Homemade Pinto Beans and Juices

Having Mexican red rice, tortillas and freshly made beans it’s a staple in the everyday lives of many Mexican families, they say that you have a complete meal if you have all those three things, and it becomes an affordable meal for many low income families who perhaps need to feed big families and these three things help bulk up any other dish that is prepared at home.

But the truth is that freshly made beans is a part of Mexican food culture no matter what your situation is rich, middle class or poor families all enjoy the comfort and nutrition that beans bring.

Growing up in Mexico there was never such things at the shop like organic, cooked canned beans ready to be used, so we did just what everyone else did buy kilo of dried pinto beans or black beans, and take them home to be prepared.

I must say I do used canned beans from time to time for convenience and have found very good quality ones on the market, but even those can never replicate the pleasure of having a pot of beans made at home , freshly made and served into a bowl with the cooking juices , a bit of freshly chopped onion, coriander, crumbled fresh cheese and salsa for a perfect meal on the spot, and that is without even mentioning all of the lovely memories of my Mum and Grandmas that this simple meal brings, there really is a whole load of love in them.

I want to share with you this simple recipe, is the same way that Mum and Grandma used to make them sans the pressure cooker so nothing to be afraid of here :) , I use a dutch oven to cook them as these are very good to retain heat and cook the beans faster, you can use a normal pot the only difference is that the cooking time might be a bit longer , also these need only 1 hour of soaking (just make sure the beans you use are not super old and out of date).

Now I don’t think this qualifies as a soup per se but in Mexico when we cook our beans we like to keep the juices in the cooked beans, so having a nice bowl of this becomes a very satisfying meal in itself.

This recipe makes more than enough for 4 servings and have some extra to store away, so useful to place the leftovers in a ziplock bags with juices and all and freeze for meals ahead, they will be perfect with those eggs over the weekend or to make my pinto bean and caramelised onion soup.

Serves 4 plus extra leftover beans for freezing for future meals.

Ingredients:

500 grams dried pinto beans.

1 white onion.

1 leek.

1 fat garlic clove.

1 fresh jalapeño chili.

2 bay leafs.

1 tbsp black peppercorns.

1 tbsp sea salt.

Water.

Garnish:

Handful of coriander (roughly chopped).

1/2 white onion finely diced.

200 grams of fresh cheese.

100 ml of creme fraiche or greek yogurt.

2 limes.

Method.

Place your pinto beans over your kitchen counter and remove any impurities with your hands like dirt, stones or broken beans.

Once you have done this wash them under the tap and rinse, place them in a bowl and cover them with water, let them soak for an hour.

After soaking discard the soaking water and rinse briefly , place the beans in your dutch oven and cover with 3 parts water, add the aromatics chopped roughly , the salt and black peppercorns, heat them up and bring your pot to a boil, then cover with a lid and simmer on medium heat for 2 hours approx.

Note: It may seem like a lot of water to add but I promise that is not, half of that will evaporate or absorbed by the beans and the rest creates the delicious juices.

Half way of the cooking process check the amount of water in your pot ( specially when not using a dutch oven) you may need to add more water to avoid your beans from drying.

To check if they are ready simply remove the lid and get a few beans out with a spoon to check that they are cooked though, if they aren’t, cook for a further 30 minutes and then check again. Make sure there is enough liquid in your pot every time you do this.

Once they are ready I serve the beans and delicious juices into bowls, add finely diced onion, crumble a bit of fresh cheese on top, a dollop of creme fraiche, finely chopped coriander and lime juice , this is pure comfort food enjoy!