Vargr
Vargr
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These started as an experiment to produce Ranch-Style baked beans from scratch. Unfortunately, as this wuff is want to do, Vargr couldn’t resist adding a bit more of this, or a couple more of that. By the time it got done, with all the extra meat and veggies in it, it was closer to chili than beans. Still ended up tasting very good, so Vargr had to write this down before wuff’s fuzzy head let it escape. Its going to make a great starting place for this wuff to work towards those ranch beans this was supposed to be, but it's definitely tasty in its own right.
In any event; these are very robust with a lot of powerful flavor. Also, quite a bit of meat in there, so these could well act as a main dish with some nice crusty bread on the side. If you want to use them for side dish, make sure you’re not going for ‘subtle’ on the main course or they’ll overpower it. A good robust BBQ beef, like brisket, tri-tip, etc., as would a strongly sauced chicken or pork, would pair well.
These are full of spice, but not too warm. The peppers are somewhat overwhelmed by the quantity of other ingredients, which is good for those who don't like a lot of "warm" in their dishes. It could easily be "kicked up" though, with the addition to taste of some red pepper flakes. Just remember that red pepper warms up over time; start mild and let it build from there.
Ingredients:
The beans:
1 lb dried Pinto Beans
(1 tsp Salt & 1 tsp garlic powder to flavor the cooking water)
The veggies:
1 med to large onion, diced
2 T chopped garlic (about 5 cloves)
1 dried red pepper
1 green Ancho pepper, diced with seeds removed
3 small “off the vine†tomatoes, diced
1 14oz can diced peeled tomatoes
2 14 oz cans tomato sauce
1 C ketchup
1 bottle dark beer (1 pint) (Guinness)
The meats:
½ lb Bacon
½ lb Chorizo ground sausage
½ lb lean (97%) hamburger
The sauce and the rest:
1 14oz Can Beef Broth
½ C Dark Molasses
2T Worchester sauce
½ C Brown sugar
1/3 C chopped cilantro
2 T Cumin, ground
2 T Chili powder
2 T Hungarian paprika
2 T garlic powder
1 tsp Savory
1 T black pepper
1 T Liquid Smoke (Mesquite)
“Re-constitute†the dried pepper:
Chop or break the top of the pepper with the stem off, and shake the seeds into the trash. In a microwave proof glass or bowl, add enough dark beer to cover the dried pepper. Place in microwave and heat on high for at least a minute until liquid is nearly boiling. Let pepper soak in bear while starting beans and browning meat.
Start the beans:
Spread the dried beans on a cookie sheet and pick over for debris or pebbles. Modern processing has gotten better about ferreting that stuff out, but it only takes one stone to splinter a tooth and ruin you or your guests’ whole day.
Soak the beans over night. Or, for quicker beans, put in big pot of water, add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of garlic powder for flavor, and boil for at least 10-15 minutes, then cut off heat and let stand for at least an hour while you prep the other ingredients.
(Note – these beans will still have a bit of “tooth†after the batch finishes. If you like your beans soft, keep the beans boiling while you work the rest of the ingredients.)
Brown the meat:
Chop the bacon into approx 1 inch pieces. In a large skillet, fry bacon until not quite crisp. Remove from skillet and place in a large Dutch oven. Pour off bacon fat, reserving at least 3 T for sautéing the veggies later. Add the chorizo and the burger. Fry until browned and add to the Dutch oven.
Finish the dried pepper:
Remove dried pepper from beer (keep the beer!), and mince.
Make the veggies and sauces:
Put the reserved bacon fat back into the skillet. Add garlic, diced onions, diced Ancho pepper, chopped re-constituted red pepper, and diced tomatoes and sauté until onions are translucent. Add the can of diced tomatoes, the can of tomato sauce, the chili-beer and the rest of the beer, the molasses, the Worchester sauce, and the ketchup. Add the brown sugar and stir all together. Heat until slightly bubbly, then pour into the Dutch oven.
Bring it all together:
Drain the beans and add to Dutch oven with all the rest of the ingredients except for:
1 T Garlic Powder, 1 tsp Savory, ½ T Cumin, ½ T Chili powder.
Stir together until well mixed.
Place in a 275 f degree oven. Bake for 4-6 hours (4 hours minimum, will get thicker and the flavors will mellow and round out more around 6 hours). Stir every hour for the first 2 hours, then every half hour after that. If it gets too thick, add another can of beef broth and/or tomato sauce.
1 hour prior to serving, add the reserved spices. This will “freshen†the flavors, as cooking will mellow them out a lot.
Garnish with diced tomatoes, some chopped cilantro, and perhaps a bit of diced onion and a little squeeze of lime.
This makes a LOT of beans! Enough to feed at least 8 hungry furs as a main dish.
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Note: This is a GREAT candidate to make in a smoker oven. To do so, revise the recipe as follows:
1) Substitute a disposable aluminum cook tray for the Dutch oven (may need two, depending on size of your smoker, to fit within the shelves). The wider the better, as it lets more smoke contact the beans.
2) Leave out the liquid smoke from the recipe - they'll get the "real thing" from the smoker.
3) Check the beans more often and be prepared to add extra liquid (Beef Broth and/or tomato sauce). The wider trays will allow more moisture to escape, and you'll want to stir that top layer of smoked goodness down into the rest to keep the flavors more uniform. Plan on looking in on them around 1 hour, then at least every half hour from there on.
4) Use Mesquite wood for the smoke for "cowboy" flavor.
Last edited on Mon Jul 28th, 2008 10:18 am by Vargr
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We grow not old, so long as we continue to chase our dreams.
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