A hill of beans – Pinto, v1

I’ve never been a big fan of Mexican food in general, and ever since a trip to Austin a few years back I haven’t been able to stomach anything called “Mexican” in St. Louis.

Anyway, someone I went to High School with, Jason, opened a Mexican Restaurant named Milagro

not more than a couple of miles from my house.  The place got a glowing review in the newspaper and Jason who is a “Facebook friend” would occasionally post pictures of the nightly specials and they always looked yummy.

I finally gave in, went, and had the fish tacos.  There were grilled Tilapia.  Good meal, comfortable seats, and reasonable portions (one of my pet peeves about eating out is too much food). However the real star of the plate to me was the side of Pinto Beans.

It was this wonderful smelling perfectly spiced concoction of Pinto Beans, Bacon, and Chorizo.

I have a weakness for one pot cooking, and I thought this would be a perfect candidate to a “do it myself at home project”.

I took four slices of thick cut bacon and using the kitchen shears sliced it into ribbons and dumped them in a pot.  Once the fat had started to come out I added two fresh de-cased crumbled Chorizos (each about the size of a Johnsonville Bratwurst).  Once that was all cooked I added a diced shallot, couple cloves diced garlic, and a diced thumb sized Jalapeño.  Once those softened in when 16oz of dried pinto beans, 6 cups chicken stock, and a bay leaf.  I covered and simmered for about 4 hours.

It wasn’t bad for a first try.  Even after I mashed up some of the beans to thicken it I still had to cheat and add corn starch.  The beans were tender, but not creamy and I wanted a redder color.