Santa Maria Pinquito Beans Recipes

JOCKO'S-STYLE PINQUITO BEANS RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the beans in a heavy pot and cover by 3 to 4 inches with water. Loosely cover, bring to a simmer, and gently simmer the beans until tender, 1 to 2 hours (timing will vary depending on the age of the beans). Drain the beans, reserving some of the liquid. Take a cup or so of cooked beans and mash. Place the beans back in the pot, stirring in the mashed beans and enough reserved liquid to moisten, and set aside.
• When the beans are almost ready, fry the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until the fat renders out and the bacon is starting to brown. Stir in the onions and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened and beginning to brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the diced peppers, along with the garlic. Remove from heat.
• Stir the bacon mixture in with the beans, and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly. Add additional reserved liquid or water as needed to keep the beans moist, and cook for 10 or so minutes to marry the flavors. Taste, adding salt and pepper as needed to season. Remove from heat and serve.

SANTA MARIA PINQUITO BEANS

Steps:

• Cook the beans. Rinse the pinquito beans under water and pick out any stones or debris. Add the beans to a large stock pot along with the ham hock, and about 10 cups of water. The water should cover the beans by at least a couple inches, the water amount doesn't have to be exact. Cover the beans and turn the heat to high. Bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, usually this is about medium-low heat but every stove is different. There should be a slow bubble in the center of the pot. Simmer for about 2-3 hours. Check the water level and add more hot water as necessary to keep the water at least 1 inch above the beans. Make sure you bring it back to a simmer if you add water. The beans are done when they are tender but still firm. They will keep their shape but should not be chalky.
• Roast the Anaheim chiles. Place the 2 chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet. Turn the broiler up to high heat and move the oven rack up as high as it will go. Place the chiles directly under the flame and roast for about 7-10 minutes, checking the peppers every 1 minute. Don't walk away! I can't tell you how many times I've had something I'm broiling burst into flames because I forgot about it. Set a timer and stay nearby. After about 3-4 minutes, the skin of the peppers closest to the flame will turn black. Remove from the oven and use tongs to turn the peppers over. Broil the green sides of the peppers until they are black. Rotate again as necessary to make sure all sides of the peppers are roasted and black. Remove from the oven and immediately seal the peppers so they can steam: place them in a sealed ziplock bag, place them in a bowl with plastic wrap tightly over the top, or place them on a flat counter top and place a bowl directly over the top. Just make sure the steam can't escape. Steam for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, carefully peel off the waxy outer layer of skin. Discard the stem, seeds, and membrane. Use a knife to chop the green fleshy roasted chiles into half inch pieces and set aside.
• Make the sauce. Chop the raw bacon into bite size pieces. In a 12-inch high-sided skillet, add the bacon and cook over medium high heat for 8-10 minutes until quite crisp. Drain most of the grease from the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon bacon grease behind in the pan. (Save the excess bacon grease for making pancakes!)
• Add the chopped white onion to the pan with the bacon. Saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add in the roasted and chopped Anaheim peppers and 4-5 cloves of smashed and minced garlic (about 2 tablespoons).
• Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/2 or 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, and 1 teaspoon paprika. Saute for another 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the spices smell toasty.
• Add a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce, 1 cup water, and 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then lower to a simmer over about medium low heat, there should be some slow bubbles in the middle of the pan. Let simmer for about 30 minutes until slightly thickened. If your beans in the other pot aren't tender yet, turn off the heat on the sauce while the pot of beans finishes up.
• When the beans in the other pot are nice and tender, drain the beans (but don't you get rid of that bean juice! Hang onto it.) Take out the ham hock, chop up any meat that's left on it and throw it into the sauce.
• Add all the beans to the sauce and turn the heat back on to medium. Add the water you saved from cooking the beans a little bit at a time until it is a consistency you like. I actually ended up adding all of my bean juice (or should I say pot lickah!!) but you really need to use your best judgment here. You don't want to water down your beans.
• Let the beans simmer in the sauce for a few minutes before devouring! Garnish with sour cream and raw white onions if you want. But please, if you know what's good for you, serve these beans with juicy Grilled Tri Tip!

CHEF JOHN'S SANTA MARIA-STYLE BEANS

Steps:

• Place pink beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain.
• Place drained beans in a stockpot with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook until almost completely tender, about 1 hour 45 minutes.
• While beans are simmering, cook and stir bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat until cooked through but not crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Add ham; cook and stir until ham is heated through, about 1 minute. Stir garlic into ham mixture and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, 1/2 cup water, ketchup, sugar, dry mustard, paprika, chili powder, salt, chipotle chile powder, and oregano. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
• Drain beans, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Combine beans, reserved liquid, and tomato mixture in the beans stockpot; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and mixture has thickened, about 30 minutes.

SANTA MARIA-STYLE PINQUITO BEANS

Steps:

• Rinse and sort beans. Place beans in a large, heavy pot. Cover with cold water, and soak 8 hours or up to overnight. Drain beans, and return to pot. Add cold water to cover beans by 3 inches. Bring to a simmer over medium, and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 1 hour and 45 minutes, adding hot water as needed to keep beans covered by about 1 inch. Alternatively, cook beans in a pressure cooker until tender.
• While beans simmer, cook bacon in a medium saucepan over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Add onion, Anaheim chile, ham, and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add salt, ancho chile powder, brown sugar, dry mustard, and paprika, and cook, stirring occasionally, until spices smell toasted, about 1 minute. Stir in tomato puree, chile sauce, 1 cup water, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
• Drain beans, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return beans and reserved cooking liquid to pot; stir in sauce. Simmer over low until thoroughly heated, about 30 minutes.

SANTA MARIA-STYLE PINQUITO BEANS

Steps:

• Pick over beans to remove dirt and small stones; cover with water and let soak overnight in a large container.
• Drain, cover with fresh water and simmer 2 hours, or until tender (pintos may need longer).
• Sauté bacon and ham until lightly browned; add to beans.
• Sauté onions in bacon fat until lightly browned.
• Add garlic and sauté a minute or two longer.
• Add tomato puree, chili sauce, sugar, mustard, and salt.
• Drain most of liquid off beans and stir in sauce. Keep warm on low heat until ready to serve.