Frijoles

How about another side dish? This one is a versatile and easy dish, albeit a bit time consuming to make. But won’t you agree that some dishes just need that bit of extra effort or time because they deliver on taste? Frijoles is one of those dishes. When you really think about it, frijoles is a simple concept in cooking. Clean and soak some beans overnight and add them to a pot with a liquid, simmering until tender. Now here is where the fun comes in… think of all the ingredients you can use to flavor your legumes. My favorite flavoring is bacon, pork jowl, or ham hock. The smokiness imbues the dish with a wonderful base flavor. Adding onion, garlic, and peppers rounds out the flavors, transforming your potentially bland beans into a robust side dish. Did I mention it is versatile? Make a big batch and pair it with any of your favorite Latin dishes during the week. Eat them alone or over rice, add cooked ground beef seasoned with chili powder to create a quick chili or burrito filling, or even cook them in lard to make refried beans. So let’s get to making this dish, I think you will soon agree it is versatile and well worth the effort and time invested.

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Frijoles

Prep time: 6 hours

Cook time: 3 hours 30 mins

Total time: 9 hours 30 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup dried beans (pinto, small red, or red kidney)
6 oz smoked pork jowl, diced into ½ inch cubes
4 oz yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 oz green pepper, diced
3 oz 3 red pepper, diced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
juice from ½ lime
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp Mexican oregano
1 cup chicken broth or stock
2 cups water, divided (more as needed)
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro and scallions as garnish, if desired

Instructions

Clean and soak the beans overnight.
Heat a dutch oven or similar sized pot over Medium/Medium-High heat.
When hot, add pork jowl and cook stirring often until slightly crisp on the edges, approximately 2 - 3 minutes.
Add the onions, red peppers and green peppers cooking until softened but not translucent, approximately 2 - 4 minutes.
Add the garlic, cumin and oregano cooking until fragrant, approximately 1 minute.
Add the diced tomatoes and cook until it begin to simmer lightly.
Add the beans and stir to combine.
Add the chicken broth/stock and water until the beans are just covered.
Bring to a moderate simmer and cover, reducing the heat to maintain a light simmer.
Check periodically to stir and ensure the beans are not drying out.
Add water as needed.
Cook for 2 hours or until the beans are softened to almost 'al dente'.
Uncover and simmer until the beans are the desired consistency and saucy, but not soupy.
Stir in lime juice before serving.
Garnish with cilantro and scallions, if desired.

Heat a dutch oven or similar sized pot over Medium/Medium-High heat. When hot, add pork jowl and cook stirring often until slightly crisp on the edges, approximately 2 – 3 minutes.

Add the onions, red peppers and green peppers cooking until softened but not translucent, approximately 2 – 4 minutes.

Add the garlic, cumin and oregano cooking until fragrant, approximately 1 minute.

Add the diced tomatoes and cook until it begin to simmer lightly.

Add the beans and stir to combine.

Add the chicken broth/stock and water until the beans are just covered.

Bring to a moderate simmer and cover, reducing the heat to maintain a light simmer. Check periodically to stir and ensure the beans are not drying out. Add water as needed. Cook for 2 hours or until the beans are softened to almost ‘al dente’.

Uncover and simmer until the beans are the desired consistency and saucy, but not soupy. Stir in lime juice before serving. Garnish with cilantro and scallions, if desired.