Zandoyo beans
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bayo beans rinsed
- 2 tbsp manteca
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 white onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 hoja santa chopped
- 1 tsp toasted cumin seeds
- 1/2 chile serrano chopped
- 1 tomato coarse chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup bean cooking water
Method
- Cover the beans with water and let sit for an hour.
- Drain the beans and transfer to a large pot. Cover with 2 inches of water, bring to a boil and simmer for an hour and 40 minutes or until tender.
- Drain the beans and save the water.
- Sautee the onion until transparent. Add the garlic and ground cumin seeds and cook for another minute.
- Add the onion mixture to the beans along with the chicken stock and bean water. The liquid should barely cover the beans. Add the tomato and hoja santa and cook for 20 minutes.
Notes
- You will want to add salt when you sautee the onions and again when you mix everything together. Don't skimp!
- Don't throw out the bean water. You will probably want to add more if you go on to make refried beans. And if you are serving the beans whole you might want to adjust the liquid content. No one likes them dry but you don't want other dishes on your plate swimming in bean water.
- We serve the whole beans as a side with many different main items, from scrambled eggs to omelets.
- There is lots of onion in this recipe and it, along with the cumin and hoja santa, really make it special. Many of our Mexican guests have asked us for the recipe. Manteca, or pork fat, is another key ingredient though not essential. But all the ingredients add up to create a special dish.
- To make refried beans add some more chicken stock and bean water to your finished beans and puree with an immersion blender. You could add another tomato at this point. Then cook the mixture for about 15 minutes. Adjust the liquid as necessary to get the consistency you want.