Cowboy Beans

"These are a great side, but I also love to just scoop some up in a warm tortilla as a meal. Found in the Chicago Tribune, with some modifications. I usually make this without the chili powder. Cooking time does not include soaking beans."
 
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photo by jswinks photo by jswinks
photo by jswinks
Ready In:
3hrs 20mins
Ingredients:
12
Serves:
5
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ingredients

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directions

  • Soak the beans overnight in lots of cold water. (Most recently, I have been using the Cook's Illustrated recommended method, soaking the beans in 4 qts water mixed with 3 tbl. table salt). Drain off the soaking water and rinse.
  • Put beans in a very large pot. Pour in the beer and enough fresh water to come up 2 inches over the beans. Add remaining ingredients except salt. Cover, heat to a boil, reduce heat to very low - just enough to bubble the liquid a little. Simmer until beans are tender, 2 to 3 hours.
  • If using ham hocks, remove, discard bones, chop and return to pot. Add salt to taste.
  • Note1: I've noted the comment regarding the time - I made this again, and it took me just under two hours to get to tender beans. It is important to soak the beans well, and older beans may take longer. The beans should be tender but whole - they should not start breaking down.

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Reviews

  1. Made these for a small neighborhood gathering & they were very well received! I don't usually spend this much time on any bean dish, but must admit it reminded me of my mom's beans when I was just a kid (ages ago), although she didn't use the beer! It was more than a little spicy for how I usually make 'em, but must admit that they were a welcome change from the past! Thanks for sharing the recipe! [Made & reviewed in 1-2-3 Hits tag]
     
  2. I expected these to be much spicier, however they actually wound up with very little flavor. I used only 1/2 jalapeno otherwise followed as listed. The cooking time was just fine. Maybe I added too much water, but they were watery (rather than 'saucy'). We just used a slotted spoon to serve them. I hate adding much salt, but maybe they needed more salt at the end to bring out the flavors. We did enjoy them with our 4th of July BBQ and they were a nice way to fix pinto beans, just perhaps not as dynamically flavorful as I'd hoped. Made for 123 hit wonders.
     
  3. These were great. I did substitute fresh tomatoes for canned. The only problem with the recipe is that the beans needed to cook for about twice as long.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

My screen name is a diminutive in Lithuanian for bread, so you won't be suprised to learn that I love to bake bread. In recent years I have been baking a lot of sourdough breads and have several starters sitting in my refrigerator. But I like to cook a lot of other things, as well, especially from various cultures. The cat wishes I would concentrate on meat and fish... I joined a few years ago but started posting recipes and participating in forums just recently - I wish I had done so earlier. Recipezaar is a great community! Right now I am a co-host for the Breads and Baking and the Eastern Europe forums - I hope to see you there!
 
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