Beans and beer: The perfect marriage for my Cinco de Mayo festivities.

Searching through a number of recipes both online and in cookbooks, I was looking for some inspiration to create a traditional Mexican bean dish with some of my own modifications. I went back to a trusted book from Rancho Gordo and found just what I was looking for… Mexican Drunken Beans.

The result is just the right combination of sweet and spicy. We had them along side some delicious shredded pork tamales and agreed that even if Cinco de Mayo isn’t the most traditional of Mexican holidays, it is the perfect excuse to make some incredible Hispanic food (not that an excuse is ever really needed…)

"One for me... one for my beans."

I have been cooking with beer a lot more lately. It helped produce some delicious Beer Cheese Dip and it imparted excellent flavor in some slow cooked pulled pork, but I have never really used it as a bean dish ingredient. Due to obvious reasons, I had to stick with a Mexican style beer and chose a light lager because its’ sweetness would compliment the spicy and smokey flavors from the other ingredients. By the time we served the dish, the beer flavor was subtly delicious and tastes even better when accompanied by one of the leftover refreshments…

What you need:

1- Package Hurst’s® HamBeens® Pinto Beans

1- Cup Diced Onion

1- Poblano Pepper, Diced

2- Serrano Peppers, Minced

1- Cup Sliced Mushroom (Crimini or Portobello)

1- Can Stewed Tomato

1- Can Diced Tomato

2- Limes (one to slice, one for the juice)

3- Cloves Smashed Garlic

1/2 lbs. Bulk Chorizo Sausage

6- 12oz. Bottles of Beer (You can by all means substitute your favorite “south of the border” cerveza)

For serving:

Warm tortillas

Fresh Cilantro

Cotija Cheese (or another of your choice)

1. The first step is to sort through the beans. Rinse in cold water and check for any debris or dirt and discard. Place the rinsed beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with 2 bottles of the beer and 5 cups of water. Let soak overnight or for at least 4 hours.

2. After soaking, drain the excess liquid and pour beans into a large soup pot. Add remaining 4 bottles of beer and 2 cups of H2O. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for 1.5-2 hours. Cooking time will vary depending on how long you soaked the beans.

3. While the beans are cooking, prepare the onion, mushrooms, and peppers. Dice the onion and peppers into 1/4″ pieces (mince the Serrano) and slice the mushrooms into bite sized discs.

4. Over med-high heat, cook the chorizo for 8-10 minutes until it browns and begins to get crispy edges. Pour the sausage into the pot of beans and return the pan to the stove.

5. Using some of the drippings from the sausage, saute the vegetables until they begin to soften, then add them to the bean pot.

6. Stir in the cans of tomato and then add Hurst’s Ham Flavor packet. Continue to simmer until ready to serve.

7. Serve the beans hot with warm tortillas, lime wedges and cheese. Drunk Beans are also delicious the following days over some long grain Cilantro Lime Rice. Freezes great too!

]]> http://hurstbeanblog.com/2009/05/06/drunken-beans/feed/ 10 hurstbeans p5052672 p5052698 p5052535 p5052565 p5052709 p5052531 p5052572 p5052575 p5052583 p5052588 p5052593 p5052659 p5052631 http://hurstbeanblog.com/2009/03/25/vegetarian-15-bean-chili/ http://hurstbeanblog.com/2009/03/25/vegetarian-15-bean-chili/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:53:22 +0000 hurstbeans http://hurstbeanblog.com/?p=417 Continue reading →]]>

No meat? We are talking about chili, right?

The number of people turning to a vegetarian diet is growing quickly. It can help promote weight loss, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and osteoporosis… but who cares about all that if it doesn’t taste good?

It’s said that traditional chili absolutely does not contain beans. Well, throw that idea out the window because in this recipe, legumes will be our only protein. To many chili lovers that might be sacrilege, but one taste of this smokey and spicy goodness and even the most passionate meat eaters will come back for seconds.

What you need:

• 1- Package Hurst HamBeens® 15 Bean Chili

• 1-Each of green, red, and yellow peppers
• 1- Medium onion diced
• 3-4 Whole cloves fresh garlic
• 2- Cans diced tomato w/ green chili
• 1- Can stewed tomato
• 1- Can sweet corn
• 1- Can chipotle peppers in sauce
• 1- Can tomato paste
• Zest from 1 lime

1. Rinse and sort through the dry beans. Check for any pebbles or unwanted debris and discard. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with 2-3″ of water. Soak overnight or for at least 8 hours.  Use a colander or sieve and strain the excess water from the beans. They should have become plump and slightly soft to the touch. Pour the beans into a large soup pot with 10 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 hours.

2. While waiting for the beans to cook, prepare the vegetables. Dice the onion and peppers into bite size pieces (about 1/4″). Also remove the skin from the garlic by smashing the cloves individually.

3. In a large pan over med-high heat, saute the mixture in olive oil until the onions become translucent and the peppers begin to soften. Remove from the heat and set aside until beans have finished cooking.

4. After 2 hours, the beans should be almost completely tender.

Add: Tomato (drained), corn (drained), 1/2 the can of chipotle peppers (roughly chopped with sauce), 3-4 cloves garlic (smashed),  the onion/ pepper mixture, and Hurst’s Chili seasoning packet.

Stir to combine and let simmer uncovered for another 15-20 minutes.

5. Stir in tablespoons of tomato paste to simmering chili until desired thickness is reached. A few minutes before serving, add the zest from 1 lime.

6. A little warm cornbread and a dollop of sour cream… ENJOY!

For more great vegetarian recipes: http://myveggiekitchen.blogspot.com/