Pinto Beans

Who doesn’t love a big ‘ole pot of beans? Before I met Matt, I’d say I could care less about homemade beans… I was perfectly happy with the canned ones. However, after making these, I’ll definitely cook them again.

Even though I’m from the south, we didn’t grow up eating beans. Don’t get me wrong, I like beans, but I never liked them enough to make them from scratch; we would just heat up a can of them on the stove. Dad doesn’t like beans. At Mexican restaurants he orders double rice instead of pinto beans.

Matt and his parents Tony and Paula have exposed me to some good ‘ole southern comfort food that apparently I’ve been missing out on.

In Matt’s family, pinto beans are a household staple! Every time I go over, there’s a pot of homemade beans in the crock pot. Paula, as you may know, is a country cook. She never follows recipes, so when I asked her how she made her pinto beans, she told me at least three different things (or so it seemed!)

Anyways, I made Paula’s recipe using a crock pot and somehow I ruined them. Oops!!! The beans were way too tough. They never got tender and they were a weird color. I don’t know how you mess up beans, but I did. 🙂

So when I found Ree Drummond’s recipe for pinto beans using a dutch oven and the stove, I thought I’d give them another shot!

Fortunately the beans turned out wonderfully. Matt loved them, I loved them, and I also loved how the beans were ready in 2 hours as opposed to 8-10 hours in a crock pot plus soaking them overnight.

Paula, watch out! These beans may give yours a run for their money!!! (Well, maybe not, according to Matt; but they are a super close second!)

Bring to a boil and then simmer and cover for 2 hours.

To help thicken beans, remove a small cup’s worth of beans. Mash them with a fork and return to the pot and continue to simmer.

Once beans are tender and broth has thickened, add salt and pepper.

Pinto Beans

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours

Serves: 4

Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

2 cups pinto beans
3 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 tsp. salt or to taste
1 tsp. ground black pepper
water

Instructions

Rinse beans in cool water; pour into a pot, cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover.
Simmer 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Add water to pot as needed. Beans should have a thick broth. Cook longer if needed. (I like to take a few beans out, mash them up, and return them to the pot to thicken.)
Toward end of cooking time, add salt and pepper and season to taste.

Notes

Serve over white rice or cornbread. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, chopped onions, fresh jalapenos, sour cream, and/or cilantro, if desired.

“Old Aggie” Baked Beans

You haven’t experienced Texas if you haven’t eaten Texas BBQ and/or baked beans! While I’m from Texas, my side of the family is not very “southern”… at least compared to my in-laws.

My husband Matt and his side of the family are about as southern as you can get! They are “country” as I like to call it. As true east Texans, you can bet your money that they’ve got some good ole country recipes up their sleeves.

While my mother-in-law Paula is the main cook in the family, her husband Tony (aka, the “old Aggie”) has got a knack for baking beans; they are his speciality!

Every family get-together at the lake house, grandparents house, etc. and we’ll have baked beans! They are great with just about anything from BBQ to grilled chicken to hamburgers.

We were at the lake a few weekends ago for Easter, and I was finally able to get Tony’s recipe. The great thing about this recipe is that you can prepare the beans in the morning or a day in advance of when you want to bake them. As the beans sit, the flavors seems to blend together better and yield a more complex taste.

Anyone else ready for warmer weather? Like I said, baked beans and the being at the lake go hand-in-hand!

Okay, here’s the recipe. It’s super easy!

Combine the beans, crumbled bacon, onions, Worcestershire, mustard and brown sugar. At this point you can cover and refrigerate until ready to bake OR place in a 350 degree F oven. (It’s best to let them sit a while before baking).

Bake the beans, covered with aluminum foil, for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy! If you’ve got a crowd, this recipe can be easily doubled. 🙂

P.S. Did I mention Tony’s an Aggie? Haha, being a fighin’ Texas Aggie is a pretty big deal…There are 13 (and counting) Aggies in our family! Whoop!!!

“Old Aggie” Baked Beans

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
10 slices of bacon, cooked crispy
4 (28-ounce) cans pork & beans
6-8 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. mustard

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Place beans in a large casserole dish.
Fry bacon and onions in bacon grease. Break bacon into small chunks and add to beans.
Add cooked onions, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce to beans. Mix well.
Place in a pre-heated oven and cook, covered with aluminum foil for 45 minutes.

Pasta e Fagioli

When it gets cold in Texas, we all get super excited because it’s always so hot here. Case in point: last Monday it snowed!! To you northerners, it wasn’t much more than flurry, but hey…it stuck and the yards and roofs of our houses had a light dusting of white powder on top!

Since it was cold, what better way to enjoy dinner than with a big bowl of hot, steamy soup! While Taco Soup is my favorite soup of all time, I kind of burned myself out on it. Thus, I thought I try something new…this time, an Italian soup!

Since it was cold and I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store, I used what I had around the house and threw it all together in a pot. Okay, not really. If you know me at all, you know I’m a huge rule follower. The same goes with recipes. I like to precisely measure my ingredients so that everything turns out perfectly.

I had all intentions of making a sausage and bean soup with pasta recipe from the Italian Dish. I was going to follow the recipe exactly but I didn’t have sausage, I didn’t have ditalini pasta, I didn’t have cannellini beans and I didn’t have a bay leaf!!! So much for following a recipe….

So, what did I do? I made some substitutions and pretty much created my own soup that I was pretty impressed with. It was light yet filling. The meat and beans provide the protein while the pasta gives you those long lasting carbs. The soup is also pretty healthy! The only source of fat comes from the ground beef, or sausage if you choose.

Enjoy and stay warm, especially those of you living north of Texas!

The alley, covered in snow at 7 in the morning!

Brown the beef. Sauté the carrot, onion and olive oil for 5 minutes or until soft.

Add tomatoes, beans, spices and broth.

Simmer for 1 hour, covered.

Add pasta and cook until tender.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained (I used kidney…it’s all I had in my pantry)
1 pound ground sirloin or sausage, or a combination (I used sirloin)
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/2 medium carrot, diced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper
2 cups orecchiette or any small pasta
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a large pot, brown the beef. Add onion, carrot and olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and sauté about a minute more.
2. Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken broth, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, some salt and pepper, and the drained beans.
3. Cover the pot and cook for an hour over low heat, at a gentle simmer.
4. Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is tender. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Thick Oven-Baked Chili

A cold front arrived in Dallas today and brrr, is it cold! Time for some homemade chili!

Brittany first made this chili a few weeks ago when I visited her in Michigan. It was great to have since the sun barely came out and the temperature stayed in the 30s. Brit eats healthy, so she substituted lean ground turkey for the ground sausage.

My mom made this same chili recipe last week, except she decided to keep the sausage. While the chili is good either way, the sausage adds a nice spicy flavor and tunes the dish up quite a bit. I loved it!

If you’re wanting something filling, this is the recipe you need to try. The chili yields plenty of protein, so you won’t go hungry. FYI – There are tons of beans, so be aware. 🙂

Finally, the chili tastes better the second day you eat it. On the first day, my dad said the chili had too much of a tomato taste to it. Like I said, the flavors blend better the second day. Enjoy and stay warm!

Thick Oven-Baked Chili
Ingredients
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground sausage (we used turkey sausage)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (4 ounces) green chilies
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. chili powder (or more to taste)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a dutch oven over medium heat, warm oil. Saute beef, sausage, onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Cover and bake 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf and discard.
4. Serve, topped with sour cream, sliced green onions or grated cheddar cheese.

Recipe from: Barbara Bakes