Made borracho beans based on an amalgam of recipes, probably mostly followed the first one below, then derived inspiration from these other ones:
http://www.insockmonkeyslippers.com/borracho-beans-pinto-beans-in-broth
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pinto_beans_with_bacon_and_jalapenos/
I soaked 1 lb sorted pinto beans overnight with 6 cups water.
I then brought 8 cups of water to a boil, added the strained beans to it, brought it back to a boil, then put it in the slow cooker with:
- 1 12 oz. bottle shiner bock beer
- two thick slices of bacon, cut into quarters
- two handfuls of halved supersweet 100 cherry tomatoes
- 2 seranno peppers, roughly sliced
- 7 whole cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 a large onion, roughly chopped
- 4 tsp salt
for about 2 hours?
I didn’t add chicken broth following Michael Ruhlman’s advice that over-the-counter broth is no bueno, and just water and salt is a purer and better alternative when real stock is not available. Bacon & fat are a no-brainer alternative to ham, tomatoes add some fruitiness, onion and garlic add depth, cumin adds that mexican layer, and serannos were chosen over jalapenos per the advice of mexicanos that say they burn more, but it’s not the hurting heaet of jalapenos. I also think they provide more consistent heat than jalapenos.
Taste is great. But I think too much water was added. I ought to try 4-6 cups of water, and then a 12 ounce bottle of beer. 8 cups is very brothy beans, and it needs much more salt for it to right.
Beer is not essential, but it adds lots of depth to the flavor of the beans. I would put the flavor addition as the same level as adding serranos to the beans.
I would do this again. Using the slow cooker with a timer and just throwing everything into the pot makes this a long-time-to-prep/cook but a relatively low effort, but tasty dish that reaps the benefit of slow cooking. Beans were good enough that whole family kept reaching for seconds. It feels lighter than refried beans, and I think is a bit more foolproof because of the flavorful broth.
An aside, I’ve recently discovered the ease and beauty of slow cooker meat. More to come!
-Isaac 20141108