Cowpoke Beans
Submitted by Ro325
Slow-simmered pinto beans with salt pork, red chili pepper, tomato paste, cumin, and chili powder. An old-school chuck wagon recipe that cooks all day and feeds eight hungry hands.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
5 minCOOK
4 hrsREADY
12 hrsThese are the beans they cooked over open coals on cattle drives, and the recipe hasn’t needed much updating since.
Dried pintos soak overnight, then simmer for a solid four hours with salt pork, a whole red chili pepper, onion, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, and marjoram.
No shortcuts, no canned beans, no rushing it.
The salt pork melts into the pot, the beans turn velvety and creamy, and the broth thickens into something smoky, earthy, and deeply savory.
This is the kind of cooking where patience is the main ingredient.
Kitchen Tips
- Soak the beans overnight and change the water before cooking. Fresh water gives you a cleaner-tasting pot of beans.
- Keep the heat low and the lid on. A hard boil breaks the beans apart and turns them into mush. A gentle simmer keeps them whole and creamy.
- Add salt after the first hour, not before. Early salt toughens the bean skins and slows down the cooking.
- Check the water level every hour and add more if the beans start to peek above the surface. They should stay submerged the whole time.
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and pick over beans; put in mixing bowl.
Cover beans with cold water and soak overnight.
Next morning, put beans and water into Dutch oven and bring to a boil; reduce heat.
Cover and simmer 1 hour.
Stir in remaining ingredients; cover and simmer 3 hours or until tender.
Add more water if necessary.
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