Recipe: Mexican Pinto Beans

Making beans is surprisingly easy and very satisfying... This is a great recipe to make to make on a Sunday to have beans for the whole week - they are delicious as a side or as a base for tacos, huevos rancheros, burritos, or a soup.

Ingredients:

1 lb of dry pinto beans
1 yellow onion, diced
1 Poblano pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Salt to taste
4 sprigs of cilantro, separated from the stems and roughly chopped (optional)

10-14 hours before you are ready to cook the beans (either the night or the morning before), place them in a bowl or pot and cover them in water, filling it so that there are 1-2 inches of liquid above the beans. 

Once you are ready to cook the beans, you can strain them out of the water into a sieve, rinse them, then put them back into a pot and add the diced onion, pepper, and garlic, and stir well. 

Fill the pot with water until the beans are just covered, and add the pot's lid so it leaves about half an inch gap to allow steam out.  Put the pot over low to medium heat until the water begins to simmer, then turn the burner to the lowest heat that will keep the water bubbling 

Keep a close eye on the beans, stirring every few minutes and adding water if they are no longer covered.  After about an hour, check the tenderness of the beans - depending on how long they soaked, it should take one to two hours on the stove to cook fully. 

Once they are chewy and soft, add salt to taste and allow the water to cook down so that they aren't too soupy.  Remove from heat and garnish with the cilantro if desired.

Note: These can be eaten right away, refrigerated for about a week, or frozen for a couple of months or so - they can easily be reheated on the stove or in the microwave.

Recipe: Poblano Pepper Macaroni and Cheese

For this past Sunday's big football playoff games, we slow cooked a pot of brisket chili and decided we needed something to go on the side - namely, Poblano Pepper Macaroni and Cheese.  This was perfect as a side, a vegetarian option, or even mixed right in with the chili.  It would be a perfect Superbowl recipe next month, with plenty for a group, but be aware that this dish is spicy!

Ingredients:

2 Poblano peppers
1 16 oz. bag of elbow macaroni
1-1.5 cups of milk (We used skim and didn't lose any creaminess)
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
Zest of 1 lime

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Blacken the peppers on the stove, using a grate.  Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, until the skin is charred.  (You can also blacken the peppers under the broiler, for about 5 minutes per side.)  Remove from the peppers from heat and place in a paper bag for twenty minutes.  Once the peppers are cooled, peel of the skin, remove the seeds and stems, and finely dice.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a liberal amount of salt, and cook the pasta until al dente - about 6 minutes.  Drain the pasta and set aside.

In a large skillet (it will have to hold all of the pasta and sauce) or Dutch oven, melt the butter over low heat, then add the flour to form a roux.

Stir with a whisk, and add half a cup milk slowly until it forms a thick paste.

Mix in the chili, mustard, cumin, lime zest, and diced Poblanos.  Add the cheese and allow it to melt, occasionally pouring in additional milk until the cheese sauce reaches the desired consistency - melty and thick, but liquid enough to coat the pasta.

Stir in the pasta, and bake for 20 minutes uncovered.  Serve hot.