've looked at and a lot of taste testing and experimenting.
- Carbohydrate 25.7417583333333 g
- Cholesterol 4.76 mg
- Fat 3.69548333333333 g
- Fiber 6.41066667536894 g
- Protein 9.20955833333333 g
- Saturated Fat 1.15565416666667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (70g)
- Sodium 64.7983333333333 mg
- Sugar 19.3310916579644 g
- Trans Fat 0.498271666666668 g
- Calories 172 calories
Step-by-step
- Put the beans, salt, and garlic in a stock pot and cover with water about 3 inches above the beans.
- Cover and cook on medium-low heat for several hours or until the beans are tender and you have a rich looking broth, stirring occasionally.
- Add some boiling water if needed during cooking.
- Cook the tomato, pepper, cilantro, and onion in the reserved drippings until the onions are soft.
- Remove the garlic from the beans and add the vegetable mixture.
- Cut the bacon in small pieces and add to the beans.
- Mix well and let it set on the stove for 15 minutes before serving.
- This freezes well.
Adding raw aromatics directly to simmering beans without first rendering them in fat produces a watery pot liquor that lacks depth. Sautéing the chopped onion, Anaheim pepper, and tomato in reserved bacon drippings until the onions turn translucent creates a hydrophobic flavor base that thickens the eventual pot liquor.
- Maintain a liquid level sitting precisely three inches above the dry pinto beans throughout the simmering process to prevent scorching.
- Stir the stock pot occasionally over medium-low heat to distribute starches evenly as the beans soften.
- Allow the finished pot to rest off the heat for exactly 15 minutes before ladling to let the starch stabilize.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days, where starches continue absorbing aromatics and improve the overall texture significantly.
- Scale quantities proportionally when adjusting batch sizes, keeping the three-inch water clearance rule constant regardless of pot dimensions.
Refrigerated starches firm up overnight, yielding a dense, concentrated bean dish that benefits from a splash of boiling water during reheating. Freezing portions in heavy-duty plastic bags preserves quality for up to three months without degrading the structural integrity of the pinto beans.
