Mexican Charro Beans

"Posted by request."
 
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photo by Anonymous photo by Anonymous
photo by Anonymous
photo by CookinDiva photo by CookinDiva
Ready In:
3hrs
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Rinse and pick over beans.
  • Bring the beans to a boil in a large pot of water and cook over medium heat for 1½ to 2 hours until they tender but still firm.
  • Before the beans are done, fry the bacon in a large skillet until halfway cooked.
  • Add garlic, tomatoes, onions, and green pepper; continue cooking with bacon until the bacon crisp.
  • Add a can of beer to bacon mixture and simmer a few additional minutes, or longer if you like your beans softer.
  • Add chopped cilantro and jalapenos; combine everything in one large pot.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.

Questions & Replies

  1. The recipe isn't quite clear. Do you add the garlic, tomatoes, onions and peppers to the skillet with the bacon and continue cooking until the bacon is crisp? Also, how does adding the beer effect the beans if you haven't put the bacon mixture in with the eeans?
     
  2. Great recipe! How much water for cooking beans? Do you drain after cooking, and if so, how much liquid would you add back in with all the other ingredients? Thanks
     
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Reviews

  1. Brother-in-law doesn't like beans and declared this a keeper! Made it exactly as stated. Great recipe. Mom said to put beans in pot, cover in water and add 1/4 cup baking soda. High heat until the beans are creating a large foam. Drain, rinse and repeat one more time. Takes the gas out and no need to soak overnight.
     
  2. This is exactly how we make our beans except we call them "frijoles borachos" translates into "drunk beans". Here are a few tweaks to make this recipe even more mouth watering. Add the can of beer to your beans before the beans are fully cooked and let that simmer for a while till the beans are fully cooked. We then cut and cook bacon, till its fully cooked and set aside. In another frying pan add 2 cups of ham *cut into small cubes and 2 cups of chopped smoked sausage. Brown the ham ad sausage for about 7-10 minutes. When the beans are fully cooked you add the all the remaining ingredients into the pot ( a whole bunch of chopped cilantro, diced jalapeno peppers, diced onions, and diced tomatoes cooked bacon, ham, and sausage) . Then let the beans come to a boil after you add the remaining ingredients. This recipe will not need salt because there is already enough of that coming from your beer, bacon and ham and sausage. The secret is in the cilantro and the beer. The more cilantro the more flavorful! *For those of you that don’t eat pork, you can use turkey ham, turkey bacon and turkey sausage. The taste is just as flavorful.
     
  3. I would drive pretty far to the only Mexican restaurant I know who served these, but I don't have to anymore. These were fantastic. The only changes I made were I didn't have any green pepper in the house and I used Louisiana hot sauce in place of the jalapenos. I wasn't sure if I was going to use the beer since my kids were eating this, but it didn't taste right without. As soon as I added it, that is exactly what was missing. I also used canned pinto beans just because it's soo much faster. The whole dish took about 20 minutes to make.
     
  4. This dish is fantastic! The only thing I would do different next time is to fully cook, to a crisp, the bacon. When I cooked it according to the instructions, I couldn't get my bacon crisp after adding all the other ingredients. I used a full bodied beer and it is a great added flavor! I definitely would make this again.
     
  5. This is almost exactly how we made them at the Mexican restaurant I worked at. We served it with our Carne Asada Steak dinner. YUMM! I make them at least once a month even now to this day which is ten years later. Quite possibly the best Mexican method of preparing beans I have come across. I think the key to this is using a good quality Ale. Sierra Nevada is a fine choice. Some recommend Guinness but I find it overpowers the other flavors. Whatever you do, don't use lite beer.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I didn't have time to prep dried beans so I used 2 cans of red, 1 can of pinto and 1 can of black beans. Had an O'Doul's Amber taking up fridge space so I used that. I went with 1 onion and subbed one can of Rotel with Lime Juice and Cilantro for the tomatoes. Also added one Hofmann Jalapeño sausage diced. Should have tasted it before adding second chopped jalapeño-you know how sometimes they aren't so hot, well these were hot! Tasted it and was a little concerned so I added about 2 tablespoons brown sugar, about 1 tsp salt (hadn't added any yet), a couple shakes of smoked paprika, chili powder, Mexican oregano, a couple splashed of liquid smoke and maybe a 1/4 cup bbq sauce. Neutralized the heat-still spicy, but I think good. There was still enough liquid for another can of beans, but chose not too. Taking them to a friends for dinner tonight. (I only give 5 stars if recipe, in my opinion, is perfect without additions or submissions. Also, photo doesn't represent recipe as written.)
     
  2. Very good flavors. I used 2 Anaheim chilies in place of green pepper but otherwise as written. Good with Roasted pork enchiladas.
     
  3. I would drive pretty far to the only Mexican restaurant I know who served these, but I don't have to anymore. These were fantastic. The only changes I made were I didn't have any green pepper in the house and I used Louisiana hot sauce in place of the jalapenos. I wasn't sure if I was going to use the beer since my kids were eating this, but it didn't taste right without. As soon as I added it, that is exactly what was missing. I also used canned pinto beans just because it's soo much faster. The whole dish took about 20 minutes to make.
     
  4. I left out the beer because I didn't have any in the house and I added 2 ounces of tequila instead.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Gavin "Miller" Duncan passed away November 12, 2004 in Laurel, MD from complications of a "broken" heart. The outpouring of support from the Recipezaar community while his health was declining was a huge comfort to him and even "perked him up" a bit in his final month. Miller was a huge asset to Recipezaar, not only due to his incredible collection of recipes, but his participation in the forums. Miller was known for his wonderful low-sodium recipes, his warmth, and last, but not least, his wicked, dry sense of humor. Liza at Recipezaar ********************************************************* No, the picture to the left is not me. It is, in fact, a picture of famous TV Chef Jamie Oliver (a/k/a Thpit Boy)’s grandfather, the late Sir Topaz McWhacker. Note the strong family resemblance, most noticeable in the nose, eyebrows, and general lack of cleanliness Legend has it that Topaz taught Thpit everything that he knows about whacking and about only washing and combing his hair twice a year. . Instead of the trivia that many Recipezaar members have displayed on their “About Me” pages, I thought it might be a tad more helpful if I were to provide some beneficial information that you can put to good practical use either in your own kitchen or when you are watching the antics of some celebrated TV chefs. So, for your enlightenment..... . . Chairman Kaga: When he says “Ion Shff”, he really means “Iron Chef” or, perhaps, “I need a Kleenex” . Chef Paula Deen: When she says “awl”, she really means “oil”. When she says “y’all”, she really means “everyone except m’all”. When she says “bring the water to a bawl”, I have no clue what she means - I thought you could only make a baby “bawl”. And, boys and girls, you can easily Deenize the sentences that you use in your very own kitchen, such as “All y’all can bawl your corn in olive awl or wrap it in aluminum fawl”. . Emeril Lagasse: When he says “confectionery sugar’, he really means “confectioners’ sugar”. When he says “pappa-reeka”, he really means “paprika”. When he says “inside of”, he really means “in”. When he says “a little”, he really means “a lot”. Have you ever tried to count the number of times he says “a little” during any given show? Don’t – it will drive you nuts. When he says “cardamin”, he really means “cardamom”. When he says “my water don’t come seasoned”, what he really means is “I need a new joke writer”. When he says “that www dot food thing”, he really means “I flunked Computerese 101”. . Iron Chef Morimoto: When he says “Foo Netwu”, he really means “Food Network”. . Dessert Dude Jacques Torres: When he says “I going”, he really means “I am going”. (The verb “to be” has apparently been deleted from the French language.) . Spit Boy Jamie Oliver: When he says “whack it in the oven”, he really means “I am into hot, kinky stuff”. When he says “Bob’s yer uncle”, what he really means is “you’d better ask your aunt how well she REALLY knew that mailman named Robert”. When he says “rocket”, he really means “an older weapon being used in Iraq”. When he says “Fewd Netwuk”, he really means “Food Network”. . Numerous chefs: When they say “codfish” and “tunafish”, what they really mean is “cod” and “tuna”, respectively. Please note that they use these terms so that you don’t go out and buy “codanimal” or “tunavegetable” by mistake. Having said that, I have no clue as to why they don’t refer to “troutfish”, “salmonfish”, “red snapperfish”, etc., etc. . Giggly-Wiggly Rachael Ray: When she says “EVOO”, she really means “don’t use BOCO (boring old corn oil)”. When she says “a little lettuce action going on”, she really means “with only 8 minutes left in the game, cabbages are still in the lead, but lettuces are making a strong comeback”. . Two Fat Ladies: When they say “I gwing”, they really mean “I am going” or “Sorry, but we have been watching too many episodes of Jacques Torres’ show”. . Please note that the above is not all-inclusive. If there are other celebrity chef words or phrases that have you stumped, please post an "ISO" message in the discussion forums and I will find the translation for you.
 
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