Personal

Car Stuff

Extras

Frijoles a la Charra (Norteno-style slow-simmered pinto beans)

Chiles add heat and bacon adds depth to these spicy beans, a popular side dish throughout Texas. The recipe for these spicy beans is based on one given to us by Melissa Guerra, the South Texas chef and cookbook author.
From: saveur.com Serves 8

1 lb. dried pinto beans
1/4 lb. bacon, roughly chopped
10 sprigs cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 serrano chiles
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
Kosher salt, to taste

Combine all the ingredients and 7 cups water in a 6-qt. dutch oven. Boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about 3 hours. Season with salt.

Notes:

No soaking the dried beans overnight required! Soaking dried beans overnight reduces the cooking time by at least a quarter, but if you have the time for a longer simmer, then soaking isn't necessary. The quick-soaking method—i.e., bringing the beans to a boil and then letting them sit for an hour made virtually no difference in the cooking time.