cooking: Pinto Beans

Lisa (

julisana) wrote in

cooking,
@ 2007-02-26 21:17:00

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Pinto Beans
Alright foodies!

In the past, I've tried to make pinto beans so they could be useable in burritos. They turned out alright and were useable, but they didn't taste good. The inside made my mouth feel all dry and pastey and just...blech.

My goal? Chipotle style burritos! My husband loves Chipotle's burritos, and as they're rather pricey ($5.50 for a burrito! Delicious, yes, worth the price, not when money's tight), I want to make my own.

The other ingrediants I'm not so worried about, as it's the beans he loves the most about the burritos, so I really want to get those perfect. Everything else can just be improvised.

So, any suggestions are welcome!

(Post a new comment)

	kyspaz 2007-02-27 03:31 am UTC (link)
	What I do when I want pinto beans for burritos/etc. is to use 50 percent pinto and 50 percent dark red kidney beans. They cancel out the worst features of each other. (Reply to this)

	shivakat 2007-02-27 03:36 am UTC (link)
	I always got the black beans at Chipolte's. ^^; (Reply to this) (Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 03:57 am UTC (link)
	Pffft. Pinto > Black (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	laurenoid 2007-02-27 05:12 am UTC (link)
	Their pinto beans are made with pork, though, so the black beans are the ideal choice for the veggies. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 02:48 pm UTC (link)
	True...but that may explain why the boy likes the pinto so much. I had no idea they were cooked with piggies! (Reply to this) (Parent)

brandedeclipse
2007-02-27 03:39 am UTC (link)

My pinto beans are close to Chipotle's. Even my bean-hating hubby agrees

Warning: makes lots of beans. Puree and freeze leftovers for bean dip.

1 lb pinto beans
1 ham hock (or 2 oz salt pork or 6 strips bacon)
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch of cilantro, stems and all
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced from the stem down but left in one piece (butterflied with the stem on)
1 TBS salt
2 tsp fresh crushed black pepper.
Water to cover by 2 inches. If your water makes funky tea, please use bottled or purified water... you will taste a difference if you use funky water.

Go through the beans, discard any split/discolored/moldy/or overly shriveled beans as well as any clumps of dirt that might have slipped through the packing process.

Add all ingredients to stock pot, cook on low uncovered for approx 4-6 hours, checking water level and re-adding water every half hour or so.

When done the beans should be tender, but not mushy nor crunchy/grainy and the broth should look like slightly thickened vegetable stock and very lightly cover the back of a spoon... it shouldn't be watery or watery with a grainy texture. If that happens, try a different brand of beans.

To make bean dip, puree all the contents of the pan, including cilantro and pork. To make vegetarian beans, you can leave out the pork and add a little more garlic and salt to taste.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 03:57 am UTC (link)
	mmmmmm...yum. Now, this is a totally noob question...do I have to soak the beans before starting this procedure, or can they go in as the hard little nubbins of potential deliciousness they are? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	brandedeclipse 2007-02-27 04:11 am UTC (link)
	I rarely soak beans, because I like the broth they make as they cook. Most people don't because the broth contains the enzymes that makes you fart. blush To avoid that, you can add a healthy pinch of brown sugar to the water as it's cooking. Sugar breaks down that enzyme. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	steele03 2007-02-27 01:44 pm UTC (link)
	Oregano really helps cut the gas too :) Gives a nice little flavor too. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 03:00 pm UTC (link)
	I never would have thought that oregano would cut gas. Does it work better in fresh form or from the spice jar? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	steele03 2007-02-27 03:04 pm UTC (link)
	i think fresh works better, and tastes better! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	brandedeclipse 2007-02-27 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	I noticed when I add the cilantro to them as they cook it does seem to help on the gassiness as well. I wonder if it's for a similar reason. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	julisana 2007-02-27 04:00 am UTC (link)
	Also... Is the bacon straight out of the package or precooked? Do I need to seed the jalapeno? Is the garlic whole, crushed, chopped, or diced. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

brandedeclipse
2007-02-27 04:14 am UTC (link)

I just use raw bacon from the pack (I like the way a smoked ham hock tastes in it too... it makes it nice and smokey. But you'd have to pull out the bone it's attached to if you decided to use that.)

I leave the jalapeno seeds in it. I literally just turn it on its side, hold it by the stem and slice it half starting about a quarter inch below the stem so it stays in one piece. Then I toss it in, stem and all.

And normally I just add whole garlic cloves since I plan on blending them later. You can use about a teaspoon of chopped for each clove, or about a teaspoon total of the dried granules.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 03:01 pm UTC (link)
	Mmmm...this recipe sounds so delicious! I'm going to have to try it after our next run to the grocery store! (Reply to this) (Parent)

mnemosyne9
2007-02-27 04:45 am UTC (link)

Fwiw, I rationalize going to Chipotle by only eating half my burrito right then, and saving the other half for the next meal. Have you looked at the nutrition info on those things?! Like 1300-1500 calories per burrito, which you'd never guess. Delicious, but more than sufficient to make two meals out of. (And I'm no dieter, let me say.) Sometimes I get one to go for dinner, especially after my night class, take it home and pair half a burrito with some salad or veggies of some sort, to round it out as a meal. Then the next day's lunch is burrito, and may I say that their burritos microwave very well out of the tinfoil.
I can justify to myself getting two meals for 5.25 (I'm partial to the chicken:) so that's not so bad.

Of course, this is just me rambling about the joys of Chipotle, and not saying anything about recipes, so don't mind me:)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 02:51 pm UTC (link)
	hehehe, I do the exact same thing. But after a really hard day at work, I can't justify saving half of it for later because eating it just makes me feel so damn good! The pitfalls of comfort food, I guess. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	mnemosyne9 2007-02-27 06:45 pm UTC (link)
	Yep, I understand- to help my self control, I slice the thing in half before I start eating, then wrap one half in more foil and stick it in the fridge. So it becomes more work to eat the second half than to just save it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ellipser 2007-02-27 03:38 pm UTC (link)
	Have you ever weighed them? I did once, they're over a pound. Probably explains the calorie count! Mmmm...Chipotle.... (Reply to this) (Parent)

laurenoid
2007-02-27 05:15 am UTC (link)

My boyfriend and I have come to a consensus on a particular Chipotle burrito combo (black beans, rice, corn salsa and hot salsa, sour cream, cheese and guac) so we often split one burrito right down the middle. We've found that doing this (for $5.51) is usually cheaper than making anything else at home, because we never have anything good in the pantry! (Canned tomatoes and a slice of old bread, anyone?) hehe...But good idea to make your own! You can make the portions a little more reasonable that way, too. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	julisana 2007-02-27 02:56 pm UTC (link)
	Oooh lucky! Getting my husband to "share" is about as easy as getting a two year old to share (he doesn't do it without a fight). He's a very large guy, but nothing terribly unhealthy, but if you get between him and his food, expect to lose a limb or two. LOL! (Reply to this) (Parent)

mmmmmmm...Chipotle (taste better than protein drinks)

kaisenji
2007-02-27 06:43 am UTC (link)

I like my burritos dry and boring usually sans any rice little beans lots of lettuce, salsa and pinch of cheese. Really if I want to go nuts I stick w/ the bowl which is the awesome: little rice/easy beans, double up the chicken and lettuce w/ lt cheese & mild salsa.

Anyway, I'll have to try this recipe as I love Chipotles but not the prices (have horse/RV=no cash) and my Mom makes damn good meat and plenty of it for fillers. She's a super shopper-always finds way good deals on meats (chicke esp since I eat so much of it) which often are cheaper than buying anything in the fast food world.
I'd be in trouble if Chipotles had like whole wheat torillas though *drool*

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: mmmmmmm...Chipotle (taste better than protein drinks) julisana 2007-02-27 02:58 pm UTC (link)
	omg, the bowl's are the best! Rice, beans, chicken, cheese, and Sour Cream for me. Not the healthiest, but darn tastey for sure! And whole wheat tortillas would put me in trouble too...I'd be tempted to go there for every freakin meal! (Reply to this) (Parent)

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